Adenopatía axilar metastásica a causa de cáncer primario oculto de mama / Axillary metastatic adenopathy due to hidden breast primary cancer

Se describe el caso clínico de una paciente de 56 años que acudió a la consulta de Oncología del Hospital Gubernamental de Mbabane, en Swazilandia, por padecer una adenopatía en la axila izquierda de varios meses de evolución, confirmada por ecografía. Se realizó una biopsia por aspiración con aguja fina, cuyo resultado reveló la metástasis de un carcinoma ductal. Se completaron los estudios preoperatorios, se determinó el estadio de la entidad clínica (IIA) y se remitió a la paciente a la consulta de Cirugía para realizar una disección axilar y luego aplicar radioterapia en la axila y la mama

The clinical report of a 56 year-old patient who went to the Oncology Service of the Government Hospital from Mbabane, in Swaziland, for suffering an adenopathy in the left armpit with a clinical course of several months, confirmed by echography is described. An aspiration biopsy with fine needle was carried out whose result revealed the metastasis of a ductal carcinoma. The preoperative studies were completed, the stage of the clinical entity was determined (IIA) and the patient was referred to the Surgery service to carry out an axillary dissection and then to apply radiotherapy in the armpit and breast

Assessment of HER2/Neu status by fluorescence in situ hybridization in immunohistochemistry-equivocal cases of invasive ductal carcinoma and aberrant signal patterns: A study at a tertiary cancer center.

Introduction: HER-2/neu status determines the eligibility for targeted therapy with trastuzumab in breast carcinoma. Evaluation for HER-2/neu protein expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has become the gold standard. Aims: Since data on HER-2/neu assessment by IHC and FISH and studies regarding concordance between the results of the two techniques are limited, especially from India, we sought to study HER-2 gene amplification status by FISH in equivocal (2+) cases by IHC and also study aberrant signal patterns. Settings and Design: Mastectomies and breast core biopsies, equivocal for HER-2/neu protein expression, were analyzed for HER-2 amplification by FISH. Materials and Methods: IHC (DAKO) and FISH (PathVysion dual-probe system) tests were performed on 68 of 112 (after exclusion) 10% neutral buffered formalin (NBF)-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues and evaluated according to American Society of Clinical Oncology ASCO guidelines. Statistical Analysis Used: Chi-square (χ2 ) test and the two-tailed P value were applied using Graphpad Quickcels software, version 2006. Results: It was found that 73.5% of the IHC 2+ patients were negative for HER-2/neu amplification, 25% were positive (ratios ranging from 2.3 to 5.6) and 1 patient was equivocal (2.2). Retesting FISH HER-2 equivocal case on another tumor block by IHC demonstrated HER-2 overexpression of protein 3+, thus resolving the equivocal status. Polysomy and HER-2 genetic heterogeneity were seen frequently. Conclusions: The findings reiterate that IHC HER-2 equivocal cases are a heterogenous group and need FISH for further categorization. Low concurrence (25%) rate between both IHC and FISH results in the equivocal scenario can be attributed to tumors with polysomy 17 and HER-2/neu genetic heterogeneity.

Hepatocyte growth factor profile with breast cancer.

Background: The multifunctional hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is the ligand of c-Met receptor; it plays important role in mammary differentiation. HGF-Met signaling is a critical downstream function of c-Src-Stat3 pathway in mammalian tumorigenesis. Aim: Evaluation of tissue c-Met receptor hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR) and serum level of HGF in female breast ductal carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Sixty-eight premenopausal females were divided as 30 control females subdivided into: [Group 1] 15 healthy volunteer females and [Group 2] five with fibrocystic disease and 10 having fibroadenoma of the breast and patients group [Group 3] consisted of 38 female patients with breast ductal carcinoma. Thorough clinical examination, preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology, estimation of fasting serum glucose, urea, creatinine, and uric acid levels, alanine aminotransferase activities, C-reactive protein, HGF level, before surgery and histopathological examination of the breast masses, and immunohistochemical detection of HGFR were done. Results and Conclusions: Significant increase in serum HGF levels were found in patients with breast cancer as compared with controls. Significant increase was also seen in patients with breast cancer with and without lymph node metastasis when each subgroup was compared with controls. Serum level of HGF is an independent prognostic indicator of breast cancer. Fibrocystic disease of the breast showed weak HGFR expression, while in normal tissue, HGFR was scanty; meanwhile, breast invasive ductal carcinoma showed homogenous strong reaction to HGFR. HGF is only one of a number of key factors involved in breast cancer and preoperative high serum HGF levels and malignancy occur usually together.

Clinicopathological Characteristics of Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast in Korea: Comparison with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma-Not Otherwise Specified

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic factors of mucinous carcinoma (MC) were compared with invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified (IDC-NOS). Clinicopathological characteristics and survivals of 104 MC patients were retrospectively reviewed and compared with those of 3,936 IDC-NOS. The median age at diagnosis was 45 yr in MC and 47 yr in IDC-NOS, respectively. The sensitivity of mammography and sonography for pure MC were 76.5% and 94.7%, respectively. MC showed favorable characteristics including less involvement of lymph node, lower stage, more expression of estrogen receptors, less HER-2 overexpression and differentiated grade, and better 10-yr disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (86.1% and 86.3%, respectively) than IDC-NOS (74.7% and 74.9%, respectively). Ten-year DFS of pure and mixed type was 90.2% and 68.8%, respectively. Nodal status and stage were statistically significant factors for survival. MC in Koreans showed similar features to Western populations except for a younger age of onset than in IDC-NOS. Since only pure MC showed better prognosis than IDC-NOS, it is important to differentiate mixed MC from pure MC. Middle-aged Korean women presenting breast symptoms should be examined carefully and evaluated with an appropriate diagnostic work-up because some patients present radiologically benign-like lesions.

