Predictors of Pathological Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Iranian Breast Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: Achievement of pathologic complete response (pCR) in breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is associated with both overall survival and disease-free survival. The aim of present study was to identify clinical and pathological factors associated with achieving pCR in Iranian breast cancer patients receiving NAC. METHODS: A retrospective review of all breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy between April 2012 and September 2016 at our institution was performed; 207 cases were evaluable for analysis. pCR was defined as having no residual invasive tumor in the breast surgical specimen removed following neoadjuvant therapy. RESULTS: In univariate analysis, factors associated with pCR were age less than 35 years (p = 0.03), absence of Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p = 0.002) and negative hormone receptor status (p = 0.003). Hormone receptor status (P = 0.01; OR, 2.45; CI, 1.20 - 4.99) and LVI (P = 0.001; OR, 0.22; CI, 0.10 - 0.46) remained predictive variables in multivariate analysis after correction for the other variables. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the results of this study suggests that presence of Lymphovascular invasion and positive hormone receptor status are associated with poorer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.