Cancer
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Meta Analysis
Taxanes as primary chemotherapy for early breast cancer: meta-analysis of randomized trials.
In patients with locally advanced and operable breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been demonstrated to increase the chance of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) when compared with adjuvant treatment; moreover, patients who achieve a pathologic complete response (pCR) have a better outcome. A literature-based meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) to 'weigh' how much taxanes add to anthracyclines as primary treatment over standard chemotherapy was conducted. ⋯ The combination of taxanes and anthracyclines as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer improves the chance of achieving both higher BCS and pCR rates.