Abstract PO3-16-08: Real-World Treatment Patterns in Elderly Patients with HER2-Negative Early Breast Cancer
Authors: Earla Jagadeswara , Kurian Allison , Kponee-Shovein Kalé , Satija Ambika , Song Yan , Downes Nathaniel , Mahendran Malena , Hua Qi , Kumar Arun , Mejia Jaime 
Published: May 2024

Background: As the treatment landscape of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2–) early breast cancer (BC) evolves, an understanding of treatments given in real-world settings to elderly patients with HER2– early BC is needed to gain insight into the potential unmet needs of this population for whom clinical data are limited. This study described demographics, clinical characteristics, and neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment patterns in elderly patients with HER2– early BC in the United States.

Methods: This retrospective study used SEER-Medicare data (2010–2019) to identify patients aged ≥66 years with HER2– early (Stage I–III) BC receiving primary surgery. Patient characteristics were evaluated at primary surgery or at BC diagnosis. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies were defined as any National Comprehensive Cancer Network-recommended regimens received between BC diagnosis and primary surgery, and during the 180-day period following primary surgery, respectively. Patient characteristics were described using means and standard deviations (SDs) for continuous characteristics, and frequencies and proportions for categorical characteristics. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapies were summarized using frequencies and proportions. All analyses were conducted for the overall population and stratified by breast cancer subtype (hormone receptor-positive [HR+]/HER2– vs. triple negative BC [TNBC]) and stage at diagnosis (Stage I vs. Stage II/III).

Results: Of 28,655 eligible patients, 25,899 (90.4%) had HR+/HER2– BC and 2,756 (9.6%) had TNBC; 17,961 (62.7%) had Stage I BC and 10,694 (37.3%) had Stage II/III BC. Mean (SD) age at diagnosis was 75.8 (6.4) years, mean (SD) National Cancer Institute comorbidity index was 1.9 (2.1), and 23.7% received single or multi-gene testing for a breast cancer gene 1 and/or 2 (BRCA1/2) mutation (HR+/HER2– BC: 24.6%; TNBC: 15.5%), with most (86.3%) testing occurring after primary surgery. Relative to HR+/HER2– BC patients, TNBC patients were less likely to present with Stage I disease (46.7% vs. 64.4%), had a larger mean tumor size at diagnosis (2.6 cm vs. 1.9 cm), and higher-grade tumors (Grade III or IV: 70.6% vs. 14.6%). TNBC patients were also more likely to receive neoadjuvant chemotherapy (90.9% vs. 35.3%) and adjuvant radiation therapy (81.2% vs. 66.4%) than HR+/HER2– BC patients (Table 1). By BC stage, neoadjuvant therapy was more common among Stage II/III patients relative to Stage I patients (12.3% vs. 2.7%), with most (90.4%) neoadjuvant chemotherapy use observed among Stage II/III patients. Adjuvant therapy use was similar between Stage I and Stage II/III patients (87.4% vs. 88.1%) and the most common adjuvant therapies across both subgroups were endocrine therapy (85.2% vs. 82.2%) and radiation therapy (68.5% vs. 66.1%).

Conclusion: In elderly patients with HER2– early BC, treatment with adjuvant therapy was common, while neoadjuvant therapy was limited. Moreover, one in four HER2– early BC patients were tested for a BRCA1/2 mutation in real-world clinical practice. Our findings highlight the need for a better understanding of the role of increased and timely BRCA1/2 testing to inform optimal treatment strategies across neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings in this population.

Table 1. Treatment Patterns Among Patients with TNBC and HR+/HER2– Early Breast Cancer

Citation Format: Jagadeswara Earla, Allison Kurian, Kalé Kponee-Shovein, Ambika Satija, Yan Song, Nathaniel Downes, Malena Mahendran, Qi Hua, Arun Kumar, Jaime Mejia. Real-World Treatment Patterns in Elderly Patients with HER2-Negative Early Breast Cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2023 Dec 5-9; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(9 Suppl):Abstract nr PO3-16-08.