Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35530657›Full record

ArticleCancer diagnosis & prognosis

Prognostic Significance of Low HER2 Expression in Patients With Early Hormone Receptor Positive Breast Cancer.

George Douganiotis, Loukas Kontovinis, Efrosini Markopoulou, Alexandra Ainali, Thomas Zarampoukas, Ioannis Natsiopoulos, Konstantinos Papazisis

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer diagnosis & prognosis. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
24citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% 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

24 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Comparison of clinical characteristics and survival between HER2-zero and HER2-low in early breast cancer: a retrospective observational study.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2026
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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

7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

George Douganiotis3rd Department of Medical Oncology, Theagenio Cancer Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Loukas KontovinisMedical Oncology Department, Euromedica General Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Efrosini MarkopoulouMedical Oncology Department, Euromedica General Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Alexandra AinaliMedical Oncology Department, Euromedica General Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Thomas ZarampoukasDepartment of Pathology, Interbalkan European Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Ioannis NatsiopoulosDepartment of Breast Surgery, Interbalkan European Medical Center, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Konstantinos PapazisisMedical Oncology Department, Euromedica General Clinic, Thessaloniki, Greece.
Euromedica · GRInterbalkan Medical Center · GR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

BACKGROUND/

aimA possible role of antibody-drug conjugates against tumors with low HER2-expression, leads to the emergence of a new "low-HER2" classification in breast cancer, encompassing tumors from the hormonal-receptor-positive and the triple-negative subgroups. There is a need for data (clinical trial data and real-world evidence) that will accurately describe this population, the risk of recurrence and the possible benefit of HER2 targeted therapies. PATIENTS AND

methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 949 patients from our Department databases, with hormonal receptor-positive and HER2-negative early breast cancer, for whom detailed data for immunohistochemical HER2-staining could be retrieved.

resultsHER2-low expression was detected in 66.6% of patients (472 IHC +1 and 160 IHC +2 and ISH-negative). Lobular, or mixed lobular and ductal cancers had a statistically significantly lower chance of being HER2-low when compared to pure infiltrative ductal carcinomas (53.1% vs. 69.3% respectively). HER2-low status was not prognostic for recurrence-free survival or response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There was a non-significant trend for increased risk of recurrence for HER2-low, compared to HER2-0, in patients with lobular or mixed lobular and ductal carcinomas (HR=2.192, 95% CI=0.819-5.912).

conclusionLow expression of HER2 in hormonal receptor-positive early breast cancer does not affect prognosis but may lead to a shorter progression-free-survival in lobular and mixed ductal and lobular cancers. Despite optimal management, a large proportion of hormonal receptor-positive patients will relapse. Targeting HER2 in HER2-low cancers may offer a potential additional treatment strategy to improve survival of this group.

Indexed as

Breast cancerHER2-lowHormone Receptor positivelobularprognosis

Identifiers

PMID35530657
PMCPMC9066545
OpenAlexW4225424239

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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.