In:
Journal of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Vol. 21, No. 18 ( 2003-09-15), p. 3469-3478
Abstract:
Purpose: This study was performed to disclose the clinical impact of isolated tumor cell (ITC) detection in bone marrow (BM) in breast cancer. Patients and Methods: BM aspirates were collected from 817 patients at primary surgery. Tumor cells in BM were detected by immunocytochemistry using anticytokeratin antibodies (AE1/AE3). Analyses of the primary tumor included histologic grading, vascular invasion, and immunohistochemical detection of c-erbB-2, cathepsin D, p53, and estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PgR) expression. These analyses were compared with clinical outcome. The median follow-up was 49 months. Results: ITC were detected in 13.2% of the patients. The detection rate rose with increasing tumor size (P = .011) and lymph node involvement (P 〈 .001). Systemic relapse and death from breast cancer occurred in 31.7% and 26.9% of the BM-positive patients versus 13.7% and 10.9% of BM-negative patients, respectively (P 〈 .001). Analyzing node-positive and node-negative patients separately, ITC positivity was associated with poor prognosis in the node-positive group and in node-negative patients not receiving adjuvant therapy (T1N0). In multivariate analysis, ITC in BM was an independent prognostic factor together with node, tumor, and ER/PgR status, histologic grade, and vascular invasion. In separate analysis of the T1N0 patients, histologic grade was independently associated with both distant disease-free survival (DDFS) and breast cancer–specific survival (BCSS), ITC detection was associated with BCSS, and vascular invasion was associated with DDFS. Conclusion: ITC in BM is an independent predictor of DDFS and BCSS. An unfavorable prognosis was observed for node-positive patients and for node-negative patients not receiving systemic therapy. A combination of several independent prognostic factors can classify subgroups of patients into excellent and high-risk prognosis groups.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0732-183X
,
1527-7755
DOI:
10.1200/JCO.2003.02.009
Language:
English
Publisher:
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Publication Date:
2003
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2005181-5
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