The purpose of the study is to see if tumors respond to endocrine therapy by taking a total of 21 doses of Tamoxifen before and after surgery. Tamoxifen is currently approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for use in the treatment of hormone positive breast cancer.
Patients who are eligible (newly diagnosed hormone positive clinical stage 1 or 2 breast cancer) will be approached about the study. If they sign informed consent a prescription for 21 doses of Tamoxifen will be provided. The patient's surgery will be scheduled at a time convenient for the patient and the surgeon. Once the surgery has been scheduled, a medication calendar will be completed that allows the patient to take tamoxifen for 7 days preoperatively with the 7th dose of tamoxifen to coincide with the day before surgery. The patient will continue to take tamoxifen for 2 weeks (14 days) after surgery. Patients will then proceed along normal treatment guidelines. For those needing chemotherapy or radiation therapy, we recommend the long term endocrine therapy start at the conclusion of chemo and/or radiation treatments. For those not going on to any additional therapy, the prescription for endocrine therapy will be written at the initial post-operative visit. Unstained slides from the formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from the patient's breast tissue from which the original diagnosis of breast cancer was made by H\&E will be stained for Ki67. After endocrine therapy and subsequent resection, carcinoma will be confirmed by the participating pathologist on H\&E, and Ki67 will be performed on unstained slides from a representative tissue block containing invasive carcinoma. The pathologist will circle a designated area of tumor on the H\&E slide and both the H\&E and immunostained (Ki67) slides will be scanned in a digital imaging device (Aperio XT Scanscope), which quantitatively analyzes the tumor designated by the pathologist with image analysis algorithms. The algorithm accurately detects regions of interest and distinguishes cells and sub-cellular objects within these target regions. It determines morphology and expression profiles per individual cell or cell compartment. For Ki67 analysis, a nuclear Immunohistochemistry (IHC) algorithm will be used.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
52
All patients will take tamoxifen 20 mg po daily for 7 days prior to surgery and for 14 days after surgery.
Breast cancer surgery
Huntsman Cancer Institute
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Change in Ki67 Expression in Tumors
Demonstrate a significant change in Ki67 expression in tumors with 7 days of pre-surgical tamoxifen.
Time frame: 7 days
Change in FACT-ES Symptom Scores
Patients were given the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Endocrine Symptoms (FACT-ES) quality of life assessment at baseline (prior to tamoxifen administration) and again 18 months following breast surgery to assess quality of life. The difference in total score from baseline to 18 months was calculated. The FACT-ES total score ranges from 0-180, with higher scores indicating higher quality of life.
Time frame: 18 months
Number of Participants With Long Term Endocrine Therapy Adherence
For the patient population on this study, endocrine therapy was indicated for 5 years post-surgery according to the current standard of care recommendations for hormone positive breast cancer. Endocrine therapy was prescribed as standard of care as appropriate for each patient's situation. At 18 months post-surgery, patients were evaluated to determine if they were taking their endocrine therapy as prescribed.
Time frame: 18 months
Correlation Between Changes in Ki67 and Symptoms
Evaluate correlation between changes in Ki67 expression and symptom scores. Differences between changes in FACT-ES total score were correlated with changes in Ki67 expression using a the Spearman correlation method and results are expressed as the correlation coefficient.
Time frame: 7 days
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