scholarly journals The Role of Postmastectomy Radiotherapy in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer After Pathological Complete Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

ONCOLOGY ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 139-143
Author(s):  
Christian Haydeé Flores-Balcázar ◽  
Francisco Javier Castro-Alonso ◽  
Tania Patricia Hernández-Barragán ◽  
Jesús Delgado-de la Mora ◽  
Antonio Daidone ◽  
...  

A previously healthy woman, aged 32 years, presented to the oncology clinic with a 6-month history of left-breast tumor, mastalgia, and swollen axillary nodes. Physical examination was relevant for a 6-cm palpable mass in the upper outer quadrant of the left breast and an ipsilateral 2-cm, nonfixed axillary lymph node. Mammography showed a 1-cm mass in the upper outer quadrant, a 5.2-cm mass in the lower outer quadrant, and enlarged pathologic lymph nodes (BI-RADS category 5 disease). Breast ultrasound revealed 3 axillary lymph nodes with cortical thickening and loss of normal morphology (the largest with a 2.6-cm length in the long axis) (Figure 1A-B). The breast's core biopsy revealed a grade 3 apocrine invasive carcinoma with lymphovascular invasion; immunohistochemistry testing showed HER2-negative, hormone receptor-negative disease (estrogen receptor, 0%; progesterone receptor, 0%; HER2-negative, Ki67, 50%) (Figure 2A-B). A fine-needle aspiration biopsy of the axillary lymph nodes showed invasive breast carcinoma as well. Bone scintigraphy and a chest/abdomen CT scan ruled out metastatic disease. Upon initial diagnosis, clinical stage was deemed as cT3N1M0 (American Joint Committee on Cancer 8th edition: anatomic stage IIIA, clinical prognostic stage IIIC). After a multidisciplinary tumor board discussion, the patient underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy with weekly paclitaxel, followed by 4 cycles of dosedense doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide. After completing neoadjuvant treatment, clinical examination was relevant for a residual 1-cm palpable left breast mass and no palpable axillary nodes. Mammography and breast ultrasound showed a 77% partial response in the primary tumors, and axillary nodes with normal morphology and size (Figure 1C-D). Due to multicentric tumor disease, breast-conserving surgery would not confer satisfactory cosmetic results on her, and a modifi ed radical mastectomy with intraoperative sentinel lymph node biopsy (and second-stage breast reconstruction) was planned. However, during surgery, the surgeons failed to identify the mapped lymph node, and level I-III axillary lymph node dissection was performed. The pathology report described complete pathological response: Miller and Payne criteria grade 5 response with the absence of malignant cells within the mastectomy specimen and in 24 lymph nodes (Figure 2C-E). Pathological staging after neoadjuvant treatment concluded ypT0N0M0 disease. Subsequent treatment for this patient was discussed in another tumor board.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 436-439
Author(s):  
Sidiq Tijani ◽  
Kirti Sharma ◽  
Henry Yuen ◽  
Abeer Shaaban

Metastatic breast cancer resembling ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a rare phenomenon. In this article, we present a unique case of metastatic lobular carcinoma with DCIS-like morphology in the left axillary lymph nodes of a 52-year-old female. She presented with 2 lesions in the left breast on mammography, and a mastectomy with axillary lymph node dissection was performed. Gross examination showed a 3.5 × 2.5 × 1.0 cm indistinct tumor in the lower outer quadrant and a 2.5 × 2.5 × 1.8 cm tumor in the upper outer quadrant. Microscopic assessment revealed a pleomorphic lobular carcinoma in the lower outer quadrant and a grade 2 invasive ductal carcinoma in the upper outer quadrant. Sixteen of the 17 axillary lymph nodes showed metastatic lobular carcinoma with foci of solid and comedo-type DCIS-like features. Immunohistochemical analysis of the primary and metastatic lobular carcinoma showed no expression of E-cadherin and p63 antibodies. To our knowledge, metastatic lobular carcinoma exhibiting this pattern has not been reported. The case suggests that lobular carcinoma can morphologically recreate a primary microenvironment at a distant site and simulate in situ growth. Recognition of this pattern is important to avoid misdiagnosis.


2021 ◽  
pp. 255-260
Author(s):  
Helen J Trihia ◽  
Epthymia Souka ◽  
Gabriela Stanc ◽  
George Galanopoulos ◽  
Eleftheria Ignatiadou ◽  
...  

