Search

Background: Lymphatic mapping with sentinel node biopsy is becoming a standard diagnostic test for melanoma and is being extensively investigated for use with other soft tissue tumors. Both filtered and unfiltered technetium sulfur colloid (Tc 99) have been used for preoperative lymphoscintigraphy, as well as intraoperative lymphatic mapping, and it is not clear if one is preferable over the other. The purpose of this study was to compare these two preparations to determine whether the form of Tc 99 used affects the results of lymphatic mapping. Methods: Mock skin sites were placed on each extremity of 12 domestic pigs totaling 48 skin sites. Twenty-our of the lesions were injected with unfiltered Tc 99; the remaining 24 were injected with Tc 99 passed over a 0.2-μm filter. Both preparations of Tc 99 were mixed with 1 mL of isosulfan blue before injection. Sentinel node dissection was performed using a gamma probe, with counts recorded over a 10-second period and timed to begin 5 minutes after injection. Results: Sentinel nodes were identified in all 48 lymph node basins draining the mock sites and characterized as hot (10× background), blue, or both. Significantly more sentinel nodes were found in the filtered (105 total, $$\bar{X}$$ = 4.4/basin), than in the unfiltered group (total 53, $$\bar{X}$$ = 2.2/basin, P <.0001). The filtered group had both a higher number of nodes that were hot (35 vs. 6) and more nodes that were hot and blue (69 vs. 43). In addition, hot secondary level lymph nodes (iliac and deep cervical) were found in 11 of 24 of the basins (46%) in the filtered group compared to 1 of 24 (4%) in the unfiltered group ( P<.003). There was no significant difference in injection site or residual basin counts between the two groups, but in vivo counts over the sentinel node sites were significantly lower in the unfiltered group ( $$\bar{X}$$ = 2670 ± 1829 vs. $$\bar{X}$$ (6027 ± 4333; P = .003). Conclusion: Use of filtered Tc 99 results in more sentinel nodes (both hot/blue and hot non-blue) and a higher proportion of secondary lymph nodes. These findings indicate that the Tc 99 preparation used is a significant variable in the results of lymphatic mapping. It is critical that future clinical studies document which preparation of Tc 99 was used. Only large clinical trials will be able to determine whether the additional nodes found with filtered Tc 99 increase the sensitivity of the technique or merely increase the number of nodes that must be removed unnecessarily. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Benefits, harms, and cost-effectiveness of supplemental ultrasonography screening for women with dense breasts" by B. L. Sprague and colleagues, in the previous issues of the journal.

A review of the article "Likelihood that a woman with screen-detected breast cancer has had her 'like saved' by that screening," by H.G. Welch and B.A. Frankel which appeared in the 2011;171 issue is presented.

Background: Positive margins have been reported in 20% to 40% of patients undergoing a partial mastectomy, often resulting in re-excision. How often the re-excision yields additional cancer and whether there are predictors of residual disease remain unknown.Study Design: Patients who had a positive margin (defined as tumor at ink for patients with invasive disease or within 1 mm for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ) in the SHAVE (A Randomized Controlled Trial of Routine Shave Margins Versus Standard Partial Mastectomy in Breast Cancer Patients) trial before randomization were evaluated to determine the rate of additional disease either in cavity shave margins or at re-excision. Details of the SHAVE trial can be found elsewhere.Results: Of the 235 patients in the trial, 82 (34.9%) had a positive margin before randomization; 58 of these patients underwent either cavity shave margins excision or a re-excision of the positive margin(s). Twenty-one (36.2%) patients had residual disease. On bivariate analysis, residual disease was associated with younger patient age (median 51 vs 62 years; p = 0.007), and the presence of high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (57.1% vs 31.3% for grade 2 and 0% for grade 1; p = 0.025). The following factors were not associated with further disease: patient race; ethnicity; BMI; volume of resection; number of positive margins; extent of ductal carcinoma in situ; and extent, grade, and histologic subtype of invasive cancer. On multivariate analysis, only patient age younger than 60 years remained a significant predictor of residual disease (odds ratio 3.920; 95% CI 1.081 to 14.220; p = 0.038).Conclusions: Positive margins are associated with further disease in more than one-third of patients and, aside from young age, there are no predictors of this. These findings support continued re-excision of positive margins, particularly in patients younger than 60 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor in response to the article "A systematic assessment of benefits and risks to guide breast cancer screening decisions" by Drs. Lydia Pace and Nancy Keating featured in the April 2, 2014 issue is presented.

