title: [The role of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment].
abstract: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is being used increasingly in the management of patients with breast cancer, especially locally advanced cases. Such treatment is administered with the aim of of reducing the size of the primary tumor to increase the possibility of breast-conserving treatment (BCT). In our series, during the period from May 1995 to December 2000, 86 patients with tumors between 3.1 and 6.0 cm in diameter received epirubicin-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy. There were 55 (64.0%) responders and ultimately 64 patients (74.4%) were treated with BCT. With a median follow-up time of 39 months, 9 patients in the BCT group had developed local recurrence. Long-term follow-up is required to establish whether this procedure is a safe alternative to mastectomy for patients with large breast cancers.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Surgery III, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases.
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Inaji
authors.forename: Yoshifumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Komoike
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Motomura
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kasugai
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koyama
mesh_terms: D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015251:Epirubicin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015412:Mastectomy, Segmental; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000453:epidemiology; D011300:Preoperative Care; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D015251:Epirubicin