The impact of chemotherapy sequence on survival in node-positive invasive lobular carcinoma

We sought to evaluate the impact of chemotherapy sequence on survival by comparing node-positive invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) patients who received neoadjuvant (NACT) and adjuvant (ACT) chemotherapy.

cT1-4c, cN1-3 ILC patients in the National Cancer Data Base (2004-2013) who underwent surgery and chemotherapy were divided into NACT and ACT cohorts. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional hazards modeling were used to estimate unadjusted and adjusted overall survival (OS), respectively.

Five thousand five hundred fifty-one (35.6%) of 15 573 ILC patients treated with chemotherapy received NACT. NACT patients had similar rates of pT3/4 disease (26.6% vs 26.2%), nodal involvement (median 3 vs 4), and number of lymph nodes examined (median 13 vs 14) but higher rates of mastectomy (81.8% vs 74.5%, P < 0.001) vs ACT patients. 3.4% of NACT patients experienced pathologic complete response (pCR). Unadjusted 10-year OS was worse for NACT vs ACT patients (65.1% vs 54.4%, log-rank P < 0.001). After adjustment for known covariates, NACT continued to be associated with worse OS (hazard ratio [HR], 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-1.52).

In node-positive ILC, NACT yielded low rates of pCR, was not associated with lower rates of mastectomy or less extensive axillary surgery, and was associated with worse survival vs ACT, suggesting limited benefit for these patients.