Background. The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of superselective intra-arterial targeted neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in the treatment of estrogen receptor (ER)-negative, progesterone receptor (PR)-negative, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative (triple-negative) breast cancer.
Patients and methods. A total of 47 triple-negative breast cancer patients (29 at stage II, 13 at stage III and 5 at stage IV) were randomly assigned to two groups: targeted chemotherapy group (n=24) and control group (n=23). Patients in the targeted chemotherapy group received preoperative superselective intra-arterial chemotherapy with CEF regimen (C: cyclophosphamide [600 mg/m2]; E: epirubicin [90 mg/m2]; F: 5-fluorouracil [600 mg/m2]), and those in the control group received routine neoadjuvant chemotherapy with CEF. The duration of the treatment, changes in lesions and the prognosis were determined.
Results. The average course of the treatment was 15 days in the targeted chemotherapy group which was significantly shorter than that in the control group (31 days) (P<0.01). The remission rate of lesions was 91.6% in the targeted chemotherapy group and 60.9% in the control group, respectively. Among these patients, 9 died within two years, including 2 (both at IV stage) in the targeted chemotherapy group and 7 (2 at stage II, 4 at stage III and 1 at stage IV) in the control group.
Conclusions. As an neoadjuvant therapy, the superselective intra-arterial chemotherapy is effective for triple-negative breast cancer, with advantages of the short treatment course and favourable remission rates as well as prognoses.
