Journal
CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOMARKERS & PREVENTION
Volume 18, Issue 6, Pages 1807-1814Publisher
AMER ASSOC CANCER RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-09-0096
Keywords
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Funding
- National Center of Excellence for Clinical Trial
- Research of National Taiwan University Hospital [DOH97-TD-B-111-001]
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Background: In the past two decades, the incidence of breast cancer in young Taiwanese females has been rapidly increasing, approaching the risk level of western countries. As a first step to investigate the possible etiology, we examined the molecular subtypes of female breast cancer in Taiwan. Methods: This study included 1,028 consecutive patients with breast cancer diagnosed in National Taiwan University Hospital between 2004 and 2006. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2, cytokeratin 5/6, and epidermal growth factor receptor expression and/or gene amplification were analyzed. Results: Younger (<= 50 years) breast cancer patients had a higher prevalence of luminal A (67% versus 57%; P < 0.001) and a lower prevalence of basal-like subtype (9% versus 17%; P < 0.001) compared with older (>50 years) patients. The higher prevalence of luminal A subtype was mainly attributed to a higher ER (75% versus 63%; P < 0.001) and PR (47% versus 33%; P < 0.001) expression rate in younger patients than older patients. Tumors with histologic grade 3 were less prevalent in younger patients than in older patients (23% versus 30%; P = 0.01). For very young (<35 years) patients, the molecular subtype distribution, ER and/or PR expression rate, and histologic grade were not significantly different from those of less young (35-50 years) patients. Conclusions: Young breast cancer patients in Taiwan are characterized by a high prevalence of luminal A subtype and low prevalence of histologic grade 3 tumor and/or basal-like subtype. These features are distinct from young breast cancer patients in western countries. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2009;18(6):1807-14)
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