[A case of locally advanced breast cancer successfully treated with FEC (100) followed by weekly paclitaxel].

Primary chemotherapy for breast cancer (BC) has drawn attention to control of local diseases and enable breast conservative surgery. A 39-year-old woman presented with a large mass with dull pain in the right breast. Physical examination and image studies including ultrasound, mammography, and computed tomography showed a locally advanced BC (T4bN1M0, Stage IIIB). Aspiration cytology revealed class V cells. After obtaining informed consent, a sequential chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC 500/100/500 mg/m2) was given every 3 weeks 4 times, followed by weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) for a consecutive 12 weeks on an outpatient basis. Although a complete clinical response was obtained after the chemotherapy, modified mastectomy and regional lymph adenectomy were performed, since the tumor had been locally advanced. No mass was observed in the surgical specimen without any adhesion to the muscle. Pathological findings revealed only small clusters of cancer cells, most of which were histologically damaged due to chemotherapy (Grade 2). FEC 100 followed by weekly paclitaxel was feasible and effective for primary chemotherapy for locally advanced BC.