Table 1. Summary of patients’ characteristics.
| All Long-HER, n = 103 | Complete responders n = 71 | Complete responders with molecular analysis, n = 35 | Control poor-response group, n = 18 | |
| Median age (years) | 58 (36–87) | 58 (40–87) | 59 (40–87) | 57 (41–83) |
| Hormone receptors + | 49% | 47% | 49% | 56% |
| Location of mets. | ||||
| Liver | 14 (13%) | 18 (25%) | 6 (11%) | 2 (11%) |
| Lung | 24 (23%) | 18 (25%) | 15 (43%) | 6 (33%) |
| Bones | 15 (14%) | 16 (23%) | 11 (31%) | 3 (17%) |
| Soft tissues | 6 (6%) | 16 (23%) | 10 (29%) | 6 (33%) |
| Multiple sites | 32 (31%) | 14 (20%) | 8 (23%) | 6 (33%) |
| Adjuvant or neoadjuvant therapy | 90 (91%) | 66 (94%) | 32 (93%) | 14 (78%) |
| First-line therapy | ||||
| Anthracycline-based | 9 (9%) | 4 (6%) | 2 (6%) | 0 |
| Taxane-based | 41 (40%) | 35 (49%) | 22 (63%) | 13 (72%) |
| Anthracycline+taxane | 34 (33%) | 19 (27%) | 8 (23%) | 1 (6%) |
| Other chemotherapy | 11 (10%) | 8 (11%) | 3 (8%) | 4 (22%) |
| Hormonal therapy | 8 (8%) | 5 (7%) | 0 | 0 |
| Trastuzumab duration | 61 months (6–148) | 62 months (12–138) | 62 months (12–138) | 10 months (3–15) |
The whole population of long-term responders included 103 patients, of who 71 achieved a complete response. Molecular analysis was performed in 35 out of 71 patients with complete response.