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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Breast Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1534204
Chemotherapy as a Critical Treatment Modality for Non-Surgical Metaplastic Breast Cancer: Evidence from SEER Database and Clinical Cohort
Provisionally accepted- Chengdu Third People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
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Introduction: Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MPBC) is a highly aggressive subtype of breast cancer, characterized by enhanced metastatic potential and invasive behavior. While surgery is a cornerstone of treatment, there is limited research on patients who did not undergo surgery. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of non-surgical MPBC patients using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database (1975–2019). Additionally, non-surgical MPBC patients were recruited from The Third People’s Hospital of Chengdu, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and the Chongqing University Cancer Hospital to form the clinical validation cohort (2010–2024). We collected demographic and clinical data, including age, race, marital status, tumor location, and treatment modalities, etc. The primary endpoints were overall survival (OS) and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS). Statistical analyses were performed using R software, with Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression models for univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: A total of 92 non-surgical MPBC patients were included from SEER database. The majority were aged≥60 years (65.22%), White (76.09%), and single (64.13%). Tumors were most frequently located in the upper quadrant (32.61%). Additionally, M1 patients were more likely to receive chemotherapy and radiotherapy compared to M0 patients (50.00% vs. 36.67%; 38.46% vs. 13.33%). Cox regression analysis identified chemotherapy and M stage as significant prognostic factors. Survival analysis showed that chemotherapy significantly improved OS and BCSS (P<0.001), while radiotherapy had no significant impact on survival (P>0.05). In the clinical cohort of 30 non-surgical MPBC patients, Kaplan-Meier curves demonstrated that chemotherapy significantly prolonged patient survival (P=0.039), whereas radiotherapy did not show a significant effect on survival (P=0.309).Conclusions: For MPBC patients who did not undergo surgery, chemotherapy significantly prolongs survival, highlighting its crucial role in treatment.
Keywords: Metaplastic breast cancer, Radiotherapy, chemotherapy, Surgery, SEER
Received: 25 Nov 2024; Accepted: 15 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Liu, Ling and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Pin Wang, Chengdu Third People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
Jian Wu, Chengdu Third People's Hospital, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.