Table 2.
Patterns of relapse, toxicities and 3-year (3-y) survival according to the number of chemotherapy cycles delivered (n = 209).
| Number of Cycles Delivered | 4 Cycles (n = 55) | 5 Cycles (n = 154) | p-Value |
| Death (%) | 24 (43.6) | 27 (17.5) | 0.000 * |
| Relapse (%) | 28 (50.9) | 38 (24.7) | 0.000 * |
| Local relapse (%) | 12 (21.8) | 12 (7.8) | 0.012 * |
| Regional relapse (%) | 15 (27.3) | 22 (14.3) | 0.039 * |
| Loco-regionale relapse (%) | 20 (36.4) | 28 (18.2) | 0.009 * |
| Metastasis relapse (%) | 18 (32.7) | 17 (11.0) | 0.001 * |
| Number of Cycles Delivered | 4 Cycles | 5 Cycles | HR (95% CI) |
| 3-y OS (SE) | 62.0% (6.7) | 87.8% (2.7) | 0.340 (0.196–0.589) * |
| 3-y PFS (SE) | 53.4% (6.8) | 78.8% (3.3) | 0.388 (0.242–0.624) * |
| 3-y LFS (SE) | 58.9% (6.8) | 84.4% (3.0) | 0.345 (0.202–0.589) * |
| 3-y RFS (SE) | 59.2% (6.8) | 80.5% (3.3) | 0.405 (0.241–0.682) * |
| 3-y LFRFS (SE) | 55.9% (6.8) | 80.0% (3.3) | 0.389 (0.237–0.637) * |
| 3-y DMFS (SE) | 56.3% (6.9) | 81.9% (3.2) | 0.346 (0.208–0.573) * |
| 3-y LC (SE) | 77.2% (5.8) | 93.9% (2.0) | 0.306 (0.137–0.681) * |
| 3-y LRC (SE) | 62.8% (6.6) | 84.6% (3.0) | 0.429 (0.242–0.762) * |
| 3-y DMC (SE) | 69.1% (6.7) | 90.5% (2.4) | 0.280 (0.144–0.545) * |
| Toxicity | 4 Cycles | 5 Cycles | p-Value |
| Grade 2+ late toxicities (%) | 23 (41.8) | 77 (50.0) | 0.346 |
| Grade 3+ late toxicities (%) | 2 (3.6) | 9 (5.8) | 0.731 |
SE: standard error; OS: overall survival; PFS: progression free survival; LFS: local free survival; RFS: regional free survival; LRFS: loco-regional free survival; DMFS: distant metastasis free survival; LC: local control; RC: regional control; LRC: loco-regional control; LRC: loco-regional control; DMC: distant metastatic control; IQ: interquartile 25–75; CI: confidence interval; HR: hazard ratio for death/event; *: significant comparison.