Impact of the Histologic Pattern of Residual Tumor After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on Recurrence and Survival in Stage I-III Breast Cancer

This study evaluated histological pattern of residual tumour in patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in order to determine whether this affected oncological outcomes. The study cohort included 975 patients (median follow up 74 months) treated with NACT between 2004 and 2014. The 10 year locoregional recurrence (LRR), relapse free survival (RFS), and overall survival (OS) rates were 9.8%, 67.6%, and 74.4% respectively. The pattern of residual disease was not significantly associated with LRR risk. However, patients with either scattered residual tumour or no/minimal response had worse RFS (scattered: HR 2.0, p=0.015; no/minimal response: HR 2.2, p=0.021) and OS (scattered: HR 2.2, p=0.026; no/minimal response: HR 2.5, p=0.023) when compared to concentric pattern of response. These findings were most prominent in patients with triple negative breast cancer.

Classifications: Adjuvant & Neoadjuvant Treatment

Keywords: Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy/ NACT Recurrence