Survival of patients with advanced HER2+ breast cancer. Analysis of a cancer center database

Abstract

Background: HER2+ breast cancer (BC) subtype overexpresses the Human Epidermal growth factor Receptor type-2 (HER2) and is characterized by its aggressiveness and its high sensitivity to monoclonal antibody-based HER2-targeted therapies. Aim: To assess the prognosis and evaluate the impact of novel anti-HER2 therapies on advanced HER2+ BC patients treated at our institution over the last decades. Material and Methods: Analysis of the patient database at a cancer center of a university hospital. Information about the subtype of cancer was obtained in 2,149 of 2,724 patients in the database. Eighteen percent of the latter were HER2+. We analyzed data of 83 of these patients with advanced disease. Results: Median overall survival (OS) was 24 months. For patients treated between 1997-2006 median OS was 17 months and for those treated in the period 2007-2017 median OS was 32 months (p = 0.09). Conclusions: A non-significant trend towards better survival in the last decade was observed. HER2+ BC overall survival has improved in our center. This can be probably attributed to the use of novel more effective anti-HER2 therapies.