Neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Clinical Medicine
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Neoadjuvant therapy (NT) is a crucial treatment for breast cancer, aiming to reduce tumor size before surgery.
• Understanding the patterns of NT use is essential for optimizing breast cancer care and identifying disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the frequency of neoadjuvant therapy (NT) use in women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer in Italy.
• To investigate the influence of patient demographics, biological tumor characteristics, screening history, and geographic location on NT utilization.

Main Methods:

• The study analyzed data from 3546 women with stage I-III breast cancer from 7 Italian cancer registries (2009-2013).
• NT was defined as chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and/or hormone therapy administered before surgery.
• Logistic regression models were employed to assess associations between NT and various patient and tumor factors.

Main Results:

• Only 8.2% of eligible women received neoadjuvant therapy.
• NT use decreased significantly with increasing age and varied based on tumor receptor status (ER/PR, HER2).
• Higher likelihood of NT was observed in stage III disease, Luminal B, triple-negative subtypes, and symptomatic cancers, with significant geographic variations across Italy.

Conclusions:

• Neoadjuvant therapy utilization in Italy is notably limited and exhibits considerable regional variability.
• The study found no evidence suggesting increased NT use in facilities with more advanced care capabilities.