Abstract This study aimed to verify whether the Down-staging Depth Score (DDS), a novel prognostic indicator, could serve as a robust early predictor of long-term outcomes in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC). A total of 783 eligible patients with LABC from four tertiary cancer centres were retrospectively enrolled between January 2017 and December 2023. All patients received standard NAC followed by curative surgery.
