Abstract
PURPOSE: This study aims to explore whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy with immunotherapy (NACI) leads to different tumor shrinkage patterns, based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), compared to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) alone in patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Additionally, the study investigates the relationship between tumor shrinkage patterns and treatment efficacy was investigated. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with TNBC patients receiving NAC or NACI from January 2019 until July 2021 at our center. Pre- and post-treatment MRI results were obtained for each patient, and tumor shrinkage patterns were classified into three categories as follows: 1) concentric shrinkage (CS); 2) diffuse decrease; and 3) no change. Tumor shrinkage patterns were compared between the NAC and NACI groups, and the relevance of the patterns to treatment efficacy was assessed. RESULTS: Of the 99 patients, 65 received NAC and 34 received NACI. The CS pattern was observed in 53% and 20% of patients in the NAC and NACI groups, respectively. Diffuse decrease pattern was observed in 36% and 68% of patients in the NAC and NACI groups. The association between the treatment regimens (NAC and NACI) and tumor shrinkage patterns was statistically significant (p = 0.004). The postoperative pathological complete response (pCR) rate was 45% and 82% in the NAC and NACI groups (p < 0.001), respectively. In the NACI group, 17% of patients with the CS pattern and 56% of those with the diffuse decrease pattern achieved pCR (p = 0.903). All tumor shrinkage patterns were associated with achieved a high pCR rate in the NACI group. CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that the diffuse decrease pattern of tumor shrinkage is more common following NACI than that following NAC. Furthermore, our findings suggest that all tumor shrinkage patterns are associated with a high pCR rate in patients with TNBC treated with NACI. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04909554.