abstract
- © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.Introduction: Evidence regarding the outcomes of Hispanic women with breast cancer is lacking. We analyzed women with HER2+ disease treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in Mexico. Methods: 244 patients were included. Outcomes were compared between patients who achieved pathologic complete response (pCR) (n=119), or less than pCR (n=125). Patients with noninvasive (ypT0/is, ypN0) residual disease were also analyzed. Results: 119 (48.8%) patients achieved pCR. pCR was the only factor associated with improved 3 year survival (98.1% vs 92.3%: P=0.02). Survival was better in patients with ypT0/is, ypN0 response than in those with residual invasive disease (p<0.01). 3 year survival was 98.1% for patients with pCR and 92.6% for patients with ypTis, ypN0 response (p=0.64). Conclusions: Response rates to trastuzumab based neoadjuvant chemotherapy in Hispanics mimic that of other ethnic groups. This underlines the fact that access to treatment, rather than ethnicity, is the main prognostic factor in this population.