Reconsideration of Clinical and Histopathological Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer Patients: A Single Center Experience

Background: The clinical course of the neoplasm may vary due to both patient and tumor cell characteristics.Aim: The aim of this study was to research the influence of certain clinical and pathological features on theprognosis of early stage breast cancer. Materials and
Methods: This study included 117 women that were treatedand followed-up in between the years 2001-2011. The demographic, clinical and histopathological features of thecases were reviewed retrospectively. Statistical analysis: In categorical comparisons between groups, cross-tabstatistics were provided and significance levels were estimated using chi-square test. Cox regression analysis,Pearson and Spearman correlation tests, and the Kaplan-Meier test were also used.
Results: With an averageof 35-months follow-up, the mean disease-free survival of patients was 91 months and the mean overall survivaltime was 132 months. In the whole study group, the disease-free survival rates were 88, 84, 83 and 52%, while theoverall survival rates 95, 94, 83, and 83% within the first, third, fifth and tenth years, respectively. The diseasefreeand overall survival rates were decreased with increasing tumor grades, though this was not statisticallysignificant. The presence of lymphovascular invasion, positive staining with Ki67 and postmenopausal statuswere associated with shorter disease-free and overall survival times. In multivariate analysis, only age and Her2/neu receptor status influenced the prognosis significantly.
Conclusions: In parallel to clinical, histopathological,and immunohistochemical prognostic features in breast cancer, in this study positive Her2/neu receptor status,a previously accepted poor prognostic factor, was found to have positive influence after trastuzumab treatment.