Post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy breast cancer residual burden index

Abstract

Breast cancer is a public health problem worldwide and represented the highest incidence of malignant tumors in women in 2020. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy in primary breast cancer reduces the stage of disease prior to conservation therapy of the breast and the evaluation of therapeutic adherence. The therapeutic response is determined with the histopathological study evaluating the pathological response measured with the residual cancer burden (RCB) index calculator. The objective of this literature review is to compile, analyze, and synthesize the current information regarding the Residual Cancer Burden (RCB) index. The electronic literature databases searched were: Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed, articles from the last five years with observational, cohort, case-control designs, systematic reviews, and meta-analysis were selected. The search terms were breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, residual cancer, pathological complete response. Triple-negative and HER2-negative subtypes are associated with a high RCB index and low survival. There is an association between the RCB index with the pathological response and disease-free survival, and allows deciding the treatment plan in routine practice.