Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0In Vivo29 Oct 2026

Patient-reported Symptom Resolution After Neoadjuvant Versus Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study

TAKAAKI FUJII^1,2
KEI ICHIBA³
MAYU AOKI²
KEIKO TANABE²
MISATO OGINO²
SAYAKA OBAYASHI²
HIROYUKI TAKEI¹

¹Department of Breast Surgery and Oncology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
²Division of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Department of General Surgical Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Gunma University, Maebashi, Japan
³Nursing, Gunma University Hospital, Maebashi, Japan

Abstract

Background/Aim: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) provide similar long-term survival in early breast cancer (BC), but their comparative impacts on the trajectory and resolution of symptomatic adverse events (AEs) in routine practice are not well defined.

Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of perioperative BC chemotherapy. Symptomatic AEs were graded using a patient reported outcome (PRO)-based questionnaire prepared for this study and aligned with the CTCAE system at the end of chemotherapy and at six months after completion. We compared AE severity distributions between patients treated with NAC and those treated with AC.

Results: Ninety-three patient cases were analyzed (NAC: n=48, AC: n=45). The two groups’ baseline stage distributions were not significantly different (p=0.106), but the subtype compositions were (p=0.002). Multiple AEs at the end of chemotherapy were common in both groups. At chemotherapy completion, significant between-group differences in severity distributions were observed for peripheral sensory neuropathy (p=0.049) and nail loss (p=0.011), with higher symptom burdens in the NAC group. At six months post-completion, no statistically significant between-group differences in severity distributions were detected across the assessed AEs.

Conclusion: In this real-world prospective cohort, no statistically significant between-group differences in medium-term symptomatic AE severity distributions were detected between patients receiving NAC and those receiving AC.

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Cite

BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@article{fujii2026patientreported,
  title = {{Patient-reported Symptom Resolution After Neoadjuvant Versus Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study}},
  author = {TAKAAKI FUJII and KEI ICHIBA and MAYU AOKI and KEIKO TANABE and MISATO OGINO and SAYAKA OBAYASHI and HIROYUKI TAKEI},
  journal = {In Vivo},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.21873/invivo.14525},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.21873/invivo.14525},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Patient-reported Symptom Resolution After Neoadjuvant Versus Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Early Breast Cancer: A Prospective Observational Cohort Study
AU  - TAKAAKI FUJII
AU  - KEI ICHIBA
AU  - MAYU AOKI
AU  - KEIKO TANABE
AU  - MISATO OGINO
AU  - SAYAKA OBAYASHI
AU  - HIROYUKI TAKEI
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
JO  - In Vivo
DO  - 10.21873/invivo.14525
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21873/invivo.14525
AB  - Background/Aim: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) provide similar long-term survival in early breast cancer (BC), but their comparative impacts on the trajectory and resolution of symptomatic adverse events (AEs) in routine practice are not well defined.  Patients and Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study of perioperative BC chemotherapy. Symptomatic AEs were graded using a patient reported outcome (PRO)-based questionnaire prepared for this study and aligned with the CTCAE system at the end of chemotherapy and at six months after completion. We compared AE severity distributions between patients treated with NAC and those treated with AC.  Results: Ninety-three patient cases were analyzed (NAC: n=48, AC: n=45). The two groups’ baseline stage distributions were not significantly different (p=0.106), but the subtype compositions were (p=0.002). Multiple AEs at the end of chemotherapy were common in both groups. At chemotherapy completion, significant between-group differences in severity distributions were observed for peripheral sensory neuropathy (p=0.049) and nail loss (p=0.011), with higher symptom burdens in the NAC group. At six months post-completion, no statistically significant between-group differences in severity distributions were detected across the assessed AEs.  Conclusion: In this real-world prospective cohort, no statistically significant between-group differences in medium-term symptomatic AE severity distributions were detected between patients receiving NAC and those receiving AC.
SN  - 0258-851X
SN  - 1791-7549
ER  -

Abstract

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