Frontiers in oncology
A real-world nomogram integrating predictive markers for disease-free survival in postmenopausal triple-negative breast cancer receiving anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy
By Lin Y, Yu SH, Zeng CM and 2 others.
Abstract
Background
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype with poor prognosis, especially in postmenopausal women who are routinely treated with anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy. However, wide inter-individual variation in disease-free survival (DFS) underscores an urgent need for reliable predictive markers and practical prognostic tools. We aimed to develop and validate a real-world nomogram that integrates clinically accessible predictive markers for individualised DFS prediction in this specific population.
Methods
In this two-centre real-world study, we enrolled 479 postmenopausal TNBC patients who received initial adjuvant anthracycline/taxane-based chemotherapy (sequential or concurrent). Patients were randomly assigned 7:3 to a training cohort (n=335) and a validation cohort (n=144). We used univariate and multivariate Cox regression with stepwise bidirectional selection to identify independent predictors, which were then incorporated into a nomogram. Model performance was assessed using Harrell's C-index, time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curves, and calibration plots.