0000000000051976
AUTHOR
Lukas Schwentner
Do Patients with Luminal A Breast Cancer Profit from Adjuvant Systemic Therapy? A Retrospective Multicenter Study
Background Luminal A breast cancers respond well to anti-hormonal therapy (HT), are associated with a generally favorable prognosis and constitute the majority of breast cancer subtypes. HT is the mainstay of treatment of these patients, accompanied by an acceptable profile of side effects, whereas the added benefit of chemotherapy (CHT), including anthracycline and taxane-based programs, is less clear-cut and has undergone a process of critical revision. Methods In the framework of the BRENDA collective, we analyzed the benefits of CHT compared to HT in 4570 luminal A patients (pts) with primary diagnosis between 2001 and 2008. The results were adjusted by nodal status, age, tumor size and…
The Impact of Age on Quality of Life in Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Adjuvant Chemotherapy: A Comparative Analysis From the Prospective Multicenter Randomized ADEBAR trial
Elderly breast cancer patients are affected by poorer quality of life (QoL) compared to younger patients. Because QoL has a relevant impact on guideline-adherent treatment, elderly breast cancer patients are often undertreated, especially with regard to adjuvant chemotherapy, and overall survival is decreased. Thus, understanding the impact of chemotherapy on QoL in elderly patients is crucial. This study compared QoL in patients aged 65 years and 65 to 70 years receiving adjuvant chemotherapy as a secondary outcome in the prospective randomized multicenter ADEBAR trial.Patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer were prospectively randomized for either sequential anthracycline-taxane o…
Tumor biology in older breast cancer patients – What is the impact on survival stratified for guideline adherence? A retrospective multi-centre cohort study of 5378 patients
Abstract Purpose The tumor biology of older breast cancer patients (oBCP) is usually less aggressive, however applied adjuvant treatment is often less potent resulting in an impaired disease free survival and overall survival in this group. This study tries to answer the following questions for the biological subtypes of oBCP (70+ y): (1) Is there a significant difference in the distribution of the biological subtypes of oBCP vs younger breast cancer patients (yBCP; 50–69 y)? (2) Which biological subtype has the highest rate of non-guideline-adherent-treatment (GL−) among oBCP? (3) Is a single GL− (i.e. radiotherapy/surgery/endocrine-therapy/chemotherapy) significantly associated with the s…
Factors influencing the development of visceral metastasis of breast cancer: A retrospective multi-center study.
Abstract Purpose Visceral metastasis of breast cancer (BC) is an alarming development and correlates with poor median overall survival. The purpose of this retrospective study is to examine the risk factors for developing visceral metastasis by considering tumor biology and patient characteristics. Methods Using the BRENDA database, the risk factors such as histological and intrinsic subtypes of BC, age at primary diagnosis, grading, nodal status, tumor size and year of primary diagnosis were examined in univariate and multivariate analysis. Categorical variables were compared by using χ2 tests. Furthermore, multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression models, Kaplan–Meier product-limit…
Prevalence of Cardiac Disease in Breast Cancer Patients at Time of Diagnosis Compared to the General Female Population in Germany.
<b><i>Background:</i></b> Advances in oncological therapy have significantly improved breast cancer survival; therefore comorbid conditions are becoming more relevant. We investigated the prevalence of prior cardiovascular diseases and risk factors in patients with breast cancer compared to those in the general female population in Germany. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> The PASSOS heart study is a retrospective multicenter cohort study on cardiac late effects in breast cancer patients treated between 1998 and 2008. We analyzed the frequencies of cardiac diseases and cardiovascular risk factors in patients from this cohort as documented in anesthesia …
Aggressive Intrinsic Subtypes in Breast Cancer: A Predictor of Guideline Adherence in Older Patients With Breast Cancer?
