The optimal duration of adjuvant endocrine therapy in early luminal breast cancer: A concise review

Abstract

Patients with luminal early breast cancer are at risk of relapse, even after five years of adjuvant endocrine therapy. To date, no biomarkers have been clinically validated to identify those patients at risk of late recurrence, who might benefit from extended adjuvant endocrine therapy. In recent decades, multiple clinical trials have tested the role of extending adjuvant endocrine therapies in patients with luminal disease. However, the data currently at our disposal are conflicting. This article reviews all the major trials concerning extended adjuvant endocrine regimens, and formulates some general conclusions and hypotheses of future study.

Keywords: Aromatase inhibitor; Early breast cancer; Extended adjuvant endocrine therapy; Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer; Luminal breast cancer.