TY - JOUR
T1 - Breast cancer diagnosed in the post-weaning period is indicative for a poor outcome
AU - Lefrère, Hanne
AU - Floris, Giuseppe
AU - Schmidt, Marjanka K.
AU - Neven, Patrick
AU - Warner, Ellen
AU - Cardonick, Elyce
AU - Peccatori, Fedro A.
AU - Loibl, Sibylle
AU - Maggen, Charlotte
AU - de Mulder, Hanne
AU - Jerzak, Katarzyna J.
AU - Lambrechts, Diether
AU - Lenaerts, Liesbeth
AU - Amant, Frédéric
N1 - Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ?[647047 to F.A.]?, the European Union; the KWF kankerbestrijding, the Dutch Cancer Society ?[11132 to F.A.]?, the Netherlands; the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, the Flemish Research Foundation or ?FWO? ?[G0A9219 N to F.A.]?, Belgium and the Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up to Cancer), the Flemish cancer society ?[3M150537 to H.L.]?, Belgium. Prof. Frederic Amant is a senior investigator for the FWO. Prof. Giuseppe Floris is a recipient of a post-doctoral mandate from KOOR in UZ-Leuven, Belgium. Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme ‘[647047 to F.A.]’, the European Union; the KWF kankerbestrijding, the Dutch Cancer Society ‘[11132 to F.A.]’, the Netherlands; the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, the Flemish Research Foundation or ‘FWO’ ‘[G0A9219 N to F.A.]’, Belgium and the Kom op tegen Kanker (Stand up to Cancer), the Flemish cancer society ‘[3M150537 to H.L.]’, Belgium. Prof. Frederic Amant is a senior investigator for the FWO. Prof. Giuseppe Floris is a recipient of a post-doctoral mandate from KOOR in UZ-Leuven, Belgium. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - Background: In young women, a breast cancer diagnosis after childbirth increases the risk for metastasis and death. Studies in rodents suggest that post-weaning mammary gland involution contributes to the poor prognosis of postpartum breast cancers. However, this association has not been investigated in humans, mainly because of missing information on the patient's lactation status at diagnosis. Patients and methods: Clinicopathological data of 1180 young women with primary invasive breast cancer, diagnosed within 2 years postpartum (PP-BC), during pregnancy (Pr-BC), or nulliparous (NP-BC), were collected. For PP-BC patients, breastfeeding history was retrieved to differentiate breast cancers identified during lactation (PP-BC DL) from those diagnosed post-weaning (PP-BC PW). Differences in prognostic parameters, first site of distant metastasis, and risks for metastasis and death were determined between patient groups. Results: Cox proportional hazard models pointed to a twofold increased the risk of metastasis and death in PP-BC PW patients compared with PP-BC DL (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1 [P DRS = 0.021] and 2.9 [P OS = 0.004]), Pr-BC (HR 2.1 [P DRS<0.001] and 2.3 [P OS<0.001]) and NP-BC (HR 2.1 [P DRS<0.001] and 2.0 [P OS<0.001]) patients. Prognosis was poorest for PP-BC PW patients who did not breastfeed or only for ≤ 3 months before diagnosis. This could not fully be attributed to differences in standard prognostic characteristics. In addition, PP-BC PW tumours showed a 3- to 8-fold increased risk to metastasise to the liver, yet this did not correlate with the poor outcome of this patient cohort. Conclusions: Breast cancer diagnosed shortly after weaning specifically adds to the poor prognosis in women diagnosed with PP-BC. Apart from the importance of an increased awareness, these data show that detailed lactation data need to be registered when breast cancer outcome in young women is investigated.
AB - Background: In young women, a breast cancer diagnosis after childbirth increases the risk for metastasis and death. Studies in rodents suggest that post-weaning mammary gland involution contributes to the poor prognosis of postpartum breast cancers. However, this association has not been investigated in humans, mainly because of missing information on the patient's lactation status at diagnosis. Patients and methods: Clinicopathological data of 1180 young women with primary invasive breast cancer, diagnosed within 2 years postpartum (PP-BC), during pregnancy (Pr-BC), or nulliparous (NP-BC), were collected. For PP-BC patients, breastfeeding history was retrieved to differentiate breast cancers identified during lactation (PP-BC DL) from those diagnosed post-weaning (PP-BC PW). Differences in prognostic parameters, first site of distant metastasis, and risks for metastasis and death were determined between patient groups. Results: Cox proportional hazard models pointed to a twofold increased the risk of metastasis and death in PP-BC PW patients compared with PP-BC DL (hazard ratio [HR] 2.1 [P DRS = 0.021] and 2.9 [P OS = 0.004]), Pr-BC (HR 2.1 [P DRS<0.001] and 2.3 [P OS<0.001]) and NP-BC (HR 2.1 [P DRS<0.001] and 2.0 [P OS<0.001]) patients. Prognosis was poorest for PP-BC PW patients who did not breastfeed or only for ≤ 3 months before diagnosis. This could not fully be attributed to differences in standard prognostic characteristics. In addition, PP-BC PW tumours showed a 3- to 8-fold increased risk to metastasise to the liver, yet this did not correlate with the poor outcome of this patient cohort. Conclusions: Breast cancer diagnosed shortly after weaning specifically adds to the poor prognosis in women diagnosed with PP-BC. Apart from the importance of an increased awareness, these data show that detailed lactation data need to be registered when breast cancer outcome in young women is investigated.
KW - Involution
KW - Lactation
KW - Metastasis
KW - Post-weaning
KW - Postpartum breast cancer
KW - Prognosis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85111228822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.009
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejca.2021.06.009
M3 - Article
C2 - 34330022
SN - 0959-8049
VL - 155
SP - 13
EP - 24
JO - European Journal of Cancer
JF - European Journal of Cancer
ER -