The aim of this study was to evaluate the significance of the Ki67 labeling index and p53 status as prognostic and predictive indicators of operable estrogen receptor (ER)-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer. Among 697 consecutive patients with primary breast cancer who underwent curative surgery between 2002 and 2013, 308 patients with ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer were assessed. The results of the multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that a high Ki67 labeling index was significantly associated with a short recurrence-free interval (RFI) (p=0.004) and was marginally associated with a worse overall survival (p=0.074). A positive p53 status was not associated with worse outcomes. To validate the cut-off values of the Ki67 labeling index for identifying patients who may benefit from additional chemotherapy, prognostic factors were investigated in breast cancer patients treated postoperatively with endocrine therapy alone. Analysis of receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated that a Ki67 labeling index cut-off of 20.0% was optimal for predicting recurrence among patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. The 5-year RFIs for patients with Ki67 <20 and ≥20% were 97.2 and 86.6%, respectively (p=0.0244). A high Ki67 labeling index (≥20%) was significantly associated with large tumors (p<0.01), lymph node metastasis (p=0.0236) and positive p53 status (p<0.001). The univariate analysis demonstrated that Ki67 labeling index ≥20%, lymph node metastasis and progesterone receptor negativity were significant worse prognostic factors for RFI (p=0.0333, 0.0116 and 0.0573, respectively). The Ki67 labeling index was found to be a useful prognostic factor in patients with ER-positive and HER2-negative breast cancer and the cut-off values of the Ki67 labeling index for making a decision regarding adjuvant treatment were validated.
Keywords: Ki67; breast cancer; p53; predictive factor; prognostic factor.