Effect of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy on the Surgical Treatment of Patients With Locally Advanced Breast Cancer...

The aim of this study was to assess the rate of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (nCT) in patients for whom mastectomy (MT) was, initially, the only conceivable surgical option.

Between 2007 and 2012, 168 patients from a single center received nCT. Among these patients, we focused on the ones who received nCT (n = 119, [70.8%]) to decrease tumor size and thus to potentially allow a conservative surgical treatment. For these patients, MT was initially the only possible surgical treatment.

Among the 119 patients included, 118 presented with an invasive ductal carcinoma. The mean tumor size before nCT, measured using magnetic resonance imaging, was 41.6 mm (range, 15-110 mm) and 25.3 mm (range, 0-90 mm) after nCT. Eighty-six patients (72.3%) underwent BCS, and oncoplastic techniques were used in 29 patients (33.6%). Only 4.3% (5 patients) of patients who were treated with BCS needed additional surgery because of positive surgical margins. The median follow-up was 41.1 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 35.2-48.3). Five-year overall survival after BCS and MT were 77% (95% CI, 63-92) and 77% (95% CI, 63-95) respectively. Five-year disease-free survival after BCS and MT were 74% (95% CI, 64-86) and 59% (95% CI, 40-89) (not significant), respectively.

nCT for selective patients with "chemosensitive" breast tumor leads to a significant "MT to BCS" conversion rate. The type of surgery does not seem to affect the patient's overall and disease-free survival rates. Oncoplastic procedures can help to extend BCS after nCT.