Background: Silicone lymphadenopathy is a recognized complication of silicone implant rupture. It occurs when silicone droplets migrate from breast implants to lymph nodes, resulting in the formation of granulomas (known as siliconoma) and lymph node enlargement. The ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes are most commonly involved but it can also affect contralateral axillary, supraclavicular, internal mammary and mediastinal lymph nodes.Case presentation: A 60-year-old woman with a history of left breast cancer who had undergone modified radical mastectomy (MRM) followed by left breast reconstruction with implant (30 years ago) presented with right axillary lymph nodes enlargement. An excisional biopsy of the two larger lymph nodes was performed to rule out malignancy. Pathologic examination showed features of silicone lymphadenopathy. Further examination with Ultrasound and MRI confirmed breast implant rupture. Conclusion: Silicone lymphadenopathy following breast augmentation and reconstruction primarily affects the ipsilateral axillary nodes. Contralateral lymph node involvement is rare and may occur several years after breast cancer diagnosis and can be the first sign of breast implant rupture. Although, the need to exclude malignancy in such cases is of outmost importance, silicone lymphadenopathy should also be considered in the differential diagnosis.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 757
Author(s):  
Sanaz Samiei ◽  
Renée W. Y. Granzier ◽  
Abdalla Ibrahim ◽  
Sergey Primakov ◽  
Marc B. I. Lobbes ◽  
...  

Radiomics features may contribute to increased diagnostic performance of MRI in the prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis. The objective of the study was to predict preoperative axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer using clinical models and radiomics models based on T2-weighted (T2W) dedicated axillary MRI features with node-by-node analysis. From August 2012 until October 2014, all women who had undergone dedicated axillary 3.0T T2W MRI, followed by axillary surgery, were retrospectively identified, and available clinical data were collected. All axillary lymph nodes were manually delineated on the T2W MR images, and quantitative radiomics features were extracted from the delineated regions. Data were partitioned patient-wise to train 100 models using different splits for the training and validation cohorts to account for multiple lymph nodes per patient and class imbalance. Features were selected in the training cohorts using recursive feature elimination with repeated 5-fold cross-validation, followed by the development of random forest models. The performance of the models was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC). A total of 75 women (median age, 61 years; interquartile range, 51–68 years) with 511 axillary lymph nodes were included. On final pathology, 36 (7%) of the lymph nodes had metastasis. A total of 105 original radiomics features were extracted from the T2W MR images. Each cohort split resulted in a different number of lymph nodes in the training cohorts and a different set of selected features. Performance of the 100 clinical and radiomics models showed a wide range of AUC values between 0.41–0.74 and 0.48–0.89 in the training cohorts, respectively, and between 0.30–0.98 and 0.37–0.99 in the validation cohorts, respectively. With these results, it was not possible to obtain a final prediction model. Clinical characteristics and dedicated axillary MRI-based radiomics with node-by-node analysis did not contribute to the prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer based on data where variations in acquisition and reconstruction parameters were not addressed.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 471
Author(s):  
Min Young Lee ◽  
Eunjung Kong ◽  
Dong Gyu Lee

This study aimed to determine whether bypass circulation was present in lymphedema and its effect. This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study. Patients who underwent unilateral breast cancer surgery with axillary lymph node dissection were recruited and underwent single-photon emission tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT). SPECT/CT was performed to detect the three-dimensional locations of radio-activated lymph nodes. Patients with radioactivity in anatomical locations other than axillary lymph nodes were classified into a positive group. All patients received complete decongestive therapy (CDT). Exclusion criteria were as follows: History of bilateral breast cancer surgery, cervical lymph node dissection history, and upper extremity amputation. The difference in the upper extremity circumference (cm) was measured at four points: Mid-point of the upper arm, elbow, and 10 and 15 cm below the elbow. Twenty-nine patients were included in this study. Fifteen patients (51.7%) had bypass lymphatic systems on the affected side, six (20.7%) had a bypass lymphatic system with axillary lymph nodes on the unaffected side, and 11 (37.9%) showed new lymphatic drainage. The positive group showed significantly less swelling than the negative group at the mid-arm, elbow, and 15 cm below the elbow. Bypass lymphatic circulation had two patterns: Infraclavicular lymph nodes and supraclavicular and/or cervical lymph nodes. Changes in lymph drainage caused by surgery triggered the activation of the superficial lymphatic drainage system to relieve lymphedema. Superficial lymphatic drainage has a connection through the deltopectoral groove.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 81 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-598
Author(s):  
MAHRUKH BAMJI ◽  
RICHARD K. STONE ◽  
ADITYA KAUL ◽  
GHAZALA USMANI ◽  
FRANCES FUCHS SCHACHTER ◽  
...  