Purpose: To compare the clinical-pathologic features and long-term outcomes for women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) vs. DCIS with microinvasion (DCISM) treated with breast conservation therapy (BCT), to assess the impact of microinvasion. Patients and Methods: A total of 393 patients with DCIS/DCISM from our database were analyzed to assess differences in clinical-pathologic features and outcomes for the two cohorts. Results: The median follow-up was 8.94 years, and the mean age was 55.8 years for the entire group. The DCISM cohort was comprised of 72 of 393 patients (18.3%). Surgical evaluation of the axilla was performed in 58.3% (n = 42) of DCISM vs. 18.1% (n = 58) of DCIS, with only 1 of 42 DCISM (2.3%) vs. 0 of 58 DCIS with axillary metastasis. Surgical axillary evaluation was not an independent predictor of local-regional relapse (LRR), distant relapse-free survival (DRFS), or overall survival (OS) in Cox proportional hazards analysis (p > 0.05). For the DCIS vs. DCISM groups, respectively, the 10-year breast relapse-free survival was 89.0% vs. 90.7% (p = 0.36), DRFS was 98.5% vs. 97.9% (p = 0.78), and OS was 93.2% vs. 95.7% (p = 0.95). The presence of microinvasion did not correlate with LRR, age, presentation, race, family history, margin status, and use of adjuvant hormonal therapy (all p > 0.05). In univariate analysis, pathology (DCIS vs. DCISM) was not an independent predictor of LRR (hazard ratio [HR], 1.58; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.58–4.30; p = 0.36), DRFS (HR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.07–6.95; p = 0.77), or OS (HR, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.28–3.82; p = 0.95). Conclusions: Our data imply that the natural history of DCISM closely resembles that of DCIS, with a low incidence of local-regional and distant failures. On the basis of our large dataset, the incidence of axillary metastasis in DCISM appears to be small and not appear to correlate to outcomes, and thus, microinvasion alone should not be the sole criterion for more aggressive treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on cavity shave margins in breast cancer. Topics include the effect of a routine resection of cavity shave margins on the rate reduction of positive margins of tumors, the decrease in the incidence of reexcision in patients that underwent partial mastectomy, and the use of the Inequality Tests for Two Proportions module of the PASS 2008 software. It also features a table of the factors associated with margin positivity.

BACKGROUND Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) is the standard of care for patients with locally advanced breast cancer and can yield clinical advantages in individuals with lower stage cancers as well. To the authors' knowledge, the extent and patterns of use of NAC remain unknown. The objective of the current study was to assess temporal trends in NAC use and to examine what clinical, demographic, and treatment site characteristics influence its use. METHODS Data from the National Cancer Data Base regarding 395,486 patients with stage I to stage III breast cancer who received adjuvant or neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the United States from 2003 through 2011 were analyzed. Chi-square tests and logistic regression analyses were used to assess the association between NAC use and patient, tumor, and facility characteristics. RESULTS Overall, 17.4% of patients received NAC, including 4% of patients with stage I disease, 17.8% of patients with stage II disease, and 41.6% of patients with stage III disease. NAC use increased over time from 12.2% to 24.0%, particularly among patients with more advanced cancers. Rates increased from 12.9% to 39.3% in patients with stage IIIA, from 72.3% to 86.4% in patients with stage IIIB, and from 30.1% to 59.3% in patients with stage IIIC cancers. On multivariate analysis, patients aged <60 years, African American individuals, and those treated in academic centers were more likely to receive NAC. NAC use also varied by geographic region and was the highest in the West South Central region (21%) and lowest in the Midwest (15.2%). CONCLUSIONS Although NAC use increased between 2003 and 2011, <50% of all patients