Patterns of Care and Efficacy of Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy in Skin-Involved Breast Cancers of All Sizes

BACKGROUND: The management of small skin-involved (SI) invasive breast cancers is controversial because, although considered “unresectable,” prior data shows that their prognosis is far better than their Stage III classification. This study was undertaken to determine how SI lesions are treated in the United States, and to discern the benefit of systemic therapy. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer in the National Cancer Database between 2004 and 2011 were reviewed. Treatment patterns were examined and overall survival (OS) was assessed. RESULTS: 3,485 patients had SI and 456,287 patients had non-SI breast cancers. Chemotherapy was administered to 68.5% of SI and 45.9% of non-SI tumors (p