Estrogen receptor positive breast cancer: contemporary nuances to sequencing therapy

Clinical treatment score Post-5 Years (CTS5) predicts the benefit of postmastectomy radiotherapy in patients with T1-2N1 luminal breast cancer

PURPOSE

To investigate the clinical value of Clinical Treatment Score Post-5 Years (CTS5) to predict the survival benefits of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) of patients with T1-2N1 luminal breast cancer (BC).

METHODS

Patients who were diagnosed with T1-2N1 luminal BC between 2010 and 2015 were included in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database. The chi-square test, binomial logistic regression, Kaplan-Meier analysis, and multivariable Cox proportional hazard model were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS

A total of 11190 patients were included with a median follow-up time of 76 months. Regarding the CTS5 classification, 1641 (14.7 %), 3915 (35.0 %), and 5633 (50.3 %) patients had low-risk, intermediate-risk, and high-risk diseases, respectively. Patients with younger age, T2 stage, higher tumor grade, a higher number of positive lymph nodes, infiltrating lobular carcinoma subtype, and receipt of chemotherapy were associated with the receipt of PMRT (all P < 0.05). The multivariate analysis showed that the receipt of PMRT was the independent prognostic factor associated with better BCSS (P = 0.005) and OS (P < 0.001). The sensitivity analysis showed that PMRT did not improve BCSS (low-risk, P = 0.932; intermediate-risk, P = 0.952) and OS (low-risk, P = 0.637; intermediate-risk, P = 0.825) compared to those without PMRT in the low-risk and intermediate-risk groups. However, PMRT improved BCSS (P = 0.003) and OS (P < 0.001) in those with high-risk groups compared to those without PMRT.

CONCLUSIONS

CTS5 is an innovative model that could predict the survival benefit of PMRT for T1-2N1 luminal BC patients.

Biologics, theranostics, and personalized medicine in drug delivery systems

The progress in human disease treatment can be greatly advanced through the implementation of nanomedicine. This approach involves targeted and cell-specific therapy, controlled drug release, personalized dosage forms, wearable drug delivery, and companion diagnostics. By integrating cutting-edge technologies with drug delivery systems, greater precision can be achieved at the tissue and cellular levels through the use of stimuli-responsive nanoparticles, and the development of electrochemical sensor systems. This precision targeting - by virtue of nanotechnology - allows for therapy to be directed specifically to affected tissues while greatly reducing side effects on healthy tissues. As such, nanomedicine has the potential to transform the treatment of conditions such as cancer, genetic diseases, and chronic illnesses by facilitating precise and cell-specific drug delivery. Additionally, personalized dosage forms and wearable devices offer the ability to tailor treatment to the unique needs of each patient, thereby increasing therapeutic effectiveness and compliance. Companion diagnostics further enable efficient monitoring of treatment response, enabling customized adjustments to the treatment plan. The question of whether all the potential therapeutic approaches outlined here are viable alternatives to current treatments is also discussed. In general, the application of nanotechnology in the field of biomedicine may provide a strong alternative to existing treatments for several reasons. In this review, we aim to present evidence that, although in early stages, fully merging advanced technology with innovative drug delivery shows promise for successful implementation across various disease areas, including cancer and genetic or chronic diseases.