with stage III breast cancer were treated with NAC. Substantial regional and practice-related variations exist. Cancer 2015;121:2544-2552. © 2015 American Cancer Society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been shown to increase the rate of breast conservation in clinical trials and small institutional series, but it has never been studied on a national level. Study Design We performed a retrospective review of the National Cancer Database (NCDB). The NCDB is a joint project of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons and the American Cancer Society and contains about 80% of the cancer cases in the United States. All women in the NCDB diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 2006 through 2011, who underwent definitive breast surgery and received either neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, excluding patients with distant metastases or T4 tumors, were included and rates of breast preservation were determined. Results Of 354,204 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 59,063 (16.7%) underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. This proportion steadily increased from 13.9% in 2006 to 20.5% in 2011 (p < 0.001). Receipt of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with larger tumor size (7% cT1, 25% cT2, and 58% cT3; p < 0.001), more advanced nodal disease (11% cN0, 39% cN1-3; p < 0.001), younger patient age (21% <50 years vs 14% >50 years; p < 0.001), higher tumor grade (18% grade 3, 15% grade 2, vs 12% grade 1; p < 0.001), and estrogen receptor (ER)-negative tumors (21% ER negative vs 15% ER postive; p < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression showed that when adjusted for the above variables, patients with tumors larger than 3 cm undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy were more likely to receive breast preservation than those who opted for primary surgery (odds ratio 1.7, 95% CI 1.6 to 1.8). Conclusions Neoadjuvant chemotherapy increases breast preservation for patients with breast tumor size larger than 3 cm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: For DCIS patients eligible for breast conservation treatment (BCT), it remains unclear whether presenting with physical signs/symptoms (Phys) confers a worse long-term prognosis compared to mammographically detected DCIS (Mam). Methods: We collected data on 669 DCIS patients treated with BCT from 1974 to 2007 of whom 80 were identified as category 'Phys' and 589 were in category 'Mam.' Results: Treatment parameters (i.e., the RT dose delivered, boost, rates of stereotactic biopsy, re-excision, node dissection) did not differ significantly between the two cohorts ( p = NS). At a 60-month median follow-up, significant associations included younger age at presentation ( p < 0.001), non-white race ( p = 0.041), larger tumor size ( p = 0.002), more 1°/2° papillary histology (1°, p = 0.001; 2°, p = 0.005) for the Phys cohort. As expected, mammograms were more likely to show mass/nodules/asymmetrical densities and less likely to show microcalcifications for the Phys versus Mam group ( p < 0.0001). There were no differences in family history, multifocality, grade, necrosis, or residual disease at re-excision, nodal involvement, status of margins, or ER/PR/HER-2 between the cohorts. The local relapse-free survival was similar at 5 years (100 vs. 96.9 %, p = 0.116) and 10 years (96.2 vs. 96.2 %, p = 0.906), with no significant overall survival difference at 10 years (97.5 vs. 95.9 %, p = 0.364) between the Phys and Mam patients, respectively. On multivariate analysis, presentation was not an independent predictor of local relapse-free survival or overall survival when accounting for age, race, tumor size, mammogram appearance, and adjuvant hormone treatment. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that although some clinicopathological differences exist between DCIS patients presenting with physical signs/symptoms compared with those presenting with mammographically detected disease, long-term outcomes are similar for patients appropriately selected for BCT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article related to decreasing predominance of breast cancer on left side, in the previous issue.

