Does Conservative Surgery for Breast Carcinoma Still Require Axillary Lymph Node Evaluation? A Retrospective Analysis of 1156 Consecutive Women With Early Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: The role of axillary surgery for early breast carcinoma treated with conservative surgery and radiotherapy is currently the subject of considerable investigation. Recent studies have supported the noninferiority of avoiding axillary surgery in terms of overall survival when sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) presents ≤ 2 positive lymph nodes, thus sparing the patients from complications. There are some ongoing studies investigating the possibility of omitting SLNB. Axillary study seems to be sufficiently replaced by SLNB for staging the disease. Axillary surgery maintains a therapeutic role in the presence of > 2 metastatic lymph nodes at SLNB. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of 1156 patients with early breast cancer to estimate the real incidence of patients with T1 tumors presenting > 2 metastatic lymph nodes. RESULTS: Of the 1156 cases, only 106 (9.2%) had > 2 axillary metastatic lymph nodes. More specifically, 38 (4.3%) of 884 T1 cases, and 6 (2.3%) of 257 of T1b cases had > 2 metastatic lymph nodes. CONCLUSION: The advantage of axillary surgery seems to be limited only to a specific subgroup of T1 patients who are undergoing conservative surgery plus radiotherapy. The ongoing studies on avoiding SLNB will likely prove the noninferiority of omitting biopsy because these studies are conducted in the whole population of early breast cancers. It is necessary to identify more accurately the subpopulation of patients who may benefit from axillary surgery.

Breast cancer subtypes can be determinant in the decision making process to avoid surgical axillary staging: A retrospective cohort study.

INTRODUCTION: The need for performing axillary lymph-node dissection in early breast cancer when the sentinel lymph node (SLN) is positive has been questioned in recent years. The purpose of this study was to identify a low-risk subgroup of early breast cancer patients in whom surgical axillary staging could be avoided, and to assess the probability of having a positive lymph-node (LN). METHODS: We evaluated the cohort of 612 consecutive women affected by early breast cancer. We considered age, tumor size, histological grade, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion and cancer subtype (Luminal A, Luminal B HER-2+, Luminal B HER-2-, HER-2+, and Triple Negative) as variables for univariate and multivariate analyses to assess probability of there being a positive SLN o nonsentinel lymph node (NSLN). Chi-square, Fisher's Exact test and Student's t tests were used to investigate the relationship between variables; whereas logit models were used to estimate and quantify the strength of the relationship among some covariates and SLN or the number of metastases. RESULTS: A significant positive effect of vascular invasion and lymphatic invasion (odds ratios are 4 and 6), and a negative effect of TN (odds ratios is 10) were noted. With respect to positive NSLN, size alone has a significant (positive) effect on tumor presence, but focusing on the number of metastases, also age has a (negative) significant effect. CONCLUSION: This work shows correlation between subtypes and the probability of having positive SLN. Patients not expressing vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion and, moreover, a triple-negative tumor subtype may be good candidates for breast conservative surgery without axillary surgical staging.

Localization of sentinel lymph node in breast cancer. A prospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) is the standard of care for staging axillary lymph nodes in women with breast cancer and clinically negative nodes. It is associated with reduced arm morbidity, moderated or severe lymphoedema, and a better quality of life in comparison with standard axillary treatment. Unfortunately, skip metastases makes all minimally invasive approaches, such as axillary sampling, unreliable. The aim of the present clinical prospective study is to evaluate the position of SLN in an important number of cases and establish the real incidence of skip metastases in clinically node-negative patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cohort of 898 female patients with breast carcinoma was considered, from 2001 to 2008. Once SLN was localized, by means of radio-colloid or blue dye staining, and isolated, a biopsy was performed. Only those positive for metastases were submitted to axillary dissection. RESULTS: Only in nine cases a SLN was not isolated. We had 819 cases of first level SLN (group A) and 69 cases of second level SLN (group B). Considering all of 889 cases, SLN was localized in the second level in 69 patients (7.8%); but if we consider metastatic SLN alone (340 cases), it was in the second level in 23 subjects (6.8%). In total, we had a positive second level SLN in 2.3% of cases (23/889). CONCLUSION: Second level SLN could be considered only an anomalous lymphatic axillary drainage and it does not linked to particular histological variants of the primitive tumour. In our study, skip metastases were recognized in only 2.6% of cases, therefore, whenever a SLN is not isolated for any reason, the first level sampling represent a viable operative choice.

