Breast cancer subtype and clinical characteristics in women from Peru.

Introduction: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and the distribution of the different subtypes varies by race/ethnic category in the United States and by country. Established breast cancer-associated factors impact subtype-specific risk; however, these included limited or no representation of Latin American diversity. To address this gap in knowledge, we report a description of demographic, reproductive, and lifestyle breast cancer-associated factors by age at diagnosis and disease subtype for The Peruvian Genetics and Genomics of Breast Cancer (PEGEN-BC) study. Methods: The PEGEN-BC study is a hospital-based breast cancer cohort that includes 1943 patients diagnosed at the Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas in Lima, Peru. Demographic and reproductive information, as well as lifestyle exposures, were collected with a questionnaire. Clinical data, including tumor Hormone Receptor (HR) status and Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) status, were abstracted from electronic medical records. Differences in proportions and mean values were tested using Chi-squared and one-way ANOVA tests, respectively. Multinomial logistic regression models were used for multivariate association analyses. Results: The distribution of subtypes was 52% HR+HER2-, 19% HR+HER2+, 16% HR-HER2-, and 13% HR-HER2+. Indigenous American (IA) genetic ancestry was higher, and height was lower among individuals with the HR-HER2+ subtype (80% IA vs. 76% overall, p=0.007; 152 cm vs. 153 cm overall, p=0.032, respectively). In multivariate models, IA ancestry was associated with HR-HER2+ subtype (OR=1.38,95%CI=1.06-1.79, p=0.017) and parous women showed increased risk for HR-HER2+ (OR=2.7,95%CI=1.5-4.8, p<0.001) and HR-HER2- tumors (OR=2.4,95%CI=1.5-4.0, p<0.001) compared to nulliparous women. Multiple patient and tumor characteristics differed by age at diagnosis (<50 vs. >=50), including ancestry, region of residence, family history, height, BMI, breastfeeding, parity, and stage at diagnosis (p<0.02 for all variables). Discussion: The characteristics of the PEGEN-BC study participants do not suggest heterogeneity by tumor subtype except for IA genetic ancestry proportion, which has been previously reported. Differences by age at diagnosis were apparent and concordant with what is known about pre- and post-menopausal-specific disease risk factors. Additional studies in Peru should be developed to further understand the main contributors to the specific age of onset and molecular disease subtypes in this population and develop population-appropriate predictive models for prevention.

Expresión del ligando de proteína de muerte programada 1 (PD-L1) en linfoma de Hodgkin en pacientes peruanos / Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in Hodgkin's lymphoma among Peruvian patients

RESUMEN Objetivo: Diversos estudios realizados sobre el linfoma de Hodgkin (LH) han determinado la expresión de la proteína de muerte programada (PD-L1) en las células de Reed-Sternberg-Hodgkin (HRS), con resultados variables. Esta proteína ha adquirido relevancia por su papel en la respuesta inmunitaria en las neoplasias malignas. El objetivo de este trabajo fue determinar la expresión inmunohistoquímica de PD-L1 en las HRS y su relación con la edad, sexo, estadio clínico y supervivencia global en una cohorte de pacientes peruanos. Materiales y métodos: Se evaluaron 25 biopsias de pacientes con diagnóstico de LH, lo que permitió determinar la expresión inmunohistoquímica de PD-L1 en las HRS en asociación con la sobrevida global (SG) y los datos clínicos de los pacientes. Resultados: Todos los casos mostraron expresión de PD-L1 en más del 1 %. No hubo diferencia estadística significativa en la SG cuando se comparó dos grupos de acuerdo con la expresión de PD-L1 con punto de corte en 50 %, ni tampoco con el estadio clínico (EC), la edad y el sexo. Conclusiones: Se ha encontrado una alta expresión de PD-L1 en los tumores con LH previos al tratamiento. No se ha encontrado asociación entre la expresión de PD-L1, la SG, la edad, el sexo o el EC. Son necesarios otros estudios con mayor cantidad de pacientes para reevaluar el impacto pronóstico de la expresión de esta proteína en LH.