Background: Carcinoma with apocrine differentiation (AC) is a subtype of breast carcinoma with apocrine features in >90% of the tumor. Molecular studies demonstrate AC has high expression of androgen receptor (AR) mRNA. Pure AC lack estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and express AR, with variable human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) status. Currently, in triple negative AC, no targetable therapies or specific diagnostic markers exist., Materials and Methods: α-Methylacyl CoA racemase (AMACR) expression was investigated as a marker of apocrine differentiation using a single-plex immunoperoxidase stain, and a novel AMACR/p63 dual stain in a subset of cases, across 1) benign apocrine lesions (apocrine metaplasia, adenosis) 2) apocrine DCIS (ADCIS), 3) AC/ invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) with apocrine features, 4) non-apocrine triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and 5) IDC, no special type. A sub-set of cases were evaluated by tissue microarray., Results: AMACR expression was increased in both AC and ADCIS, with minimal expression in benign breast tissue, TNBC and IDC, NST cases. In invasive cases, those with positive AMACR (>5% positivity) were significantly associated with higher histologic grade (P = .006), initial N stage (chi squared 0.044), and lack of ER or PR expression (both P < .001), with no correlation with overall survival. Analysis of TCGA breast cancer datasets revealed AMACR expression was significantly higher in molecularly defined apocrine carcinomas relative to basal and luminal subtypes. Moreover, high AMACR expression predicted worse relapse-free and distant-metastasis free survival, among both ER-/PR-/Her2- and ER-/PR-/Her2+ breast cancer cohorts (log-rank P = .081 and .00011, respectively)., Conclusion: AMACR represents a promising diagnostic and prognostic marker in apocrine breast lesions. Further study is needed to determine the biologic and clinical significance of this protein in AC., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors declare that they have no relevant financial interests to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The Affordable Care Act sought to improve access to health care for low-income individuals. This study aimed to assess whether expansion of Medicaid coverage increased rates of post-mastectomy reconstruction (PMR) for patients who had Medicaid or no insurance., Methods: A retrospective analysis performed through the National Cancer Database examined women who underwent PMR and were uninsured or had Medicaid, private insurance, or Medicare, and whose race/ethnicity, age, and state expansion status were known. Trends in the use of PMR after passage of Medicaid expansion in 2014 were evaluated., Results: In all states and at all time periods, patients with private insurance were about twice as likely to undergo PMR as patients who had Medicaid or no insurance. In 2016, only 28.7 % of patients with Medicaid or no insurance in nonexpansion states underwent PMR (p < 0.001) compared with 38.5 % of patients in expansion states (p < 0.001). Patients in expansion states also have higher levels of education, higher income, and greater likelihood of living in metropolitan areas. Additionally, patients in all states saw an increase in early-stage disease, with a concomitant reduction in late disease, but this change was greater in expansion states than in non-expansion states., Conclusions: Expansion states have larger proportions of patients undergoing PMR than non-expansion states. This difference stems from significant differences in income, education, comorbidities, race, and location. Large metropolitan areas have the largest number of patients undergoing PMR, whereas rural areas have the least., (© 2022. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background: Black cohosh (BC) ( Cimicifuga racemosa ) may prevent and treat breast cancer through anti-proliferative, pro-apoptotic, anti-estrogenic, and anti-inflammatory effects. This study sought to evaluate the effect of BC on tumor cellular proliferation, measured by Ki67 expression, in a pre-operative window trial of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) patients., Methods: Patients were treated pre-operatively for 2 to 6 weeks with BC extract. Eligible subjects were those who had DCIS on core biopsy. Ki67 was measured using automated quantitative immunofluorescence (AQUA) pre/post-operatively. Ki67, tumor volume, and hormone changes were assessed with 2-sided Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, α = .05., Results: Thirty-one patients were treated for an average of 24.5 days (median 25; range 15-36). Ki67 decreased non-significantly (n = 26; P  = .20; median pre-treatment 1280, post-treatment 859; range pre-treatment 175-7438, post-treatment 162-3370). Tumor volume, estradiol, and FSH did not change significantly. No grade 3 or 4 adverse events were reported., Conclusions: BC use showed no significant impact on cellular proliferation, tumor volume, or invasive disease upgrade rates in DCIS patients. It was well-tolerated, with no observed significant toxicities. Further study is needed to elucidate BC's role in breast cancer treatment and prevention.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01628536https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01628536.

Purpose of Review: Breast cancer screening is highly controversial and different agencies have widely varying guidelines. Yet it is currently used extensively in the USA and frequently the thought is "the more, the better." The purpose of this review is to objectively assess the risks and benefits of screening mammography and consider whether there may be areas where it could be de-escalated., Recent Findings: Over the past few years, there have been several meta-analyses that are concordant, and it is now agreed that the main benefit of screening mammography is about a 20% reduction in breast cancer mortality. This actually benefits about 5% of patients with mammographically detected tumors. We now appreciate that the main harm of screening is overdiagnosis, i.e. detection of a cancer that will not cause the patient any harm and would not have ever been detected without the screening. This currently represents about 20 to 30% of screening detected cancers. Finding extra cancers with more intense screening is not always good, because in this situation, the risk of overdiagnosis increases and the benefit decreases. In some groups, the risk of overdiagnosis approaches 75%., Summary: Our goal should be not only to find more cancers, but to avoid finding cancers that would never have caused the patient any harm and lead to unnecessary treatment. The authors suggest some situations where it may be reasonable to de-escalate screening., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022, Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.)

