02 June 2023 : Clinical Research
Differences in Outcomes Between Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2)-Positive Metastatic Breast Cancer Patients in Upper Middle-Income versus High-Income Countries: A Retrospective Study from 4 Oncology Centers
Dragana Miletić1ADEF*, Marija Kraljević1ADEF, Emir Sokolović2CDE, Majana Soče3B, Marijana Milović-Kovačević4B, Simonida Bobić4B, Timur Cerić2ABDE, Stjepko Pleština3A, Semir Bešlija2AE, Inga Marijanović15ADEDOI: 10.12659/MSM.940356
Med Sci Monit 2023; 29:e940356
Table 2 Location of metastases and number of metastatic sites, and ECOG performance status of the patients with metastatic HER2-positive breast cancer in 4 oncology centers in high-income and upper-middle-income countries.
| Variables | Site | p-value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HICZagreb (Croatia)n (%) | UMICBelgrade (Serbia)n (%) | UMICSarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina)n (%) | UMICMostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)n (%) | |||
| Number of metastatic sites | 2 (1–5)# | 1 (1–4)# | 2 (1–3)## | 1 (1–3)## | 0.016## | |
| Bone metastases | No | 13 (31.0) | 10 (35.7) | 10 (35.7) | ||
| Yes | 29 (69.0) | 18 (64.3) | 18 (64.3) | |||
| Visceral metastases | No | 7 (16.7) | 5 (17.2) | 7 (25.0) | ||
| Yes | 35 (83.3) | 24 (82.8) | 21 (75.0) | |||
| CNS metastases | No | 39 (92.9) | 69 (97.2) | 28 (96.6) | 28 (100.0) | 0.43 |
| Biopsy | 3 (7.1) | 2 (2.8) | 1 (3.4) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| ECOG status at the start of the treatment | 0 | 17 (58.6) | 17 (60.7) | |||
| 1 | 8 (27.6) | 9 (32.1) | ||||
| 2 | 3 (7.3) | 1 (1.4) | 3 (10.3) | 2 (7.1) | ||
| 3 | 1 (2.4) | 0 (0) | 1 (3.4) | 5 (17.9) | ||
| ECOG status at the start of the second-line treatment | 0 | 4 (13.8) | 6 (21.4) | |||
| 1 | 17 (60.7) | |||||
| 2 | 3 (7.1) | 1 (1.4) | 3 (10.3) | 2 (7.1) | ||
| NA | 26 (61.9) | 4 (5.6) | ||||
| # Median (mininum-maximum); ## Kruskal-Wallis test; NA – non applicable; cells with bolded numbers had statistically significant z-scores in post hoc chi-square testing. HIC – high-income country; UMIC – upper-middle-income country; CNS – central nervous system; ECOG – Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. | ||||||