BREAST CANCER OUTCOME INDEPENDENT OF BRCA1 STATUS

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 08 - In women with triple-negative breast cancer, carriage of the BRCA1 mutation is not an independent predictor of survival, researchers report in a January 24th online paper in Cancer.
As Dr. Nadine Tung told Reuters Health by email, "Our study found that women who were BRCA1 mutation carriers had a similar prognosis to women who were not carriers following a diagnosis of triple-negative breast cancer."
"These findings have implications for patients and their physicians when discussing treatment recommendations such as chemotherapy and preventive surgeries such as mastectomy," she added.
Dr. Tung of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, and colleagues note that triple-negative breast cancer accounts for the majority of breast cancers that develop in women with germline mutations in the BRCA1 breast cancer susceptibility gene.
To gauge the impact of the mutation, the researchers examined data on 46 BRCA1 carriers and 71 noncarriers, all of whom received alkylating chemotherapy.
Median follow-up was for more than 6 years. Freedom from distant metastasis at 5 years was 76% for carriers and 70% for noncarriers. Sites didn't differ significantly but carriers had a propensity for brain relapse (58% versus 24%).
Overall survival at 5 years was 82% for carriers and 74% for noncarriers. However, after adjustment for age and stage, mutation status didn't independently predict freedom from distant metastasis, breast cancer-specific and overall survival.
"Although mutation carriers did not have improved survival rates with conventional chemotherapy as shown in this study, promising new therapies such as PARP inhibitors and platinum agents are being actively investigated for women with triple-negative breast cancer," concluded Dr. Tung.
Cancer. Posted online January 24, 2011. Abstract