21-Gene expression profile assay on core needle biopsies predicts responses to neoadjuvant endocrine therapy in breast cancer patients

This study examined postmenopausal estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer patients who received prospective neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NAET) with tamoxifen or anastrozole to determine if the 21-gene recurrence score (RS) predicts NAET responses. RS scores were determined from pretreatment core biopsy specimens. Although half of the specimens yielded insufficient RNA, the remaining samples were highly representative. Patients with a low RS tended to respond better than those with an intermediate or high RS (n = 43). Response rates by RS were similar between the tamoxifen and anastrozole groups. Patients with a low RS tended to have better relapse-free survival (RFS) than those with an intermediate or high RS (5y-RFS; 100% vs. 84% and 73%, respectively). These results suggest that RS predicts responses to NAET with tamoxifen or anastrozole. Because this pilot study examined a small sample size, these results should be validated in larger studies.