[Thyroid carcinoma: from diagnosis to therapy]. / Il carcinoma della tiroide dalla diagnosi alla terapia.

From 1999 to 2007 we performed 104 surgical operations for thyroid malignancies. Over the same period, 312 patients underwent surgery for benign lesions of the thyroid gland. The patients were subdivided on the basis of age bracket and gender and the distribution of cancer and benign nodules was evaluated. Feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonography, scintigraphy and fine needle aspiration cytology were also evaluated. The incidence of thyroid cancer was 25% in all patients. Patients aged < 30 years and > 71 had the highest rate of malignancies: 52% of patients under 30 years of age and 46% over 70 years. Males showed a higher incidence than females. The scintigraphic findings were an area of low uptake in 19 cases (47.5%), an irregular pattern in 12 patients (30%) and a high uptake in 9 cases (22.5%); in 3 of them (7.5%), cancer was in the contralateral lobe and in 2 cases (5%) the dimensions were 8 and 4 mm. Forty-three patients had a single hypoechoic nodule at ultrasonography (41.3%), 3 (3%) were found with hypoechoic nodules containing calcifications and 1 (0.9%) a single anechoic nodule. Fifty-six patients (53.9%) had multiple nodules and 1 (0.9%) was admitted for a latero-cervical lymph node. FNAC revealed 11 cases of fibronectin expression (14.4%): in particular, 3 patients (4%) had cancer in the contralateral lobe and 3 patients (4%) had tumours measuring less than 5 mm. Thyroid surgery is safe and the morbidity rate is about 2%. We observed only one lesion of recurrent nerve (0.5% of patients), temporary recurrent palsy in 2.8% of patients and transient hypocalcaemia in 6.7% of cases.

Surgical treatment of early breast cancer in day surgery.

Quadrantectomy and associated sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is currently employed in most breast surgery centres as the gold standard in the treatment of early breast cancer. This approach has a modest morbidity and can usually be performed in a day-surgery regimen, leading to best acceptance by the patients. This reports outlines the experience of our Breast Unit with quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery for early breast cancer. One hundred patients presenting to our institution with primary invasive breast cancer measuring less than 3 cm and clinically negative axillary nodes underwent quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery. For 60 women with breast cancer the sentinel node was negative, so the only definitive surgical treatment was performed in the day-surgery regimen; 40 patients with positive sentinel nodes were hospitalised a second time for axillary dissection. In these patients that needed clearance of the axilla, SLNB was performed on the only positive node in 22 cases (55%). None of the patients admitted for quadrantectomy and SLNB in day surgery required re-hospitalisation after discharge. All patients proved to be fully satisfied with early discharge from hospital when questioned on the occasion of subsequent monitoring. Short-stay surgical programs in early invasive breast cancer treatment are feasible today owing to the availability of less invasive approaches such as quadrantectomy and SLNB. There are two main pointers to a distinct advantage for this kind of approach, i.e. recovery and psychological adjustment. Recovery from surgery is faster and the patient tends to play down the seriousness of the operation and to have a better mental attitude to neoplastic disease. Moreover, when performing quadrantectomy with SLNB in day surgery fewer than 50% of breast cancer patients (40% in our experience) require another surgical treatment, concluding the surgery in a single session.

Is sentinel lymph node biopsy more accurate than axillary dissection for staging nodal involvement in breast cancer patients?

