Predictors of recurrence in breast cancer patients with pathological partial response

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Breast Cancer Research

Background:

• Residual disease post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy increases recurrence risk in locally advanced breast cancer.
• Identifying factors predicting recurrence is crucial for patient management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate risk factors for recurrence in locally advanced breast cancer patients with residual disease.
• To evaluate survival outcomes in this patient cohort.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective, single-center study of 205 breast cancer patients.
• Analysis of demographic, clinicopathological, and treatment data.
• Evaluation of recurrence and survival rates.

Main Results:

• Disease-free survival (DFS) was 73.8% and disease-specific survival (DSS) was 83.1% over a median 31-month follow-up.
• Lymphovascular invasion and non-luminal subtypes predicted recurrence.
• cNII-III nodal stage independently predicted DSS, while lymph node count predicted DFS.

Conclusions:

• cNII-III nodal stage and lymph node count are significant factors for disease-specific and disease-free survival, respectively.
• Patients with specific characteristics (non-luminal, large residual tumors, lymphovascular invasion, nodal involvement) have a high recurrence risk.
• These high-risk patients may benefit from intensified treatment strategies.