1. AHRA SAMI - Department of Medical Oncology, Jinnah Medical Postgraduate Center (JMPC), Karachi Pakistan.
2. GHULAM HAIDER - Department of Medical Oncology, Jinnah Medical Postgraduate Center (JMPC), Karachi Pakistan.
3. AAKASH RAMCHAND - Dr. Ruth K.M.Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi, Pakistan.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is an effective intervention in patients presenting with inoperable breast cancer. Studies have demonstrated that patients achieving pathological complete response (pCR) after receiving NAC have a better long-term outcome. This study focused to assess the efficacy of NAC in the management of hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative breast cancer, with the use of pCR as the primary end point. This prospective observational study was conducted at the Jinnah Medical Postgraduate Centre (JMPC), Karachi from January to December, 2022. Patients older than 18 years, having invasive breast carcinoma diagnosed through core needle biopsy, surgical excision (lumpectomy or mastectomy), HER2/neu negative breast cancer, hormone (i.e., ER/PR) positive breast cancer and no history of recent excision in the same breast. All patients received four cycles of NAC, which consisted of doxorubicin (60 mg/m2 every 3 weeks), cyclophosphamide (600 mg/m2 every 3 weeks) followed by paclitaxel (80 mg/m2 weekly for 12 weeks). Among the total enrolled patients (n = 180), the majority (n = 169, 93.9%) were married and postmenopausal (n = 150, 83.3%). For the hormonal status, all patients were ER positive and HER2 negative. However, the PR positivity was shown by 149 (82.8%) patients. The mean and median age of the patients at diagnosis was 52.6±8.6 and 54 (range: 29-69) years, respectively. Results showed that pCR with NAC was achieved in only 07 (3.9%) patients. These results may have implications in selecting NAC regimen for the particular subtype of breast cancer.
NCCN, TNM Staging, MRI, Mastectomy, Tumor Size.