near-pCR in triple negative - has anybody been diagnosed

eum123

Have seen the term near pCR in a lot of papers, but not very clear what it actually means/how is it measured.

If your doctors has diagnosed you as such post chemo/surgery, can you please share your story?

MountainMia

pCR stands for Pathologic Complete Response. My understanding is that it is only used to refer to results when neoadjuvant -- or pre-surgical chemo -- is used. So it isn't a condition that would be described after surgery, only after chemo.

If you have specific questions, you can edit your post and maybe you will get some help with this. Good luck.

Moderators

Indeed, as MountainMia suggested, Pathologic complete response (pCR) seems to be related to neoadjuvant treatment, however we have a question into our editorial team. What is your situation, and specifics, eum123?

ShetlandPony

While waiting for that answer, I'll post some info. You had chemo, and then surgery, right? So the pathologist takes the tissue that the surgeon removed and looks to see if there are cancer cells there. If there are none, presumably the chemo worked really well and killed the cancer — the cancer responded completely and not just partially to the chemo. That is pathologic complete response. It is associated with a good prognosis going forward, and a lower chance of recurrence.

https://www.healio.com/hematology-oncology/breast-cancer/news/online/%7Bef518d49-a55c-4727-b19d-b383ad1e2859%7D/pathologic-complete-response-may-be-strong-surrogate-endpoint-for-breast-cancer-survival

https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/pathologic-complete-response

MountainMia

Thanks, ShetlandPony. You certainly explained it better than I did!