title: Adherence to treatment guidelines and survival in triple-negative breast cancer: a retrospective multi-center cohort study with 9,156 patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains a challenging topic for clinical oncologists. This study sought to evaluate TNBC versus other breast cancer subtypes with respect to survival parameters. We evaluated possible differences in survival in TNBC by age and by the extent to which evidence-based treatment guidelines were adhered.
  
  
  METHODS
  This German retrospective multi-center cohort study included 9156 patients with primary breast cancer recruited from 1992 to 2008.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rates of guideline adherence are significantly lower in TNBC compared to non-TNBC subtypes. These lower rates of guideline adherence can be observed in all age groups and are most pronounced in the >65 subgroup [<50 (20.9% vs. 42.0%), 50-64 (25.1% vs. 51.1%), and >65 (38.4% vs. 74.6%)]. In TNBC patients of all age groups, disease-free survival and overall survival were associated with an improvement by 100% guideline-adherent adjuvant treatment compared to non-adherence. Furthermore, TNBC patients of all ages had similar outcome parameters if 100% guideline-adherent adjuvant treatment was applied.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The rates of guideline-adherent treatment were significantly lower in TNBC, even though guideline adherence was strongly associated with improved survival. In the case of 100% guideline-adherent treatment, no difference in survival was observed over all the age groups examined, even in the group of >65-year-old TNBC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Ulm, Prittwitzstraße 43, Ulm 89075, Germany. lukas.schwentner@yahoo.de.
authors.forename: Lukas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schwentner
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wöckel
authors.forename: Jochem
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Janni
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ebner
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Blettner
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kreienberg
authors.forename: Reyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Ewijk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D064726:Triple Negative Breast Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult