Prognostic significance of pathological complete response following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer

The aim of the present retrospective study was to ascertain the significance of pathological complete response (pCR) on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in each disease subtype of operable breast cancer. Using a single-institution database, 90 patients were identified, who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for operable breast cancer and were eligible for the analysis. In total, 10 patients (11.1%) had succumbed to their diseases and 20 (22.2%) had succumbed to their diseases or exhibited recurrences. The OS of patients with triple-negative (TN) tumors was significantly lower than that of patients with other disease subtypes (P=0.016). The DFS of patients with luminal tumors was higher than that of patients with other subtypes. Survival was improved with pCR following NAC (P=0.044). Across all subtypes, patients who achieved pCR exhibited a higher DFS than patients who did not, but not significantly. pCR only improved OS and DFS in the TN disease subtype (P=0.022 and P=0.048, respectively). pCR following NAC may have prognostic value in TN breast cancer.