Survival Outcomes of Patients With Breast Cancer Diagnosed Using Vacuum-Assisted Biopsy:A Nationwide Study From the Korean Breast Cancer Society / 한국유방암학회지

Purpose@#Breast cancer is mainly diagnosed using core needle biopsy (CNB), although other biopsy methods, including vacuum-assisted biopsy (VAB), may also be used. We compared differences in clinical characteristics and prognoses of patients with breast cancer according to biopsy methods used for diagnosis. @*Methods@#A total of 98,457 patients who underwent various biopsy methods (CNB, fine-needle aspiration [FNA], VAB, and excisional biopsy) for diagnosing breast cancer were recruited. Using CNB as a reference, related clinicopathological factors and prognostic differences between biopsy methods were analyzed retrospectively using large-scale data from the Korean Breast Cancer Society Registration System. The associations between biopsy methods and clinicopathological factors were compared using multinomial logistic regression analysis, and the prognoses of patients undergoing the different biopsy methods, as breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS), were compared using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard model. @*Results@#Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that unlike FNA, both VAB and excisional biopsy were significantly associated with tumor size, palpability, tumor stage, and histologic grade as relatively good prognostic factors compared to CNB. In particular, VAB showed lower odds ratios for these factors than excisional biopsy. In the univariate analysis, the prognosis of patients undergoing VAB was better than that of those undergoing CNB with respect to BCSS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.188, p < 0.001) and OS (HR, 0.359; p < 0.001). However, in the multivariate analysis, there were no significant prognostic differences from CNB in both BCSS and OS; differences were only evident for FNA. @*Conclusion@#In this study, we showed that the characteristics of breast cancer differed according to various biopsy methods. Although VAB is not a standard method for breast cancer diagnosis, it showed no prognostic differences to CNB.

Invasive Breast Cancer Presenting as a Mass Replaced by Calcification on Mammography: A Report of Two Cases

A distinct calcification pattern is one of the criteria for determining the malignancy of breast cancer according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. A mass almost entirely replaced by calcification, however, is difficult to categorize and likely to be misdiagnosed. We present the report of two patients with invasive carcinoma of the breast that presented as a mass replaced by calcification on mammography. In the first case, the mass was confirmed as a mixed carcinoma comprising mucinous and micropapillary carcinoma, and in the second case, the mass was a mucinous carcinoma. Diagnosis of cancer in the latter case was missed as the mass had been assessed as a category 2 typically benign calcification at the first screening mammography 2 years ago. This report merits publication because it shows that a mass replaced by calcification on mammography can be misdiagnosed as a benign finding.

T-Cell Immunoglobulin Mucin 3 Expression on Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes as a Positive Prognosticator in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-containing molecule 3 (TIM-3) is an emerging immune response molecule related to T-cell anergy. There has been tremendous interest in breast cancer targeting immune checkpoint molecules, especially in the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). This study was designed to investigate TIM-3 expression on tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), its relationships with clinicopathological para-meters and expression of programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1)/programmed death receptor ligand 1 (PD-L1), and its prognostic role. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry on tissue microarray blocks produced from 109 samples of invasive ductal carcinoma type TNBC was performed with antibodies toward TIM-3, PD-1, PD-L1 and breast cancer-related molecular markers. Associations between their expression and clinicopathological parameters as well as survival analyses were performed. RESULTS: TIM-3 was expressed in TILs from all 109 TNBCs, consisting of 17 cases ( 51%). High TIM-3 was significantly correlated with younger patients (p=0.0101), high TILs (p=0.0029), high tumor stage (p=0.0018), high PD-1 (p=0.0001) and high PD-L1 (p=0.0019), and tended to be associated with higher histologic grade, absence of extensive in situ components and microcalcification. High TIM-3 expression was significantly associated with a combinational immunophenotype group of high PD-L1 and high PD-1 (p < 0.0001). High TIM-3 demonstrated a significantly better disease-free survival (DFS) (p < 0.0001) and longer overall survival (OS) (p=0.0001), together with high TILs and high PD-1. In univariate survival analysis, high TIM-3 showed reduced relapse risk (p < 0.0001) and longer OS (p=0.0003), together with high PD-1 expression. In multivariate analysis, high TIM-3 was statistically significant in predicting prognosis, showing better DFS (hazard ratio [HR], 0.0994; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.0296–0.3337; p=0.0002) and longer OS (HR, 0.1109; 95% CI, 0.0314–0.3912; p=0.0006). CONCLUSION: In this study, we demonstrate that TIM-3 expression is an independent positive prognostic factor in TNBC, despite its association with poor clinical and pathologic features.

Eribulin Mesylate Combined with Local Treatment for Brain Metastasis from Breast Cancer: Two Case Reports / 한국유방암학회지

The prognosis associated with brain metastasis arising from breast cancer is very poor. Eribulin is a microtubule dynamic inhibitor synthesized from halichondrin B, a natural marine product. In a phase III study (EMBRACE), eribulin improved overall survival in patients with heavily pretreated metastatic breast cancers. However, these studies included few patients with brain metastases. Metastatic brain tumors (MBT) were detected during first-line palliative chemotherapy in a 43-year-old woman with breast cancer metastasis to the lung and mediastinal nodes; the genetic subtype was luminal B-like human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative. Whole brain radiotherapy (WBRT) followed by eribulin treatment continuously decreased the size, and induced regression, of the MBT with systemic disease stability for 12 months. Another 48-year-old woman with metastatic breast cancer (HER2+ subtype) presented with MBT. Following surgical resection of the tumor, eribulin with concurrent WBRT showed regression of the MBT without systemic progression for 18 months.