Retrospective cohort study of adjuvant chemotherapy outcomes in older women with nonmetastatic triple-negative breast cancer

Guidelines recommend adjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), but data about the benefit of adjuvant for TNBC in older women are scarce. A retrospective cohort study using SEER database results from 2010 to 2021 included women 70 years or olderwith nonmetastatic TNBC who underwent surgical removal of breast tumor and were candidates for adjuvant chemotherapy. A total of 5730 women (median age 76 years; IQR 73-81) were included; 2509 received adjuvant chemotheraoy and 3221 did not. Patients who received chemotherapy were younger (median age 74 versus 79 years) and had more advanced disease (stage II-III 54.5% versus 51.7%) than those who did not. Adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved breast cancer-specific survival (HR 0.69; 95% CI 0.58-0.82) and overall survival (0.55; 0.49-0.62). Similar results were observed across subgroups. The authors conclude that in this cohort study of older women with TNBC, adjuvant chemotherapy was associated with improved survival outcomes.