Published online Sep 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i27.6398
Peer-review started: June 23, 2023
First decision: July 4, 2023
Revised: July 17, 2023
Accepted: August 25, 2023
Article in press: August 25, 2023
Published online: September 26, 2023
Processing time: 88 Days and 19.6 Hours
Breast cancer in young women has been shown to have an aggressive behavior and poor prognosis.
To evaluate the outcomes of young hormone receptor (HR)-positive patients with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), and the oncologic efficacy of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists.
This retrospective study involved a prospectively enrolled cohort. We included patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer who were treated with NAC followed by curative surgery at the Samsung Medical Center and Samsung Changwon Hospital between January 2006 and December 2017. Among patients with HR-positive and human epidermal grow factor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer, we analyzed the characteristics and oncology outcomes between the patients equal to or younger than 35 years and the patients older than 35 years.
Among 431 patients with NAC and HR-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer, 78 were 35 years old or younger, and 353 patients were older than 35 years. The median follow-up was 71.0 months. There was no statistically significant difference in disease free survival (DFS, P = 0.565) and overall survival (P = 0.820) between the patients equal to or younger than 35 years and the patients older than 35 years. The two groups differed in that the GnRH agonist was used more frequently in the group of patients equal to or younger than 35 years than in the other group (52.4% vs 11.2%, P < 0.001). Interestingly, for the DFS according to the GnRH agonist in the group of patients equal to or younger than 35 years, patients treated with the GnRH agonist had better DFS (P = 0.037).
Administration of GnRH agonists might improve the DFS rate of HR-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer in the equal to or younger than 35 years group of patients with NAC.
Core Tip: The treatment of ovarian suppression was effected a better oncology outcome in the group with clinical high risk, hormone receptor (+) breast cancer. However few studies have compared the efficacy of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists for 2 years in patients with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of GnRH agonist treatment in young breast cancer patients.