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19678 Background: In Brazil, most cancer patients receive treatment outside the controlled clinical trial setting and at community- based clinics. In this scenario, data on treatment-related toxicity and its complications are seldom reported. Chemotherapy is frequently referred to as an excessively toxic treatment modality and this perception may have a negative impact on treatment decision-making. Methods: This is a single institution, prospective study. Eligible population consisted of all patients with solid tumors undergoing chemotherapy, between January/2005 and November/2006, at this community-based private oncology clinic with a multidisciplinary staff (physicians, nurses, pharmacists, nutrition and psycology experts). Treatment-related hospitalization (TRH) was defined as any hospitalization starting within 4 weeks after a chemotherapy session. Data concerning tumor-related symptoms and chemotherapy-induced toxicity were prospectively collected by a single physician. Results: A total of 59 patients were hospitalized during the study period. Median hospitalized patients′ age was 61 years and 58% were female. Most frequent tumor types were breast (36%), colorectal (14%), pancreatic (14%) and ovarian (9%) cancers. 34 (57%) of the 59 hospitalizations were classified as TRH. Febrile neutropenia (27%) and gastrointestinal complications (26%) were the main reasons for TRH. The median length of TRH was 4 days. 6/34 (17%) patients died during TRH: 5 died as a result of complications caused by disease progression (not chemotoxicity); 1 patient died as a consequence of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and sepsis. TRH′s were associated to only 2% (34) of the 2203 chemotherapy sessions performed. Conclusions: Current evidence-based, consensus-guideline-oriented, cancer chemotherapy, administered by a multidisciplinary team of specialists, was associated to a low rate of treatment-related hospitalizations. Generally, chemotherapy-induced toxicity was reversible and manageable in the outpatient setting. The permanent monitoring and reporting of treatment-related toxicities is feasible in community-based clinical practice as part of a quality-assurance program. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

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10698 Objectives: To retrospectively evaluate the relationship between HER2/neu status, pts’ characteristics, prognostic factors and clinical outcome in LABC women treated with neoadjuvant anthracycline-based CHT. Patients and Methods: 118 pts. with stage IIIA-B LABC, excluding inflammatory cancer, were included. HER2 overexpression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC), only IHC 3+ were defined as positive. The disease-free survival (DFS) was calculated according to Kaplan-Meier method. Fisher test, hazard ratios with 95% interval confidence, and Cox or Wilcoxon models were used. Kruskall-Wallis was used for comparison between medians. Results: Median age was 49 y (range: 31–69); 66 were pre-menopausal, 43 were stage IIIA and 77 IIIB; 59 pts. were N2. Primary tumor average size was 70 mm; 44 tumors were ER+, 43 PR+, 26 (22%) HER 3+, 104 histological grade III, 57 nuclear grade III. Seventy-four pts. (62.7%) achieved objective responses, with 7 complete clinical remissions. There was 1 progressive disease and only 3 pts. (2.5%) didn’t undertake mastectomy. After surgery, four pts. (3.5%) were evaluated as pathological complete remission, 6 (5.2%) with microscopic residual disease and 105 with macroscopic residual tumor. The median DFS was 19 months for the whole group and 39,6 and 31,6 for those achieving complete pathological remission and microscopic residual disease, respectively. There was no association between HER2/neu overexpression and pts’ characteristics, tumor prognostic factors nor with clinical or pathological responses. Negative PR, high tumor nuclear grade, clinical stage IIIA and complete clinical response were predictive factors for pathological response. In multivariate analysis, only pathological lymph node status was prognostic factor for DFS. Conclusions: There was no significant association between HER2 overexpression, tumor prognostic factors and clinical or pathological response to neoadjuvant CHT. Negative PR, high nuclear tumor grade, clinical stage IIIA and clinical complete response were associated to complete pathological response. Lymph node status was a strong prognostic factor for DFS. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

Aos funcionários do SAME, pela paciência e colaboração no levantamento dos prontuários.Aos colaboradores da ASTEC, pela competente assessoria técnica na estruturação e revisão deste trabalho.