
Bidirectional crosstalk between HER2 and estrogen receptor (ER) pathways may influence outcomes and the efficacy of endocrine therapy (ET). Low HER2 expression levels (HER2-low) have emerged as a predictive biomarker in patients with breast cancer (BC).PALLAS is an open, international, phase 3 study evaluating the addition of palbociclib for 2 years to adjuvant ET in patients with stage II-III ER-positive/HER2-negative BC. To assess the impact of HER2 expression on patient outcomes in the phase III PALLAS trial, we analyzed (1) the association between rate of HER2-low with demographic and clinicopathological parameters, (2) the prognostic value of HER2-low status on invasive disease-free survival (iDFS), distant relapse-free survival (DRFS), and overall survival (OS) and (3) HER2 expression's value as a predictive biomarker of response to palbociclib. HER2-low was defined as HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) 1 + or IHC 2 + with negative in situ hybridization (ISH). All pathologic evaluation was performed locally. Prognostic and predictive power of HER2 were assessed with Cox models.From the original PALLAS intention-to-treat population (N = 5753), 5304 patients (92.2%) were included in this analysis. Among these, 2254 patients (42.5%) were classified as having HER2 IHC 0 (HER2-0), and 3050 (57.5%) as having HER2-low disease (1838 with IHC 1 + and 1212 with IHC 2 +). Median follow-up was 59.8 months. HER2-low prevalence varied significantly across 21 participating countries (range 16.7% to 75.6%; p < 0.001) and was more frequent in patients enrolled in North America (63.1%) than in Europe (53.4%) or other regions (53.4%) (p < 0.001). HER2 status was not significantly associated with iDFS in a multivariable Cox model (hazard ratio 0.93, 95% confidence interval 0.81 - 1.06). No significant interaction was observed between treatment arm and HER2 status for iDFS (p = 0.43). Similar results were obtained for DRFS and OS.In this large, prospective, global patient cohort, no differences were observed in clinical parameters, prognosis, or differential benefit from palbociclib between HER2-0 and HER2-low tumors. Significant geographic variability was observed in the prevalence of HER2-low status, suggesting a high degree of variation in pathologic assessment of HER2 expression without impact on outcomes.
Endocrine therapy, Adult, Receptor, ErbB-2, Pyridines, Research, Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens, Breast Neoplasms, Palbociclib, Middle Aged, Antibody–drug conjugates ; Aged [MeSH] ; HER2-low ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism [MeSH] ; Breast cancer ; Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics [MeSH] ; Neoplasm Staging [MeSH] ; Endocrine therapy ; Piperazines/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/mortality [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology [MeSH] ; Female [MeSH] ; Palbociclib ; Pyridines/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism [MeSH] ; Adult [MeSH] ; Humans [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/genetics [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism [MeSH] ; Middle Aged [MeSH] ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism [MeSH] ; Research ; Prognosis [MeSH], Prognosis, Piperazines, Breast cancer, Receptors, Estrogen, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Biomarkers, Tumor, Humans, Antibody–drug conjugates, Female, HER2-low, RC254-282, Aged, Neoplasm Staging
Endocrine therapy, Adult, Receptor, ErbB-2, Pyridines, Research, Neoplasms. Tumors. Oncology. Including cancer and carcinogens, Breast Neoplasms, Palbociclib, Middle Aged, Antibody–drug conjugates ; Aged [MeSH] ; HER2-low ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism [MeSH] ; Breast cancer ; Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics [MeSH] ; Neoplasm Staging [MeSH] ; Endocrine therapy ; Piperazines/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/mortality [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/pathology [MeSH] ; Female [MeSH] ; Palbociclib ; Pyridines/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Receptors, Estrogen/metabolism [MeSH] ; Adult [MeSH] ; Humans [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/genetics [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy [MeSH] ; Breast Neoplasms/metabolism [MeSH] ; Middle Aged [MeSH] ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use [MeSH] ; Biomarkers, Tumor/metabolism [MeSH] ; Research ; Prognosis [MeSH], Prognosis, Piperazines, Breast cancer, Receptors, Estrogen, Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols, Biomarkers, Tumor, Humans, Antibody–drug conjugates, Female, HER2-low, RC254-282, Aged, Neoplasm Staging
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