Occult breast cancer: a case report and current management of treatment.

Occult breast cancer is a very rare type of cancer which presents with axillary lymphadenopathy with no visible mass in the breast. Advances in imaging methods (MRI, PET/CT, PET/MRI, etc.) have enabled the detection of a large number of lesions which are not visible using basic imaging methods, such as mammography and ultrasound. To date, optimal management of this type of cancer is lacking. Generally, treatment of occult breast cancer is that of primary breast cancer with axillary lymph node involvement. This includes neoadjuvant oncological therapy, axillary dissection with adjuvant radiation therapy and either mastectomy or radiation to the breast. However, several recent studies have shown that similar results may be achieved with less radical treatment. The paper describes the case of a 62-year-old patient with occult breast cancer, the procedure and results of imaging assessments, and subsequently the treatment management. Furthermore, the paper reports on current treatment trends published in the literature.

Role of the radiologist during neoadjuvant systemic therapy for breast cancer.

INTRODUCTION: Neoadjuvant therapy (NT) is one of the possible oncological treatment strategies for breast cancer. Its aim is to achieve down-staging of the tumour in the breast and axilla and thus the possibility of converting mastectomy to a breast-conserving procedure, and also to allow for a less burdensome and more targeted operation of the axillary lymph nodes. The role of the radiologist is to utilise imaging procedures for precise local staging of the malignancy prior to NT, to evaluate the effect of treatment during its course and upon its completion, and to perform restaging of the cancer in the breast and axilla. CASE REPORTS: The authors present three case reports of female patients with breast cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT). They describe the diagnostic procedure and imaging methods used to establish local staging of the cancer prior to treatment, to monitor the disease during the course of treatment, and to perform restaging of the cancer after completing NCT. The radiological response after NCT completion was correlated with the pathological response. CONCLUSION: Correct determination of the extent of the cancer in the breast and axilla by the radiologist before NT and precise histological analysis of the tumour by the pathologist are fundamental for selecting the appropriate treatment for patients at the multidisciplinary breast tumour board.

Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma Without Evidence of a Primary Renal Tumour Mimicking Advanced Stage of Malignant Lung Tumour.

BACKGROUND: Clear cell renal carcinoma (ccRC) accounts for 65-70% of renal carcinomas with peak occurrence at the 6th and 7th age decade, predominantly in males. At the time of diagnosis, especially pulmonary metastases can be found in one-third of patients. There have also been described as late metastases for several decades after nephrectomy. In our case report, clinical course indicated primary lung tumour. Histological differential diagnosis included malignant pleural mesothelioma, lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma with clear cell differentiation or primary clear cell adenocarcinoma of the lung. However, using immunohistochemistry, all these possible diagnoses were excluded. CASE REPORT: We present a case of 62-year old man with 3 months history of progressive dyspnea accompanied with a cough and recurrent pleural effusions. PET/CT scan revealed metastatic tumour spread with right-sided pleural thickening, multiple pulmonary tumour foci, mediastinal, cervical, abdominal para-aortic and pelvic lymph node involvement and skeletal metastasis. The patient died one day after administration of palliative chemotherapy. The autopsy showed the majority of changes in the right hemithorax, was caused by a diffuse yellowish, extremely tough tumour infiltrating parietal and visceral pleura with adhesions and obliteration of truncus pulmonalis. In left lung and both renal cortices we could see scant nodules, mimicking primary lung tumour metastasis. In close proximity to the left renal hilum we found unusual homogeneous white round to oval tissue of 80 × 86 × 72mm in diameter, with identical histological pattern. Extensive immunohistochemical profile (positivity of CK18, PAX8, vimentin, androgen receptor, napsin A; negativity of mesothelial markers, TTF-1, CK7, CK20, CDX-2, CD10, PSA, CK34B12 and PAS-D) was compatible with metastatic ccRC. CONCLUSION: We present an extremely rare case of morphologically verified metastatic ccRC without evidence of primary lesion in the kidneys. There is speculated the possibility of spontaneous regression of primary tumour. In our case, however, we cannot exclude the possibility of generalized primary tumour of ectopic kidney. This hypothesis is based on the finding of isolated tumour mass adjacent to left renal hilum.

Low-volume metastatic nodal disease in endometrial cancer.

AIM: To review contemporary knowledge of the low volume metastatic disease in patients with endometrial cancer. TYPE OF STUDY: A literatue review. SETTINGS: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University Hospital Olomouc; Department of Clinical and Molecular Pathology, University Hospital Olomouc. INTRODUCTION: The presence of micrometastases or isolated tumor cells in the sentinel node detected by ultrastaging leads to the change of tumor stage. Low volume lymph node involvement represents up to 30% of the affected lymph nodes in patients with endometrial cancer. The enhanced sentinel lymph node investigation aims to more accurately determine the extent of illness from stage I to stage IIIC. Particularly important is the detection of low-volume metastatic nodal involvement in low-risk tumors, because compared with macrometastases, micrometastases may occure earlier in tumours with lower carcinologic aggressiveness. CONCLUSION: Detection of low volume metastatic disease decrease the false negativity of nodal involvement and is helpful for adjuvant treatment planning.

MicroRNAs in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a molecular subtype of breast cancer with one of the worst prognoses. Current treatment is based on chemo- and/or radiotherapy and surgery. New targets, however, offering other therapeutic approaches, have been identified. These involve poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), androgen receptor (AR), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and microRNAs (miRs). The latter are non-coding RNAs which control the expression of more than 50% of human genes via regulation of basic cellular processes at post-transcriptional level and dysregulation of miRs is found in many types of tumors. The role of dysregulated miRs in carcinogenesis lies in their acting as tumor suppressors or oncogenes, and in resistance to treatment (chemotherapy, hormonal and targeted therapy or radiotherapy). Circulating miRs are also promising prognostic and predictive biomarkers in patients with breast cancer. The aim of this review is to analyze recently published data on miRs and therapeutic targets potentially influenced by miRs in TNBC.