title: Race and recurrence in women who undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Black women can have worse outcomes than white women with breast cancer. We examined survival in black and white women who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  We identified 98 women with stage II or III breast cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Women with inflammatory breast cancer, T4 disease, or metastases were excluded. Data were analyzed using the Fisher exact test and Kaplan-Meier method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From the cohort, 69 women were included. The median follow-up was 6.2 years. The estrogen receptor status was similar. White women tended to overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) (P = .091). The pretreatment T stage was T3. All women received similar neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The 5-year progression-free survival was better for white women compared with black women (78% vs 58%, P = .05). The 5-year overall survival was similar (P = .095).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pretreatment characteristics of women receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy were similar. Black women had a worse disease-free survival. The overall survival was the same.
authors: Department of Surgical Oncology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Medical Center Boulevard, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. mmcnatt@wakehealth.edu
authors: Marissa
authors: M
authors: Howard-McNatt
authors: Julia
authors: J
authors: Lawrence
authors: Susan A
authors: SA
authors: Melin
authors: Edward A
authors: EA
authors: Levine
authors: Perry
authors: P
authors: Shen
authors: John H
authors: JH
authors: Stewart
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018943:Anthracyclines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D059186:Chemoradiotherapy, Adjuvant; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008408:Mastectomy; D008875:Middle Aged; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D043823:Taxoids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D044465:White People; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018943:Anthracyclines; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D043823:Taxoids