The stage of the tumor left after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer – as determined by the revised American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) tumor–node–metastasis staging system – is associated with both distant disease-free survival and overall survival, according to a new study.

In breast cancer, the extent of tumor left behind after neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an established intermediate endpoint for relapse and survival. In January 2003, the AJCC modified their tumor–node–metastasis staging system. To determine whether this new system is able to predict patient survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer, Lisa A. Carey, M.D., of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and colleagues assessed the stage of the residual tumor in 132 patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer after they had undergone neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The patients were then followed for a median of 5 years.

The authors found that the pathologic stage of residual tumor was strongly associated with both distant disease–free survival and overall survival. They conclude that classification of residual tumor in the breast after neoadjuvant chemotherapy using the revised AJCC tumor–node–metastasis system is useful for predicting distant relapse and survival.

SOURCE:
Journal of the National Cancer Institute, August 3, 2005