Introduction: Invasive apocrine carcinoma is a rare breast cancer that is frequently triple negative. Little is known about the characteristics of its molecular subtypes. We compared the incidence, demographics, and clinicopathologic features of this cancer with non-apocrine carcinomas stratified by molecular subtype., Methods: Women with invasive apocrine cancer were retrospectively identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Clinicopathologic and demographic features were compared with non-apocrine carcinomas, both overall using data from 2004 to 2017 and stratified by molecular subtypes using data from 2010 to 2017. The life table method was used to determine the 7-year breast cancer-specific survival., Results: Compared with non-apocrine cancers, apocrine cancers presented at a younger age, with larger, higher-grade tumors that were much more likely to be triple negative (50% vs. 11%) or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive (28% vs. 15%) and less likely to be luminal (22% vs. 74%); however, the 7-year survival was the same at 85%. The characteristics varied dramatically by molecular type. Compared with non-apocrine triple-negative, apocrine triple-negative patients were less likely to be African American and were much older, with smaller, lower-grade tumors and much better survival (86% vs. 74%). In contrast, compared with luminal non-apocrine, apocrine luminal patients had larger, higher-grade tumors and worse survival (79% vs. 89%)., Conclusions: Invasive apocrine carcinomas have more aggressive features than non-apocrine carcinomas but the breast cancer-specific survival is the same. Half of these apocrine tumors are triple negative but these have more favorable features and much better survival than non-apocrine triple-negative cancers., (© 2021. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background: Inter-rater reliability between breast surgical oncologists and reconstructive surgeons using cosmesis scales, and the correlation between their observations and patients' own subjective assessments, is poorly understood., Methods: Patients undergoing BCS in a prospective trial rated their cosmetic outcome on a Likert scale (poor/fair/good/excellent) at the postoperative and 1-year time points; photographs were also taken. Three breast surgical oncologists (not involved in these cases) and two reconstructive surgeons were asked to independently rate cosmesis using the Harvard/NSABP/RTOG scale., Results: Overall, 55 and 17 patients had photographs and Likert self-evaluations at the postoperative and 1-year time points, respectively. There was poor agreement between surgeon and patient ratings postoperatively [kappas - 0.042 (p = 0.659), 0.069 (p = 0.226), and 0.076 (p = 0.090) for the breast surgical oncologists; and 0.018 (p = 0.689) and 0.112 (p = 0.145) for the reconstructive surgeons], and poor interobserver agreement between surgeons of the same specialty (kappa - 0.087, 95% confidence interval [CI] - 0.091 to - 0.082, p = 0.223 for breast surgical oncologists; and kappa - 0.150, 95% CI - 0.157 to - 0.144, p = 0.150, for reconstructive surgeons). At 1 year, the interobserver agreement between breast surgical oncologists was better (kappa 0.507, 95% CI 0.501-0.512, p < 0.001); however, there was still poor correlation between the reconstructive surgeons (kappa - 0.040, 95% CI - 0.049 to - 0.031, p = 0.772). Agreement between surgeon and patient ratings remained poor at this time point [kappas - 0.115 (p = 0.477), 0.177 (p = 0.245), and 0.101 (p = 0.475) for breast surgical oncologists; and 0.335 (p = 0.037) and -0.118 (p = 0.221) for reconstructive surgeons]., Conclusion: Despite gradation scales for measuring cosmesis after BCS, high levels of agreement between surgeons is lacking and these do not always reflect patients' subjective assessments., (© 2021. