| Prognostic analysis according to adjuvant chemotherapy and anti-HER2 therapy following surgery in T1a/b HER2-positive breast cancer |
Woochan Park1, Koung Jin Suh1
, Jeongmin Seo1, Se Hyun Kim1, Yu Jung Kim1, Hee-Chul Shin2, Eun-Kyu Kim2, In Ah Kim3, So Yeon Park4, and Jee Hyun Kim1,5 |
1Division of Medical Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
2Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
3Department of Radiation Oncology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
4Department of Pathology, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
5Department of Genomic Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea |
Corresponding Author:
Koung Jin Suh , Tel: +82-31-787-7384, Fax: +82-31-787-4098, Email: skjmd0919@gmail.com
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Received: October 31, 2025; Revised: March 22, 2026; Accepted: April 3, 2026. |
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| Abstract |
Background/Aims: The optimal adjuvant chemotherapy and anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapy regimen following surgery for T1a/b HER2-positive breast cancer remains debatable.
Methods: In this single-center retrospective analysis, we examined the postoperative treatment strategies for patients diagnosed with T1a/b node-negative HER2-positive breast cancer. Invasive breast cancer-free survival (IBCFS), invasive disease-free survival, and overall survival (OS) were compared between patients who received chemotherapy only, chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 therapy, and neither adjuvant treatment.
Results: The analysis included 165 patients, with a median follow-up duration of 98.4 (25.8–238.5) months. Patients who did not receive any adjuvant therapy had a 15-year IBCFS rate of 86.9%, and those who received only chemotherapy exhibited a rate of 77.6%. Conversely, those who received both trastuzumab and chemotherapy had the highest 15-year IBCFS rate of 97.4%, although the difference between the treatment groups was not statistically significant (p = 0.492). Among patients with T1a tumors, chemotherapy plus anti-HER2 therapy showed the most favorable long-term IBCFS, with a 15-year rate of 100%, compared with 57.5% in the chemotherapy-only group and 79.8% in the no-treatment group (p = 0.363). The 15-year OS rate was 100% in both chemotherapy-containing treatment groups, compared with 90.4% in the no-treatment group (p = 0.068).
Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort of patients with HER2-positive T1a/bN0 breast cancer, anti-HER2-containing adjuvant treatment was associated with numerically favorable long-term outcomes, particularly among those with T1a tumors. Given the retrospective study design and limited number of events, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. |
| Keywords:
Breast neoplasms ; Erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinases ; Chemotherapy, adjuvant ; Biomarkers, tumor |
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