ABSTRACT
We study the potential of the commercial mounting medium Slowfade diamond as a buffer for STORM microscopy. We show that although it does not work with the popular far-red dyes typically used for STORM imaging, such as Alexa Fluor 647, it performs really well with a wide variety of green-excited dyes such as Alexa Fluor 532, Alexa Fluor 555 or CF 568. Moreover, imaging can be performed several months after the samples are mounted in this environment and kept in the fridge, providing a convenient way to preserve samples for STORM imaging, as well as to keep calibration samples, for example for metrology or teaching in particular in imaging facilities.
ABSTRACT
AIMS: The authors analyzed the outcome of patients with Isolated Skin Recurrence After Salvage Mastectomy (ISRASM) performed after conservative treatment for breast carcinoma, taking into account initial tumor characteristics, intramammary recurrence (first recurrence) characteristics, local skin recurrence (second recurrence) characteristics, and the type of treatment at each stage of the breast cancer continuum. METHODS: Forty-two patients who had ISRASM between 1976 and 2007 were included in this retrospective study. Twenty-six factors were studied in univariate and multivariate analyses. RESULTS: Mean Overall Survival (OS) was 70.3 (±4.1) months. The 5-year OS rate was 66.6%. 31% of patients did not present any recurrence, 52% had locoregional recurrence and 14% metastatic recurrence following ISRASM. Univariate analysis showed that 4 prognostic factors were significantly related to OS and/or Disease-Free Survival (DFS): (1) initial chemotherapy after primary breast cancer (P = 0.09 and 0.01 respectively), (2) presence of emboli at the site of intramammary recurrence (first recurrence) (P = 0.02 and 0.03), (3) interval between first and second surgery of less than 3 years (P = 0.09 and 0.0003), and (4) inflammatory skin involvement at ISRASM (P = 0.005 and 0.17). Multivariate analysis showed that presence of emboli at the site of intramammary recurrence was significantly related to OS and that an interval between first and second recurrence of less than 3 years was significantly related to DFS. CONCLUSION: Our results show that ISRASM affects a group of breast cancer patients with predominantly local rather than metastatic disease. Prognostic factors depend on characteristics at initial breast cancer, first recurrence and second recurrence. Evidence-based guidelines are still required for ISRASM management.
