Patient Characteristics.

Detailed pathologic response for the entire cohort and for the patients with BRCA1 assessment, according to the Miller and Payne criteria.
CR  =  complete response; PR  =  partial response. Pathologic response assessment according to the Miller and Payne classification. G5: absence of residual infiltrating tumour cells. G4: marked disappearance of invasive tumor cells, only small clusters of widely dispersed cells could be detected. G3: considerable reduction in tumor cells. G2: mild loss of invasive tumor cells, but overall cellularity still high. G1: no reduction in overall numbers as compared with pre-treatment biopsy. B: lymph node positive with malignant cells. C: lymph node still positive, but with evidence of some regression. D: lymph node previously positive, now without metastases.
*In a total of 10 patientes (11.6%) axilla lymphadenectomy was negative but was also clinically negative before surgery (6 response and 4 no response).
+In a total of 3 patientes (7.3%) axilla lymphadenectomy was negative but was also clinically negative before surgery (2 response and 1 no response).