ArticleJournal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA2026
Clinical presentations and prognostication of HER2-low and HER2-zero early breast cancer in Taiwan.
Article in Journal of the Chinese Medical Association : JCMA, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundHuman epidermal growth factor receptor II (HER2)-low breast cancer has emerged as a clinically relevant subset of HER2-negative disease, but its prognostic significance in early-stage, real-world populations remains uncertain. We aimed to compare clinicopathological features and outcomes of HER2-low vs HER2-zero early breast cancers using a nationwide registry and to clarify the impact of hormone receptor (HR) status.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study using the Taiwan Cancer Registry (2011-2020). Eligible cases were stages 0 to III HER2-negative breast cancers managed with upfront surgery. We compared clinical characteristics , overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS). All analyses were stratified by HR (positive vs negative) and by pathological stage.
resultsWe analyzed 38 773 patients; 65.4% were HER2-low and 34.6% were HER2-zero. HER2-low tumors were diagnosed at a slightly younger age (median 56.3 vs 57.1 years; p < 0.001) and were more often HR-positive. Across HR- and stage-defined strata, pathological stage and HR status remained the principal determinants of prognosis. Compared with HER2-zero, HER2-low showed modestly higher hazards, with small but consistent separations in OS (91.8%, 93%, 83.3%, and 86.2% for HR-positive/HER2-low, HR-positive/HER2-zero, HR-negative/HER2-low, and HR-negative/HER2-zero breast cancers; p < 0.0001) and RFS (95.6%, 97.1%, 89.6%, and 91.1% for HR-positive/HER2-low, HR-positive/HER2-zero, HR-negative/HER2-low, and HR-negative/HER2-zero breast cancers; p < 0.0001) within strata, with the exception of stage 0.
conclusionIn Taiwanese early-stage breast cancer, HER2-low is common and associated with greater HR positivity and modestly inferior OS/RFS relative to HER2-zero after HR and stage stratification. Further studies are warranted to understand the biological and therapeutic relevance of this newly established taxonomy.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.