Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) requires the iden- tification of reliable predictors of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). For this purpose, we aimed to evaluate the performance of the TNBCtype-4 classifier in a cohort of patients with TNBC treated with neoadjuvant carboplatin and docetaxel (TCb). Patients with TNBC were accrued in a nonrandomized trial of neoadjuvant carboplatin AUC 6 and docetaxel 75 mg/m for six cycles. Response was evaluated in terms of pathologic complete response (pCR, ypT0/is ypN0) and residual cancer burden by Symmans and colleagues. Lehmann's subtyping was performed using the TNBCtype online tool from RNAseq data, and germline sequencing of a panel of seven DNA damage repair genes was conducted. Ninety-four out of the 121 patients enrolled in the trial had RNAseq available. The overall pCR rate was 44.7%. Lehmann subtype distribution was 34.0% BL1, 20.2% BL2, 23.4% M, 14.9% LAR, and 7.4% were classified as ER+. Response to NACT with TCb was significantly associated with Lehmann subtype ( = 0.027), even in multivariate analysis including tumor size and nodal involvement, with BL1 patients achieving the highest pCR rate (65.6%), followed by BL2 (47.4%), M (36.4%), and LAR (21.4%). BL1 was associated with a significant younger age at diagnosis and higher ki67 values. Among our 10 germline mutation carriers, 30% were BL1, 40% were BL2, and 30% were M. TNBCtype-4 is associated with significantly different pCR rates for the different subtypes, with BL1 and LAR displaying the best and worse responses to NACT, respectively. .

BackgroundPersistent alopecia (PA) after docetaxel has been recently described. The aim of our study is to establish the incidence and characteristics of PA following adjuvant docetaxel for breast cancer (BC) and to test the ability of scalp cooling in prevention.Patients and methodsBC patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy followed or not by endocrine therapy (and a control group receiving only endocrine therapy) were interviewed in a single institution at 1.5 to 5 years following primary diagnosis searching for PA. A confirmatory prevalence study was later performed in other two institutions. Finally, a prevention study using prophylactic scalp cooling (PSC) with ELASTO-GEL hypothermia caps in patients receiving adjuvant docetaxel was performed.ResultsIn the initial prevalence study (492 patients), minor forms of PA (grade 1) were recorded with all chemotherapy regimens and aromatase inhibitors. Patients receiving docetaxel regimens at cumulative dose (CD) ≥ 400 mmg/m2 presented a significantly higher prevalence of grades 1 PA (33–52%) and 2 PA (5–12%). Prevalence of grade 2 PA with docetaxel CD ≥ 400 mmg/m2 was confirmed in two other institutions. Overall, grade 2 PA was seen in 10.06% (95% CI 7.36–13.61) of 358 patients with docetaxel regimens reaching CD ≥ 400 mmg/m2, but not in patients with lower docetaxel CD, other chemotherapy regimens, or endocrine therapy alone. In prevention trial, no grade 2 PA occurred among 116 patients receiving adjuvant docetaxel (≥ 400 mmg/m2) and PSC followed-up after a 96 months median time. PSC was well tolerated. No scalp relapses were seen among 30 patients (22% of all inclusions) having disease relapse.ConclusionAdjuvant treatment with docetaxel (CD ≥ 400 mmg/m2) is associated with a significant rate of grade 2 PA, leading to wearing a wig, in around 10% of patients. This toxicity was completely prevented with scalp cooling. Clinical Trial Reference: NCT00515762.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10549-018-4855-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The number of breast cancer survivors increases every year, thanks to the development of new treatments and screening techniques. However, patients present with numerous side effects that may affect their quality of life. Exercise has been demonstrated to reduce some of these side effects, but in spite of this, few breast cancer patients know and follow the exercise recommendations needed to remain healthy. In this review, we describe the different breast cancer treatments and the related side effects and implications of exercise in relation to these. We propose that exercise could be an integrative complementary intervention to improve physiological, physical and psychological factors that affect survival and quality of life of these patients. For that reason, the main objective of this review is to provide a general overview of exercise benefits in breast cancer patients and recommendations of how to design exercise interventions in patients with different side effects.

Breast cancer patients suffer impairment in cardiorespiratory fitness after treatment for primary disease, affecting patients' health and survival. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of a pragmatic exercise intervention to improve cardiorespiratory fitness of breast cancer patients after primary treatment. Between February 2013 and December 2014, 94 women with early stage (I-III) breast cancer, 1-36 months post-chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were randomly assigned to an intervention program (EX) combining supervised aerobic and resistance exercise (n = 44) or usual care (CON) (n = 45) for 12 weeks. Primary study endpoint was VO 2max . Secondary endpoints were muscle strength, shoulder range of motion, body composition, and quality of life (QoL). Assessments were undertaken at baseline, 12-week, and 6-month followups. Eighty-nine patients aged 29-69 years were assessed at baseline and 12 weeks. The EX group showed significant improvements in VO 2max , muscle strength, percent fat, and lean mass (p B 0.001 in all cases) and QoL compared with usual care (CON). Apart from body composition, improvements were maintained for the EX at 6-month follow-up. There were no adverse events during the testing or exercise intervention program. A combined exercise intervention produced considerable improvement in cardiorespiratory fitness, physical function, and quality of life in breast cancer patients previously treated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Importantly, most of these benefits were maintained 6 months after ceasing the supervised exercise intervention.