Skip to main content
. 2021 Sep 8;60:98–110. doi: 10.1016/j.breast.2021.09.004

Table 2.

Patient and tumor characteristics by use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus upfront surgery.

Variable Neoadjuvant therapy (N = 125)
Upfront Surgery (N = 166)
p-value
n (%) n (%)
Node positivity (categorized) 0.89
 Node-positivity detected by imaging and non-palpable ( 62 (49.6%) 81 (48.8%)
 Node-positivity palpable (cN1-3) 63 (50.4%) 85 (51.2%)
Clinical N stage at initial diagnosis 0.001
 N1 by imaging 56 (44.8%) 78 (47.0%)
 N1 by palpation 51 (40.8%) 83 (50.0%)
 N2/3 18 (14.4%) 5 (3.0%)
Clinical T stage 0.36
 cT0 1 (0.8%) 0 (0.0%)
 cT1b 6 (4.8%) 5 (3.0%)
 cT1c 25 (20.0%) 30 (18.1%)
 cT2 74 (59.2%) 112 (67.5%)
 cT3 16 (12.8%) 11 (6.6%)
 cT4a 1 (0.8%) 0 (0.0%)
 cT4b 2 (1.6%) 5 (3.0%)
 cT4c 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.6%)
 cTis (DCIS) 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.6%)
 cTx 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.6%)
Postoperative N stage <.001
 pN0 0 (0.0%) 5 (3.0%)
 pN1 0 (0.0%) 102 (61.4%)
 pN2 0 (0.0%) 39 (23.5%)
 pN3 0 (0.0%) 20 (12.0%)
 ypN0 71 (56.8%) 0 (0.0%)
 ypN0 (i+) 2 (1.6%) 0 (0.0%)
 ypN1 42 (33.6%) 0 (0.0%)
 ypN2 8 (6.4%) 0 (0.0%)
 ypN3 2 (1.6%) 0 (0.0%)
Tumor type 0.07
 Invasive ductal 96 (76.8%) 123 (74.1%)
 Invasive lobular 6 (4.8%) 20 (12.0%)
 Other 23 (18.4%) 23 (13.9%)
Tumor receptor subtype <.001
 HR+/HER2+ 33 (26.4%) 8 (4.8%)
 HR+/HER2- 44 (35.2%) 141 (84.9%)
 HR-/HER2+ 13 (10.4%) 2 (1.2%)
 HR-/HER2- 30 (24.0%) 5 (3.0%)
 Missing 5 (4.0%) 9 (5.4%)
 Unknown 0 (0.0%) 1 (0.6%)
Tumor grade <.001
 G1 3 (2.4%) 8 (4.8%)
 G2 51 (40.8%) 107 (64.5%)
 G3 65 (52.0%) 50 (30.1%)
 Unknown 6 (4.8%) 1 (0.6%)

Note: Five patients who received neoadjuvant therapy other than chemotherapy are not shown here.