Table 4.
Clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of breast cancer patients and tumours for the subgroup with HER2-negative tumours at diagnosis, by changes in the HER2 status between the primary and recurrent tumour and by the type of relapse.
| Parameter | Primary tumours which relapsed as local recurrences | Primary tumours which relapsed as distant metastases | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HER2-low relapse (n = 32) | HER2-negative relapse (unchanged HER2 status) (n = 29) | HER2-low relapse (n = 58) | HER2-negative relapse (unchanged HER2 status) (n = 75) | |
| Age at diagnosis (years) | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 52.4 ± 11.8 | 60.8 ± 17.1 | 55.0 ± 11.1 | 56.0 ± 12.4 |
| Median [min–max] | 51.5 [26.0–79.0] | 66.0 [34.0–89.0] | 56.0 [29.0–81.0] | 56.0 [26.0–87.0] |
| P values | 0.057 | 0.628 | ||
| Unifocal tumour | ||||
| Yes | 28 (87.5%) | 27 (93.1%) | 47 (81.0%) | 58 (77.3%) |
| No | 4 (12.5%) | 2 (6.9%) | 11 (19.0%) | 17 (22.7%) |
| P values | 0.674 | 0.604 | ||
| Histology | ||||
| IDC | 26 (81.2%) | 23 (79.4%) | 39 (67.2%) | 56 (74.7%) |
| ILC | 6 (18.8%) | 5 (17.2%) | 16 (27.6%) | 16 (21.3%) |
| Other | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (3.4%) | 3 (5.2%) | 3 (4.0%) |
| P values | 0.866 | 0.651 | ||
| Tumour size (cm) | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 1.6 ± 1.0 | 1.8 ± 1.1 | 2.5 ± 1.4 | 3.1 ± 2.4 |
| Median [min–max] | 1.3 [0.4–4.5] | 1.5 [0.1–4.3] | 2.0 [0.7–6.5] | 2.3 [0.2–10.5] |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| P values | 0.358 | 0.321 | ||
| E&E grade | ||||
| I | 8 (25.0%) | 7 (24.1%) | 12 (21.1%) | 11 (15.3%) |
| II | 14 (43.8%) | 10 (34.5%) | 34 (59.6%) | 36 (50.0%) |
| III | 10 (31.3%) | 12 (41.4%) | 11 (19.3%) | 25 (34.7%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| P values | 0.681 | 0.146 | ||
| Glandular differentiation | ||||
| I | 2 (6.2%) | 2 (6.9%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.4%) |
| II | 8 (25.0%) | 7 (24.1%) | 19 (33.3%) | 17 (23.3%) |
| III | 22 (68.8%) | 20 (69.0%) | 38 (66.7%) | 55 (75.3%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| P values | 1.000 | 0.279 | ||
| Nuclear grade | ||||
| I | 3 (9.4%) | 4 (13.8%) | 3 (5.3%) | 3 (4.1%) |
| II | 21 (65.6%) | 13 (44.8%) | 40 (70.2%) | 47 (64.4%) |
| III | 8 (25.0%) | 12 (41.4%) | 14 (24.6%) | 23 (31.5%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| P values | 0.260 | 0.662 | ||
| Mitosis score | ||||
| I | 16 (50.0%) | 15 (51.7%) | 32 (56.1%) | 26 (35.6%) |
| II–III | 16 (50.0%) | 14 (48.3%) | 25 (43.9%) | 47 (64.4%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| P values | 0.893 | 0.020 | ||
| Mitotic index (/mm²) | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 7.7 ± 8.0 | 7.3 ± 9.6 | 3.1 ± 3.6 | 7.3 ± 9.6 |
| Median [min–max] | 5.7 [0.4–28.2] | 2.2 [0.4–27.0] | 1.9 [0.4–16.0] | 4.2 [0.4–50.0] |
| Missing data | 12 | 10 | 23 | 24 |
| P values | 0.573 | 0.008 | ||
| Lymph node status | ||||
| N0–N0i+ | 23 (71.9%) | 20 (69.0%) | 28 (48.3%) | 32 (50.0%) |
| N1–N1mic | 8 (25.0%) | 9 (31.0%) | 18 (31.0%) | 25 (32.7%) |
| N2–N3 | 1 (3.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | 12 (20.7%) | 18 (17.3%) |
| P values | 0.570 | 0.802 | ||
| Disease stage | ||||
| I | 20 (62.5%) | 17 (58.6%) | 19 (32.8%) | 20 (26.7%) |
| II | 9 (28.1%) | 6 (20.7%) | 22 (37.9%) | 25 (33.3%) |
| III | 3 (9.4%) | 6 (20.7%) | 16 (27.6%) | 21 (28.0%) |
| IV | 0 (0.0%) | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.7%) | 9 (12.0%) |
| P values | 0.509 | 0.157 | ||
| Oestrogen receptor expression | ||||
| Negative | 7 (21.9%) | 7 (24.1%) | 3 (5.2%) | 20 (27.0%) |
| Positive | 25 (78.1%) | 22 (75.9%) | 55 (94.8%) | 54 (73.0%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| P values | 0.834 | 0.001 | ||
| Progesterone receptor expression | ||||
| Negative | 8 (25.0%) | 11 (39.3%) | 17 (34.7%) | 24 (34.3%) |
| Positive | 24 (75.0%) | 17 (60.7%) | 32 (65.3%) | 46 (65.7%) |
| Missing data | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 |
| P values | 0.235 | 0.963 | ||
| Ki67 expression | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 42.5 ± 20.4 | 28.8 ± 26.6 | 28.7 ± 19.6 | 32.8 ± 22.9 |
| Median [min–max] | 40.0 [20.0–80.0] | 20.0 [8.0–90.0] | 25.0 [1.0–80.0] | 30.0 [1.0–90.0] |
| Missing data | 24 | 19 | 66 | 78 |
| P values | 0.108 | 0.047 | ||
| Metastatic site | ||||
| Liver | – | – | 17 (29.3%) | 19 (25.3%) |
| Bone | – | – | 9 (15.5%) | 18 (24.0%) |
| Skin and muscle | – | – | 9 (15.5%) | 15 (20.0%) |
| Lymph nodes | – | – | 11 (19.0%) | 7 (9.3%) |
| Lung and pleura | – | – | 4 (6.9%) | 6 (8.0%) |
| Gynaecological tract | – | – | 3 (5.2%) | 4 (5.3%) |
| Gastrointestinal tract | – | – | 4 (6.9%) | 1 (1.3%) |
| Brain | – | – | 0 (0.0%) | 1 (1.3%) |
| Other | – | – | 1 (1.7%) | 4 (5.3%) |
| P values | – | 0.402 | ||
| Time to recurrence (months) | ||||
| Mean ± SD | 101.3 ± 61.4 | 66.9 ± 54.8 | 84.2 ± 49.8 | 68.7 ± 51.1 |
| Median [min–max] | 88.0 [14.0–215.0] | 48.0 [6.0–212.0] | 75.0 [2.0–240.0] | 57.0 [1.0–204.0] |
| P values | 0.013 | 0.051 | ||
E&E Elston and Ellis, HER2 human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, IDC invasive ductal carcinoma, ILC invasive lobular carcinoma, SD standard deviation.
Values in bold italic show statistically significant P-values.