About the Authors

Kan Yonemori

kyonemor@ncc.go.jp

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Akihiro Hirakawa

Affiliation Center for Advanced Medicine and Clinical Research, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan

Masashi Ando

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Taizo Hirata

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Mayu Yunokawa

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Chikako Shimizu

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Kenji Tamura

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Yasuhiro Fujiwara

Affiliation Breast and Medical Oncology Division, National Cancer Center Hospital, Tokyo, Japan

Competing Interests

The authors have read the journal’s policy and have the following conflicts. The potential conflicts of interest does not alter the authors’ adherence to all the PLoS One policies on sharing data and materials. Financial: Ownership of Stocks or Shares: no authors. Paid employment or consultancy: no authors. Board membership: no authors. Patent application: no authors. Research grants: The following authors received unrestricted research grants for patient enrollment in industry-sponsored registration clinical trials from commercial sources. Masashi Ando: Sanofi Aventis, Wyeth, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline. Tamura Kenji: MSD (a subsidiary of Merck). Yasuhiro Fujiwara: Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, Chugai pharmaceutical, Eisai, Daiichi Sankyo, Taiho pharmaceutical, Nihon Kayaku, Amgen, Novartis, Takeda pharmaceutical, Astra-Zeneca. Travel grants and honoraria for speaking or participation at meetings: The following authors had honoraria for speaking from commercial sources. Kan Yonemori: Taiho Pharmaceutical. Masashi Ando: Astra-Zeneca, Novartis. Chikako Shimizu: Esai, Daiichi Sankyo, Novartis, Chugai pharmaceutical, Astra-Zeneca, Sanofi Aventis, GlaxoSmithKline, Bristrol Myers Squibb, Takeda Pharmaceutical, Kyowa Hakko Kirin. Kenji Tamura: Bristrol Myers Squibb, Chugai Pharmaceutical, Novartis, Pfizer. Yasuhiro Fujiwara: Ono Pharmaceutical, Astra-Zeneca, Taiho Pharmaceutical, Sanofi Aventis, Eli Lilly, Chugai Pharmaceutical. Gifts: no authors. Non-Financial: Professional: Acting as an expert witness: no authors. Membership in a government or other advisory board: The following authors are external expert members in Japanese regulatory agency (Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency) or Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. Kan Yonemori: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. Masashi Ando: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Kenji Tamura: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency. Yasuhiro Fujiwara: Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Membership in lobbying or advocacy organizations: no authors. Writing or consulting for an educational company: no authors. Personal: no authors.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: KY AH YF. Performed the experiments: KY TH. Analyzed the data: KY AH CS KT MA YF TH MY. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: KY AH YF. Wrote the paper: KY MA CS MY KT YF. Performed statistical analysis: AH.