Background: Breast cancer (BC) is a leading cause of cancer-related death in females worldwide. Previous studies have demonstrated that matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play key roles in metastasis and are associated with survival in various cancers. The prognostic values of MMP2 and MMP9 expression in BC have been investigated, but the results remain controversial. Thus, we performed the present meta-analysis to investigate the associations between MMP2/9 expressions in tumor cells with clinicopathologic features and survival outcome in BC patients. Methods: Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CNKI and Wanfang databases. The associations of MMP2/9 overexpression in tumor cells with overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were assessed by hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The associations of MMP2/9 overexpression with clinicopathological features were investigated by calculating odds ratio (OR) and 95% CI. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, meta-regression, and analysis for publication bias were performed. Results: A total of 41 studies comprising 6517 patients with primary BC were finally included. MMP2 overexpression was associated with an unfavorable OS (HR = 1.60, 95% CI 1.33 –1.94, P < 0.001) while MMP9 overexpression predicted a shorter OS (HR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.30 –1.77, P < 0.001). MMP2 overexpression conferred a higher risk to distant metastasis (OR = 2.69, 95% CI 1.35–5.39, P = 0.005) and MMP9 overexpression correlated with lymph node metastasis (OR = 2.90, 95% CI 1.86 – 4.53, P < 0.001). Moreover, MMP2 and MMP9 overexpression were both associated with higher clinical stage and histological grade in BC patients. MMP9 overexpression was more frequent in patients with larger tumor sizes. Conclusions: Tumoral MMP2 and MMP9 are promising markers for predicting the prognosis in patients with BC.

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive (HER2+) metastatic breast cancer (MBC) remains an incurable disease, and approximately 25% of patients with HER2+ early breast cancer still relapse after adjuvant trastuzumab-based treatment. HER2 is a validated therapeutic target that remains relevant throughout the disease process. Recently, a number of novel HER2 targeted agents have become available, including lapatinib (a small molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of both HER2 and the epidermal growth factor receptor), pertuzumab (a new anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody) and ado-trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1, a novel antibody–drug conjugate), which provide additional treatment options for patients with HER2+ MBC. The latest clinical trials have demonstrated improved outcome with treatment including pertuzumab or T-DM1 compared with standard HER2 targeted therapy. Here we review the clinical development of approved and investigational targeted agents for the treatment of HER2+ MBC, summarize the latest results of important clinical trials supporting use of these agents in the treatment of HER2+ MBC, and discuss how these results impact therapeutic options in clinical practice.

Aim: We aimed to clarify tumor features and prognosis of pregnancy‐associated breast cancer (PABC) among Chinese women.Methods: PABC was defined as breast cancer diagnosed during pregnancy or within a year after delivery. Patients with PABC were selected from breast cancer cases of women ≤45 years treated at our institution between December 2012 and December 2017, and one non‐PABC control was matched for stage, age, and year of diagnosis for each case.Results: Forty‐one women with PABC were identified (22 diagnosed during pregnancy and 19 within 1 year of delivery). There were significantly more progesterone receptor (PR)‐ and triple‐negative tumors in the PABC (56.1% and 24.4%, respectively) than in the non‐PABC group (31.7% and 4.9%, respectively) (P = .045 and .026, respectively). Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positivity was the same in both groups (31.7%). Median disease‐free survival (DFS) was 29.0 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.5‐51.5 months) in the PABC and 40.9 months (95% CI, 22.8‐58.8 months) in the non‐PABC group (P = .167). Median overall survival (OS) was 82.8 months in the PABC (95% CI, 39.3‐126.5 months) versus 80.1 months (95% CI, 56.7‐103.6 months) in the non‐PABC group (P = .131).Conclusion: Histological features were similar in both groups, except that PR‐ and triple‐negative tumors were more frequent in the PABC group. Survival analyses show similar OS for patients with PABC and non‐PABC. DFS tended to be shorter in the PABC group; however, this difference was not statistically significant.