Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40114292›Full record

ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2025

Pathological complete response, histologic grade, and level of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in ER + HER2- breast cancer.

Seung Ho Baek, Min Ji Lee, Yoonwon Kook, Soong June Bae, Joon Jeong, Yoon Jin Cha, Sung Gwe Ahn

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Seung Ho BaekDepartment of Surgery, Yongin Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Yongin, Republic of Korea.
Min Ji LeeDepartment of Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yoonwon KookDepartment of Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Soong June BaeDepartment of Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Joon JeongDepartment of Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yoon Jin ChaDepartment of Pathology, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. yooncha@yuhs.ac.
Sung Gwe AhnDepartment of Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea. asg2004@yuhs.ac.

Funding

National Research Foundation of Korea RS-2024-00343001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRecent trials have integrated immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) into neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer of histologic grade (HG) III. We assessed the pathological complete response (pCR) rate according to the level of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTIL) and HG in patients with ER + HER2- breast cancer undergoing NAC.

methodsBetween January 2016 and December 2023, we retrospectively identified 376 patients with ER + HER2- breast cancer who underwent NAC followed by surgery. HG and sTIL levels were examined in the biopsied samples before NAC. Multiple sTIL cutoff values as 10%, 20%, and 30% were applied.

resultsTwenty-seven patients (7.2%) had HG III tumors. The pCR rate in the HG III group was 22.2%, which was significantly higher than that in the HG I/II group (4.0%) (p < 0.001). The HG III group had a higher mean sTIL level than HG I/II group (38.7% vs. 12.9%; p < 0.001). According to the sTIL levels, the pCR rate in the high sTIL group was significantly higher than that in the low sTIL group: i) cutoff of 10%, 2.4% vs. 9.5%; cutoff of 20%, 2.8% vs. 13.7%; and cutoff of 30%, 3.2% vs. 18.3%. In the high sTIL (≥ 30%) group, the pCR rate for HG III was 33.3%, whereas that for HG I/II was 13.3%.

conclusionsHigh tumor grade and sTIL levels were associated with higher rates of pCR in ER + HER2- breast cancer. Our findings support that the addition to ICIs to NAC increased pCR in high-risk, HG III, ER + HER2- breast cancer and suggest that sTIL levels could be utilized to identify patients with ER + HER2- breast cancer eligible for chemoimmunotherapy.

Indexed as

Breast NeoplasmsErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesLymphocytes, Tumor-InfiltratingAdultAgedAntineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsBiomarkers, TumorFemaleHumansMiddle AgedNeoadjuvant TherapyNeoplasm GradingReceptors, EstrogenRetrospective StudiesBiomarkers, TumorERBB2 protein, humanErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesReceptors, EstrogenEstrogen receptor-positiveHistologic gradeHuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negativeImmune checkpoint inhibitorsNeoadjuvant chemotherapyPathological complete responseStromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes

Identifiers

PMID40114292
PMCPMC11927358

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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.