Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of all enrolled patients with locally advanced breast cancer
| Characteristic | FEC arm [cases (%)] | PE arm [cases (%)] | P value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 151 | 142 | |
| Age (years) | 0.430 | ||
| ≤35 | 5 (3.31) | 8 (5.63) | |
| >35 | 146 (96.69) | 134 (94.37) | |
| Menopausal status | 0.263 | ||
| Premenopausal | 31 (20.53) | 22 (15.49) | |
| Postmenopausal | 120 (79.47) | 120 (84.51) | |
| Clinical tumor stage | 0.075 | ||
| T2 | 106 (70.20) | 86 (60.56) | |
| T3 | 43 (28.48) | 52 (36.62) | |
| T4 | 2 (1.32) | 4 (2.82) | |
| Clinical nodal status | 0.497 | ||
| Involved | 130 (86.09) | 126 (88.73) | |
| Not involved | 21 (13.91) | 16 (11.27) | |
| ER/PR status | 0.533 | ||
| Positive | 96 (63.58) | 89 (62.68) | |
| Negative | 47 (31.13) | 52 (36.62) | |
| Missing | 8 (5.30) | 1 (0.70) | |
| HER2 (IHC staining) | 0.189 | ||
| 0/1+ | 64 (42.38) | 66 (46.48) | |
| 2+ | 31 (20.53) | 26 (18.31) | |
| 3+ | 45 (29.80) | 47 (33.10) | |
| Missing | 11 (7.28) | 3 (2.11) | |
PE weekly paclitaxel–epirubicin regimen, FEC tri-weekly 5-fluorouracil–epirubicin–cyclophosphamide regimen, ER estrogen receptor, PR progesterone receptor, HER2 epidermal growth factor receptor-2, IHC immunohistochemistry