Breast Cancer Drugs Before Surgery Extend Survival

A study on breast cancer treatment begun in 1992 has shown that chemotherapy followed by surgery, known as neoadjuvant therapy, permits less-drastic and breast-sparing surgery and can increase survival. The findings were reported at the annual meeting of the American Surgical Association in Hot Springs (VA, USA).

The study involved 62 women, all with locally advanced primary breast tumors greater than five cm, with skin or chest wall involvement, or with extensive involvement of the axillary lymph nodes. At diagnosis, 51 had stage III tumors, of which 34 were stage IIIA and 17 were stage IIIB. In addition, three patients were at stage IV and 13 patients had inflammatory breast cancer. Treatment with chemotherapy, surgery, postoperative chemotherapy, and radiation therapy was completed within 32 weeks.

Overall, 84% of patients showed a significant clinical response to chemotherapy. A total of 28 patients had sufficient downstaging to permit breast-conserving therapy, or lumpectomy. At a median follow-up of 70 months, 76% survived for at least five years, according to researchers from the Linberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA), who conducted the study.

"I think this study now provides a surgical advantage for women with locally advanced breast cancer who undergo neoadjuvant therapy,” said Dr. William G. Cance, professor of surgery and chief of surgical oncology at the Cancer Center.