26 Dec ER-beta May Identify Breast Cancer Patients For Whom Chemotherapy is Sufficient
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Helena Jernström, PhD
Associate Professor in Experimental Oncology
Study Coordinator for Graduate studies Division of Oncology and Pathology
Coordinator of the programmes in statistics and epidemiology for doctoral students at the Medical Faculty, Lund University
Division of Oncology and Pathology, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund
Lund University Cancer Center/Kamprad
Lund, Sweden
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There is a need for better predictive markers to guide selection of therapy in breast cancer patients. Estrogen receptor beta (ER-beta) may confer prognostic information beyond what is currently obtained by the established clinical markers, including ER-alpha, which is routinely evaluated.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: The main finding was that high tumor-specific ER-beta expression was an independent favorable prognostic marker in chemotherapy-treated patients, but not in endocrine-treated patients.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: If our finding is confirmed, ER-beta may be used to identify a subgroup of patients for whom chemotherapy is efficient. Currently there is a lack of markers that can identify the group of patients that benefit the most from chemotherapy.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: This finding needs to be confirmed, preferably via a biomarker study in an already performed randomized controlled clinical trial where patients have received chemotherapy.
MedicalResearch.com: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Response: If our data are confirmed in further studies, ER-beta may be an additional predictive marker to guide selection of adjuvant therapy in breast cancer. ER-beta may then contribute to identify women with the highest risk getting more frequent check-ups and/or additional treatment besides chemotherapy, or possibly limit chemotherapy to the women in the high-risk group.
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Citation:
High estrogen receptor beta expression is prognostic among adjuvant chemotherapy-treated patients – results from a population-based breast cancer cohort
Karin Elebro, Signe Borgquist, Ann H Rosendahl, Andrea Markkula, Maria Simonsson, Karin Jirström, Carsten Rose, Christian Ingvar and Helena Jernstrom
DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-1095 Published 3 November 2016
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MedicalResearch.com Interview with:, & Helena Jernström, PhD (2016). ER-beta May Identify Breast Cancer Patients For Whom Chemotherapy is Sufficient MedicalResearch.com
Last Updated on December 26, 2016 by Marie Benz MD FAAD