Patients and methods
tumor, Cancer
TUMOR, INVASIVE BREAST CANCER, CANCER
Data were pooled from two independent randomized phase II prospective studies of early-stage, HR + , HER2- patients with invasive breast cancer in a preoperative setting, performed at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute (Emory) and Massey Cancer Center at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) from 2010 to 2012; the latter included patients from 6 additional collaborating sites in the US and Canada [The VCU multi-center study included women with HR + (defined as > 10% tumor staining by immunohistochemistry), HER2- invasive breast cancer measuring at least 2 cm and deemed by the surgeon not suitable for breast-conserving surgery unless size reduced by neoadjuvant therapy with ECOG performance status 0–1 [Outcomes evaluated for this analysis include clinical partial and complete response (cPR, cCR) and pathologic complete response (pCR) in the breast and axillary nodes. Pathology reports from surgical specimens were reviewed for determination of pCR, and clinical partial and complete response were determined by review of radiology reports in the medical records using RECIST criteria. Of note, patients in the VCU cohort were deemed not suitable for breast conservation without tumor shrinkage as determined by a multidisciplinary treatment team.