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Aim: We investigated the prognostic potential of pretherapy measurement of the neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in patients (n = 56) with non-small-cell lung cancer deemed suitable for treatment with nivolumab., Materials & Methods: This was a multicenter, noninterventional, retrospective data analysis, involving five oncology centers., Results: Patients with prenivolumab NLR values of <5 and ≥5 had respective median overall survival (OS) values of 14.5 and 7.02 months (p = 0.0026). Patients with ≤2 and >2 metastatic sites had median OS values of 11.4 and 6.1 months, respectively (p = 0.0174). A Cox multiple regression model revealed baseline NLR ≥5 as the only variable significantly associated with decreased OS (p < 0.0447)., Conclusion: Pretreatment elevated NLR values are associated with poor outcomes in patients with recurrent metastatic non-small-cell lung cancer treated with nivolumab., Competing Interests: Financial & competing interests disclosure BL Rapoport reports personal fees from Merck and Co, grants and personal fees from BMS, grants and personal fees from Roche South Africa, personal fees from AstraZeneca, during the conduct of the study. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. The final manuscript was supported in its entirety by the investigators. No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript., (© 2020 Rapoport BL.)

Purpose: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positivity is an important prognostic and predictive indicator in breast cancer. HER2 status is determined by immunohistochemistry and fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), which are potentially inaccurate techniques as a result of several technical factors, polysomy of chromosome 17, and amplification or overexpression of CEP17 (centromeric probe for chromosome 17) and/or HER2. In South Africa, HER2-positive tumors are excluded from a MammaPrint (MP; Agendia BV, Amsterdam, Netherlands) pretest algorithm. Clinical HER2 status has been reported to correlate poorly with molecular subtype. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of clinical HER2 status with BluePrint (BP) molecular subtyping., Methods: Clinico-pathologic and genomic information was extracted from a prospectively collected central MP database containing records of 256 estrogen receptor-positive and/or progesterone receptor-positive tumors. Twenty-one tumors considered HER2 positive on immunohistochemistry or FISH were identified for this study., Results: The median age of patients was 56 years (range, 34 to 77 years), with a median tumor size of 16 mm (3 to 27 mm). Four (19%) tumors were confirmed HER2-enriched subtype, six (29%) were luminal A, and 11 (52%) were luminal B. The positive predictive values of HER2/CEP17 ratio ≥ 2 and HER2 copy number ≥ 6 were only 29% and 40%, respectively. The differences in means for HER2/CEP17 ratio were significant between BP HER2-enriched versus luminal ( P = .0249; 95% CI, 0.12 to 1.21) and MP high-risk versus low-risk tumors ( P = .0002; 95% CI, 0.40 to 1.06)., Conclusion: Of the 21 tumors considered clinically HER2 positive, only four were HER2-enriched subtype with BP, indicating an overestimation of HER2 positivity. FISH testing has a poor positive predictive value., Competing Interests: The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO’s conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or ascopubs.org/jco/site/ifc. Ettienne J. MyburghConsulting or Advisory Role: Stellenbosch UniversityLizanne LangenhovenNo relationship to discloseKathleen A. GrantNo relationship to discloseLize Van der MerweNo relationship to discloseMaritha J. KotzeLeadership: Gknowmix Stock or Other Ownership: Genecare Molecular Genetics (dormant) (I), Gknowmix Patents, Royalties, Other Intellectual Property: Inventor (unrelated to current publication): M.J. Kotze. South African Medical Research Council. A method of diagnosing patients with cardiovascular disease or a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease. South African patent 2001/5419, July 2, 2001; and M.J. Kotze, S.J. van Rensburg, R. Rooney, P.D. Haug. University of Stellenbosch. In vitro method of diagnosing a demyelinating disease subtype. South African patent ZA2008/08511, September 29, 2008. (Inst)

Purpose: An estimated 5.9 million people in South Africa are infected with HIV. Because antiretroviral therapy has made infection with HIV a treatable, chronic condition, HIV-infected individuals are now surviving to middle and older age. We investigated the implications of HIV status for breast cancer in South Africa., Methods: We compared clinical and demographic characteristics of women newly diagnosed with a first primary breast cancer at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, from January 2010 to December 2011 by HIV status. We then compared HIV-positive patients with HIV-negative controls, matched 2:1 on age and ethnicity, with respect to chemotherapy regimens, toxicities, completion of systemic chemotherapy, and changes in CD4 cell count., Results: Of 586 women with breast cancer, 31 (5.3%) were HIV positive, 420 (71.7%) were HIV negative, and 135 (23%) were untested for HIV. Women with HIV were younger than other women ( P < .001). The groups did not differ in regard to stage at presentation, histologic subtype, tumor grade, nodal involvement, or hormone receptor positivity. More than 84% of patients who initiated systemic chemotherapy, regardless of HIV status, completed it without serious toxicity. Among HIV-positive patients receiving chemotherapy, the mean baseline CD4 cell count was 477 cells/µL (standard deviation, 160 cells/µL), and the mean nadir was 333 cells/µL (standard deviation, 166 cells/µL)., Conclusion: HIV-infected women were younger at breast cancer diagnosis than HIV-negative women but otherwise similar in phenotype and completion of chemotherapy. Longer term follow-up is needed to evaluate the effects of HIV, antiretroviral therapy, and chemotherapy on the survival and quality of life of patients with breast cancer., Competing Interests: Authors' disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and contributions are found at the end of this article.The following represents disclosure information provided by authors of this manuscript. All relationships are considered compensated. Relationships are self-held unless noted. I = Immediate Family Member, Inst = My Institution. Relationships may not relate to the subject matter of this manuscript. For more information about ASCO's conflict of interest policy, please refer to www.asco.org/rwc or jco.ascopubs.org/site/ifc. Lizanne LangenhovenNo relationship to disclosePieter BarnardtNo relationship to discloseAlfred I. NeugutStock or Other Ownership: Stemline Therapeutics Consulting or Advisory Role: Pfizer, Teva, Otsuka, United BioSource Corporation, EHE InternationalJudith S. JacobsonNo relationship to disclose