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Neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not improve OS, DFS in locally advanced breast cancer
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Union of International Cancer Control World Cancer Congress
No differences were observed in OS or DFS in patients with locally advanced breast cancer who were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy after various chemotherapy regimens, according to data presented at the 2010 World Cancer Congress.
Although many patients achieve complete response with a first chemotherapy regimen, some tumors may require different therapies because of poor response with the initial regimen.
Therefore, researchers set out to identify factors that may affect local breast cancer recurrence and may be predictive of disease progression and mortality in 683 patients with locally advanced breast cancer (stage III or greater) treated with either adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy between 1998 and 2006.
Thirty-nine percent of patients had locally advanced stage disease, of which 54% underwent neoadjuvant therapy. However, follow-up data were available for 101 patients with a mean age of 48.47 years. Sixty percent of patients were postmenopausal, 58.8% had T4 disease and 37% had T3 disease.
An adriamycin-based regimen was initiated in 93 patients, a methotrexate-based regimen in 29 patients and an epirubicin-based regimen in 19 patients. Eight percent of patients had breast conservation compared with 92% of patients who had modified radical mastectomy.
Median 5-year OS was 57% and median 5-year DFS was 54%.
Moreover, researchers observed complete pathological response in 13% of patients. After the third and sixth chemotherapy cycles, tumor stage, tumor diameter and percentage response in tumor size were all positively associated with pathological complete response.
For more information:
- Agarwal A. #364. Presented at: Union of International Cancer Control World Cancer Congress; Aug. 18-21, 2010; Shenzhen, China.
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