Today evaluation of axillary involvement can be routinely performed with the technique of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). One of the greatest advantages of SLNB is the nearly total absence of local postoperative complications. It is important to understand whether SLNB is better than axillary lymph-node dissection (ALND) for staging axillary nodal involvement. The aim of the study was to evaluate the axillary staging accuracy comparing three different methods: axillary dissection, sentinel node biopsy with the traditional 4-6 sections and sentinel node biopsy with complete analysis of the lymph node. 527 consecutive patients (525 females and 2 males) with invasive breast cancer < or = 3 cm and clinically negative axillary nodes were divided into 3 different groups: group A treated with axillary dissection, group B treated with sentinel nodal biopsy analysed with 4-6 sections, and group C treated with sentinel node biopsy with analysis of the entire node. All patients underwent a quadrantectomy to treat the tumor. Group differences and statistical significance were assessed by ANOVA. The percentages of N+ in group A and group B were 25.80% and 28% respectively, while in the third group it rose to 45%, or almost half the patients. The differences among the three groups were statistically significant (p = 0.02). From our analysis of the data it emerges that axillary dissection and sentinel node biopsy with analysis of 4-6 sections have the same accuracy in staging the nodal status of the axilla; analysis of the entire sentinel lymph node revealed an increased number of patients with axillary nodal involvement, proving more powerful in predicting nodal stage. SLNB with complete examination of the SLN removed can be considered the best method for axillary staging in breast cancer patients with clinical negative nodes. In our study, the percentage of metastases encountered after complete examination of SLN was 45% compared to the accuracy of axillary dissection that was only 25.8%. Moreover, this approach avoids the useless axillary cleaning in about 55-60% of cases, decreasing postoperative morbidity and mortality.

Survival of breast cancer patients. Our experience.

Life expectancy for patients with breast carcinoma has changed in Europe over the last two decades. In Italy, the overall survival rate is about 77% at 5 years. When considering the situation in Sicily, the EUROCARE 2 study examined survival data from the Ragusa Cancer Registry, showing that the curves are worse than in other regions of Italy. Starting from these considerations we decide to evaluate whether these data from the Ragusa Cancer Registry corresponded to Palermo data. So we analysed data from 575 consecutive patients with breast cancer, treated in our Breast Unit from 1990 to 2003 according to the St. Gallen Recommendations and followed for a median period of 5 years. The prognostic role of age, tumour size, nodal status, TNM, stage, grading and hormonal receptors (OR, PR) were analysed and survival curves at 5 and 10 years were produced using the actuarial survival methods. All causes of death were considered. The median follow-up was 33 months. The Log rank test and univariate cox proportional model were used to demonstrate the association between prognostic factors and outcome. When considering T and N status, the curves showed an inverse correlation between survival and increases in these parameters. Overall survival was 92.9% at 5 years and 81.4% at 10 years for T1, 78.4% at 5 years and 61.4% at 10 years for T2 and 40.8% for T3-T4 at 5 and 10 years. Overall survival for NO was 92.1% and 78.2%, respectively, at 5 and 10 years, but decreased to 72.0% and 59.9% at 5 and 10 years for N1. In N2 patients we found that only about 50% of patients were still alive at 5 and 10 years, while for N3 patients the figures were 57.2% and 40%, respectively.

[Thyroidectomy with LigaSure versus traditional thyroidectomy: our experience]. / Tiroidectomia con LigaSure vs. tiroidectomia tradizionale. Nostra esperienza.

