Comparison 1. Neoadjuvant.

Outcome or subgroup title	No. of studies	No. of participants	Statistical method	Effect size
1 Overall survival	2	947	Hazard Ratio (Fixed, 95% CI)	0.80 [0.60, 1.08]
2 Disease‐free survival	1	828	Hazard Ratio (Fixed, 95% CI)	0.84 [0.65, 1.09]
3 Pathological complete response (pCR) includes by hormone or HER2 receptor status	4		Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
3.1 No invasive cancer in breast or axilla	4	1280	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.15 [0.96, 1.38]
3.2 Oestrogen receptor (ER)‐positive	2	708	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.18 [0.88, 1.58]
3.3 ER‐negative	2	381	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.10 [0.89, 1.36]
3.4 HER2‐positive	2	467	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.07 [0.85, 1.33]
3.5 HER2‐negative	1	505	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.40 [0.92, 2.14]
3.6 HER2‐negative, ER‐negative	1	157	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.22 [0.77, 1.93]
4 Pathological response	3		Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
4.1 No invasive or in situ carcinoma in breast or axilla	1	119	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.93 [0.47, 1.84]
4.2 No invasive cancer in breast	2	306	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.97 [0.79, 1.20]
4.3 No invasive cancer in axillary lymph nodes	1	282	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.66 [1.03, 2.66]
5 Adverse events	2		Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	Subtotals only
5.1 Neutropenia	1	280	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.25 [0.86, 1.82]
5.2 Neurotoxicity	2	1108	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.95 [0.55, 1.65]
5.3 Treatment‐related death	2	1108	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	1.0 [0.06, 15.93]
6 Treatment adherence: dose reduction	1	280	Risk Ratio (M‐H, Fixed, 95% CI)	0.81 [0.59, 1.11]