Oncoplastic surgery in breast conservation: a prospective evaluation of the patients, techniques, and oncologic outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The oncologic efficacy of breast-conserving therapies has been established in recent decades. Oncoplastic breast surgery (OBS), as a leap forward in breast conservation, offers concomitant techniques of oncologic and plastic surgeries that grant better esthetic results. The outcomes of our oncoplastic surgeries from 2007 to 2012 are reported. METHODS: A series of 258 cases with breast masses (18 benign and 240 carcinomas) were operated on by OBS techniques and prospectively followed. Neoadjuvant and adjuvant oncologic treatments were also delivered as indicated. RESULTS: Free margins were obtained in 95% of cancer patients. During the 26 months of follow-up, local recurrence happened in 7 (2.9%) patients, of which 1 underwent oncologic therapies and 6 underwent completion mastectomy. Complications postponed adjuvant therapies in 3 (1.2%) patients. Postsurgically, metastases were diagnosed in 8 (3.3%) patients. Two patients (.8%) died of cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Outcomes of OBS are oncologically acceptable with low frequencies of positive margins and recurrence, while cosmetic results are much improved by OBS.

Effects of obesity on presentation of breast cancer, lymph node metastasis and patient survival: a retrospective review.

BACKGROUND: As data on the relation between obesity and lymph node ratio are missing in the literature, we here aimed to assess the impact of obesity on this parameter and other clinicopathological features of breast cancer cases and patient survival. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical data of 646 patients, all referred to two centers in Tehran, Iran, were reviewed. Factors that showed significant association on univariate analysis were entered in a regression model. Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression were employed for survival analysis. RESULTS: Obesity was correlated with the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptor (p=0.004 and p=0.039, respectively), metastasis to axillary lymph nodes (p=0.017), higher lymph node rate (p<0.001) and larger tumor size (p<0.001). The effect of obesity was stronger in premenopausal women. There was no association between obesity and expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor. Three factors showed independent association with BMI on multivariate analysis; tumor size, estrogen receptor and lymph node ratio. Obesity was predictive of shorter disease-free survival with a hazard ratio of 3.324 (95%CI: 1.225-9.017) after controlling for the above-mentioned variables. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study support the idea that obese women experience more advanced disease with higher axillary lymph node ratio, and therefore higher stage at the time of diagnosis. Furthermore, obesity was associated with poorer survival independent of lymph node rate.