Evaluation of the EGFR polymorphism R497K in two cohorts of neoadjuvantly treated breast cancer patients

PLoS One. 2017 Dec 21;12(12):e0189750. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189750. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Pathological response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) presents great variability, and new prognostic biomarkers are needed. Our aim was to evaluate the association of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene (EGFR) polymorphism R497K (rs2227983) with prognostic features and clinical outcomes of breast cancer, including the pathological response to NAC and the recurrence-free survival (RFS). Tumoral complete response (tCR) was defined by no remaining invasive cancer in the excised breast, whereas pathological complete response (pCR) was defined by no remaining invasive cancer both in the excised breast and lymph nodes. Two independent cohorts were analyzed: one from Brazil (INCA, n = 288) and one from The Netherlands (NKI-AVL, n = 255). In the INCA cohort, the variant (Lys-containing) genotypes were significantly associated with lower proportion of tCR (ORadj = 0.92; 95%CI = 0.85-0.99), whereas in the NKI-AVL cohort they were associated with tumor grade 3 (p = 0.035) and with triple-negative subtype (p = 0.032), but not with clinical outcomes. Such distinct prognostic associations may have arisen due to different neoadjuvant protocols (p < 0.001), or to lower age at diagnosis (p < 0.001) and higher proportion of tumor grade 3 (p = 0.018) at the NKI-AVL cohort. Moreover, NKI-AVL patients achieved better proportion of pCR (21.2% vs 8.3%, p < 0.001) and better RFS (HRadj = 0.48; 95% adjCI = 0.26-0.86) than patients from INCA. In conclusion, large scale studies comprehending different populations are needed to evaluate the impact of genome variants on breast cancer outcomes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use*
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics*
  • Breast Neoplasms / pathology
  • Chemotherapy, Adjuvant
  • Cohort Studies
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics*
  • Female
  • Genotype
  • Humans
  • Polymorphism, Genetic*

Substances

  • ErbB Receptors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by KWF Kankerbestrijding (MKS): https://www.kwf.nl/pages/default.aspx; Center for Translational Molecular Medicine (030–104; EL and JW); Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (474522/2010-5 and 573806/2008-0): http://cnpq.br/; Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (E-26/110356/2010 and E26/170.026/2008): http://www.faperj.br/; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (1321-13-7; MSL): http://www.capes.gov.br/; The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.