In Reply.— The observations of Dr Embree et al are indeed iteresting. The fact that axillary lymph nodes were palpable in 27.7% of infants in their survey is noteworthy. In our study, axillary nodes were found in 1% of neonates 0 to 72 hours of age. The discrepancy may be due to differences in environmental or genetic factors of the two groups (different ethnic groups examined). Infants with positive serologic tests for syphilis were excluded from our study population.


Author(s):  
Ankur Garg ◽  
Udbhav Kathpalia ◽  
Shweta Bansal ◽  
Manoj Andley ◽  
Sudipta Saha

Background : Locally advanced breast carcinoma (LABC) includes a wide range of clinical scenarios- advanced primary tumors (T4), advanced nodal disease and inflammatory carcinomas(1). Traditionally, treatment of LABC included a combination of Chemotherapy, Radiation and Surgery(2). However, there has been a shift to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in recent times.(3) Histological status and the number of axillary lymph nodes with metastasis is one of the most important prognostic factors and most powerful predictor of recurrence and survival in patients of breast carcinoma and remains so, even after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. (3) Information derived from the sentinel lymph node is considered valuable, with less discomfort to the patient when compared with axillary dissection.(4) However, its role in detecting nodal metastasis after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy in LABC is still debatable and definitive studies to evaluate its role are still evolving. (5) Materials and Methods: Patients of LABC were evaluated using ultrasonography (USG) of axilla. Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) was administered and patients were reassessed by USG of axilla. Thirty patients with node negative axillary status were subjected to Sentinel lymph node mapping using isosulfan blue followed by Modified Radical Mastectomy and Axillary Lymph Node Dissection. Histopathological evaluation of stained and unstained lymph nodes done and the data, thus obtained, was statistically analysed.   Results: Sentinel lymph node biopsy performed using Isosulfan Blue dye alone, after neo-adjuvant chemotherapy predicts the status of axillary lymph nodes with low accuracy.   Conclusions: Further studies would be required to establish the role of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with LABC after NACT.


2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 960-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Gerber ◽  
Annette Krause ◽  
Heiner Müller ◽  
Dagmar Richter ◽  
Toralf Reimer ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: We studied the prognostic and predictive value of immunohistochemically detected occult tumor cells (OTCs) in lymph nodes and bone marrow aspirates obtained from node-negative breast cancer patients. All were classified as distant metastases-free using conventional staging methods. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 484 patients with pT1-2N0M0 breast cancer and 70 with pT1-2N1M0 breast cancer and a single affected lymph node participated in our trial. Ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes and intraoperatively aspirated bone marrow were examined. All samples were examined for OTCs using monoclonal antibodies to cytokeratins 8, 18, 19. Immunohistological findings were correlated with other prognostic factors. The mean follow-up was 54 ± 24 months. RESULTS: OTCs were detected in 180 (37.2%) of 484 pT1-2N0M0 patients: in the bone marrow of 126 patients (26.0%), in the lymph nodes of 31 patients (6.4%), and in bone marrow and lymph nodes of 23 (4.8%) patients. Of the 70 patients with pT1-2N1MO breast cancer and a single involved lymph node, OTCs were identified in the bone marrow of 26 (37.1%). The ability to detect tumor cells increased with the following tumor features: larger size, poor differentiation, and higher proliferation. Tumors of patients with OTCs more frequently demonstrated lymph node invasion, blood vessel invasion, higher urokinase-type plasminogen activator levels, and increased PAI-1 concentrations. Patients with detected OTCs showed reduced disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OAS) rates that were comparable to those observed in patients who had one positive lymph node. Multivariate analysis of prognostic factors revealed that OTCs, histological grading, and tumor size are significant predictors of DFS; OTCs and grading of OAS. CONCLUSION: OTCs detected by simultaneous immunohistochemical analysis of axillary lymph nodes and bone marrow demonstrate independent metastatic pathways. Although OTCs were significantly more frequent in patients with other unfavorable prognostic factors, they were confirmed as an independent prognostic factor for pT1-2N0M0, R0 breast cancer patients.


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