Simple Summary We investigated the predictive factors for different patterns of residual
disease in the breast after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and compared the long-term
outcomes between the scattered versus the circumscribed pattern. A total of 219 histologic
sections of postoperative surgical specimens were evaluated. Two independent predictive
factors for the circumscribed pattern were identified: discontinuation of neo-adjuvant
chemotherapy cycles and a tumor size> 18 mm. Over a median follow-up of 74.7 months …

Methods: 209 post-operative surgical specimens of BC patients treated with NAC at the
Breast Unit of IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital (Milan, Italy) were reviewed. Patients
were divided into two groups: scattered versus circumscribed. A multivariate logistic
regression analysis was performed to identify predictive factors for residual disease.
Disease-free survival (DFS), distant disease-free survival (DDFS), and overall survival (OS)
were analysed. Results: The majority of the patients were treated with mastectomy (n= 130 …