Impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on survival in breast cancer patients in daily practice: a population-based study

This population-based study aimed to describe the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) on survival in breast cancer (BC) patients in daily practice. BC patients treated with NC followed by surgery and radiotherapy, were retrospectively selected from 1982 to 2005 using the Cote d’Or BC registry. These patients were matched for the baseline AJCC (American Joint Committee on Cancer) stage, age at diagnosis, date of diagnosis and oestrogens receptors status to those who had undergone surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The prognostic effect of NC on survival in BC patients was assessed with relative survival (RS) analyses. From 1982 to 2005, 210 patients with BC diag…