ABSTRACT Objective: Various studies on Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) have determined programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, with variable results. This protein has gained relevance for its role in the immune response in malignant neoplasms. This work aimed to determine PD-L1 immunohistochemical expression in HRS cells and its relationship with age, sex, clinical stage and overall survival (OS) in a cohort of Peruvian patients. Materials and methods: Twenty-five (25) biopsies from patients diagnosed with HL were assessed, which allowed determining PD-L1 immunohistochemical expression in HRS cells in relation to OS and clinical data of the patients. Results: All cases showed PD-L1 expression in more than 1 % of tumor cells. There was no statistically significant difference in OS when two groups were compared in terms of PD-L1 expression with a cut-off point of 50 %, clinical stage (CS), age and sex. Conclusions: High PD-L1 expression was found in pre-treatment HL tumors. No association was found between PD-L1 expression, OS, age, sex or CS. Further studies with a larger number of patients are necessary to reassess the prognostic impact of the expression of this protein in HL.

Association between Ancestry-Specific 6q25 Variants and Breast Cancer Subtypes in Peruvian Women.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer incidence in the United States is lower in Hispanic/Latina (H/L) compared with African American/Black or Non-Hispanic White women. An Indigenous American breast cancer-protective germline variant (rs140068132) has been reported near the estrogen receptor 1 gene. This study tests the association of rs140068132 and other polymorphisms in the 6q25 region with subtype-specific breast cancer risk in H/Ls of high Indigenous American ancestry. METHODS: Genotypes were obtained for 5,094 Peruvian women with (1,755) and without (3,337) breast cancer. Associations between genotype and overall and subtype-specific risk for the protective variant were tested using logistic regression models and conditional analyses, including other risk-associated polymorphisms in the region. RESULTS: We replicated the reported association between rs140068132 and breast cancer risk overall [odds ratio (OR), 0.53; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.47-0.59], as well as the lower odds of developing hormone receptor negative (HR-) versus HR+ disease (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.61-0.97). Models, including HER2, showed further heterogeneity with reduced odds for HR+HER2+ (OR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.92), HR-HER2+ (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.44-0.90) and HR-HER2- (OR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.56-1.05) compared with HR+HER2-. Inclusion of other risk-associated variants did not change these observations. CONCLUSIONS: The rs140068132 polymorphism is associated with decreased risk of breast cancer in Peruvians and is more protective against HR- and HER2+ diseases independently of other breast cancer-associated variants in the 6q25 region. IMPACT: These results could inform functional analyses to understand the mechanism by which rs140068132-G reduces risk of breast cancer development in a subtype-specific manner. They also illustrate the importance of including diverse individuals in genetic studies.

Depression in women with a diagnosis of breast cancer. Prevalence of symptoms of depression in Peruvian women with early breast cancer and related sociodemographic factors.

We sought to review literature on the prevalence of symptoms of depression in women with a diagnosis of breast cancer (BC) and in the Peruvian population determine the prevalence of symptoms of depression and to describe the association with sociodemographic characteristics. Descriptive cross-sectional analytical study of 254 patients from the National Cancer Institute of Peru (Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas) with a diagnosis of clinical stage I or II BC. The patients included women aged between 26 and 67 years old. Symptoms of depression were monitored by the Beck Depression Inventory-II. Moreover, clinical features and patient sociodemographic characteristics were analyzed and their association with depression was assessed by logistic regression. The average age of the patients was 47.8 ± 9.2 years; 5.4% of the patients were postmenopausal at the time of the questionnaire. About 55% of women were from Lima, 58.3% had completed secondary education (11 ± 3.2 years), 45.7% were not working, and 46.5% were single. The prevalence of depression was 25.6% at the time of BC diagnosis. Of those patients with symptoms of depression, 16.9% showed symptoms of mild depression, 6.3% moderate, and 2.4% severe. A multivariable logistic regression model showed that in Peruvian women with a diagnosis of BC being married or employed significantly decreased the odds of presenting depressive symptoms (P = 0.029 and 0.017, respectively). Our main limitation was the lack of evaluation of depressive symptoms before the diagnosis, during or at the end of treatment. Another limitation was that the Beck Depression Inventory-II test could only identify depressive symptoms, but not depression as a disease. We have reviewed relevant literature on depression in women with a diagnosis of BC. The data presented suggests an association between both employment and marital status with depressive symptoms among Peruvian women with a diagnosis of BC. Pre-emptive support for women at risk could influence resilience and/or motivation for compliance with antineoplastic treatments.

