Final results of a phase II trial of preoperative TAC (docetaxel/doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide) in stage III breast cancer.

Background: The use of preoperative chemotherapy for breast cancer has been demonstrated to result in similar disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Additionally, the rate of pathologic complete response (pCR) in the breast after preoperative chemotherapy has been shown to correlate with survival. The objective of this study was to determine the pCR rate in patients with stage III breast cancer treated with 4 cycles of TAC (docetaxel 75 mg/m2, doxorubicin 50 mg/m2, cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m2) on day 1 before surgery.