Table 1.
Trials of neoadjuvant versus adjuvant chemotherapy that began by 2005
| Trials (n)* | Women (n) | Deaths (n)† | Median years per woman (IQR) |
Woman-years by years since entry (thousands) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| <10 | 10–19 | ≥20 | Total | |||||
| No anthracycline or taxane8, 11, 12, 17‡ | 4 | 918 | 315 | 7·0 (4·2–9·3) | 6·0 | 0·8 | 0·2 | 7·0 |
| Anthracycline, no taxane9, 10, 14, 15, 16 | 5 | 2936 | 1163 | 10·2 (4·9–15·4) | 22·1 | 7·7 | <0·1 | 29·8 |
| Anthracycline and taxane13 | 1 | 902 | 126 | 7·9 (5·0–10·7) | 6·5 | 0·5 | 0 | 7·0 |
| Total | 10 | 4756 | 1604 | 8·6 (4·8–13·7) | 34·6 | 9·0 | 0·2 | 43·7 |
*
Data are missing for six small trials that randomised about 500 women, so they were not included in this analysis (appendix p 17).
†
Includes 1356 deaths with recurrence, 72 of unknown cause without recurrence, and 176 of known cause without recurrence.
‡
In these trials, women allocated to the neoadjuvant group completed their chemotherapy after surgery.