Prognostic value of Ki-67 and progesterone receptor for risk stratification and outcomes by adjuvant chemotherapy in early luminal-type breast cancer
Chen HH, Chang SJ, Kan JY, et al. Breast Cancer (Dove Med Press). 2026;18:597707.
Summary. In this retrospective study, researchers developed a model utilizing progesterone receptor (PR) and Ki-67 to stratify patients with hormone receptor–positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2–negative (HER2–) early breast cancer into 4 risk groups: low-risk (PR ≥10%, Ki-67 <20%), moderate-risk 1 (PR <10%, Ki-67 <20%), moderate-risk 2 (PR ≥10%, Ki-67 ≥20%), and high-risk (PR <10%, Ki-67 ≥20%). Patients in the high-risk group experienced the shortest disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS), while those in the low-risk group showed the most favorable outcomes. In the validation cohort, adjuvant chemotherapy was found to significantly improve DFS in the high-risk group, but not the low-risk group. When stratifying patients based on risk score, high risk score was significantly associated with poorer DFS in both training and validation cohorts, compared to low risk score.
* PMID: 41948524, PMCID: PMC13051195
Effects of photobiomodulation therapy on upper limb lymphedema secondary to breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Qian C, He Z, Liu C, et al. Front Oncol. 2026;16:1802643.
Summary. Here, researchers reviewed 9 randomized controlled trials including 312 patients to determine the efficacy of photobiomodulation (PBM) therapy on breast cancer–related lymphedema. Pooled data from 6 studies including 187 patients showed a significant association between PBM therapy and reduction in limb volume compared to control interventions (standardized mean difference [SMD]: −0.78; P<0.001). Four studies including 116 patients showed that PBM therapy was associated with significant reductions in limb circumference compared to control interventions (MD: −3.61 cm; P<0.001). Furthermore, PBM therapy was associated with a significant increase in grip strength (MD: 1.72 kg; P<0.001) and significant decrease in pain (MD: −0.29; P<0.001) compared to controls. Overall risk of bias was low to moderate.
* PMID: 41948502, PMCID: PMC13050686
Assessing the prognostic role of androgen receptor expression in non-metastatic triple-negative breast cancer
Al-Masri M, Safi Y, Aljalabneh B, et al. Front Oncol. 2026;16:1785283.
Summary. Among 149 patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), 55 (36.7%) had androgen receptor (AR) positivity. Estimated 5-year DFS was comparable between AR+ and AR– patients (64.3% and 62.9%, respectively; P=0.39). Five-year OS significantly differed between AR+ and AR– patients (60% and 70%, respectively; P=0.021), but at 103-month follow-up, OS lost statistical significance (P=0.28). Multivariable analysis showed no significant association between AR expression and DFS, OS, or breast cancer–specific survival.
* PMID: 41948492, PMCID: PMC13050708
Prediction of outcomes of brain irradiation in correlation with molecular subtypes in patients with metastatic breast cancer
Sohaib A, Alhefny M, Amin MT, Mekhail Y. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2026;27(4):1303–1311.
Summary. Among patients with breast cancer and brain metastasis, median onset of brain metastasis was shorter in triple-negative and HER2+ subtypes (20 and 14.5 months, respectively) compared to luminal and triple-positive subtypes (28 and 24 months, respectively; P=0.001). Median OS was 38 and 33 months in luminal and triple-positive breast cancers, respectively, which was significantly longer than in TNBC and HER2+ breast cancer (22 and 19 months, respectively; P=0.001). Researchers developed a prognostic scoring system using molecular subtype, lesion burden, and patient characteristics; a score above 3.5 predicted poorer survival, with higher scores associated with worse OS (P=0.001).
* PMID: 41945948
Comparative analysis of stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes in various grades and molecular subtypes of breast carcinoma
Verma P, Kala C, Khan L, et al. Ann Afr Med. 2026. Epub ahead of print.
Summary. Among 152 patients with invasive breast carcinoma, 80.3% had low (<10%) stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs), 14.5% had intermediate (10–40%) sTILs, and 5.3% had high (>40%) sTILs. Tumor grade 3 and tumor size larger than 5 cm were associated with high sTILs. Estrogen receptor–negative (ER–) tumors comprised 23% of the low sTIL group, 50% of the intermediate sTIL group, and 100% of the high sTIL group (P<0.001). PR negativity was observed in 24.6% of tumors with low sTILs compared to 100% of tumors with high sTILs (P<0.001). TNBC was significantly more frequent in the high sTIL group vs low sTIL group (87.5% vs 7.4%; P<0.001). Ki-67 expression significantly differed between groups (P<0.001); 25% of tumors with high sTILs had high Ki-67 expression (>30%) compared to 7.4% of tumors with low sTILs. Correlation analysis found that sTILs were positively associated with histological grade, tumor size, and Ki-67 proliferative index and negatively associated with ER and PR.
* PMID: 41943585
Impact of telehealth genetic counseling on contralateral prophylactic mastectomy rates among multi-ethnic breast cancer patients
Michel A, Ro V, Luo K, et al. NPJ Womens Health. 2026;4(1):17.
Summary. In this retrospective cohort study, researchers evaluated the impact of oncologist-led and telehealth-based genetic counseling on contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) uptake among 1,054 patients with unilateral breast cancer. Nearly all patients (99.7%) diagnosed between 2013 to 2019 had in-person genetic counseling visit; among patients diagnosed from 2020 to 2022, 5.1% had in-person counseling, about 20% had telehealth counseling, and 74% had oncologist-led counseling. Overall, 299 patients (28.4%) underwent CPM. Multivariable analysis found that younger age at diagnosis and pathogenic/likely pathogenic variant results were significantly associated with increased rates of CPM. CPM rates did not significantly differ between patients with benign/likely benign variants and those with variants of uncertain significance. CPM uptake did not significantly differ based on receipt of in-person, telehealth-based, or oncologist-led genetic counseling.
* PMID: 41939133, PMCID: PMC13043285
Long-term risk of cardiovascular disease after contemporary left-sided breast radiation therapy
Nakajima E, Nguyen L, Liu N, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2026;9(4):e264098.
Summary. In this population-based cohort study, researchers compared the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) among patients with left- vs right-sided breast cancer who received proton-based external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). Fifteen-year incidence of first hospitalization for any CVD was similar between patients with left- and right-sided breast cancer (13.8% and 13.5%, respectively), and tumor laterality was not associated with hospitalization for CVD after adjustment (hazard ratio: 1.02; P=0.36). Compared to patients with right-sided tumors, patients with left-sided tumors had greater incidence of new diagnoses of heart failure (10.2% vs 9.6%; P=0.01) and ischemic heart disease (13.6% vs 12.8%; P=0.03) at 15 years. When including recurrent events, the rate of hospitalization for CVD was significantly higher among patients with left-sided tumors compared to those with right-sided tumors (1.72 vs 1.63 per 100 person-years; P=0.0006).
* PMID: 41920543, PMCID: PMC13044663