The Impact of Primary Tumor Resection on the Survival of Patients with Stage IV Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: The main treatment for stage IV breast cancer is currently systemic therapy. Surgical resection of the primary tumor is usually done for treating the tumor-related complications. Recent studies have suggested that surgery may improve the long-term survival of stage IV breast cancer patients. We evaluated the impact of the primary surgical resection site on the survival of stage IV breast cancer patients. METHODS: We reviewed the records of the stage IV breast cancer patients who were treated at Seoul University Hospital between April 1992 and December 2007. The tumor and clinical characteristics, the type of treatments and the overall survival were compared between the surgically versus nonsurgically treated patients. RESULTS: Of the 198 identified patients, 110 (55.8%) received surgical excision of their primary tumor and 88 (44.2%) did not. The mean survival was 67 months vs. 42 months for the surgically treated patients vs. the patients without surgery, respectively (p=0.0287). On a multivariate analysis with using the Cox model and after adjusting for the estrogen receptor status, visceral metastases, the number of metastatic sites and trastuzumab treatment, surgery was an independent factor for improved survival (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-0.97; p=0.041). CONCLUSION: Surgical resection of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer patients was independently associated with improved survival. Randomized prospective trials are needed to firmly recommend surgical resection of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer patients.

The Impact of Primary Tumor Resection on the Survival of Patients with Stage IV Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: The main treatment for stage IV breast cancer is currently systemic therapy. Surgical resection of the primary tumor is usually done for treating the tumor-related complications. Recent studies have suggested that surgery may improve the long-term survival of stage IV breast cancer patients. We evaluated the impact of the primary surgical resection site on the survival of stage IV breast cancer patients. METHODS: We reviewed the records of the stage IV breast cancer patients who were treated at Seoul University Hospital between April 1992 and December 2007. The tumor and clinical characteristics, the type of treatments and the overall survival were compared between the surgically versus nonsurgically treated patients. RESULTS: Of the 198 identified patients, 110 (55.8%) received surgical excision of their primary tumor and 88 (44.2%) did not. The mean survival was 67 months vs. 42 months for the surgically treated patients vs. the patients without surgery, respectively (p=0.0287). On a multivariate analysis with using the Cox model and after adjusting for the estrogen receptor status, visceral metastases, the number of metastatic sites and trastuzumab treatment, surgery was an independent factor for improved survival (hazard ratio, 0.55; 95% confidence interval, 0.31-0.97; p=0.041). CONCLUSION: Surgical resection of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer patients was independently associated with improved survival. Randomized prospective trials are needed to firmly recommend surgical resection of the primary tumor in stage IV breast cancer patients.

One-step Nucleic Acid Amplification (OSNA): Intraoperative Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Method for the Detection of Sentinel Lymph Node Metastases in Breast Cancer Patients in Korean Cohort / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has become a standard procedure in breast cancer patient management. Accurate intraoperative assessment of metastasis of SLNs is essential for appropriate selection to avoid unnecessary axillary dissection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) assay for detection of sentinel lymph node metastasis examination in breast cancer patients. METHODS: In this study, we compared intraoperative OSNA to histological investigation with multi-level observation in 284 sentinel lymph nodes of 199 patients. Surgically obtained sentinel lymph nodes were sectioned into 2 mm intervals of up to four pieces, half of which were examined with the OSNA assay. The other half of adjacent pieces were histopathologically examined both intraoperatively and postoperatively. The presence/absence of metastases was judged by observing hematoxylin and eosin staining and cytokeratin (AE1/ AE3) immunohistochemically stained multiple slides from one lymph node. RESULTS: Among 199 patients included, 36 cases were positive on histological examination and 34 cases were positive on OSNA assay. There were 14 discordant cases. The overall concordance with histology was 93.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-0.96), with a sensitivity of 77.8% (95% CI, 0.61-0.90), specificity of 96.3% (95% CI, 0.92-0.99), positive predictive value of 82.4% (95% CI, 0.65-0.93) and negative predictive value of 95.2% (95% CI, 0.91-0.98). The kappa statistic analysis indicated substantial agreement of both methods, with a value of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.64-0.88). The average turnaround time was 39.0 minutes. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the OSNA assay has equivalent accuracy to histopathology in detecting breast cancer metastasis to lymph nodes when each method is assigned two alternate blocks of four blocks sectioned at 2 mm intervals.