Pretreatment hematocrit is negatively associated with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Abstract

Aim: To explore the correlation between hematocrit (Hct) and response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Methods: The baseline clinicopathologic variables of included patients were retrospectively reviewed. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the predictive value of Hct on objective response. Results: Patients in Hct <0.396 group showed higher objective response rate (ORR) compared with patients in Hct ≥0.396 group (55.8 vs 39.3%; p = 0.049), especially in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression subtype (p = 0.045), premenopausal patients (p = 0.019) and HER2-positve patients (p = 0.021), respectively. And Hct (OR: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.20–0.90; p = 0.024) was independently associated with ORR in breast cancer patients. Conclusion: Hct was negatively associated with ORR, and may serve as an independent predictive factor for ORR in breast cancer patients underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy.