Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026
Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Intratumoral Injection of Cisplatin for the Treatment of Isolated Mediastinal Recurrence of Lung Cancer
Published on: February 12, 2017
Remission rates in breast cancer treated with preoperative chemotherapy and radiotherapy
Bärbel Gerlach1, Werner Audretsch, Frank Gogolin
1Department of Radiation Oncology, University Clinic Düsseldorf, Germany. Gerlach@med.uni-duesseldorf.de
Purpose:
Evaluation of remission rates after neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone or followed by preoperative radiotherapy.
Patients And Methods:
194 women with 198 biopsy-proven breast tumors were evaluated in this retrospective study. Of the 198 cases evaluated, 64 received neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by surgery and adjuvant irradiation (CT group). In 134 cases, sequential preoperative chemo-/radiotherapy (CT-RT group) was given. In both groups, endocrine treatment was initiated in case of positive hormone receptor status after chemotherapy. The whole breast was homogeneously irradiated using 2-Gy fractions up to a total dose of 50 Gy, followed by a boost of 6-11 Gy to the tumor.
Results:
A histologically proven complete remission (pCR) was achieved in 3% (2/64) in the CT and in 42% (56/134) in the CTRT group. The logistic regression analysis, including clinical tumor category (cT), lymph node (cN) and metastasis status (cM), grading (G), hormone receptor status (HRS), number of preoperative chemotherapy cycles, preoperative tumor volume, and preoperative radiotherapy, revealed that HRS (p = 0.0232) and radiotherapy (p < 0.0001) were significant factors for achieving pCR.
Conclusion:
Combination of neoadjuvant chemo-/radiotherapy results in significantly higher rates of complete remission than neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone. The significance for tumor-free and overall survival has to be evaluated.
