Abstract #304 Purpose:
The prognostic significance of DTC in the BM of breast cancer pts at the time of primary diagnosis has already been confirmed by a large pooled analysis. In view of the lack of early indicators for secondary adjuvant treatment, we here evaluated whether the persistence of DTC after adjuvant therapy confers a risk for relapse and breast cancer-related death.
Patients and Methods:
We analyzed BM aspirates of 723 pts from academic breast cancer units in Oslo (n=356), Munich (n=228) and Tuebingen (n=139) during recurrence-free follow-up at a mean interval of 31.7 months (standard deviation [std] 19.4 months) after primary diagnosis of breast cancer pT1-4, pN0-3 pM0. Carcinoma cells were detected using a standardized immunoassay with the monoclonal antibodies A45-B/B3 (Munich, Tuebingen), or AE1 and AE3 (Oslo), directed against cytokeratin (CK). Pts were followed for a median of 54.5 months (SD 25.1 months) after primary diagnosis.
Results:
Persistent DTC in the BM was detected in 15.5% of the pts (n=112). The Kaplan-Meier estimate for mean distant relapse-free survival was 162.5 months (157.9 – 167.0 95%CI) in pts with negative and 102.4 months (94.2 – 110.6, 95% CI, p Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(2 Suppl):Abstract nr 304.