Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| All patients (n=96) | Negative conversion group (n=55) | Remaining positive group (n=41) | p-valuea) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean age (yr) | 44.9±8.4 | 44.7±8.1 | 45.6±8.8 | 0.741b) |
| Mean tumor size prior to chemotherapyc) | 2.9±1.6 | 2.7±1.5 | 3.2±1.8 | 0.161b) |
| Clinical nodal stage | 0.535 | |||
| N1 | 38 (40) | 24 (44) | 14 (34) | |
| N2 | 51 (53) | 28 (51) | 23 (56) | |
| N3 | 7 (7) | 3 (5) | 4 (10) | |
| Regimen of chemotherapy | 0.725 | |||
| AT | 72 (75) | 42 (76) | 30 (73) | |
| CAF | 17 (18) | 10 (19) | 7 (17) | |
| AC | 7 (7) | 3 (5) | 4 (10) | |
| Surgery | 0.038 | |||
| Breast conservation | 13 (14) | 11 (20) | 2 (5) | |
| Mastectomy | 83 (86) | 44 (80) | 39 (95) | |
| Mean pathologic tumor size after chemotherapy | 1.5±1.3 | 1.3±1.2 | 1.6±1.5 | 0.364b) |
| Number of metastatic lymph nodes | 0.102 | |||
| Negative | 37 (39) | 27 (49) | 10 (24) | |
| 1-3 | 39 (41) | 19 (35) | 20 (49) | |
| 4-9 | 14 (15) | 6 (11) | 8 (20) | |
| ≥10 | 6 (5) | 3 (5) | 3 (7) | |
| pCRd) | 0.990 | |||
| Yes | 14 (15) | 8 (15) | 6 (15) | |
| Estrogen receptor | 0.702 | |||
| Positive | 49 (51) | 29 (53) | 20 (49) | |
| Progesterone receptor | 0.783 | |||
| Positive | 39 (41) | 23 (42) | 16 (39) | |
| HER-2 | 0.838 | |||
| 3 Positive or FISH amplification | 41 (43) | 23 (42) | 18 (44) |
AT, adriamycin-docetaxel; CAF, cyclophosphamide-adriamycin-5-fluorouracil; AC, adriamycin cyclophosphamide; pCR, pathological complete response; HER-2, human epidermal growth receptor-2; FISH, fluorescence in situ hybridization.
a)
Chi-squared test,
b)
Student’s t-test,
c)
Tumor size was measured by ultrasonography,
d)
pCR was defined as no evidence of residual invasive cancer in both the breast and axilla.