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After COVID-19 vaccination, a spectrum of axillary lymphadenopathy were observed in patients undergoing routine breast ultrasound. Malignancy remains the most serious differential in cases of unilateral axillary adenopathy. Knowledge of axillary ultrasound findings after COVID-19 vaccination is essential to prevent unnecessary biopsy or change in therapy in oncological patients. From March to May 2021, 10 female patients underwent breast ultrasound in our Department for the evaluation of axillary lumps. All the patients received their first or second dose of COVID-19 vaccine 20–30 days before the exam in the same extremity of the ultrasound evaluation where lymphadenopathy was found. Five patients had a personal history of previous breast cancer, and the radiologist decided to perform a core biopsy (the histology was negative for malignancy). The other five patients with no personal history of cancer underwent ultrasound and returned after a short-term follow-up. Regression of the enlarged lymph nodes was found.

A 67-year-old man was diagnosed with primary hyperparathyroidism and normofunctioning left nodular goiter. Fine-needle aspiration cytology showed thyroid (Thy) 4 (suspicious of malignancy). After first-line imaging proved negative, integrated 18F-choline PET/4D contrast-enhanced CT revealed uptake by the thyroid nodule and by 3 nodules of the left central compartment. Thyroidectomy and lymphadenectomy were performed. Histopathology revealed a collision tumor (ie, 2 histologically distinct tumors occurring at the same anatomic site) composed of both PTC (papillary thyroid carcinoma) and parathyroid carcinoma within the left thyroid nodule. Lymph nodes showed PTC metastases. Primary hyperparathyroidism and calcium levels normalized, and the patient underwent radioiodine therapy.

AimsNeoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (neoCRT) is recommended for locally advanced rectal cancer (RC), however, this often makes lymph node (LN) search trying. The aim of this study was to evaluate, in a large retrospective, monocentric, series of post-neoCRT-RC patients, the importance of LN number, ratio and surface area in predicting metastases, overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS).Methods104 patients with RC underwent total mesorectal excision, after standard neoCRT. All resected specimens were examined according to a standardised sampling/histopathological protocol. The following data regarding LNs were collected: total numbers; number with metastases; LNratio (metastatic/total); maximum diameter; surface area.ResultsA statistically significant association was found between LN number and DFS (p=0.0473). Finding ≤9 or >20 LNs correlated with worse prognosis compared with 10–20 (p value=0.049). LNratio (>0.2) was strongly associated with shorter DFS (HR=13.36; p value <0.0001) and OS (HR=26.06; p value <0.0001). Poor outcome, for DFS (HR=2.17, p value =0.0416) and OS (HR=1.18, p value =0.0025), was associated with increasing LN surface area. LNratio was independently associated with DFS at multivariate analysis (p value <0.0001).ConclusionsLN number, LNratio and LN surface area are important prognostic factors in neoCRT-RC and in particular finding ≤9 or >20 LNs is prognostically adverse.