106P Subsets of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer patients treated by neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is implemented to reduce tumor volume to convert inoperable to operable tumors or to perform breast-conserving surgery instead of mastectomy. However, many breast cancers (BC) are resistant or relapse after treatment. Accumulating evidence indicates the key role of a tumor cells with stem-like phenotype in resistance to therapy. Here we assessed different subsets of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) with stemness-related and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in BC patients treated with NACT.