for Jean and others-Topo2a identifies those patients needing anthracylines

[Lani]

1: J Clin Oncol. 2006 May 8; [Epub ahead of print] Links

Topoisomerase II{alpha} Gene Amplification Predicts Favorable Treatment Response to Tailored and Dose-Escalated Anthracycline-Based Adjuvant Chemotherapy in HER-2/neu-Amplified Breast Cancer: Results From the Randomized Scandinavian Breast Group Trial 9401.

Tanner M, Isola J, Wiklund T, Erikstein B, Kellokumpu-Lehtinen P, Malmstrom P, Wilking N, Nilsson J, Bergh J.

Laboratory of Cancer Biology, Institute of Medical Technology, and Department of Oncology, Tampere University and Tampere University Hospital, Tampere; Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland; The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway; Department of Oncology, Lund University Hospital, Lund; and Cancer Centre Karolinska and Radiumhemmet Karolinska Institute and University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.

PURPOSE: Amplification of the HER-2/neu and topoisomerase IIalpha (TOP2A) genes has been linked to the effects of anthracyclines. Their role in predicting the outcome of anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer patients has remained controversial. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present substudy of the Scandinavian Breast Group trial 9401, in which an epirubicin-based regimen (nine courses of tailored and dose-escalated fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide [FEC]) was compared with three or four courses of standard FEC followed by bone marrow-supported high-dose chemotherapy (cyclophosphamide, thiotepa, and carboplatin), included high-risk breast cancer patients (with eight or more positive axillary lymph nodes or at least five nodes with additional poor prognostic indicators). Amplification of HER-2/neu was determined retrospectively in paraffin-embedded tumor tissue sections by chromogenic in situ hybridization. TOP2A was tested only in HER-2/neu-amplified tumors. RESULTS: HER-2/neu amplification alone, which was present in 32.7% of the tumors, was a strong prognostic factor for short relapse-free (P = .0034) and overall survival (P = .0008) but showed no direct association with treatment assignment. TOP2A coamplification, which was present in 37% of HER-2/neu-amplified tumors, was associated with better relapse-free survival in patients treated with tailored and dose-escalated FEC (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.45; P = .049). A statistical multivariate Cox's regression analysis confirmed the predictive significance of TOP2A coamplification (HR = 0.30; P = .020) in HER-2/neu-amplified tumors. There was no such association in patients with HER-2/neu-amplified tumors without TOP2A gene amplification. CONCLUSION: Coamplification of HER-2/neu and TOP2A may define a subgroup of high-risk breast cancer patients who benefit from individually tailored and dose-escalated adjuvant anthracyclines.

PMID: 16682728 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]