Purpose: Among patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), a high survival rate is observed for those who experience a pathological complete response (pCR). Various tumor factors are predictive of a pCR, but few host factors have been studied.We sought to inquire whether or not a patient’s blood selenium level prior to treatment was predictive of a pCR. Methods: We studied 329 women diagnosed with primary invasive breast cancer who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). We included patients with HER2-positive (n= 183) or triple-negative breast cancer (n= 146). Blood was collected before the initiation of treatment. Blood levels of selenium were quantified by mass spectroscopy. Each patient was assigned to one of three tertiles based on the distribution of blood selenium levels in the entire cohort. Patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) were treated with a range of combination chemotherapies. Patients with HER2-positive breast cancer received anti-HER2 treatment based on trastuzumab alone or trastuzumab and pertuzamab. After treatment, each patient was classified as having pCR or no pCR. Results: In the entire cohort, the pCR rate was 59.0% for women in the highest tertileof blood selenium (≥107.19 μg/L) compared to 39.0% for women in the lowest tertile (≤94.29 μg/L) (p= 0.003). Conclusions: A high selenium level is predictive of pCR in women treated for HER2-positive or triple-negative breast cancer. If confirmed, this observation may lead to a study investigating if selenium supplementation improves pCR rates and survival in breast cancer women receiving NAC.
目的:在接受新辅助化疗(NAC)治疗的患者中,达到病理完全缓解(pCR)者生存率较高。多种肿瘤因素可预测pCR,但宿主因素研究较少。本研究旨在探讨患者治疗前的血硒水平是否可预测pCR。方法:本研究纳入329例经NAC治疗的原发性浸润性乳腺癌女性患者,包括HER2阳性(n=183)和三阴性乳腺癌(n=146)患者。治疗前采集血液样本,采用质谱法测定血硒浓度。根据全队列血硒水平分布将患者分为三个等分组。三阴性乳腺癌患者接受多种联合化疗方案,HER2阳性乳腺癌患者接受以曲妥珠单抗为基础或联合帕妥珠单抗的抗HER2治疗。治疗后根据病理结果将患者分为pCR组与非pCR组。结果:全队列分析显示,血硒最高组(≥107.19 μg/L)患者的pCR率为59.0%,显著高于最低组(≤94.29 μg/L)的39.0%(p=0.003)。结论:高血硒水平可预测HER2阳性或三阴性乳腺癌女性患者的pCR。若该结论得到验证,未来可进一步研究补充硒元素能否提高接受NAC治疗的乳腺癌患者的pCR率及生存率。