are her2+ (and/or EGFR+) tumors more radioresistant (ie radiation therapy doesn't

[Lani]

work as well)? This article doesn't think so!:

RESULTS Go to:
For the whole group of 352 patients with known HER-2 status, the median follow-up was 5.4 years, for the HER-2-positive group it was 5.5 years, and for the HER-2-negative group it was 5.5 years. The overall percentage of HER-2-negative tumors was 76% and of HER-2-positive tumors was 24%, which is consistent with the expected range. Overall the percentage of HER-2-negative patients per year over the study period ranged from 53% to 97%, which is likely due to sampling error among relatively small numbers of patients tested in any given year.

Outcomes analysis was performed to assess local recurrence, overall survival, cause-specific survival, relapse-free survival, and distant disease-free survival (Table 2). In this series there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups for any of the outcomes. Local recurrences have been seen in 7 of the 266 (3%) HER-2-negative patients, for an actuarial rate of local recurrence of 2% at 5 years. There have been no local recurrence events to date in the HER-2-positive group (p = 0.15).

Due to these local recurrences, as well as two isolated regional failures in the HER-2-negative group, the relapse-free survival appears somewhat lower than in the HER-2-positive group, although this difference is not significant. Relapse-free survival for the HER-2-negative group at 5 years was 92%, compared to 97% for the HER-2-positive group, which has experienced no local or regional failures to date (p = 0.07). Overall survival at 5 years in the HER-2-negative group was 94% and in the HER-2-positive group was 89% (p = 0.33). Cause-specific survivals at 5 years of 96% for the HER-2-negative group and of 95% for the HER-2-positive group were not statistically different (p = 0.96). Distant disease-free survival was also similar, at 93% at 5 years in the HER-2-negative group compared to 97% for the HER-2-positive group (p = 0.16).