[Retracted] Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide and Weekly Paclitaxel and Trastuzumab in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Breast Carcinoma: A Real‐World Study

Abstract

Background. Trastuzumab has been introduced a decade ago and demonstrated improvement in the prognosis in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2- (HER2-) positive (+) breast carcinoma (BC). This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of epirubicin/cyclophosphamide with weekly paclitaxel-trastuzumab as neoadjuvant chemotherapies in HER2+ BC patients. Methods. A total of 234 HER2+ BC patients were given neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) between 2010 and 2016. The primary endpoints were pathologic complete response (pCR) and disease-free survival (DFS). Univariate and multivariate analyses of clinical and pathological factors associated with pCR and DFS were conducted. Results. The pCR (30.4% vs. 14.8%; P=0.004) and DFS (P=0.036) showed significant differences between patients administered with neoadjuvant trastuzumab therapy and those who did not. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that neoadjuvant trastuzumab treatment was regarded as an independent predictor of pCR. Patients with pCR had prolonged DFS (P=0.025). In patients who did not achieve pCR (non-pCR), those who received trastuzumab had more prolonged DFS (P=0.046). The luminal B/HER2+ subtypes had prolonged DFS when compared with nonluminal B/HER2+ subtypes (P=0.010). The luminal B/HER2+ subgroup also showed improved DFS in non-pCR patients (P=0.010). In the subgroup of non-pCR, the luminal B/HER2+ subgroup administered with trastuzumab showed no superior DFS (P=0.168). However, a positive result was observed in patients without trastuzumab (P=0.039). Multivariate analysis showed cT stage (P=0.006) and tumor grade (P=0.041), considering them as significant prognostic factors of DFS. Conclusions. HER2+ BC patients showed improvement in pCR and DFS after neoadjuvant trastuzumab treatment. Patients without pCR had prolonged DFS after trastuzumab maintenance. Although the prognosis of luminal B/HER2+ BC showed favorable outcomes in the non-pCR subgroup, those receiving trastuzumab showed no survival advantage.

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“…In the neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgical treatment of BC, an RWS study found that epirubicin/cyclophosphamide with weekly paclitaxel–trastuzumab has more advantages in both pathologic complete response (PCR) and disease-free survival (DFS) [ 37 ]. Compared with traditional anthracycline, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD) has similar efficacy, but its cardiotoxicity is significantly reduced [ 38 ].…”

PET/CT-based radiomics analysis may help to predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy outcomes in breast cancer

“…A series of works have investigated the potential association of pCR with the long-term survival outcomes in patients with BC. An earlier randomized clinical trial revealed that pCR was correlated with prolonged disease-free survival (DFS) in BC ( 5 ). Another previous study has demonstrated that pCR in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her-2)-positive BC is associated with substantially longer times to recurrence and death ( 6 ).…”

Retracted: Efficacy of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Epirubicin and Cyclophosphamide and Weekly Paclitaxel and Trastuzumab in Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2–Positive Breast Carcinoma: A Real-World Study

“…This article has been retracted by Hindawi following an investigation undertaken by the publisher [ 1 ]. This investigation has uncovered evidence of one or more of the following indicators of systematic manipulation of the publication process: Discrepancies in scope Discrepancies in the description of the research reported Discrepancies between the availability of data and the research described Inappropriate citations Incoherent, meaningless and/or irrelevant content included in the article Manipulated or compromised peer review …”

“…This article has been retracted by Hindawi following an investigation undertaken by the publisher [1]. This investigation has uncovered evidence of one or more of the following indicators of systematic manipulation of the publication process:…”