Table 1.
Baseline patient characteristics
| Characteristic | n (%) |
|---|---|
| Number of patients | 134 |
| Age (years) | |
| Median [range] | 56 [32–77] |
| Histotype † | |
| Invasive ductal carcinoma | 122 (91.0) |
| Invasive lobular carcinoma | 2 (1.5) |
| Mixed (ductal and lobular) | 2 (1.5) |
| Adenoid cystic carcinoma | 4 (3.0) |
| Undifferentiated | 2 (1.5) |
| Medullary carcinoma | 2 (1.5) |
| Tumor stage § | |
| I | 22 (16.4) |
| IIa | 40 (29.9) |
| IIb | 8 (6.0) |
| IIIa | 28 (21.0) |
| IIIb | 2 (1.5) |
| IIIc | 34 (25.2) |
| Tumor grade | |
| G2 | 45 (33.6) |
| G3 | 83 (61.9) |
| Unknown | 6 (4.5) |
| Chemotherapy | |
| CEF | 108 (80.6) |
| E→CMF | 19 (14.2) |
| E→TXL | 4 (3.0) |
| Cyclophosphamide and epirubicin | 3 (2.2) |
†
According to World health Organization histological typing of breast tumors (see text for complete reference( 25 )).
‡
According to UICC – TNM classification of malignant tumors, sixth edition 2002.( 23 )
§
According to Elston and Ellis classification (see text for complete reference( 24 )).CEF, cyclophosphamide, epirubicin, and 5‐fluorouracil; E→CMF, epirubicin followed by cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and 5‐fluorouracil; E→TXL, epirubicin followed by paclitaxel.