Diagnóstico molecular de pérdida de heterocigosidad para 1p/19q en tumores oligodendrogliales por PCR multiplex en el Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neoplásicas, Lima- Perú / Molecular diagnosis of heterozygosity loss for 1p/19q in oligodendroglial tumors by multiplex PCR at the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases, Lima-Peru

La pérdida de heterocigosidad 1p/19q tiene valor pronóstico clínico y está fuertemente asociada con características histológicas clásicas de oligodendroglioma. Objetivos: El presente artículo, propone un método molecular para determinar la pérdida de heterocigosidad (LOH por sus siglas en inglés) para 1p/19q y permitir la clasificación de tumores oligodendrogliales. Material y Métodos: Se utilizaron muestras en fresco del Banco de Tejidos Tumorales del Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Neioplásicas (INEN) y biopsias de tejido embebido en parafina de tumores oligodendrogliales, con diagnóstico patológico de oligodendroglioma y oligoastrocitoma. Los métodos propuestos son PCR Multiplex y amplificación de fragmentos por electroforesis capilar de los productos de PCR, y fueron aplicados a un total de 39 casos que presentaban grado histológico II y III. Resultados: Los resultados obtenidos permiten una adecuada clasificación molecular de los tumores oligodendrogliales.

A heterozygosity loss of 1p/19q has clinical prognostic value and is strongly associated with classical histologic features of oligodendroglioma. Objectives: The present article proposes a molecular method to determine the loss of heterozygosity (LOH) for 1p/19q and to allow the classification of oligodendroglial tumors. Material and Methods: Fresh samples from the National Institute of Neoplastic Diseases’ Tumor BioBank and paraffin-embedded tissue biopsies of oligodendroglial tumors with pathological diagnosis of oligodendroglioma and oligoastrocytoma were used. The proposed methods are Multiplex PCR and amplification of fragments by capillary electrophoresis of PCR products, and were applied to a total of 39 cases which presented histological grade II and III. Results: The results obtained allow an adequate molecular classification of oligodendroglial tumors.

Deterioro cognitivo por quimioterapia adyuvante en pacientes con cáncer de mama: Una problemática por definir en el Perú / Cognitive impairment due to adjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients: A problem awaiting definition in Peru

El deterioro cognitivo inducido por quimioterapia es un proceso biológico poco entendido; sin embargo, existe evidencia de que podría afectar a pacientes en tratamiento adyuvante por cáncer de mama cuya incidencia varía ampliamente según la población en estudio, el esquema terapéutico aplicado y la metodología utilizada en su evaluación. La presente revisión busca iniciar discusiones sobre la necesidad de generar información en nuestro medio acerca de este trastorno, a fin de plantear estrategias de prevención y control por parte del personal de salud y mejorar la calidad de vida de las pacientes sometidas a este tipo de tratamiento.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment is a poorly understood biological process; however, there is evidence that it could affect patients in adjuvant treatment for breast cancer whose incidence varies widely according to the study population, the therapeutic scheme applied and the methodology used in its evaluation. The present review seeks to initiate discussions about the need to generate information in our milieu about this disorder, in order to propose preventive and control strategies by healthcare personnel staff, and improve the quality of life of patients undergoing this type of treatment.