Neoadjuvant docetaxel/cyclophosphamide in triple-negative breast cancer: predictive value of class III-β tubulin and non-basal subtype

Abstract

Aim: We aimed to clarify which breast cancer subtypes respond best to docetaxel/cyclophosphamide chemotherapy (TC) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Patients and methods: We analyzed pathological responses, clinicopathological characteristics and biological markers (estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2), Ki-67, p53, topoisomerase IIα, class III β tubulin, cytokeratin 5/6, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)) in specimens from 79 patients who received NAC-TC.

Results: Out of 79 patients, 33 (41.8%) achieved quasipathological complete responses (QpCR). Univariate analysis associated negative ER (p<0.001), negative PR (p=0.007), triple-negative subtype (TNBC; p=0.001), high Ki-67 (p=0.022) and low class III β tubulin (p=0.032) with QpCR. Multivariate analyses associated only negative ER (p=0.050) and low class III β tubulin (p=0.028) and only non-basal subtype in TNBC with QpCR.

Conclusion: NAC-TC may be especially effective in ER-breast cancer with low class III β tubulin or non-basal TNBC.

Keywords: Breast cancer; cyclophosphamide; docetaxel; neoadjuvant chemotherapy; predictive factor; triple-negative.