A review of nearly 9,000 breast cancer patients found young women under the age of 35 years were more likely to have a complete pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy than older women.
This advantage in cPR rates -- 24% in young women vs. 16% in older women -- was driven largely by the impact on triple-negative breast cancer, which is more common in the very young, according to data presented by Dr. Sibylle Loibl and her coinvestigators at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
Age did not make a difference in disease-free survival rates among women who achieved a cPR, but women who achieved a cPR were significantly less likely to have a recurrence than those who did not.
IMNG Medical Media reporter Michele Sullivan interviews Dr. Loibl on the findings and why the investigators recommend neoadjuvant chemotherapy for very young women with breast cancer.