Real-World Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy Utilization and Treatment Patterns in Patients with Early-Stage or Locally...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Clinical Research
• Breast Cancer Treatment

Background:

• Guidelines recommend neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) for stage II-III triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
• TNBC is an aggressive breast cancer subtype lacking specific therapeutic targets.
• This study evaluates real-world NST adoption in Greece prior to immunotherapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NST) adoption rates for stage II-III TNBC patients in Greece.
• To analyze factors associated with NST utilization.
• To evaluate clinical outcomes, including pathological complete response (pCR), associated with NST.

Main Methods:

• Multicenter, observational, retrospective chart review of 230 TNBC patients.
• Data collected on demographics, clinical characteristics, treatment, outcomes, and survival.
• Descriptive statistics, uni/multivariate analyses, and survival analysis were performed.

Main Results:

• NST was administered to 49.1% of patients; utilization increased over time.
• NST use was associated with larger tumor size and BRCA1/2 testing/status.
• Over half (61 patients) achieved pCR post-NST; event rates were lower with NST (16.8%) vs. without (24.8%).

Conclusions:

• Moderate NST uptake was observed with significant practice variations.
• Multidisciplinary strategies are needed to improve guideline adherence for TNBC treatment.
• Achieving pCR in over half of patients post-NST establishes a benchmark for TNBC care.