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PURPOSE: To evaluate the best strategy for treatment of sarcoma that occurs after radiation therapy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Records were retrospectively reviewed for 80 patients with a confirmed histologic diagnosis of sarcoma that occurred after radiation therapy performed during 1975–1995. The patients were treated for breast cancer (n = 33, 42%), non-Hodgkin lymphoma (n = 9, 11%), cervical cancer (n = 9, 11%), benign lesions (n = 4, 5%), or other tumors (n = 25, 31%). Sarcoma occurred after a mean latency of 12 years (range, 3-64 years), with most (70%) developing in the soft tissue. Treatment included surgery (28 patients), surgery and chemotherapy (18 patients), chemotherapy only (15 patients), and radiation therapy (14 patients). RESULTS: By the end of the study, 51 patients were dead, including 46 due to sarcoma. Median survival was 23 months. Overall survival rates at 2 and 5 years, respectively, were 69% and 39% for patients treated with surgery, 10% and 0% for those treated with chemotherapy, an...

Objectives: To conduct a survey of the angiosarcomas developing after breast conservation for carcinoma in the French Cancer Centers, to study the evolution of these cases in detail, and to review literature in an attempt to propose an optimal treatment scheme. Material and Methods: Eleven of the 20 French Cancer Centers agreed to research and retrospectively analyze all angiosarcomas discovered in patients previously treated by conservative treatment. The majority of the patients were node negative, T1N0M0. The mean age of the patients at the time of primary breast cancer treatment was 62.5 years, and 69 years at the diagnosis of the angiosarcoma. Results: During the last two decades, nearly 20,000 patients have been treated conservatively in these 11 centers, and only 9 cases of angiosarcoma were found. The median latency period between the treatment of the breast carcinoma and the diagnosis of the breast angiosarcoma was approximately 74 months, with a range of 57–108 months. Mastectomy was performed as the main treatment of this angiosarcoma. All recurrences after mastectomy for the angiosarcoma appeared within 16 months after the mastectomy. A median time of recurrence was found to be 7.5 months, regardless of the treatment. The angiosarcomas appeared to be very aggressive, and chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and sometimes hyperthermia could only palliate the condition for a short time. After the diagnosis of angiosarcoma, the median survival was 15.5 months, showing a particularly poor prognosis. Only 1 patient of 9 is alive without progressive disease at 32 months after salvage mastectomy for the recurrence of the angiosarcoma. Precise data obtained from 11 centers show that, of 18115 breast carcinomas treated conservatively, only 9 breast angiosarcomas are reported, which represents a prevalence of 5 cases of angiosarcoma per 10,000, which is the same prevalence for primary breast angiosarcomas occurring in healthy breasts. Conclusion: Angiosarcoma developing after breast conserving therapy for carcinoma is a rare event, and induction of it by treatment is controversial. However, early diagnosis is essential and it appears that radical mastectomy gives the highest chance of cure and the best long-term survival.

We have investigated the possibility of conservative breast surgery in tumors greater than 3 cm in diameter. A series of 303 patients with tumors larger than 3 cm in diameter (T2 > 3 cm, T3, N0, N1a, N1b, M0) underwent a radiotherapeutic induction treatment. Ten weeks after the end of the radiotherapy, we eliminated 28 patients whose tumors remained larger than 3 cm in order to limit the study to a group of 275 patients having tumors smaller than 3 cm after radiotherapy. The surgery carried out on all these patients was tumorectomy with a sufficient safety margin and pathologically negative section. Postoperative adjuvant treatments were decided upon according to hormonal receptors, age of the patient, and nodal status. The mean follow-up period was 13 years (ranging from 5 to 18 years). The rate of tumoral sterilization was 25.8%. The rate of local recurrence was 6.2%: 5.4% for stage T2f tumors between 3 and 5 cm in diameter and 8.6% for stage T3 tumors. The 17 local recurrences were locally controlled by salvage mastectomy. Overall survival was 76.19% at 5 years, 57.14% at 10 years, and 53.97% at 15 years. Disease-free survival was 76.19% at 5 years, 50% at 10 years, and 27.08% at 15 years. Disease-free survival at 10 years was significantly influenced by the size of the breast tumor and the degree of axillary node invasion: T2f, 65.7%; T3, 37.2%; T2fNminus;, 71%; T2fN+, 60.5%; T3N−, 45.4%; T3N+, 25.1%. The overall and disease-free survival rates at 5 and 10 years are not statistically different with relation to tumor location, histological grade, age, menopausal status, or presence or absence of adjuvant treatment. Our results suggest that preoperative radiotherapy for tumors greater than 3 cm in diameter allows breast preservation with satisfactory local control and cosmetic results compared with mastectomy. Radiat Oncol Invest 1996;4:83–89. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Between 1971 and 1989, 59 patients received external radiation therapy with a curative intent. There were 25 females and 34 males, ranging in age from 19 to 87. No patients had distant metastasis at the onset of treatment. The majority of patients had a total thyroidectomy ( 55 59 ), generally combined with neck dissection. Residual tumour was left in 11 cases, and 44 patients had positive cervical nodes. Using megavoltage radiotherapy, the whole neck and the upper mediastinum area were most often irradiated through a large anterior Y-shaped field without laryngeal shielding. The mean dose to the tumoural bed was 54 Gy. Dysphagia was observed in 32 patients (11, 17 and 5 scores were grade 1, 2 and 3, respectively). Dyspnea occurred in five cases and in two of these cases, it was considered to be severe. Local recurrences were noted in 18 (30%) patients, most of them occurring within the fields of irradiation. Parameters such as age, sex, total dose, irradiated volumes or cervical node enlargement did not modify the local control rate. The same conclusions can be drawn for distant failures. Thirty five patients are still alive and among them, 24 have no evidence of disease. The average length of survival is 70.5 months and is shortened by the occurrence of distant failures except in patients with bone metastases.

