Optimal timing of surgery following breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Administration of chemotherapy before breast surgery has the potential to reduce the risk of distant recurrence by targeting micrometastasis as well as allowing a more minimalistic approach to surgical intervention. We performed a systematic review to determine the optimum timing of surgery post breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). The primary outcome was to determine whether the timing of surgery post NACT impacted overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). We compared patient outcomes between those who had surgery within 8 weeks of completion of NACT to those that had surgery after 8 weeks. An outcome comparison between