Research Article
Survival Benefit of Tamoxifen in Estrogen Receptor-Negative and Progesterone Receptor-Positive Low Grade Breast Cancer Patients
Li-Heng Yang, Hsin-Shun Tseng, Che Lin, Li-Sheng Chen, Shou-Tung Chen, Shou-Jen Kuo, Dar-Ren Chen
Published:
September 01, 2012
DOI:
10.4048/jbc.2012.15.3.288
License:
© 2012 Korean Breast Cancer Society. All rights reserved.2012This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
PurposeThis study aimed to analyze the efficacy and prognostic significance of adjuvant tamoxifen in breast cancer patients with various hormone receptor statuses.MethodsTypically, 1,260 female breast cancer patients were recruited in this study. The correlation between estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) phenotypes and clinical characteristics was investigated, and the survival rate was assessed after 5-year follow-up.ResultsThe 5-year overall survival (85%) was better in women under the age of 50 years. Patients with ER+/PR+ tumors had a better 5-year survival rate (94%); those with ER-/PR- tumors experienced the worst outcome (74% survival rate); whereas single-positive cases were in between. In 97 out of 128 patients with ER-/PR+ tumors, tamoxifen was given as adjuvant hormonal therapy, and it increased the survival benefit in the lower grade group in terms of overall survival and disease-free survival (p=0.01 and p=0.03, respectively).ConclusionFor high-grade tumors with ER-/PR+, adjuvant tamoxifen therapy may have no survival benefit, whereas for the patients with low-grade ER-/PR+ tumors, adjuvant tamoxifen therapy is highly suggestive.