Fig. 1
From: The prognostic and predictive value of ESR1 fusion gene transcripts in primary breast cancer
Overview of the study and selection of available patients. A Flow diagram of the study; B Workflow of processing samples: fusion gene mRNA levels were measured in 322 ER-positive primary tumors (predictive cohort) by quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-qPCR). All patients in this cohort were hormone-naïve and all experienced a disease recurrence and subsequently received 1st line endocrine therapy. The association of the presence of ESR1 fusion genes in the primary tumor progression-free survival (PFS) after start with 1st line tamoxifen (n = 235) or aromatase inhibitors (n = 87), were evaluated. Similarly, disease free interval (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were investigated in 279 lymph node negative ER-positive breast cancer patients (prognostic cohort) who had not received any (neo)adjuvant systemic therapy. ESR1: Estrogen Receptor 1 gene; AI: Aromatase Inhibitor; LNN: Lymph node negative; ER: Estrogen Receptor; RT-qPCR: Quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR