[The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment]

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being used increasingly in the management of patients with breast cancer, especially locally advanced cases. Such treatment is administered with the aim of of reducing the size of the primary tumor to increase the possibility of breast-conserving treatment (BCT). In our series, during the period from May 1995 to December 2000, 86 patients with tumors between 3.1 and 6.0 cm in diameter received epirubicin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There were 55 (64.0%) responders and ultimately 64 patients (74.4%) were treated with BCT. With a median follow-up time of 39 months, 9 patients in the BCT group had developed local recurrence. Long-term follow-up is required to establish whether this procedure is a safe alternative to mastectomy for patients with large breast cancers.