Table 1.
Clinico-pathological characteristics of 229 non-familial breast cancer patients
| Total cohort | Non-radiotherapy-treated | Radiotherapy-treated | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low BRE a (N = 115) | High BRE a (N = 114b) | p | Low BRE a (N = 32) | High BRE a (N = 27b) | p | Low BRE a (N = 83) | High BRE a (N = 86b) | p | |||||||
| Age (N = 229), mean (range) | 59.9 | (31–88) | 59.2 | (32–86) | 0.775d | 63.0 | (33–88) | 61.5 | (35–86) | 0.784d | 58.7 | (31–85) | 58.3 | (32–83) | 0.816d |
| Menopausal status (N = 229) | 1.000e | 1.000e | 1.000e | ||||||||||||
| Premenopausal, no. (%) | 29 | (25.2) | 28 | (24.6) | 6 | (18.8) | 5 | (18.5) | 23 | (27.7) | 23 | (26.7) | |||
| Postmenopausal, no. (%) | 86 | (74.8) | 86 | (75.4) | 26 | (81.3) | 22 | (81.5) | 60 | (72.3) | 63 | (73.3) | |||
| Nodal category (N = 208) | 0.923e | 0.310e | 0.806e | ||||||||||||
| Negative, no. (%) | 61 | (58.1) | 59 | (57.3) | 25 | (86.2) | 18 | (72.0) | 36 | (47.4) | 41 | (52.6) | |||
| 1–3 involved lymph nodes, no. (%) | 29 | (27.6) | 31 | (30.1) | 4 | (13.8) | 7 | (28.0) | 25 | (32.9) | 24 | (30.8) | |||
| ≥4 involved lymph nodes, no. (%) | 15 | (14.3) | 13 | (12.6) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 15 | (19.7) | 13 | (16.7) | |||
| Radiotherapy (N = 228) | 0.547e | NA | NA | ||||||||||||
| Treated, no. (%) | 83 | (72.2) | 86 | (76.1) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | 83 | (100) | 86 | (100) | |||
| Non-treated, no. (%) | 32 | (27.8) | 27 | (23.9) | 32 | (100) | 27 | (100) | 0 | (0) | 0 | (0) | |||
| Surgery (N = 229) | 0.282e | 0.495f | 0.219f | ||||||||||||
| Mastectomy, no. (%) | 73 | (63.5) | 64 | (56.1) | 30 | (93.8) | 27 | (100) | 43 | (51.8) | 36 | (41.9) | |||
| Lumpectomy, no. (%) | 42 | (36.5) | 50 | (43.9) | 2 | (6.3) | 0 | (0) | 40 | (48.2) | 50 | (58.1) | |||
| Adjuvant systemic therapy (N = 228) | 0.230f | 0.537f | 0.269f | ||||||||||||
| None, no. (%) | 70 | (60.9) | 68 | (60.2) | 26 | (81.3) | 18 | (66.7) | 44 | (53.0) | 50 | (58.1) | |||
| Endocrine therapy, no. (%) | 30 | (26.1) | 28 | (24.8) | 3 | (9.4) | 4 | (14.8) | 27 | (32.5) | 24 | (27.9) | |||
| Chemotherapy, no. (%) | 13 | (11.3) | 9 | (8.0) | 2 | (6.3) | 2 | (7.4) | 11 | (13.3) | 7 | (8.1) | |||
| Endocrine + Chemotherapy, no. (%) | 2 | (1.7) | 8 | (7.1) | 1 | (3.1) | 3 | (11.1) | 1 | (1.2) | 5 | (5.8) | |||
| Histology grade (N = 168) | 0.406e | 0.151f | 0.123e | ||||||||||||
| I, no. (%) | 9 | (10.5) | 4 | (4.9) | 1 | (4.3) | 1 | (5.3) | 8 | (12.7) | 3 | (4.8) | |||
| II, no. (%) | 36 | (41.9) | 35 | (42.7) | 6 | (26.1) | 10 | (52.6) | 30 | (47.6) | 25 | (39.7) | |||
| III, no. (%) | 41 | (47.7) | 43 | (52.4) | 16 | (69.6) | 8 | (42.1) | 25 | (39.7) | 35 | (55.6) | |||
| Tumor type (N = 193) | 0.744e | 0.721f | 1.000e | ||||||||||||
| Ductal, no. (%) | 73 | (73.0) | 70 | (75.3) | 22 | (71.0) | 18 | (81.8) | 51 | (73.9) | 52 | (73.2) | |||
| Lubular, no. (%) | 15 | (15.0) | 15 | (16.1) | 3 | (9.7) | 2 | (9.1) | 12 | (17.4) | 13 | (18.3) | |||
| Other (mixed/unknown), no. (%) | 12 | (12.0) | 8 | (8.6) | 6 | (19.3) | 2 | (9.1) | 6 | (8.7) | 6 | (8.5) | |||
| Tumor size (N = 227)c | 0.014f | 0.853f | 0.005e | ||||||||||||
| pT1, no. (%) | 33 | (28.7) | 50 | (44.6) | 11 | (34.4) | 9 | (33.3) | 22 | (26.5) | 41 | (48.2) | |||
| pT2, no. (%) | 66 | (57.4) | 43 | (38.4) | 19 | (59.4) | 15 | (55.6) | 47 | (56.6) | 28 | (32.9) | |||
| pT3/4, no. (%) | 16 | (13.9) | 19 | (17.0) | 2 | (6.3) | 3 | (11.1) | 14 | (16.9) | 16 | (18.8) | |||
| Estrogen receptor status (N = 196) | 0.769e | 0.265e | 0.228e | ||||||||||||
| Positive, no. (%) | 61 | (61.0) | 61 | (63.5) | 18 | (66.7) | 12 | (50) | 43 | (58.9) | 49 | (69.0) | |||
| Negative, no. (%) | 39 | (39.0) | 35 | (36.5) | 9 | (33.3) | 12 | (50) | 30 | (41.1) | 22 | (31.0) | |||
| Progesterone receptor status (N = 197) | 0.776e | 0.579e | 1.000e | ||||||||||||
| Positive, no. (%) | 51 | (50.5) | 51 | (53.1) | 12 | (44.4) | 13 | (54.2) | 39 | (52.7) | 38 | (53.5) | |||
| Negative, no. (%) | 50 | (49.5) | 45 | (46.9) | 15 | (55.6) | 11 | (45.8) | 35 | (47.3) | 33 | (46.5) | |||
aHigh and low BRE expression is defined as expression above or below the median expression of the total cohort, respectively
bAs data on radiotherapy treatment was lacking for one patient (showing high BRE expression), the patient numbers in the radiotherapy-treated and non-treated groups do not add up to the total cohort
cpT1: tumor size ≤2 cm, pT2: tumor size of 2–5 cm, pT3/4 tumor size >5 cm and/or direct extension to chest wall or skin
d p-value is based on Mann–Whitney U test
e p-value is based on χ2 test
f p-value is based on Fisher Exact test
NA not applicable