• Investigating Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NAC) and Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) in Patients Affected with Breast Cancer
  • Khashayar Alikarami,1,* Mohammad Amin Dehghani ,2
    1. Student Research Committee of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
    2. Student Research Committee of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran


  • Introduction: An alternative to manage patients suffering from locally advanced breast cancer is neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). In this respect, improvements have been reported in the survival rates of such patients with a pathologic complete response (pCR) to NAC.
  • Methods: To meet the study purpose, the related articles published in English in the database of PubMed were searched using the terms; breast cancer, NAC, pCR, clinical trials, survival, as well as target therapy.
  • Results: The findings of a number of prospective randomized phase III trials revealed equal overall survival (OS) rates in terms of comparing adjuvant with NAC. Moreover, a pCR was obtained in just 30% of the patients following the achievement of NAC; consequently, determinants along with an accurate means for the prediction of treatment response as early as possible were required to find patients with no NAC. In recent years, NAC has been accpeted and it is now being suggested to patients affected with smaller tumors even when upfront breast conservation is possible and also to individuals with larger tumors who will subsequently need mastectomy.
  • Conclusion: It was concluded that pCR following NCT for breast cancer was correlated with improved survival rates and assisted conservative surgical strategies. In addition, the NAC approach could significantly influence radiation therapy indications after breast surgery via making theoretical alterations in loco-regional relapse risks based on response magnitude.
  • Keywords: Breast Cancer, NAC, pCR, Clinical Trials, Survival, Target Therapy