Impact of MammaPrint on Clinical Decision-Making in South African Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of MammaPrint on treatment decision-making in patients with breast cancer. Clinicopathologic information of all breast cancer patients referred for MammaPrint testing in South Africa was collected from 2007 until 2014. A total of 107 patients (109 tumors) with estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 negative tumors were selected with tumors ≥10 mm, or when 1–3 nodes were involved without extra-nodal extension. None of the clinical indicators correlated significantly with the MammaPrint risk classification, which changed the decision for adjuvant chemotherapy in 52% of patients. Of 60 patients who were clinically high risk, 62% had a low-risk MammaPrint result and of the 47 clinically low -risk patients 40% had a high-risk MammaPrint result. This study indicates that MammaPrint could reduce the need for adjuvant chemotherapy by 17% using the selection criteria stipulated. The significant impact on treatment decisions confirmed the clinical utility of MammaPrint independent of standard clinicopathologic risk factors as supported by long-term clinical outcome studies.