Treatment side effects, comorbidities, and guideline-adherent treatment (GL+) influence the oncologic outcome of older breast cancer patients (oBCP) (age ≥ 70 years). The focus of this analysis was to investigate the associations among tumor characteristics, guideline adherence, and outcome and to compare these associations between younger breast cancer patients (yBCP) (age 50-69 years) and oBCP.This is a retrospective multicenter cohort study with 17 participating certified breast cancer centers. The analysis of 10,897 patient records collected from 1992 to 2008 for GL+ and clinical outcome was performed. Tumor and patient characteristics and their associations with GL+ were compared betwe…
Assessing the impact of CMF/FEC/FEC-DOC/ETC (dose-dense) adjuvant chemotherapy in dependency of positive axillary lymph nodes on survival: A retrospective multicenter cohort study of 4,526 breast cancer patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.
1074 Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy has changed dramatically in the last decades. Anthracycline-/taxane-based and dose-dense chemotherapy regimens improved survival in node positive breast cancer. This study tries to answer the following questions: (1) Are there differences in survival dependent on chemotherapy regimens in 0/0-3/4-10/<10 positive lymph nodes? (2) Is it possible to define a cut-off of positive lymph nodes for the use of Taxane-based and dose dense chemotherapy? Methods: This German is a multi-center [17 participating hospitals all are certified as breast cancer centers] retrospective cohort study. We included CMF (1.385), FEC (1.170), FEC-DOC (1.723), and dose-dense E…
Participation in adjuvant clinical breast cancer trials: Is there a difference in survival compared to guideline adherent adjuvant treatment? A retrospective multicenter cohort study of 5,326 patients.
1082 Background: Clinical trials (CT) usually compare a standard treatment regime versus innovative new substances or regimens. However participation in CT is available for only few patients and exclusion criteria is usually very strict. Therefore this study tries to answer the following questions: (1) Does participation in adjuvant CT improve survival in breast cancer (BC)? (2) Is there a difference in survival compared to guideline adherence and what is the role of the other treatments surrounding adjuvant breast cancer treatment? Methods: This German multi-center [17 participating hospitals all are certified as breast cancer centers] retrospective cohort study called BRENDA (BRENDA = qu…
Participation in adjuvant clinical breast cancer trials: does study participation improve survival compared to guideline adherent adjuvant treatment? A retrospective multi-centre cohort study of 9,433 patients.
Abstract Adjuvant clinical trials (CTs) usually compare a standard treatment regime versus an innovative new substance or regimen. Participation in CT however, is available for only few patients and exclusion criteria are usually very strict. Therefore we used an unselected patient cohort to investigate the following questions: (1) Is participation in adjuvant CT associated with improved survival in breast cancer (BC)? (2) What is the impact of guideline conform therapy on survival in BC compared to that of participants in CT? Does guideline-conform adjuvant treatment provide an equal impact? Material and methods This German retrospective multi-centre cohort study included 9433 patients wit…
The course of psychiatric co-morbidity in patients with breast cancer - results from the prospective multi-centre BRENDA II study
Purpose This study examined the frequency of psychiatric co-morbidity in patients with breast cancer, its changes over time and predictors for these changes. Methods In a prospective study with measurements before surgery (t1, baseline), 1 month (t2) and 8 months thereafter (t3) using the Patient Health Questionnaire, we examined the course of psychiatric co-morbidity in breast cancer patients. The co-morbidity courses were grouped into healthy (no co-morbidity during the study), acute (co-morbidity at t1 and/or t2, but not at t3), emerging (no co-morbidity at t1, but at t3) and chronic (co-morbidity at t1 and t3). Results Of the 598 participants, 19% had acute, 10% emerging and 9% chronic …
Short term quality of life with epirubicin-fluorouracil-cyclophosphamid (FEC) and sequential epirubicin/cyclophosphamid-docetaxel (EC-DOC) chemotherapy in patients with primary breast cancer - Results from the prospective multi-center randomized ADEBAR trial.
