Objective  This study aims to investigate the neoadjuvant chemotherapy effect of TC and TEC by detecting the change of circulating tumor cells (CTC) in peripheral blood before and after every neoadjuvant cycle of breast cancer patients.

  Methods  A total of 96 locally advanced breast cancer patients were selected in our hospital from January 2010 to December 2012. These patients were divided into TC (docetaxel and cyclophosphamide) group and TEC (docetaxel, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) group. Venous blood (5 mL) was extracted from 96 patients prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 48 h after the first, second, third, and fourth cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The CTC values of these two groups of patients were detected by flow cytometry, and their chemotherapy effect was compared.

  Results  No significant difference was observed for age, menopausal status, ER, PR, C-erbB-2, tumor size, and clinical stage between the two groups of patients before chemotherapy and for CTC between the two groups before chemotherapy. Before neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the CTC values were correlated with tumor size. The CTC values for patients with tumor size > 5 cm were higher than those with tumor size < 5 cm. After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the CTC values of the two groups of patients decreased (P < 0.05), and the CTC values of the TEC group were lower than those of the TC group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  After TC or TEC neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the tumors of patients were smaller, and the CTC values were lower than those prior to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. The efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be evaluated by monitoring the values of circulating tumor cells in peripheral blood changes.