Discussant Charles E. Geyer, Jr, MD, FACP, Associate Director for Clinical Research at Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center in Richmond, Virginia, singled out the power of this study’s dataset. “In 2002,” he said, “the Institute of Medicine named NSQIP [National Surgical Quality Improvement Program] the ‘best in the nation’ for measuring and reporting surgical quality and outcomes….  To me, this elevates this study because the data are coming from a very strong, validated dataset.”

Dr. Geyer also noted that although there were differences between groups in the unadjusted data, the 30-day morbidity rate for patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy was still very positive.

“You see low numbers of infections, low bleeding complications, and when you do the adjustments, you see that neoadjuvant chemotherapy does not increase risk,” concluded Dr. Geyer. “I really feel this should put to rest any concerns that surgeons might have about neoadjuvant chemotherapy.” ■

Disclosure: Dr. Geyer reported no potential conflicts of interest.