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William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
William J. Gradishar, MD, FACP, FASCO
Posted: Thursday, January 12, 2023
Danielle B. Zakon, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, and colleagues aimed to evaluate whether hormone receptor–related gene expression differs in breast cancers from men compared with women. Presented during the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS; Abstract PD6-11), their results regarding the Sensitivity to Endocrine Therapy Index (SET2,3) concluded that measurements of endocrine-related transcriptional activity did not seem to differ between male and female patients with breast cancer. According to the authors, SET2,3 was prognostic for overall survival in male breast cancer and suggested that chemotherapy may improve the poor prognosis for men with breast cancer and a low SET2,3 score.
Aliquots of total RNA from 321 male patients with breast cancer were obtained from a study funded by the International Male Breast Cancer Program (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT01101425). The sensitivity index measured nonproliferative hormone receptor–related transcriptional activity in cancer and was identified using bead-based hybridization and laser spectroscopy.
A total of 110 patients had a low sensitivity index score, which reflected low endocrine activity with a high risk of recurrence. The rate of recurrence-free survival at 5 years was 75.0% in the group with a high sensitivity index score compared with 60.7% in the group with a low sensitivity index score (P < .0001); the rate of overall survival was significantly higher among the those with a high sensitivity index score (P < .0001).
Of note, SET2,3 appeared to be independently prognostic for overall survival, but not recurrence-free survival. Moreover, the addition of chemotherapy to adjuvant endocrine therapy among those who were classified as having a low sensitivity index score seemed to correlate with a 5-year overall survival rate of 76.0%, whereas those on endocrine therapy alone had a rate of 61.3%.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit sabcs.org.
2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium
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