Table 1.
Patient and tumor characteristics
| Characteristics | EC (n = 374) | D→EC (n = 376) |
| No. (%) | No. (%) | |
| Median age (25th–75th percentiles), years | 51 (44–60) | 50 (43–59) |
| ≤50 | 187 (50.0) | 196 (52.1) |
| ≥50 | 187 (50.0) | 180 (47.9) |
| Menopausal status | ||
| Premenopausal | 170 (45.4) | 179 (47.6) |
| Postmenopausal | 185 (48.1) | 183 (48.6) |
| WHO performance status | ||
| 0 | 367 (98.1) | 369 (98.1) |
| 1 | 7 (1.9) | 7 (1.9) |
| Tumor size | ||
| T1 | 146 (39.1) | 159 (42.4) |
| T2 | 203 (54.4) | 192 (51.2) |
| T3 | 24 (6.4) | 24 (6.4) |
| Number of involved nodes | ||
| 1–3 | 352 (94.2) | 356 (94.7) |
| 4–9 | 17 (4.5) | 15 (4.0) |
| ≥10 | 5 (1.3) | 5 (1.3) |
| Hormonal receptor status | ||
| Positive (ER and/or PgR) | 287 (76.7) | 289 (76.9) |
| Negative (ER and PgR) | 87 (23.3) | 87 (23.1) |
| Histopathological grade | ||
| G1 | 20 (6.0) | 19 (5.6) |
| G2 | 164 (49.5) | 199 (58.4) |
| G3 | 145 (43.8) | 123 (36.1) |
| HER-2 status | ||
| Negative | 118 (70.6) | 120 (72.7) |
| Positive | 49 (29.4) | 45 (27.3) |
| Conservative surgery | 206 (55.1) | 204 (54.3) |
| Adjuvant therapy | ||
| Radiotherapy | ||
| Complementary | 206 (55.1) | 204 (54.3) |
| Postmastectomy | 10 (2.7) | 8 (2.1) |
| Hormonal therapy | 260 (69.5) | 259 (68.9) |
D, docetaxel; EC, epirubicin plus cyclophosphamide; ER, estrogen receptor; PgR, progesterone receptor; WHO, World Health Organization. Missing values: T size EC group 1, D→EC group 1; Histopathological grade EC group 45, D→EC group 35; HER-2 status EC group 207, D→EC group 211; Menopausal status EC group 19, D→EC group 14.