Articoli pubblicati

Locoregional Surgery in Metastatic Breast Cancer: Do Concomitant Metabolic Aspects Have a Role on the Management and Prognosis in this Setting?

Abstract: Although they cannot be considered curative, the new therapeutic integrated advances in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) have substantially improved patient outcomes. Traditionally, surgery was confined to palliation of symptomatic or ulcerating lumps. Data suggest, in some cases, a possible additive role for more aggressive locoregional surgical therapy in combination with systemic treatments in the metastatic setting, although a low level of evidence has been shown in terms of improvement in overall survival in MBC patients treated with surgery and medical treatment compared to medical treatment alone. In this light, tumor heterogeneity remains a challenge. To effectively reshape the therapeutic approach to MBC, careful consideration of who is a good candidate for locoregional resection is paramount. The patient’s global health condition, impacting on cancer progression and morbidity and their associated molecular targets, have to be considered in treatment decision-making. In particular, more recently, research has been focused on the role of metabolic derangements, including the presence of metabolic syndrome, which represent well-known conditions related to breast cancer recurrence and distant metastasis and are, therefore, involved in the prognosis. In the present article, we focus on locoregional surgical strategies in MBC and whether concomitant metabolic derangements may have a role in prognosis.

Retrospective Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Synthetic Glue and a Fibrin-Based Sealant for the Prevention of Seroma Following Axillary Dissection in Breast Cancer Patients

Introduction: Seroma formation represents one of the most frequent postoperative complications of axillary dissection in breast cancer (BC) patients. We aimed to retrospectively explore the effectiveness of the intraoperative use of a synthetic cyanoacrylate glue (specifically Glubran®2) vs. the intraoperative use of a fibrin sealant (specifically Tisseel) in reducing seroma formation compared to the use of nonsealant in BC patients who underwent breast surgery and axillary dissection.

Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective, monocentric observational study on BC patients who underwent axillary dissection associated with breast surgery. The axillary dissection was completed with the application of a closed suction drain and was preceded by the application of either Glubran®2 glue or Tisseel sealant or nonsealant. We analyzed the quantity of serum drained in the first 3 postoperative days, length of hospitalization, days of permanence of axillary drain, seroma development, and presence of postoperative infection signs.

Results: Forty-one BC patients were considered. Based on the device used during the surgical treatment, the patients were divided into three groups: group A (17 patients), to whom suction axillary drain was applied; group B (7 patients), to whom Tisseel and axillary suction drain were applied; and group C (17 patients), to whom Glubran®2 and axillary suction drain were applied. Among the three groups, we did not find significant differences in terms of amount of serum drained in the first 3 postoperative days, length of hospitalization, and incidence of seroma. Group C maintained the axillary drain in a significantly lower number of days compared to the other two groups (p = 0.02); it also had a lower incidence of postoperative infections (6%) compared to group A (23%) and group B (57%) (p = 0.02).

Conclusions: We did not find any evidence that the use of surgical glues may reduce the formation of seroma following axillary dissection in BC patients. Nevertheless, the use of cyanoacrylate glue in association with closed suction axillary drain seems to contribute to the reduction in days of axillary drain permanence and of postoperative infections, which are known factors delaying the schedule of any adjuvant oncological therapies.

Evolution and Time Trends of Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy: A Single-Center Experience

Abstract:

Nipple Sparing Mastectomy (NSM) requires the entire breast tissue to be removed, maintaining the nipple-areola complex, and represents nowadays the gold standard of the demolitive breast surgery. Although it represents the evolution of conservative breast surgery, NSM presents some limitations in the selection of women candidates for treatment, and still there are no real guidelines regarding its indications, but simply objective data to address the choice. How the breast surgery approach to demolitive and conservative surgery has changed over time? We evaluated throughout the years (from 2009 up to 2018) the time trend of NSM at our institution and analysed the main differences between patients undergone NSM and other mastectomies and/or breast conserving surgery in terms of cancer size, multicentricity and biological profile. We found 781 NSMs, 1261 other mastectomies and 5621 breast conservative surgeries. Among NSMs, 39.6% were reconstructed with tissue expander and 58.1% with definitive prosthesis. From 2009 to 2018 we found a general increase of NSM rate (from 21.3% of all mastectomies in 2009 to 67.3% in 2018) and a decrease of total mastectomies (from 78.7% of all mastectomies in 2009 to 32.7% in 2018). In line with the literature data, our data confirm that in the recent years NSM represents the gold standard for radical breast surgery. Undisputed in prophylaxis, NSM is continuously acquiring more support in being used as first line treatment for locally advanced disease.

Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Neuroendocrine Tumor of the Breast: Report of Six Cases and Systematic Review of Existing Literature

Introduction: Neuroendocrine neoplasm of the breast (bNENs) are considered a rare disease, even if in WHO data they represent about 2-5 % of all breast cancer. The last WHO classification includes: well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor (bNET), neuroendocrine carcinoma (NEC) and invasive carcinoma with neuroendocrine differentiation. The current knowledge on clinical management of bNENs is poor and patients are usually treated according to non-endocrine tumor components guidelines.

Materials and Methods: We presented our experience of six cases of bNENs. Moreover, we conducted a systematic review of published data on diagnosis, treatment and outcome of this kind of tumors.

Results: bNENS usually presented as palpable breast masses, classically appearing as irregular hypoechoic lesions at US examination and as hyperdense masses at mammography. Usually pre-operative tumor biopsy is not able to recognize the neuroendocrine components and the final diagnosis is performed only on definitive histopathological assessment. The most frequent subtype seems to be neuroendocrine carcinoma and synaptophysin is positive in most specimens. Treatment strategies, including surgical treatment, radiotherapy and medical treatment are nowadays based on current non-endocrine breast cancer guidelines, independently from neuroendocrine components, even if some studies have proposed the use of somatostatin analogues for bNET and cisplatin-etoposide for NEC. Prognosis of all bNENs, especially of poorly differentiated neoplasia, seems worse compared to non-neuroendocrine breast cancer and stage and morphology seem the best predictor of tumor outcome.

Conclusions: We provide an algorithm for clinical management of bNETs, basing on available data. More studies are necessary for confirming the best treatment strategy for these patients, in order to improve clinical outcome.

Mucinous breast cancer: A narrative review of the literature and a retrospective tertiary single-centre analysis

Mucinous carcinoma (MC) is a rare breast cancer characterized by the presence of large extracellular mucin amount. Two main subtypes can be distinguished: pure (PMC) and mixed (MMC).

We conducted a retrospective MC analysis in our prospective maintained database, calculating disease-free survival (DFS) and 5-year overall survival (OS). We found a global 92.1% OS (higher in MMC group and statistically significative) and a DFS of 95.3% (higher in MMC group but not statistically significative).

Breast Cancer and Multiple Primary Malignant Tumors: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Multiple primary malignant neoplasms are multiple tumors with different pathogenetic origin. They may be synchronous or metachronous. The management of these conditions represents an interesting clinical scenario. A crucial aspect is the decision regarding which tumor to treat initially, and how to schedule further treatments according to individual tumor risk. This process involves a multidisciplinary physician team to ensure favorable outcomes. We describe a case report of a female patient affected by primary synchronous tumors of the breast and pectoral skin, which raised a series of diagnostic, etiological and therapeutic issues persuading us to carry out a critical review of the literature.

Breast cancer subtypes affect the nodal response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer: Are we ready to endorse axillary conservation?

We evaluated the impact of breast cancer subtypes on pathologic complete response (pCR) in 181 patients with positive nodes undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). After NAC, patients underwent surgery, with sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) or axillary dissection (ALND). In 28.2% of cases a pCR was achieved, with the highest rate in Her2+ and triple negative tumors. Overall, nodal pCR was more frequent than breast pCR (P = 0.003) with higher percentages in Her2+ and LLB‐Her2+ (P < 0.05). In the Her2+ group, nodal pCR was observed only with breast pCR. Thus, in Her2+ tumors, breast pCR predicts node pCR, supporting the use of SLNB in this subgroup to stage the axilla avoiding ALND.