Patient characteristics by neoadjuvant chemotherapy cycles
| Characteristics | Total | Standard cycles | Non-standard cycles | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n = 1,024 | n = 700 (68.4%) | n = 324 (31.6%) | ||
| Age at diagnosis (years) | 51.01 ± 9.43 | 50.51 ± 9.58 | 52.10 ± 9.02 | 0.012* |
| Menopausal status | 0.699 | |||
| Premenopausal | 296 (28.9%) | 208 (29.7%) | 88 (27.2%) | |
| Postmenopausal | 434 (42.4%) | 294 (42.0%) | 140 (43.2%) | |
| Unknown | 294 (28.7%) | 198 (28.3%) | 96 (29.6%) | |
| BMI | 0.244 | |||
| Underweight (< 18.5) | 29 (2.8%) | 16 (2.3%) | 13 (4.0%) | |
| Normal (18.5–24.9) | 644 (62.9%) | 435 (62.1%) | 209 (64.5%) | |
| Overweight (25–29.9) | 310 (30.3%) | 222 (31.7%) | 88 (27.2%) | |
| Obese (> 30) | 41 (4.0%) | 27 (3.9%) | 14 (4.3%) | |
| Clinical tumor stage | 0.051 | |||
| T1 | 111 (10.8%) | 65 (9.3%) | 46 (14.2%) | |
| T2 | 737 (72.0%) | 509 (72.7%) | 228 (70.4%) | |
| T3/T4 | 176 (17.2%) | 126 (18.0%) | 50 (15.4%) | |
| ER status | 0.780 | |||
| Negative | 430 (42.0%) | 296 (42.3%) | 134 (41.4%) | |
| Positive | 594 (58.0%) | 404 (57.7%) | 190 (58.6%) | |
| PgR status | 0.449 | |||
| Negative | 514 (50.2%) | 357 (51.0%) | 157 (48.5%) | |
| Positive | 510 (49.8%) | 343 (49.0%) | 167 (51.5%) | |
| HER2 status | 0.650 | |||
| Negative | 529 (51.7%) | 365 (52.1%) | 164 (50.6%) | |
| Positive | 495 (48.3%) | 335 (47.9%) | 160 (49.4%) | |
| Biological subtype | 0.878 | |||
| HR positive/HER2 negative | 351 (34.3%) | 241 (34.4%) | 110 (34.0%) | |
| HER2 positive | 495 (48.3%) | 335 (47.9%) | 160 (49.4%) | |
| Triple negative | 178 (17.4%) | 124 (17.7%) | 54 (16.7%) | |
| Histological grade | 0.179 | |||
| 1 | 15 (1.5%) | 10 (1.4%) | 5 (1.5%) | |
| 2 | 521 (50.9%) | 360 (51.4%) | 161 (49.7%) | |
| 3 | 81 (7.9%) | 63 (9.0%) | 18 (5.6%) | |
| Unknown | 407 (39.7%) | 267 (38.1%) | 140 (43.2%) | |
| Baseline Ki67 | 0.026* | |||
| ≤ 20% | 297 (29.0%) | 188 (26.9%) | 109 (33.6%) | |
| > 20% | 727 (71.0%) | 512 (73.1%) | 215 (66.4%) | |
| Post-neoadjuvant pathological node stage | 0.491 | |||
| ypN0 | 427 (41.7%) | 300 (42.9%) | 127 (39.2%) | |
| ypN1 | 287 (28.0%) | 190 (27.1%) | 97 (29.9%) | |
| ypN2 | 174 (17.0%) | 122 (17.4%) | 52 (16.0%) | |
| ypN3 | 136 (13.3%) | 88 (12.6%) | 48 (14.8%) | |
| Pathological response | < 0.0001* | |||
| pCR | 116 (11.3%) | 99 (14.1%) | 17 (5.2%) | |
| Non-pCR | 908 (88.7%) | 601 (85.9%) | 307 (94.8%) | |
| Clinical response | < 0.0001* | |||
| PR | 584 (57.0%) | 426 (60.9%) | 158 (48.8%) | |
| SD | 440 (43.0%) | 274 (39.1%) | 166 (51.2%) | |
| Type of surgery | 0.548 | |||
| BCS | 47 (4.6%) | 34 (4.9%) | 13 (4.0%) | |
| Mastectomy | 977 (95.4%) | 666 (95.1%) | 311 (96.0%) | |
| Adjuvant radiotherapy | 0.375 | |||
| Yes | 624 (60.9%) | 433 (61.9%) | 191 (59.0%) | |
| No | 400 (39.1%) | 267 (38.1%) | 133 (41.0%) | |
| Adjuvant endocrine therapy | 0.326 | |||
| Yes | 598 (58.4%) | 416 (59.4%) | 182 (56.2%) | |
| No | 426 (41.6%) | 284 (40.6%) | 142 (43.8%) | |
| Anti-HER2 targeted therapy | 0.945 | |||
| Yes | 482 (47.1%) | 330 (47.1%) | 152 (46.9%) | |
| No | 542 (52.9%) | 370 (52.9%) | 172 (53.1%) | |
| Chemotherapy strategies | 0.389 | |||
| Anthracycline- and taxane-based | 715 (69.8%) | 482 (68.9%) | 233 (71.9%) | |
| Anthracycline-based only | 206 (20.1%) | 149 (21.3%) | 57 (17.6%) | |
| Taxane-based only | 103 (10.1%) | 69 (9.9%) | 34 (10.5%) |
*P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
BMI, body mass index; ER, estrogen receptor; PgR, progesterone receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2; HR, hormone receptor; pCR, pathological complete response; PR, partial response; SD, stable disease; BCS, breast-conservation surgery.