Abstract: Efficacy of Different Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Regimens for Breast CancerJune YANG, Su LU, Hong LIUCorrespondence to: Hong LIU, E-mail: Kathy_liu99@yahoo.comThe Second Department of Breast Cancer, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, Tianjin 300060, ChinaAbstract Objective: To evaluate and compare the efficacy and toxicity of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy of Docetaxel and Epi-rubicin combined with or without Cyclophosphamide in breast cancer patients. Methods: Data of 174 women with stageⅡ/Ⅲ breastcancer treated in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital between June 2007 and March 2009 were retrospectively ana-lyzed. These patients were divided into two groups based on the regimen of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy: 93 received TE regimen (Docetaxel 75 mg/m2and Epirubicin 60 mg/m2) and 81 received TEC ( Docetaxel 75 mg/m2, Epirubicin 60 mg/m2and Cyclophospha-mide 600 mg/m2). IV drip infusion was administered in both groups for 2-4 cycles before surgery, with 3 weeks for each cycle. And theremaining course of treatment was completed after surgery. Results: The overall response rate ( ORR ) was 80.5%. The ORR in the TEgroup was 77.4%, lower than in the TEC group ( 84.0% ), with no significant difference ( P = 0.278 ). The pCR was 6.5% in the TEgroup, lower than in the TEC group ( 7.4% ), with no significant difference ( P = 0.804 ). The main toxic reactions in the two groupswere neutropenia, alopecia, nausea and vomiting, anaemia, liver dysfunction and cardiac toxicity. The incidence of neutropenia was ob-viously higher in the TE group than in the TEC group, with a significant difference ( P = 0.026 ). Conclusion: In females with stageⅡ/Ⅲ breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the short-term efficacy of the 3-week TE and TEC regimens is similar, butTEC regimen can cause higher incidence of neutropenia.Keywords Breast cancer; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Docetaxel; Epirubicin