Fig. 4

The correlation between pCR, MPR, yTNM and the benefit of survival. Both pCR and MPR were predictive of a longer OS and PFS (a-d). Regarding the well-accepted assessment metric yTNM, patients with a lower yTNM stage were also shown having a greater likelihood of obtaining better survival benefits as well (e–f). (pCR: the absence of viable residual tumor; MPR: less than or equal to 10% of the viable residual tumor. yTNM implied the features of the primary tumor(T), regional lymph nodes(N) and the presence or absence of distant metastasis(M) based on post-therapy findings; OS: overall survival; PFS: progression-free survival)