RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Short–term Intensive Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Improving 10–year Survival for Patients with Stage II and Operable Stage III Breast Cancer JF Chinese Journal of Clinical Oncology JO Cancer Biol Med FD China Anti-Cancer Association SP 42 OP 46 VO 1 IS 1 A1 Bin Zhang A1 Yue Cai A1 Qi Zhang A1 Ziwei Ying A1 Shuling Jiang A1 Hong Xu A1 Yongxue Zheng A1 Daqing Jiang YR 2004 UL http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/1/1/42.abstract AB OBJECTIVE To evaluate the 10–year curative effects of short–term intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer.METHODS A total of 510 patients with stagell and operable stagelll breast cancer were divided into group A (preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy 251 cases) and group B (postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy 259 cases). The patients in group A received short–term and intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy for 4 weeks followed by modified radical mastectomy two weeks after the chemotherapy. The postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy began within two weeks after surgery. The same chemotherapeutic regimen was used for both groups.RESULTS For stage III in group A the 5–year overall survival rate (OS) and disease–free survival rate (DFS) were 59.2% and 54.9% respectively which were higher than those in group B (28.3% and 20.8% respectively, P<0.05). The 10–year OS and DFS were 78.1% and 73.5% respectively for stage II in group A which were higher than those in group B (68.4% and 60.7%, P< 0.05). The 10–year OS and DFS were 42.3% and 40.4% respectively for stage III in group A which were higher than those in group B (20.4% and 18.4% respectively, P<0.05).CONCLUSION The results showed that intensive neoadjuvant chemotherapy can improve the 10–year survival for patients with stage II and operable stage III breast cancer.