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Background: Angiosarcoma of the breast is rare and aggressive. It can occur as a de novo tumor or secondary to breast cancer treatment. The purpose of this study is to analyze differences between patients with primary and secondary angiosarcoma of the breast and investigate potential risk factors for its development., Patients and Methods: The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program of the National Cancer Institute database was queried to identify patients with angiosarcoma of the breast, trunk, shoulder, and upper arm. The population-based incidence was analyzed. Primary and secondary angiosarcoma cases were identified and compared. Breast cancer characteristics of secondary angiosarcoma patients were compared with all breast cancer patients in the database who did not develop angiosarcoma., Results: Overall, 904 patients were included, and 65.4% were secondary angiosarcomas. These patients had worse survival, were older, more likely to be White, more likely to have regionally advanced disease, and had angiosarcoma tumors of higher pathologic grade. Independent factors associated with development of secondary angiosarcoma among breast cancer patients included White race, older age, invasive tumor, lymph node removal, lumpectomy, radiation treatment, and left-sided tumor. Although the mean time to develop angiosarcoma after breast cancer diagnosis was 8.2 years, the risk continues to increase up to 30 years after breast cancer treatment., Conclusion: Angiosarcoma is rare but increasing in incidence. Secondary angiosarcomas are more common and exhibit more aggressive behavior. Several factors for angiosarcoma after breast cancer treatment could be identified, which may help us counsel and identify patients at risk., (© 2021. Society of Surgical Oncology.)

Introduction: Timing of autologous reconstruction relative to postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT) is debated. Benefits of immediate reconstruction must be weighed against a possibly heightened risk of complications from flap irradiation. We reviewed flap outcomes after single operation plus PMRT in a large institutional cohort., Methods: Medical records were reviewed for women who underwent simultaneous mastectomy-autologous reconstruction with PMRT from 2007 to 2016. Primary endpoints were rates and types of radiation-related flap complications and reoperations, whose predictors were assessed by multivariable analysis. A p value < 0.10 was deemed significant to avoid type II error. Non-parametric logistic regression generated a model of PMRT timing associated with probabilities of complications and reoperations., Results: One-hundred and thirty women underwent 208 mastectomy reconstruction operations, with a median follow up of 35.1 months (interquartile range 23.6-56.5). Forty-seven (36.2%) women experienced radiation-related complications, commonly fat necrosis (44.1%) and chest wall asymmetry (28.8%). Complications were higher among women who received PMRT < 3 months after surgery (46.8% for < 3 months vs. 29.3% for ≥ 3 months; p = 0.06), most of whom received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and among women treated with internal mammary nodal (IMN) radiation (65.2% vs. 26.4%; p < 0.01); IMN radiation remained strongly associated in multivariable analysis (odds ratio [OR] 5.24; p < 0.01). Thirty-two (24.6%) women underwent 70 reoperations, commonly fat grafting (51.9%) and fat necrosis excision (17.1%). Reoperations were higher among women who received PMRT < 3 months after surgery (48.9 for < 3 months vs. 36.6 for ≥ 3 months; p = 0.19), which was significantly associated in multivariable analysis (OR 0.42; p = 0.08 for ≥ 3 months). The probabilities of complications and reoperations were lowest when PMRT was administered ≥ 3 months after surgery., Conclusions: Among a large institutional cohort, immediate autologous reconstruction was associated with similar rates of adverse flap outcomes as historically reported alternatively sequenced protocols. IMN radiation increased risk, while PMRT ≥ 3 months after surgery decreased risk. Additional studies are needed to elaborate the impact of IMN radiation and early PMRT in immediate versus delayed autologous reconstruction.

