Journal of the Egyptian National Cancer Institute
Outcomes of non-metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancer before and after the introduction of anti-HER-2 therapy: a retrospective study from a tertiary Egyptian center
By Ibrahim AAY, Ismail AM, Fouda MM and 1 others.
Abstract
Background
HER-2 positive breast cancer accounts for 15-20% of cases and is associated with aggressive behavior and poor prognosis. Anti-HER-2 therapy, including trastuzumab and pertuzumab, has improved outcomes in Western populations; however, real-world data in Egyptian patients remain limited. This study evaluated pathological response, disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) among Egyptian patients with non-metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancer treated before and after the introduction of anti-HER-2 therapy.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed 200 female patients with non-metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancer treated in two treatment eras: before the introduction of anti-HER-2 therapy (2014-2016, n = 100) and after its introduction (2020-2022, n = 100). Patients in the later era received trastuzumab alone or trastuzumab plus pertuzumab in the neoadjuvant or adjuvant setting. Outcomes included pathological complete response (pCR), DFS, OS. Survival outcomes were assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and compared using the log-rank test. Univariable and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were performed for DFS and OS.