Summary Patients and methods Twenty patients with lung cancer and brain metastasis were prospectively included in this feasibility study (four small-cell and 16 non-small-cell lung cancers). There were two previously untreated patients and 18 pretreated patients for whom brain metastases constituted the first re lapse after a treatment-free interval followmg chemotherapy for the primary lung cancer. Most of the patients had neuro logical symptoms and an ECOG performance index over 2. Treatment consisted of three courses of whole brain radio therapy (18 Gy in 10 fractions) and ifosfamide: 3 g/m2 daily from day 1 through day 4, i.e., during the first four days of radiotherapy with uromitexan uroprotection and haemato poietic support (r-HuG-CSF). Results Seventeen patients completed the three-cycle programme. Sixteen patients had grade 4 neutropema and six of them experienced a febrile episode. Other toxicities were mild to moderate and manageable. The received dose-intensity of ifosfamide was 90%. Response evaluation demonstrated stable disease for two patients, partial response for eight, complete response for six and progression for four. All responders benefited by a remission of symptoms and improvement of performance index. Median survival from start of protocol was 13 months. Conclusion Brain radiotherapy plus high-dose ifosfamide is feasible in patients suffering from brain recurrences of lung cancer.

From 1960 to 1986, 397 cases of non-metastatic male breast cancer (MBC) treated in 14 French regional cancer centres were reviewed. The median age was 64 years (range 25-93). TNM classification (UICC, 1978) showed seven T0, 79 T1, 162 T2, 31 T3, 74 T4 and 44 unclassified tumours (Tx). Clinical positive lymph nodes were found in 31% of the patients. 24 patients received radiotherapy only, and 373 underwent surgery, 247 of these with postoperative irradiation. Adjuvant chemotherapy and hormonal therapy were used in 71 and 68 patients, respectively. There were 382 infiltrating carcinomas and 15 pure ductal carcinoma in situ. Lymph node involvement was found in 56% of infiltrating carcinoma. The oestrogen (ER) and progesterone (PgR) receptors were positive in 79% and 77%, respectively, of examined cases. Isolated local and regional recurrence were observed in 8.8% and 4.5% of cases, respectively and 40% of patients developed metastases. The crude survival rates by Kaplan-Meier method were 65% and 38% at 5 and 10 years, respectively, and the disease-specific survival rates (without death due to intercurrent disease or second cancer) was 74% at 5 years and 51% at 10 years. The disease-specific survival rate for pN- and pN+ groups were 77% and 39% at 10 years. The prognostic factors were clinical size (T) and histological axillary status (pN-/pN+). The relative risk of death for pN- was 1.0, 2.0 and 3.2 in the T0-T1, T2 and T3-T4 groups, respectively. For pN+, these relative risks increased 1.9, 3.9 and 6.0 in the same groups. The optimal treatment include modified radical mastectomy and irradiation for cases with risk factors of local relapse (nodal invasion, large tumour with cutaneous or muscular involvement). Locoregional failure had unfavourable prognosis. First-line adjuvant treatment seems to be tamoxifen, due to the very high rate of positive hormonal receptors and the old age of the patients, which contraindicate chemotherapy in many cases. The prognosis of patients with breast cancer is the same in male and female patients when disease-specific survival rate, tumour size and axillary involvement are compared.

Material From 1960 to 1990, 581 cases of male breast cancer (MBC) were reviewed in 19 Cancer Institutes in France. 23 (4%) were pure DCIS. The median age was 56.5 years (ext. 26–77). Five patients had less than 40 years (22%). Gynecomastia was found in 10 out of 23 patients (43%). Three had family history of B. C. According to TNM classification, we found 6 impalpable lesions (T0) discovered by serosanguineous nipple discharge, 7 T1, 6 T2, and 4 Tx. Treatment The surgery consisted of 3 lumpectomies, 16 modified, 2 subcutaneous and 2 radical mastectomies. 16 patients had axillary dissections and 6 irradiation on the chest wall. Histology All cases were pure DCIS: in 14 the subtype was clearly identified: papillary (4), papillary intracystic (3), mixed papillary and cribriform (3), comedocarcinoma (2), cribriform (1), apocrine (1). Three patients had local recurrences: two occurred in the patients initially treated by lumpectomy alone: the first was again a DCIS, but the second was an infiltrating carcinoma; this patient died by metastases. The last relapse occurred on the chest wall in a patient treated by mastectomy. One patient developed a contralateral DCIS. Two patients developed a lung and kidney cancer respectively. In the literature the rate of DCIS in man varies from 0 to 16%. The serosanguineous nipple discharge seems a frequent symptom, especially in young men. The main histologic subtype is papillary (pure or intracystic). Mastectomy is the treatment of choice.