Clinical response after two cycles compared to HER2, Ki-67, p53, and bcl-2 in independently predicting a pathological complete response after preoperative chemotherapy in patients with operable carcinoma of the breast

Table 1 Progress of tumour biopsies throughout the study

	Patients (n)
Patients randomised	250
To ddAT + tamoxifen	122
To ddAT – tamoxifen	128
Data on pCR available	247
No breast cancer	1
Chemotherapy refused	1
Surgery refused	1
Core biopsies available and evaluable	196
Not available	35
No tissue on block	6
Non-characteristic tissue	2
No tumour tissue on block	8
Results available for multivariate analysis (without clinical response after 2 cycles)	193
Multivariate analysis data missing for:
Menopausal stage	0
Tumour size	0
Nodal status	0
Grade	2
ER	0
PgR	0
Ki-67	0
HER2	2
p53	0
bcl-2	0
Results available for multivariate analysis (with clinical response after 2 cycles)	181
Multivariate analysis data missing for clinical response after two cycles	12

ddAT, dose-dense Adriblastin (Doxorubicin) and Taxotere (Docetaxel); ER, oestrogen receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; pCR, pathological complete remission; PgR, progesterone receptor.

ISSN: 1465-542X