Prognostic role of HER2 loss after neoadjuvant therapy in patients with HER2-positive operable breast cancer

Background: Emerging literature data are consistently showing that a change in HER2 status adversely affect the prognosis of breast cancer patients. Aim of the present analysis is to evaluate the prognostic impact of HER2 loss in breast cancer patients with HER2 positive disease treated with neoadjuvant therapy with or without anti-HER2 agents. Methods: A total of 94 HER2 positive patients were identified from a prospectively maintained database. The first cohort (A) includes 40 patients treated with chemotherapy alone (enrolled before 2005). The second cohort (B) includes 54 patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in combination with anti-HER2 agents (trastuzumab and/or lapatinib). HER2 expression was evaluated by IHC or FISH on pre-treatment core biopsy and on surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. Patients were considered as having HER2 positive disease in case of IHC 3+ or FISH amplification. Results: No imbalance in terms of age, stage at diagnosis, tumor grade and expression of hormone receptor was observed in the two cohorts. In detail, 67% and 61% of the patients have a co-expression of HER2 and hormone receptor in cohort A and B, respectively. The rate of breast conservation was significantly higher in cohort B (chemotherapy+anti-HER2 agents) as compared to cohort A (chemotherapy alone) (59% vs 38%, p=0.048). Similarly, the rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) was significantly higher in cohort B (42.6% vs 7.5% in cohort A, p<0.001). A change in HER2 expression from biopsy to post-therapy samples was observed in 35% of the patients in cohort A vs 9% of the patients in cohort B (p=0.04). No patients achieving a pCR have recurred so far vs 25% of the patients with less than pCR (p=0.005). The rate of recurrence was significantly higher for patients experiencing a change in HER2 expression (47% vs 15% in patients with no change, p=0.007). At 5 years, 53% of the patients with Her2 change and 75% of the patients without Her2 change were alive and free of recurrence (log rank test: p=0.03). Conclusions: The rate of HER2 loss was significantly higher in patients not receiving anti-HER2 agents as a part of the neoadjuvant therapy. In this series, the change in HER2 status has a negative prognostic impact.