ABSTRACT

Background: We examined the association between immunotherapy-containing and standard chemotherapy regimens with treatment delays and postoperative complications in stage II–III triple-negative breast cancer. The efect of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) was compared.

Patients and Methods: We compared 139 women treated with neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy (KEYNOTE-522 regimen) from August 2021 to September 2022 with 287 consecutive patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy alone prior to July 2021 and underwent surgery. Baseline characteristics, time to treatments, and surgical complications were compared using two-sample nonparametric tests. Linear regression evaluated association of irAEs with time to surgery and radiation. Logistic regression identifed factors associated with surgical complications.

Results: Age, body mass index, race, American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class, and mastectomy rates were similar among cohorts. No clinically relevant diference in time from end of neoadjuvant treatment to surgery was observed [KEYNOTE-522: median 32 (IQR 27, 43) days; non-KEYNOTE-522: median 31 (IQR 26, 37) days; P = 0.048]. Time to radiation did not difer (P = 0.7). A total of 26 patients (9%; non-KEYNOTE-522) versus 11 (8%; KEYNOTE-522) experienced postoperative complications (P = 0.6). In the KEYNOTE-522 cohort, 59 (43%) of 137 patients experienced 82 irAEs; 40 (68%) required treatment. Older age (P = 0.018) and ASA class 4 (P = 0.007) were associated with delays to surgery after adjusting for clinical factors. Experiencing ≥ 1 irAE was associated with delay to radiation (P = 0.029). IrAEs were not associated with surgical complications (P = 0.4).

Conclusions: We observed no clinically meaningful diference between times to surgery/adjuvant radiation or postoperative complications and type of preoperative chemotherapy. IrAEs were associated with delay to adjuvant radiation but not with postoperative complications or delay to surgery.

Keywords: Immune checkpoint blockade · Triplenegative breast cancer · Surgical outcomes