ArticleBMC cancer2022
HELENA: HER2-Low as a prEdictive factor of response to Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in eArly breast cancer.
Article in BMC cancer, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prognostic value of pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2026Pooled it
- NeoProspect HER2-low: Response and Prognosis After Neoadjuvant Treatment in Patients with HER2-low Breast Cancer.Cureus · 2026Article
- Prognostic value of RecurIndex in differentiating HER2-low from HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer: a comprehensive clinicopathologic and molecular analysis in Chinese patients.Translational breast cancer research : a journal focusing on translational research in breast cancer · 2026Article
- Pathologic Response and Survival Outcomes on HER2-Low vs. HER2-Zero in Breast Cancer Receiving Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Article
- Antibody-drug conjugates in breast cancer: advances and prospects.Cancer biology & medicine · 2025Article
- The clinicopathological characteristics, oncologic outcomes and costs of "HER2-low" early breast cancer compared to HER2-zero and HER2-positive: a single-centre retrospective analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Article
- Influence of HER2 Changes on Survival Outcomes After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Peruvian Patients With Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.The breast journal · 2025Article
- Modeling intratumor heterogeneity in breast cancer.Biofabrication · 2024Review
- The prognostic impact of Her2 status in early triple negative breast cancer: a Turkish Oncology Group (TOG) study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Racial/Ethnic Differences in Pathologic Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Survival Among Early-Stage, Erb-B2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinase 2-Low Breast Cancer Patients.Journal of breast cancer · 2024Article
- Predictive factors for complete pathologic response in luminal breast cancer: impact of ki67 and HER2 low expression.Therapeutic advances in medical oncology · 2024Article
- Insights Into the Emerging Entity of HER2-Low Breast Cancer.International journal of breast cancer · 2024Review
- Comparison of the pCR Rate and DFS Among Breast Cancer Patients with Different Hormone Receptor and HER2 Statuses.Breast cancer (Dove Medical Press) · 2023Article
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17 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHER2 expression has a prognostic and predictive impact in early-stage breast cancer (BC). HER2 positive BC (immunohistochemistry (IHC) score 3 + or 2 + with in situ hybridization (ISH) amplification) are treated with HER2 targeted therapies. The concept of HER2-low BC (IHC score 1 + or 2 + without ISH amplification) is drawing attention as anti-HER2 treatment has recently shown efficacy in this subgroup. We aimed to explore the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in HER2-low early BC according to the HER2 score (1 + or 2 + without amplification).
methodsWe conducted a retrospective study in two French comprehensive cancer centers. All patients with HER2-low BC treated with NAC from January 2014 to December 2020 were included. The primary objective was to analyze the pathological complete response (pCR) rate to NAC using the Sataloff or RCB system, according to the HER2 score. Secondary objectives were to assess disease free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and to explore the immune environment through the Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR), according to HER2 expression. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.
resultsWe included 237 tumors for 229 patients. Of these, 160 (67.5%) tumors were HER2 1 + , 77 (32.5%) were HER2 2 + , and 152 (64.1%) were hormone receptor (HR) positive. The median age was 53.9 years. No differences in tumor characteristics were observed between HER2 1 + and HER2 2 + subgroups. pCR was achieved in 38 tumors (17%), without any difference between HER2 1 + and HER2 2 + subgroups (p = 0.77). DFS and OS were significantly different between HER2 1 + and HER2 2 + patients (HR = 0.41,CI95%[0.17;0.97] p = 0.037 and HR = 0.31,CI95%[0.09;1.02] p = 0.042, respectively). HER2 status was still associated with DFS and OS after adjustment for age, HR status and NLR, with better outcomes in favor of HER2 score 2 + (HR = 0.35 [0.15-0.84] and HR = 0.24 [0.07-0.81], respectively). NLR was not associated with worse DFS or OS.
conclusionIn HER2-low early BC, no differences in pCR were observed between HER2 1 + and HER2 2 + tumors, however patients with HER2 2 + tumors had a better DFS and OS than those with HER2 1 + . Further investigations are needed to describe the intrinsic differences in the spectrum of HER2-low BC.
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