Impact of adjuvant chemotherapy delay on survival

Authors: Dalia Abdel Ghany

Publish Date: 2013/01/12

Volume: 12, Issue: 1, Pages: 20-24

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Abstract

The proper time to commence adjuvant chemotherapy after primary surgery for breast cancer is unknown It is usually prescribed within 2–3 months after definitive surgery The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the impact of adjuvant chemotherapy CT delay beyond 3 weeks 21 days in premenopausal patients with ERabsent tumors being treated for early stages breast cancer on overall survival OS and diseasefree survival DFSThis retrospective study was conducted through revision of medical records of premenopausal patients diagnosed with early stage IIIIA breast cancer and ERabsent tumors who received adjuvant CT after definitive surgery at the Department of Clinical Oncology AinShams University HospitalsBetween 2005 and 2008 105 patients were retrospectively analyzed and included Patients were divided into 2 groups Group A including 48 patients who started adjuvant CT 21 days of surgery and group B which included 57 patients who had CT delay ≥ 21 days Both groups were matched demographically Comparisons of overall survival and diseasefree survival between group A and group B patients all favored group A At 5year the OS rates were 87 and 73 for groups A and B respectively P = 0001 while DFS rates were 85 and 64 in groups A and B respectively P = 0001 Analysis of other prognostic factors age T N grade HER2 status surgery type CT type local radiotherapy received were analyzed Only nodal status predicted for worse DFS P = 005 and OS P = 0006

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