Expression of basal and luminal cytokeratins in breast cancer and their correlation with clinicopathological prognostic variables.

Background : Normal breast ducts contain at least 3 types of epithelial cells: luminal (glandular) cells, basal/myoepithelial cells and stem cells. Myoepithelial and luminal epithelia can be distinguished by their different cytokeratin expression patterns. The aim of this study is to evaluate the expression of some prognostic biomarkers (ER, PR and HER2), as well as histological grading and lymph node status in cytokeratin-based groups of breast cancer. Objective: To evaluate the correlation between expression of basal and luminal markers and hormonal receptors, HER2/neu, age, grade and lymph node status in breast-invasive ductal carcinoma. Materials and Methods : Sixty-seven formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded breast cancer specimens (of invasive ductal carcinoma, 'NOS' type) which had already been studied for ER, PR and HER2/neu were selected. Data concerning age, tumor grade and lymph node status were also obtained from archives. Expression of basal (CK5/6) and luminal (CK7) cytokeratins was detected by immunohistochemistry. Stained sections were classified according to the intensity of staining and the percentage of stained cells. Results : We categorized the cases into 3 distinct phenotype groups: pure luminal, basal phenotype and null. Pure basal, mixed basal and luminal groups were classified as expressing a basal phenotype. There was a significant difference in the ER and/or PR expression between those 3 groups and a significant association between ER and/or PR negativity and basal phenotype expression. There was no significant difference in HER2/neu expression, age of the patients, tumor grade and lymph node status between the 3 cytokeratin-based groups and no significant association between lymph node status and basal phenotype expression. Conclusion : We found that to gain a real association between basal phenotype and prognostic markers, we should use a cocktail or a panel of different biomarkers to correctly determine basal-like phenotype of breast cancers. This approach guarantees more concordance with gene expression-based studies.

Cáncer de mama masculino: un diagnóstico a considerar / Masculine bancer of breast: a diagnosis to consider

Introducción: El CMM constituye sólo el 1% de todas las neoplasias malignas mamarias. Su incidencia ha aumentado en un 0.86 a 1.86 casos por cada 100.000 habitantes en los últimos 20 años. Comparado con el cáncer mamario en la mujer, el CMM ha evolucionado con un incremento del 26%. En los estadios más precoces, la supervivencia es superior al 50%, reduciéndose al 10% cuando se diagnostica en estadio metastásico. Globalmente, más del 65% de los pacientes fueron diagnosticados en los estadios 3 y 4 de la enfermedad. La incidencia acumulada es mayor que la del carcinoma peneano, el seminoma y otras patologías que podrían pensarse como propias del varón. Materiales y métodos: Durante el período 2004/2005, fueron evaluados en dos centros de diagnóstico de la ciudad de Buenos Aires 41 pacientes de sexo masculino por patologías mamarias de diversas etiologías, hallándose 4 casos de cáncer mamario masculino (CMM). Como métodos diagnósticos se utilizaron la ecografía mamaria y la mamografía bilateral con proyección axilar, empleándose tomografía computada y centellografía ósea para la evaluación de metástasis a distancia. Resultados: En los 4 casos de CMM, los hallazgos histológicos correspondieron a carcinoma intraductal invasivo. Conclusión: Esta revisión intenta resumir la evidencia actual sobre factores genéticos y epidemiológicos de riesgo, examina el estado del arte sobre la biología del tumor, las variables que predicen su comportamiento y analiza los resultados obtenidos con los métodos de diagnóstico disponibles y su correlación histopatológica.

Comparative evaluation of grading of breast carcinomas in fine needle aspirates by two methods.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Fine needle aspiration (FNA) material is increasingly being used to determine various prognostic parameters in patients with carcinoma breast. It was recommended that cytological grading should be part of all FNA reports of breast carcinoma so that preoperative prognostication could be done on it. However, the most reliable method for cytological grading that closely reflects the most widely used histological grading system is yet to be determined. This study was undertaken to compare results of two cytological grading methods to see which corresponded better to the histological grade. METHODS: In a double-blind study, cytological grading of 52 patients with breast carcinoma was carried out using two different grading systems (Robinson's and Mouriquand's methods) and the grades compared with the histological grading to find out which reflected histological grades more closely. RESULTS: By Robinson's method 28.8, 46.2 and 25 per cent aspirates were graded as I, II and III respectively. Using Mouriquand's grading 9.6, 69.2 and 21.2 per cent aspirates were graded correspondingly. Comparison of the two methods showed a concordance in 40 (76.9%) cases. Both cytological grading systems showed a concordance of 71.2 per cent with the histological grading. Robinson's cytological grading showed a diagnostic accuracy of 80.76 per cent with 77.77 per cent specificity while Mouriquand's method had an accuracy of 84.60 per cent with 33.33 per cent specificity. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Though the Robinson's and Mouriquand's grading systems were found to have similar concordance with histological grading, Robinson's method was considered better because of its simplicity, and specificity.