ArticleFrontiers in oncology2026
Association between baseline hemoglobin levels and pathological complete response in 404 female breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy in Western Guangdong region: a retrospective cohort study.
Article in Frontiers in oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy globally and a leading cause of cancer-related death. In China, an estimated 350,000 new cases were reported in 2022, with more than 65% of patients aged ≤35 years diagnosed at stage II or higher. Neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) is recommended by NCCN guidelines for operable breast cancer with clinical stage ≥T2, node-positive, HER2-positive, or triple-negative disease. Achieving pathological complete response (pCR) after NAT is associated with improved event-free survival (EFS), but benefits vary widely, underscoring the need for predictive biomarkers. Objective: To evaluate the association between baseline hemoglobin (Hb) levels and pCR and EFS in female breast cancer patients from Western Guangdong, China. Method: This retrospective study included 404 invasive breast cancer patients who received NAT between 2014 and 2024. Multivariate logistic regression and Cox models were used to assess Hb's relationship with pCR and EFS. Dose-response was analyzed using restricted cubic splines. Patients were stratified by Hb tertiles: Q1 (<123 g/L), Q2 (123-133 g/L), Q3 (>133 g/L). Kaplan-Meier curves were generated for survival analysis. Results: The pCR rate was 37.1%. Each 1 g/L increase in Hb was associated with a 2% increase in pCR probability (OR = 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.04). Subgroup analyses confirmed consistency across molecular subtypes, menopausal status, and BMI. Multivariate Cox analysis showed each 1 g/L Hb increase reduced event risk by 2% (HR = 0.98, 95% CI: 0.97-0.99). During median follow-up, 83 (20.5%) patients had events; EFS differed significantly across Hb tertiles (log-rank P < 0.001). Conclusion: Baseline Hb demonstrates a significant linear positive correlation with pCR and EFS, supporting its potential as a simple, low-cost biomarker for predicting NAT benefit in breast cancer patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.