Clinicopathologic profile of breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy at HUCFF/UFRJ

Abstract

Introduction: The objective of this study is to describe the profile of patients from a public institution, submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), comparing the verified pathological response with literature data. Methods: Observational retrospective cohort study on breast cancer patients diagnosed between September 2001 and October 2018 and treated with NACT at Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho (HUCFF/UFRJ), located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The adopted neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen was based on anthracycline and docetaxel. Results: A total of 133 patients were evaluated. The average age in this group was 54 years (28-86), 49 women (37%) were under 50 years old. The following distribution by molecular subtype was observed: overexpression or amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2+) (13 women, 26.6%), Luminal (19 women, 38.8%), and Triple-negative (TN) (17 women, 34.6%). The HER2+ and TN subtypes had a higher incidence of cases between 40-49 years and 50-59 years. As for the initial staging, 34% were IIIA; 26%, IIB; and 19%, IIIB. Only one patient did not undergo surgery after NACT, 33 (24.8%) underwent conservative surgery, and 99 patients (74.4%) underwent mastectomy. Regarding the axillary approach, 41 (31%) underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy and 88 (66%) had an indication for lymphadenectomy. In the anatomopathological evaluation of the surgery, 12 (9.1%) patients obtained a pathologic complete response (pCR) and 113 (84.9%), partial or no response to chemotherapy. Conclusion: This research enabled the identification of clinicopathologic characteristics and outcome of patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a public university service. The predominance of advanced tumors was observed, stressing the need for public health policies for the screening of breast cancer as well as the guarantee of timely treatment for diagnosed cases. The data somewhat reflect the difficulty that the public sector encounters to carry out the most appropriate treatment. The authors expect that this article, by analyzing the profile and the adopted treatment in real-life cases and in a public university institution, can contribute to the improvement of breast cancer treatment in Brazil.