Clinicopathologic Characteristics of Breast Cancer Patients Who Had a Pathologic Complete Response after Neoadjuvant...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Breast Cancer Research
• Neoadjuvant Therapy

Background:

• Breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer mortality in women.
• Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is increasingly used to improve surgical outcomes for breast cancer.
• NAT can enhance the likelihood of breast-conserving surgery and treat advanced or inoperable tumors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify clinicopathologic factors predicting pathological complete response (pCR) after NAT for breast cancer.
• To analyze patient data for associations between specific biomarkers and pCR.
• To aid therapeutic decision-making in breast cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 329 breast cancer patients treated with NAT between 2012 and 2022.
• Examination of parameters including tumor size, stage, grade, receptor status, molecular subtype, and surgery type.
• Statistical analysis to compare patients with and without pCR.

Main Results:

• 89 out of 329 patients achieved a pCR.
• High grade, negative hormone receptor status, HER2 positivity, Ki-67 ≥30, and early tumor stage were associated with higher pCR rates.
• Mastectomy was performed in 243 patients, and breast-conserving surgery in 86.

Conclusions:

• Biomarkers such as hormone receptor negativity, HER2 amplification, and high Ki-67 proliferation predict pCR to NAT.
• Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stages 1-2 and specific molecular subtypes (Luminal B/HER2+, HER2+) are important predictors.
• Identifying these biomarkers assists in selecting patients likely to benefit from NAT and guides treatment decisions.