Key clinical point: Neoadjuvant high-dose alkylating chemotherapy did not improve the Neoadjuvant Response Index (NRI) scores in patients with BRCA1- or BRCA2-pathway-altered (BRCA-altered) triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Major finding: The NRI scores were comparable between the conventional and high-dose chemotherapy treatment groups (0.72 vs 0.78; P = .41). Adverse events, such as fatigue, infections, nausea, oral mucositis, and diarrhea, were more prevalent in the high-dose vs conventional chemotherapy group, although no treatment-related deaths occurred in either group.
Study details: Findings are from the phase 3 neo-TN study that included 122 patients with BRCA-altered TNBC who were randomly assigned to receive either conventional or high-dose chemotherapy.
Disclosures: This study was supported by The Dutch Cancer Foundation and the Schumacher Kramer Foundation, Amsterdam. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Vliek S et al. High-dose alkylating chemotherapy in BRCA-altered triple-negative breast cancer: The randomized phase III NeoTN trial. NPJ Breast Cancer. 2023;9:75 (Sep 9). doi: 10.1038/s41523-023-00580-9