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Prognostic and Predictive Factors

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Principles and Practice of Modern Radiotherapy Techniques in Breast Cancer

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Abstract

There is an increasing recognition that breast cancer can be heterogeneous and composed of a variety of subgroups with different prognosis. Identification of favorable and unfavorable groups helps clinicians to individualize and tailor the treatment for each patient. In order to complete risk stratification, patient and tumor characteristics were being used as prognostic and predictive factors. By definition, the prognostic factor is a measurable variable that correlates with the natural history of the disease. In contrast, a predictive factor is one that is associated with response to a given therapy. Some factors, such as estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) status and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her-2)/neu gene amplification and/or overexpression, are both prognostic and predictive [1]. This chapter focuses on the widely used major prognostic and predictive factors related to patient and tumor characteristics for breast cancer-specific outcomes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiation Oncology, Ege University, Bornova, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Senem Demirci Alanyalı

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  1. Senem Demirci Alanyalı
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Correspondence to Senem Demirci Alanyalı .

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  1. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Ege University, Ege Unv. Hastanesi, Izmir, 35100, Turkey

    Ayfer Haydaroglu

  2. Faculty of Medicine, Department of Radiation Oncology, Hacettepe University, Hacettepe Hastanesi, Ankara, 06100, Turkey

    Gokhan Ozyigit

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Alanyalı, S.D. (2013). Prognostic and Predictive Factors. In: Haydaroglu, A., Ozyigit, G. (eds) Principles and Practice of Modern Radiotherapy Techniques in Breast Cancer. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5116-7_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5116-7_4

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