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Background: Optimal management of children with centrally located low-grade glioma (LGG) is unclear. Initial interventions in most children are chemotherapy in younger and radiation therapy (RT) in older children. A better understanding of the inherent risk factors along with the effects of interventions on long-term outcome can lead to reassessment of the current approaches to minimize long-term morbidity., Methods: To reassess the current treatment strategies of centrally located LGG, we compared the long-term survival and morbidity of different treatment regimens. Medical records of patients primarily treated at Texas Children's Cancer and Hematology Centers between 1987 and 2008 were reviewed., Results: Forty-seven patients with a median follow-up of 79 months were included in the analysis. The 5-year overall survival and progression-free survival (PFS) for all patients were 96% and 53%, respectively. The 5-year PFS for those treated initially with RT (12 patients; median age, 11 years [range, 3-15 years]) and with chemotherapy (28 patients; median age, 2 years [range 0-8 years]) were 76% and 37%, respectively (log-rank test P = .02). Among children who progressed after chemotherapy, the 5-year PFS after salvage RT was 55%. Patients diagnosed at a younger age (<5 years) were more likely to experience endocrine abnormalities (Fisher exact test; P<.00001)., Conclusions: Effective and durable tumor control was obtained with RT as initial treatment. In younger patients, chemotherapy can delay the use of RT; however, frequent progression and long-term morbidity are common. More effective and less toxic therapies are required in these patients, the majority of whom are long-term survivors., (© 2013 American Cancer Society.)

Background: Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) is a rare and distinct variant of breast carcinoma with a high propensity for regional lymph node involvement. Because of its lymphotropic nature, IMPC is considered to have an unfavorable prognosis when compared with invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC)., Patients and Methods: This study of 624 patients diagnosed with breast IMPC (2001-2008) listed in the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (NCI SEER) database was performed to evaluate prognostic factors for disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS)., Results: The 5-year DSS and OS for patients with IMPC were 91.9% and 83.8%, respectively. Of those with known estrogen receptor (ER) status, 84.8% were ER-positive (ER(+)), which was associated with better DSS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.27; P < .0002) and OS (HR 0.45; P < .006). At presentation, 52.9% of the patients with lymph node examinations had nodal involvement and 4.1% had distant metastases. Patients with 4 or more positive lymph nodes had worse DSS (HR 6.43; P = .0013) and OS (HR 3.47; P = .00067) than did patients with node-negative disease, but those with 1 to 3 positive lymph nodes had DSS and OS similar to those of patients with node-negative disease., Conclusion: Although IMPC has a high propensity for lymph node metastasis, it has a DSS and overall prognosis comparable to those of IDC. Patients with ER-negative (ER-) disease or those with 4 or more positive lymph nodes have the worst prognosis. This is the largest study of IMPC to date, and these findings will help address some of the inconsistencies regarding this rare histologic variant of breast cancer., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)