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Background. To determine the role of postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) in breast cancer patients with T1-2 and N1 disease. Patients and methods. A total of 207 postmastectomy women were enrolled. The 5-year Kaplan-Meier estimates of locoregional recurrence rate (LRR), distant recurrence rate (DRR) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed by different tumor characteristics. Multivariate analyses were performed using Cox proportional hazards modeling. Results. With median follow-up 59.5 months, the 5-year LRR, DRR and OS were 9.1%, 20.3% and 84.4%, respectively. On univariate analysis, age < 40 years old (p = 0.003) and Her-2/neu over-expression (p = 0.016) were associated with higher LRR, whereas presence of LVI significantly predicted higher DRR (p = 0.026). Negative estrogen status (p = 0.033), Her-2/neu overexpression (p = 0.001) and LVI (p = 0.01) were significantly correlated with worse OS. PMRT didn't prove to reduce 5-year LRR (p = 0.107), as well as 5-year OS (p = 0.918). In subgroup analysis, PMRT showed significant benefits of improvement LRR and OS in patients with positive LVI. Conclusions. For patients with T1-2 and N1 stage breast cancer, PMRT can decrease locoregional recurrence and increase overall survival only in patients with lymphovascular invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purposes: We investigated the influences of prognostic factors on long-term survival of patients with follicular thyroid cancer (FTC) based on all-cause mortality and two exclusive causes of death, FTC and non-FTC., Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we collected data of 204 patients with FTC diagnosed between 1985 and 2007 at National Taiwan University Hospital. For all-cause mortality, Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios for prognostic factors. Cause-specific hazard and cumulative incidence function models were used to determine the influences of prognostic factors on FTC and non-FTC death, respectively. The dynamic processes of distant metastases and locoregional recurrences were included as time-varying factors in all models., Results: The cumulative incidence of all-cause death was 24% and 45% at 10 and 20-years, respectively. Multivariate analyses identified that distant metastases, locoregional recurrences, and positive surgical margins were significant independent risk factors for overall survival, hazard, and cumulative incidence of FTC death. Age at diagnosis >60 years increased the risks of all-cause and non-FTC death as well as cumulative incidence of non-FTC death. Tumor size >4 cm had a harmful effect on overall survival. Female patients had higher risk and cumulative incidence of FTC death, but male patients had a higher cumulative incidence of non-FTC death. Lymph node metastases significantly increased the cumulative incidence of FTC death., Conclusion: Dynamic distant metastases and locoregional recurrences were the most dominant risk factors influencing FTC-specific hazard and cumulative incidence for FTC death by accounting for non-FTC death as a competing risk for FTC patients., (Copyright © 2018 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)