[Docetaxel, carboplatin plus trastuzumab as neoadjuvant setting in patients with early-stage human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive breast cancer: a retrospective analysis].

Objective: To examine the efficacy of docetaxel, carboplatin plus trastuzumab regimen (TCH) as neoadjuvant setting in early-stage human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) positive breast cancer. Methods: Totally 522 patients diagnosed with early-stage HER2 positive breast cancer at Breast Disease Center, Peking University First Hospital between January 2013 to December 2018 were enrolled, which constituted 21.8% (522/2 394) of early-stage invasive breast cancer. Clinical pathological factors were retrospectively analyzed. There were 113 female patients underwent TCH neoadjuvant chemotherapy, aging 52(13) years (range: 23 to 69 years). Pathologic complete pathological response(pCR) was defined as ypT0N0M0, and the rate of pCR was calculated. Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test were used for survival comparison. Results: Patients who received trastuzumab-based therapy(n=294) had higher disease-free survival (DFS) compared with those who omitted trastuzumab(n=177) (84.4% vs. 72.4%, χ²=4.095, P=0.046). Eighteen of 113 patients (15.9%) experienced grade 3 to 4 chemotherapy-realted toxicity. Grade 3 to 4 neutropenia occurred in 12 patients, while grade 3 to 4 diarrhea occurred in 6 patients. Thirty-one of 113 (27.4%) patients achieved pCR. DFS and overall survival (OS) were similar between patients who achieved pCR and non-pCR (DFS: 91.8% vs. 85.0%, OS: 92.5% vs. 90.5%, all P>0.05). According to Miller-Payne system, patients who achieved G4 to G5 had improved DFS compared with G1 to G3 (89.6% vs. 81.5%, χ²=5.340, P=0.021), but they had similar OS (91.4% vs. 89.1%, χ²=1.008, P=0.315). Conclusions: TCH is an effective regimen in neoadjuvant setting for patients with HER2 positive breast cancer. Patients who achieved G4 to G5 had improved DFS.