Breaking Bad News in Breast Imaging: Keys to Success.

The radiologist's ability to effectively communicate with patients is crucial in breast imaging. Having to tell a patient that she or he requires a biopsy procedure or has a new diagnosis of breast cancer is both a challenging task and a daily reality for many practicing breast radiologists. Despite this, communication in breast imaging is often not formally taught in most training programs, leading many breast radiologists to obtain their skills through on-the-job experience. We discuss the importance of effective communication with patients and a breast imaging-specific method for delivering bad news, adapted from approaches used in medical oncology. A conversation "script" or guide is provided along with the rationale for how to best handle these difficult conversations. Lastly, we review how to teach effective communication to those in training using our breast imaging fellowship program and recent survey results as an example.

Hereditary thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura acquired through liver transplantation: A case report.

A 62-year-old received orthotopic liver transplantation. Three weeks later, thrombotic microangiopathy developed. Testing revealed thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) characterized by low ADAMTS13 (A Disintegrin-like Metallopeptidase with ThromboSpondin type 1 motif 13) activity and no inhibitor of ADAMTS13 protein. Retrospective attainment of donor records revealed a TTP diagnosis, presumably hereditary TTP (hTTP), as an ADAMTS13 protein inhibitor was not mentioned. As the grafted liver does not produce ADAMTS13 protein, the recipient now functionally has hTTP and will likely need plasma transfusions indefinitely. While hTTP is extremely rare, it should be considered a contraindication to liver donation outside of exceptional circumstances. If a potential liver donor has TTP listed on medical history, attempts should be made to determine whether it is autoimmune or hereditary. An accurate medical history is critical as it is the only reliable way to identify hTTP, as outside of acute exacerbations of TTP, donors with hTTP can have normal laboratory values, including normal hemoglobin, platelets, and renal function.

A pilot study of durvalumab and tremelimumab and immunogenomic dynamics in metastatic breast cancer.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors produce modest responses in metastatic breast cancer, however, combination approaches may improve responses. A single arm pilot study was designed to determine the overall response rate (ORR) of durvalumab and tremelimumab, and evaluate immunogenomic dynamics in metastatic endocrine receptor (ER) positive or triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Simon two-stage design indicated at least four responses from the first 18 patients were needed to proceed with the second stage. T-cell receptor (TCR) sequencing and immune-gene expression profiling were conducted at baseline and two months, whole exome sequencing was conducted at baseline. Eighteen evaluable patients were accrued (11 ER-positive; seven TNBC). Only three patients had a response (ORR = 17%), thus the study did not proceed to the second stage. Responses were only observed in patients with TNBC (ORR = 43%). Responders versus non-responders had upregulation of CD8, granzyme A, and perforin 1 gene expression, and higher mutational and neoantigen burden. Patients with TNBC had an oligoclonal shift of the most abundant TCR-beta clonotypes compared to those with ER-positive disease, p = 0.004. We conclude responses are low in unselected metastatic breast cancer, however, higher rates of clinical benefit were observed in TNBC. Immunogenomic dynamics may help identify phenotypes most likely to respond to immunotherapy.