HER2 expression and efficacy of preoperative paclitaxel/FAC chemotherapy in breast cancer

Purpose We examined the correlation between HER2 expression and pathologic complete response (pCR) to paclitaxel/FAC (T/FAC) preoperative chemotherapy in breast cancer. Patients and Methods Retrospective analysis of data including 534 patients treated with preoperative T/FAC was performed. Gene expression results were available from two datasets of 132 and 286 patients, and were used to examine the co-expression of HER2 and topoisomerase II α (TOP2A) and microtubule associated protein tau (MAP-Tau). Results Of the 534 patients, 105 (20%) had HER2-overexpressing breast cancer. The pCR rates were 33% and 15% for patients with HER2+ and HER2- tumors ( P