Study Finds Risk of Recurrence Low in Smallest HER2+ Breast Cancer Tumors

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Jun 02, 2014, 04:00 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Patients with specific HER2+ breast cancer tumors have a low risk of the cancer recurring five years after diagnosis, even without chemotherapy or treatment with a common antibody, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Researchers reviewed 16,975 cases of breast cancer diagnosed in Kaiser Permanente patients between 2000 and 2006. They found that for patients with the smallest HER2+ tumors (0.5 centimeters or less) who did not receive treatment with the antibody trastuzumab or chemotherapy, the chance of surviving five years without a distant recurrence (cancer that spreads outside the breast to other organs) was 99 percent. A distant recurrence is considered to be more threatening than a local recurrence in the breast.

For patients with the next size tumor (0.6 to 1 centimeter) the chance of surviving five years without a distant recurrence was 97 percent.

"Our results suggest that trastuzumab therapy may not be needed for patients with HER2+ tumors that are 0.5 centimeters in size or smaller, but should be considered for patients with larger tumors, with stronger consideration as the tumor size nears 1 centimeter," said lead author Lou Fehrenbacher, MD, medical director of Kaiser Permanente Oncology Clinical Trials and oncologist with Kaiser Permanente Vallejo (Calif.) Medical Center. "This is the first large study to demonstrate that the smallest lymph node-negative HER2+ breast cancers have a very low chance of returning."

Typical treatments for small, lymph node-negative HER2+ tumors include surgery to remove the tumor and radiation therapy, although trastuzumab and chemotherapy are also frequently used to treat patients. HER2+ breast cancer, a subtype that accounts for between 15 percent and 20 percent of all cases of breast cancer in the United States, has been shown to respond well to trastuzumab. However trastuzumab can lead to heart failure in some women, particularly those who are older and who have other disease conditions.

Unlike larger tumors where distant recurrences are more common, the study found that the risk of local and distant recurrences was similar for these small HER2+ breast cancer tumors.

In addition to Dr. Fehrenbacher, co-authors of the study were Angela M. Capra, MA, Charles P. Quasenberry, PhD, and Laurel A. Habel, PhD, of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research; Regan Fulton, MD, PhD, Immunochemistry Lab, Kaiser Permanente Northern California; and Parveen Shiraz, MD, Loma Linda University.

About the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research
The Kaiser Permanente Division of Research conducts, publishes and disseminates epidemiologic and health services research to improve the health and medical care of Kaiser Permanente members and society at large. It seeks to understand the determinants of illness and well-being, and to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of health care. Currently, DOR's 550-plus staff is working on more than 250 epidemiological and health services research projects. For more information, visit www.dor.kaiser.org and follow us @KPDOR.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve approximately 9.3 million members in eight states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/share.

For more information, contact:
Vincent Staupe,[email protected], 415-318-4386
Janet Byron, [email protected], 510-891-3115

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SOURCE Kaiser Permanente