Morphologic assessment of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer / 中华病理学杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the histological criteria of breast cancer response to neoadjuvant therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and fifty-four cases of breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant therapy were collected from June, 2005 to June, 2007 and the clinical data were analyzed. All patients were operated on within 4 weeks after neoadjuvant therapy. All specimens were assessed by the standard method of Miller and Payne (MP) grading system. The response to neoadjuvant therapy were assessed by two pathologists independently, using MP grading system and common grading system separately.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The response rate using the MP grading system were grade 1 in 12 cases (7.8%), grade 2 in 33 cases (21.4%), grade 3 in 64 cases (41.6%), grade 4 in 31 cases (20.1%) and grade 5 in 14 cases (9.1%). Using the common grading system, the response were mild in 51 cases (33.1%), moderate in 71 cases (46.1%) and severe in 32 cases (20.8%). MP grading system may be related to common grading system (chi2 = 186.660, P < 0.01). Follow up information were available in 147 cases, with 14 cases showing recurrence, metastasis or death from the disease. The MP grading system may be related to the outcome (chi2 = 11.612, P = 0.020), but not the common grading system (chi2 = 0.881, P = 0.644).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>MP grading system may be one of the prognostic factors in the neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer.</p>