Table 2.
Patient, disease, and treatment characteristics according to pathologic complete response or less than pathologic complete response
| Characteristic | pCR (N = 114), n (%) | Less than pCR (N = 115), n (%) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age in years (range) | 50 (21–81) | 47 (25–77) | 0.041 |
| Menopausal status | |||
| Pre-menopausal | 48 (42) | 66 (58) | 0.039 |
| Post-menopausal | 54 (47) | 36 (31) | |
| Unknown | 12 (11) | 13 (11) | |
| Clinical T-stage | |||
| T1 | 20 (18) | 13 (11) | 0.347 |
| T2 | 60 (53) | 57 (50) | |
| T3 | 20 (17) | 26 (23) | |
| T4 | 13 (11) | 19 (16) | |
| Unknown | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | |
| Clinical N-stage | |||
| N0 | 33 (29) | 34 (29) | 0.708 |
| N1 | 53 (47) | 54 (47) | |
| N2 | 5 (4) | 2 (2) | |
| N3 | 23 (20) | 25 (22) | |
| Stage group | |||
| Stage I | 4 (3) | 3 (3) | 0.638 |
| Stage II | 59 (52) | 66 (57) | |
| Stage III | 50 (44) | 46 (40) | |
| Unknown | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | |
| ER/PR status | |||
| Negative | 70 (61) | 46 (40) | 0.004 |
| Positive | 44 (39) | 68 (59) | |
| Unknown | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| Nuclear grade | |||
| Grade 1 | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.097 |
| Grade 2 | 22 (19) | 35 (30) | |
| Grade 3 | 91 (80) | 80 (70) | |
| Unknown | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | |
| LVI | |||
| Absent | 100 (88) | 82 (71) | 0.007 |
| Present | 14 (12) | 32 (28) | |
| Unknown | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | |
| Local therapy | |||
| BCS + XRT | 47 (41) | 31 (27) | 0.003 |
| Mastectomy + XRT | 39 (34) | 65 (57) | |
| Mastectomy alone | 28 (25) | 19 (16) | |
| Surgical margin status | |||
| Negative | 114 (100) | 100 (87) | <0.001 |
| Close or positivea | 0 (0) | 13 (11) | |
| Unknown | 0 (0) | 2 (2) | |
| Full year trastuzumab | |||
| No | 65 (57) | 54 (47) | 0.128 |
| Yes | 49 (43) | 61 (53) | |
aClose or positive margins = tumor cells <2 mm from margin. Only one patient had a positive margin.
pCR, pathologic complete response; ER/PR, estrogen receptor/progesterone receptor; LVI, lymphovascular invasion; BCS, breast conserving surgery; XRT, radiation therapy.