The goal of this Phase I/II trial is to assess the safety and efficacy of administering durvalumab concurrent with weekly nab-paclitaxel and dose-dense doxorubicin/cyclophosphamide (ddAC) neoadjuvant therapy for stages I-III triple-negative breast cancer. The primary endpoint is pathologic complete response (pCR:ypT0/is, ypN0). The response was correlated with PDL1 expression and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs). Two dose levels of durvalumab (3 and 10 mg/kg) were assessed. PD-L1 was assessed using the SP263 antibody; ≥1% immune and tumor cell staining was considered positive; sTILs were calculated as the area occupied by mononuclear inflammatory cells over the total intratumoral stromal area. 59 patients were evaluable for toxicity and 55 for efficacy in the Phase II study (10 mg/kg dose). No dose-limiting toxicities were observed in Phase I. In Phase II, pCR rate was 44% (95% CI: 30-57%); 18 patients (31%) experienced grade 3/4 treatment-related adverse events (AE), most frequently neutropenia (n = 4) and anemia (n = 4). Immune-related grade 3/4 AEs included Guillain-Barre syndrome (n = 1), colitis (n = 2), and hyperglycemia (n = 2). Of the 50 evaluable patients for PD-L1, 31 (62%) were PD-L1 positive. pCR rates were 55% (95% CI: 0.38-0.71) and 32% (95% CI: 0.12-0.56) in the PD-L1 positive and negative groups (p = 0.15), respectively. sTIL counts were available on 52 patients and were significantly higher in the pCR group (p = 0.0167). Concomitant administration of durvalumab with sequential weekly nab-paclitaxel and ddAC neoadjuvant chemotherapy resulted in a pCR rate of 44%; pCR rates were higher in sTIL-high cancers.

Importance: The expansion of Medicaid sought to fill gaps in insurance coverage among low-income Americans. Although coverage has improved, little is known about the relationship between Medicaid expansion and breast cancer stage at diagnosis., Objective: To review the association of Medicaid expansion with breast cancer stage at diagnosis and the disparities associated with insurance status, age, and race/ethnicity., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from the National Cancer Database to characterize the relationship between breast cancer stage and race/ethnicity, age, and insurance status. Data from 2007 to 2016 were obtained, and breast cancer stage trends were assessed. Additionally, preexpansion years (2012-2013) were compared with postexpansion years (2015-2016) to assess Medicaid expansion in 2014. Data were analyzed from August 12, 2019, to January 19, 2020. The cohort included a total of 1 796 902 patients with primary breast cancer who had private insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid or were uninsured across 45 states., Main Outcomes and Measures: Percent change of uninsured patients with breast cancer and stage at diagnosis, stratified by insurance status, race/ethnicity, age, and state., Results: This study included a total of 1 796 902 women. Between 2012 and 2016, 71 235 (4.0%) were uninsured or had Medicaid. Among all races/ethnicities, in expansion states, there was a reduction in uninsured patients from 22.6% (4771 of 21 127) to 13.5% (2999 of 22 150) (P < .001), and in nonexpansion states, there was a reduction from 36.5% (5431 of 14 870) to 35.6% (4663 of 13 088) (P = .12). Across all races, there was a reduction in advanced-stage disease from 21.8% (4603 of 21 127) to 19.3% (4280 of 22 150) (P < .001) in expansion states compared with 24.2% (3604 of 14 870) to 23.5% (3072 of 13 088) (P = .14) in nonexpansion states. In African American patients, incidence of advanced disease decreased from 24.6% (1017 of 4136) to 21.6% (920 of 4259) (P < .001) in expansion states and remained at approximately 27% (27.4% [1220 of 4453] to 27.5% [1078 of 3924]; P = .94) in nonexpansion states. Further analysis suggested that the improvement was associated with a reduction in stage 3 diagnoses., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, expansion of Medicaid was associated with a reduced number of uninsured patients and a reduced incidence of advanced-stage breast cancer. African American patients and patients younger than 50 years experienced particular benefit. These data suggest that increasing access to health care resources may alter the distribution of breast cancer stage at diagnosis.

