Impact of combining the progesterone receptor and preoperative endocrine prognostic index (PEPI) as a prognostic factor after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy using aromatase inhibitors in postmenopausal ER positive and HER2 negative breast cancer

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 6;13(8):e0201846. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0201846. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

The preoperative endocrine prognostic index (PEPI) predicts survival after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NAE) using aromatase inhibitors (AIs) for women with postmenopausal estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer irrespective of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status. Although the progesterone receptor (PgR) is also a prognostic factor for ER-positive breast cancer, the PgR status was not considered a prognostic factor in the original PEPI scoring system. In this study, we investigated the utility of a modified PEPI including the PgR status (PEPI-P) as a prognostic factor after NAE for postmenopausal patients with ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer. We enrolled 107 patients with invasive ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer treated with exemestane for ≥4 months as NAE. We initially assessed PEPI and compared survival between the groups. Additionally, we obtained an effective cutoff for PgR through survival analysis. Then, we assessed the survival significance of PEPI-P. A PgR staining rate of 50% was the most significant cutoff for predicting recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). PEPI was a significant prognostic factor; moreover, PEPI-P was the most significant prognostic indicator for RFS and CSS. PEPI-P is a potent prognostic indicator of survival after NAE using AIs for postmenopausal patients with ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer. This modified PEPI may be useful for therapeutic decision-making regarding postmenopausal ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer after NAE.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / therapeutic use*
  • Aromatase Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Breast Neoplasms / therapy*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoadjuvant Therapy
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Postmenopause
  • Preoperative Period
  • Prognosis
  • Receptor, ErbB-2 / metabolism
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism*
  • Receptors, Progesterone / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal
  • Aromatase Inhibitors
  • Biomarkers, Tumor
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Receptors, Progesterone
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • Receptor, ErbB-2

Grants and funding

The authors received no specific funding for this work.