Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30825048›Full record

ArticleBreast cancer research and treatment2019

Hormone- and HER2-receptor assessment in 33,046 breast cancer patients: a nationwide comparison of positivity rates between pathology laboratories in the Netherlands.

Carmen van Dooijeweert, Ivette A G Deckers, Inge O Baas, Elsken van der Wall, Paul J van Diest

Open access · hybridAbstract read
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Article in Breast cancer research and treatment, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
1.5field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

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  13. Changing patterns and survival improvements of young breast cancer in China and SEER database, 1999Chinese journal of cancer research = Chung-kuo yen cheng yen chiu · 2019
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  15. The influence of diabetes mellitus on blood vessels' amounts and immune status in case of breast cancer.Romanian journal of morphology and embryology = Revue roumaine de morphologie et embryologie
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Carmen van DooijeweertDepartment of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Ivette A G DeckersFoundation PALGA (the nationwide network and registry of histo- and cytopathology in the Netherlands), Houten, The Netherlands.
Inge O BaasDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Elsken van der WallDepartment of Medical Oncology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Paul J van DiestDepartment of Pathology, University Medical Center Utrecht, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. p.j.vandiest@umcutrecht.nl.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0658-2745
University Medical Center Utrecht · NLUtrecht University · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePatient management of invasive breast cancer (IBC) is to a large extent based on hormone- and HER2-receptor assessment. High-quality, reliable receptor assessment is of key importance as false results may lead to under- or overtreatment of patients. Surveillance of case-mix adjusted positivity rates has been suggested as a tool to identify laboratories with insufficient testing assays, as this covers the whole process of receptor assessment and enables laboratories to benchmark their positivity rates against other laboratories. We studied laboratory-specific variation in hormone- and HER2 positivity rates of 33,046 breast cancer patients using real-life nationwide data.

methodsAll synoptic pathology reports of IBC resection-specimens, obtained between 2013 and 2016, were retrieved from the nationwide Dutch pathology registry (PALGA). Absolute and case-mix adjusted receptor positivity rates were compared to the mean national proportion and presented in funnel plots in separate analyses for estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR) and HER2. Case-mix adjustment was performed by multivariable logistic regression.

results33,794 IBC lesions from 33,046 patients of 39 pathology laboratories were included. After case-mix adjustment, mean positivity rates were 87.2% for ER (range 80.4-94.3), 71.3% for PR (62.5-77.5%), and 9.9% for HER2 (5.5-12.7%). Overall, 14 (35.9%), 17 (43.6%) and 11 (28.2%) laboratories showed positivity rates outside the 95% confidence interval for ER, PR and HER2, respectively.

conclusionThis nationwide study shows that absolute variation in hormone- and HER2-receptor positivity rates between Dutch pathology laboratories is limited. Yet, the considerable number of outlying laboratories shows that there is still need for improvement. Continuous monitoring and benchmarking of positivity rates may help to realize this.

Indexed as

AgedBiomarkers, TumorBreast NeoplasmsErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesEstrogensFemaleHumansMiddle AgedNetherlandsProgesteroneReceptors, EstrogenReceptors, ProgesteroneRegistriesBiomarkers, TumorERBB2 protein, humanErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesEstrogensProgesteroneReceptors, EstrogenReceptors, ProgesteroneHER2Hormone receptorInter-laboratory variationInvasive breast cancerPALGAPathology

Identifiers

PMID30825048
PMCPMC6533417
OpenAlexW2918410715

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.