Need for Staging Investigations in Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer: Establishing Local Guidelines for Radiological Staging in Bahrain.

Objective: Staging workup and detection of distant metastases is important in newly diagnosed breast cancer in order to make treatment decisions and establish the prognosis. There is wide variation in current recommendations for staging investigations in breast cancer. Routine staging is performed for all patients in Bahrain because of lack of consistent guidelines. Optimization of the criteria for staging is important for identification of metastases, while minimizing harm and costs. The aim of this study was to evaluate factors associated with distant metastases in newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer, in order to establish local guidelines for proper selection of patients for systemic staging. Materials and Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer at Salmaniya Medical Complex in Bahrain who underwent staging investigations between January 2016 and December 2022 were identified from a pathology database. Patients with previous history of cancer, synchronous tumors, bilateral breast cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ were excluded. Clinical, radiological and pathological data were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 593 patients underwent staging computed tomography and bone scans or a PET scan. Distant metastases were identified in 20.7% of cases. M1 disease was significantly associated with multifocality/multicentricity, high grade tumors, hormone receptor-negative cancers, high Ki67 index, advanced tumor stage, node-positive disease, triple-negative breast cancer, use of PET scans and those who underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Age was not associated with identification of distant metastases. Conclusion: The prevalence of distant metastases in this population of newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer was higher than previously reported. Routine staging of all patients at presentation was not indicated, especially for asymptomatic patients with early breast cancer. This study identified certain groups of patients with a higher risk of distant metastasis, in whom metastatic workup should be performed. These findings may allow for the development of a local guideline that addresses the question of which breast cancer patients need staging investigations for distant metastases.

Risk Factors Associated With Sentinel Lymph Node Metastasis in Clinically Node-Negative Breast Cancer.

Objective: Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of care for axillary staging in clinically node negative breast cancer. If predictive factors for sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastasis could be identified, it would allow selection of candidates for SLNB and omit axillary surgery in those with the lowest risk of axillary lymph node involvement. The aim of this study was to determine risk factors associated with SLN metastasis in breast cancer patients in Bahrain. Materials and Methods: Patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer who underwent SLNB at a single institution between 2016 and 2022 were identified from the pathology database. Patients who had failure of localization of SLN, those with bilateral cancers and those treated for a local recurrence were excluded. Results: A total of 160 breast cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed. Of these, 64.4% had a negative SLNB and 21.9% of all cases underwent axillary dissection. The following parameters emerged as predictors of SLN metastasis in univariate analysis: age; tumour grade; ER status; presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and tumor size. On multivariate analysis, age was not independently associated with the incidence of SLN metastasis. Conclusion: This study showed that high tumour grades, presence of LVI and large tumour size were all risk factors related to axillary metastasis after SLNB in breast cancer. In the elderly, the incidence of SLN metastasis appeared to be relatively low, providing an opportunity to de-escalate axillary surgery in these patients. These findings may allow for the development of a nomogram to estimate the risk of SLN metastasis.

Contralateral axillary metastasis: a diagnostic and therapeutic clinical dilemma.

We report a 61-year-old woman with primary right breast cancer and metastatic lymphadenopathy in the contralateral axilla. This case represents a clinical dilemma because primary breast cancer, occult contralateral breast cancer and extra-mammary primary lesion can all be the source of the contralateral axillary metastasis. The patient underwent bilateral modified radical mastectomy. Immunohistochemistry revealed that the right breast was positive for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR), but negative for human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). In contrast, the right and left axillary lymph nodes were positive for ER, but negative for PR and HER2. There was no evidence of occult primary cancers or extra-mammary tumours.

Ileo-caecal intussusception secondary to lipoma in an adult: A rare cause for intestinal obstruction.

Intussusception in adults is a rare condition. Unlike in children, it is often associated with a pathologic lesion that serves as a lead point. We report an unusual case of ileo-caecal intussusception due to lipoma. A 51-year-old male presented with symptoms and signs of intestinal obstruction. CT scan revealed bowel obstruction, resulting from ileo-caecal intussusception with the lead point being a lipoma of the terminal ileum. Ileocaecal resection with primary anastamosis was performed with histology confirming lipoma. Intussusception is not a common cause for intestinal obstruction in adults and is best diagnosed with CT scan. Surgical resection remains the definitive treatment in adult intussusception.

Synchronous breast and colon cancer: the importance of multidisciplinary team cancer meetings.

A 58-year-old female patient presented with left breast lump. Mammography and ultrasonography were performed, which reported lesions suspicious of malignancy in the left breast and axilla. Core biopsy of the lesions revealed invasive ductal carcinoma with axillary lymph node metastasis. Staging CT scan (thorax, abdomen and pelvis) identified a coexisting neoplasm in the ascending colon. Colonoscopy was performed and the tumour in the ascending colon was biopsied. Histopathological examination revealed adenocarcinoma. In the multidisciplinary team cancer meeting, it was decided to treat the breast cancer first and then the colon cancer, followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. In the first operation, left modified radical mastectomy was performed. Two weeks after her initial operation, the patient underwent laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. Postoperatively, the patient did not develop any complications and was referred to oncology for chemotherapy.

Surgical treatment of granulomatous mastitis: Our experience in Bahrain.

Granulomatous mastitis (GM) is a rare, benign inflammatory disease of the breast with unknown etiology. There is no universally accepted treatment for GM. The aim of this study was to show our experience with surgical treatment of GM. A retrospective review was performed for 29 cases that were surgically treated at Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) in Bahrain between 2010 and 2017. All patients underwent surgical excision with debridement and removal of retroareolar ductal system. None of these patients experienced recurrence in the follow-up period. Complete surgical excision of the whole inflammatory mass is the treatment of choice.

Male occult triple-negative breast cancer.

Male breast cancer is a rare but important condition accounting for only 1% of breast cancer worldwide and less than 1% of all male malignancies. Occult male breast cancer is an extremely rare type of male breast cancer that manifests as axillary metastases without an identifiable breast lesion. We report a case of triple-negative occult male breast cancer who underwent modified radical mastectomy.

Transverse colon volvulus in a patient with sickle cell disease.

Although colonic volvulus is a relatively rare cause of large bowel obstruction, accounting for up to 5% of all cases of intestinal obstruction, transverse colon volvulus is extremely uncommon compared with volvulus of the sigmoid colon or caecum and is responsible for only 3% of all reported cases. We report an unusual case of spontaneous volvulus of the transverse colon in a young man with sickle cell disease who underwent resection with primary anastamosis. Having a high index of suspicion and early operative intervention allowed for this patient to have an uneventful postoperative course.