OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in treatment of Stage II breast cancer.METHODS The data from 113 patients with breast cancer of the same pathologic type in Stage II, during the period of 1995 to 2001, were analyzed retrospectively. Among the patients, 47 were treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and 66 received no adjuvant therapy before surgery (control group). After the patients of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group had received 2 courses of chemotherapy with the CMF regimen, the surgical procedure was conducted.RESULTS Complete remission (CR) was attained in 9 of the 47 cases receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and partial remission (PR) was reached for 22 cases. The rate of breast-conserving surgery was enhanced from 22.73% to 46.81% (P＜0.05) in the neoadjuvant treatment group. There was no difference in the 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) rate between the two groups (P＞0.05), but the 5-year OS and DFS of the cases with clinical tumor remission was higher compared to the control group (P＜0.05).CONCLUSION Neoadjuvant chemotherapy can enhance the rate of breast conservation for Stage II breast cancer and may improve the prognosis of the cases with clinical remission.