The Predictive Value of the Prognostic StagingSystem in the 8th Edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: A SEER Population-Based Analysis

Abstract

Aim: To examine the stage changes and survival differences among triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients based on the prognostic staging system. Methods: We used the SEER database to identify eligible patients with TNBC diagnosed between 2010 and 2014. Kaplan–Meier curves were drawn for comparison. The primary end point was breast cancer-specific survival. Results: The median follow-up time was 26 months for 19,608 patients. The stages of all TNBC patients increased or remained unchanged during rearrangement from anatomic staging to prognostic staging. Stage IIA, IIIA and IIIC comprised the majority of patients. Several patients did not have prognostic staging. Stage IIIC incorporated six substages that contributed to high heterogeneity. Overall, the Kaplan–Meier curves still showed the favorable differentiation among stages and substages, with the exception of stage IIB and substage IIIA (T2N0, grade 2–3) patients. Conclusion: The prognostic information for breast cancer patients provided by the novel prognostic staging system may be less accurate for TNBC patients in our independent analysis. Moreover, stage IIB and substage IIIA (T2N0, grade 2–3) should possibly undergo further evaluation.

Keywords::

• 8th AJCC
• anatomic staging system
• breast cancer-specific survival
• prognosis
• prognostic staging system
• SEER
• TNM stage
• triple-negative breast cancer

Supplementary data

To view theb supplementary data that accompany this paper please visit the journal website at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/suppl/10.2217/fon-2018-0145

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the SEER database for offering access to its resource.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.

Ethical conduct of research

The authors state that they have obtained appropriate institutional review board approval or have followed the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki for all human or animal experimental investigations.