Background: Communication between patients and health providers influences patient satisfaction, but it is unknown whether similarity in communication styles results in higher patient satisfaction., Methods: This study was conducted in the Smilow Cancer Hospital Breast Center. During routine follow-up visits, patients completed a Communication Styles Assessment (CSA), health survey (SF-12), Princess Margaret Hospital Satisfaction with Doctor Questionnaire, and brief demographic form. Physicians and Advanced Practice Providers were also asked to complete the CSA. Patients and providers were blinded to each other's responses. A communication styles concordance score was calculated as the Pearson correlation between 80 binary CSA items for each provider/patient pair. Factors affecting patient satisfaction scores were assessed in mixed-effects models., Results: In total, 330 patients were invited to participate; of these 289 enrolled and 245 returned surveys. One hundred seventy-four completed all survey components, and 18 providers completed the CSA. Among the factors considered, physical health score (effect size = 0.0058, 95% CI 0.00051 to 0.0011, p = 0.032) and employment status (0.12, 95% CI - 0.0094 to 0.25, p = 0.069) had the greatest impact on patient satisfaction. However, patients who were not employed and less physically healthy had significantly elevated satisfaction scores when their communication style was more similar to their provider's (1.52, 95% CI 0.66 to 2.38, p = 0.0016)., Conclusions: Patients who were physically healthy and employed were generally more satisfied with their care. The similarity in communication styles of patients and providers had a greater impact on patient satisfaction for patients who were less physically healthy and not employed.

Purpose: Three-dimensional conformal accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) is a treatment option for well selected women with breast cancer, despite reports of adverse cosmetic outcome with this technique. Dose-volume relationships may be responsible for this poor cosmesis. We aimed to determine the feasibility of limiting the exposure of nontarget breast tissue to radiation through smaller planning target volumes achieved through daily image guidance and 4-dimensional computed tomography simulation., Methods and Materials: Eligibility criteria included the following: women, age ≥50 years, Karnofsky performance status score ≥70, stage 0 and I breast cancer treated with breast-conserving surgery, margins clear by ≥2 mm, pathologic tumor size ≤2 cm, and 4-dimensional computed tomography with planning target volumes of 0.2 cm rather than the standard 1.0 cm. A dose of 3850 cGy was prescribed in 10 fractions. The study was considered successful if ≥50% of enrollees met dosimetric constraints on the breast (V50 < 45% and V100 < 23.5%)., Results: The study achieved its primary endpoint of feasibility of reducing the nontarget breast dose with a breast median of V50 = 31% and V100 = 11%. There were no recurrences and no toxicity grade >3. At baseline, fair/poor cosmesis was low (2.2%). By year 3, adverse cosmesis post-APBI had increased by 13.2% (to 15.4%). Patient decisional satisfaction was reached completely in 84.2% of patients., Conclusions: This study demonstrated that with 4-dimensional simulated APBI that uses stringent dosimetric constraints and image guidance radiation therapy, it is possible to obtain acceptable cosmetic outcomes. We report no locoregional recurrences in 3 years and no toxicity grade >3. The observed decline in cosmesis was acceptable compared with that of prior published studies, and patient satisfaction with APBI was excellent., (Copyright © 2019 American Society for Radiation Oncology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: The purpose of this two-cohort Phase II trial was to estimate the pathologic complete response (pCR: ypT0/is ypN0) rate when trastuzumab plus pertuzumab are administered concurrently during both the taxane and anthracycline phases of paclitaxel and 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC) neoadjuvant chemotherapy., Methods: The pCR rates were assessed separately in hormone receptor (HR) positive and negative cases following Simon's two-stage design, aiming to detect a 20% absolute improvement in pCR rates from 50 to 70 and 70 to 90% in the HR-positive and HR-`negative cohorts, respectively., Results: The HR-negative cohort completed full accrual of 26 patients; pCR rate was 80% (95% CI 60-91%). The HR+ cohort was closed early after 24 patients due to lower than expected pCR rate of 26% (95% CI 13-46%) at interim analysis. Overall, 44% of patients (n = 22/50) experienced grade 3/4 adverse events. The most common were neutropenia (n = 10) and diarrhea (n = 7). There was no symptomatic heart failure, but 28% (n = 14) had ≥ 10% asymptomatic decrease in LVEF; in one patient, LVEF decreased to < 50%. Cardiac functions returned to baseline by the next assessment in 57% (8/14) of cases., Conclusions: Eighty percent of HR-negative, HER2-positive breast cancers achieve pCR with paclitaxel/FEC neoadjuvant chemotherapy administered concomitantly with pertuzumab and trastuzumab. These results are similar to pCR rates seen in trials using HER2-targeted therapy during the taxane phase only of sequential taxane-anthracycline regimens and suggest that we have reached a therapeutic plateau with HER2-targeted therapies combined with chemotherapy in the neoadjuvant setting.