Progesterone Receptor Expression Level Predicts Prognosis of Estrogen Receptor-Positive/HER2-Negative Young Breast Cancer: A Single-Center Prospective Cohort Study

Overview

Journal Cancers (Basel)

Publisher MDPI

Specialty Oncology

Date 2023 Jul 14

PMID 37444546

Authors

Youngji Kwak

Sung Yoon Jang

Joon Young Choi

Hyunjun Lee

Dong Seung Shin

Yeon Hee Park

Ji-Yeon Kim

Jin-Seok Ahn

Byung Joo Chae

Jonghan Yu

Jeong Eon Lee

Seok Won Kim

Seok Jin Nam

Jai Min Ryu

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Although estrogen receptor (ER) expression levels affect the prognosis of breast cancer, studies about progesterone receptor (PR) expression levels are insufficient, especially in young breast cancer (YBC). The purpose of this study was to compare clinical characteristics and prognosis according to PR expression levels in invasive breast cancer patients.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted to identify YBC patients with invasive carcinoma diagnosed at an age of less than 40 years old between 2013 and 2018. Clinicopathologic features and prognosis of ER-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative patients were investigated. Patients were stratified into strong PR (PR-positive cell proportion > 10%), low PR (PR-positive cell proportion = 1~10%), and PR-negative (PR-positive cell proportion < 1%).

Results: Among 458 patients enrolled, 386 (84.3%), 26 (5.7%), and 46 (10.0%) were categorized into strong PR, low PR, and PR-negative groups, respectively. The median follow-up duration was 58.6 months. Compared with the strong PR group, low PR and PR-negative groups were more likely to have high Ki-67 and a high nuclear grade. Low R and PR-negative groups had significantly worse disease-free survival (DFS) and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) than the strong PR group ( = 0.0033, = 0007). Low PR group had an even higher risk of distant metastasis than PR-negative patients. Low PR patients and PR-negative had significantly lower overall survival (OS) rates than strong PR.

Conclusion: Low PR might be a prognostic factor of ER-positive/HER2-negative in YBC.

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