Abstract Background The recommendation for adjuvant dose-dense chemotherapy in high risk primary breast cancer is heterogeneous among guidelines. Understanding the impact on QoL is thereby a crucial factor, especially if the benefit is potentially low. This study aims to assess QoL as a secondary outcome in the prospective randomized multi-center ADEBAR trial. Methods QoL was assessed at baseline (t1), before cycle 4 FEC and cycle 5 EC-DOC (t2), 4 weeks after chemotherapy (t3) and 6 weeks after radiation (t4) using the European Organization for Research and Treatment for Cancer (EORTC) Quality of Life Core Questionnaire (QLQ-C30) and the Breast Cancer-Specific Module (QLQ-BR23). Results 130…
Is guideline-adherent adjuvant treatment an equivalent option for elderly patients who cannot participate in adjuvant clinical breast cancer trials? A retrospective multicenter cohort study of 4,142 patients.
1063 Background: It is well accepted that innovation in oncology is transported through randomized clinical trials (CT). However, elderly patients (>65) are usually excluded from CT. Therefore this...
Comorbidity-dependent adherence to guidelines and survival in breast cancer-Is there a role for guideline adherence in comorbid breast cancer patients? A retrospective cohort study with 2137 patients.
In the treatment of breast cancer, decisions on adjuvant treatment reflect individual patient characteristics like age and comorbidity. This study assessed the association between adherence to guidelines for adjuvant treatment and survival while taking into account age at diagnosis and comorbidities. We collected the Charlson comorbidity index at baseline for 2179 women treated for primary breast cancer from 1992 to 2008 who participated in a German retrospective multicenter cohort study. We assessed subsequent adjuvant therapy guideline adherence and survival in relation to baseline comorbidities. Guidelines for adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy were more often violated in patients wi…
Is extracapsular nodal extension in sentinel nodes a predictor for nonsentinel metastasis and is there an impact on survival parameters?-A retrospective single center cohort study with 324 patients
The Z0011 trial has fundamentally changed axillary management in breast cancer patients. However, some important questions remain, like the role of extracapsular nodal extension (ENE) in positive sentinel nodes and the need for further axillary treatment. In this retrospective cohort study, we reviewed and analyzed data from 342 clinically node negative (cN0) breast cancer patients with a positive sentinel node and subsequent axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) from the BRENDA data base. The 104 (30.4%) ENE positive patients had a significantly higher proportion of ≥3 positive axillary lymph nodes (65.0%) compared to ENE negative patients with a positive sentinel node (21.4%). Likewise, E…
Which patient- and physician-related factors influence guideline adherence in adjuvant endocrine therapy?: Results of the prospective multi-center cohort study BRENDA II.
e11544 Background: This study examined the question, which factors influence patients’ and physicians’ decisions associated with guideline adherent adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET). Methods: In a pr...
Association between cognitive impairment and guideline adherence for application of chemotherapy in older patients with breast cancer: Results from the prospective multicenter BRENDA II study
Background This study examined the association between cognitive impairment and guideline adherence for application of chemotherapy in older patients with breast cancer. Patients and methods In the prospective multicenter cohort study BRENDA II, patients aged ≥65 years with primary breast cancer were sampled over a period of 4 years (2009-2012). A multiprofessional team (tumor board) discussed recommendation for adjuvant chemotherapy according to the German S3 guideline. Cognitive impairment was screened by the clock-drawing test (CDT) prior to adjuvant treatment. Results Two hundred and sixty-three patients were included in the study and CDT data were available for 193 patients. Thirty-one…
Breast Cancer Patients' Fear of Treatment: Results from the Multicenter Longitudinal Study BRENDA II.
Background: Fear of cancer treatment can become overwhelming. It is important to understand what patients are mainly afraid of and what factors are correlated with intense fear of treatment. Methods: Patients with primary breast cancer (n = 761) completed questionnaires about fear of treatment before surgery (t1), and before (t2) and after (t3) adjuvant treatment. Psychological co-morbidity was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire. Logistic regression identified predictors of intense fear of treatment. Results: Patients were most afraid of chemotherapy (mean score 3.5), and fear remained high throughout follow-up; fear of radiotherapy and of surgery was lower and decreased over t…