Over the past few decades the surgical strategy for both benign and malignant thyroid diseases has undergone several changes. In particular, total thyroidectomy today has become the routine operation for most thyroid diseases. The complications of this surgical procedure, though of multifactorial aetiopathogenesis, are often related to the efficacy of the haemostasis. Our aim in this study was to verify whether the use of the new LigaSure haemostatic system is capable of reducing the incidence of these complications as well as operative times and length of hospital stay as compared to the conventional haemostatic procedures. Twenty-five patients were randomly assigned to thyroidectomy with LigaSureTM (group A), and 25 to total thyroidectomy using the conventional haemostasis procedures (group B). Of these, 39 were women and 11 men, with a mean age +/- standard deviation of 52.26 +/- 13.57 years. In both groups the thyroidectomy was performed according to the standard total thyroidectomy surgical technique entailing the placement of two aspiration drainages at the end of the operation. As regards the assessment of operative times, these were significantly lower in thyroidectomy with LigaSureTM compared to traditional thyroidectomy (duration: 60 +/- 14.8 min [range: 60-105) in group A versus 92.4 +/- 27.5 min [range: 70-150] in group B, p = 0.02). The total amount of fluid drained postoperatively was substantially similar in the two groups (145 +/- 80 cc in group A versus 140 +/- 64.1 cc in group B). The incidence of postoperative complications was also similar in the two groups. We had only one case of haemorrhage in a patient submitted to thyroidectomy with LigaSureTM, 8 cases of transitory hypocalcaemia, 3 of which in patients with LigaSure thyroidectomy and 5 in patients treated with traditional thyroidectomy (p = 0.42), 2 cases of stupor of the recurrent nerve (1 in group A and 1 in group B) and a single definitive recurrent lesion in a group B patient with carcinoma, in which the tumour infiltrated the recurrent nerve. We observed no cases of definitive hypocalcaemia. The mean postoperative hospital stay of the patients in group A was 1.88 +/- 0.44 days as against 2.2 +/- 0.41 days in group B. The statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.01).

Proteomic profiling of 13 paired ductal infiltrating breast carcinomas and non-tumoral adjacent counterparts.

According to recent statistics, breast cancer remains one of the leading causes of death among women in Western countries. Breast cancer is a complex and heterogeneous disease, presently classified into several subtypes according to their cellular origin. Among breast cancer histotypes, infiltrating ductal carcinoma represents the most common and potentially aggressive form. Despite the current progress achieved in early cancer detection and treatment, including the new generation of molecular therapies, there is still need for identification of multiparametric biomarkers capable of discriminating between cancer subtypes and predicting cancer progression for personalized therapies. One established step in this direction is the proteomic strategy, expected to provide enough information on breast cancer profiling. To this aim, in the present study we analyzed 13 breast cancer tissues and their matched non-tumoral tissues by 2-DE. Collectively, we identified 51 protein spots, corresponding to 34 differentially expressed proteins, which may represent promising candidate biomarkers for molecular-based diagnosis of breast cancer and for pattern discovery. The relevance of these proteins as factors contributing to breast carcinogenesis is discussed.

The role of sentinel lymph-node biopsy (SLNB) in the treatment of breast cancer.

Sentinel lymph-node biopsy is an innovative method for axillary staging in breast cancer patients, based on the concept that information about the status of the entire lymphatic drainage from a tumour site could be obtained by identification and sampling of a "sentinel node". The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of sentinel lymph-node biopsy in the management of patients with early invasive breast carcinoma. Three hundred and forty-one patients with primary invasive breast carcinoma measuring less than 2 cm (less than 3 cm from January 2001) and clinically negative axillary nodes were recruited into the study. Sentinel lymph-nodes were positive for metastases in 108/341 cases (31.7%). Micrometastases were found in 22 patients and isolated tumour cells in 1 case. The mean number of sentinel lymph-nodes removed was 1.8 per patient. The sentinel lymph-node was the only positive node in 57 of 108 patients (52.8%). The percentage of axillary recurrence in sentinel lymph-node-negative patients was 0%. The accuracy of sentinel lymph-node biopsy for axillary staging has been confirmed in many studies. Axillary recurrences after sentinel lymph-node biopsy range from 0 to 1.6% in many series, while axillary recurrence after axillary lymph-node dissection is about 0-3%. In our experience we observed no axillary recurrences in 233 patients with sentinel lymph-node biopsy alone, with a median follow-up of 33 months, confirming the accuracy of the procedure, and sentinel lymph-node-negative patients with sentinel lymph-node biopsy alone are no more at risk for axillary recurrences than those undergoing axillary lymph-node dissection.

Video-thoracoscopic surgical pleurodesis in the management of malignant pleural effusion: the importance of an early intervention.

Thoracentesis plays an important role in cancer patients with symptomatic effusions, although its effect is short-lived and symptoms recur in almost all patients. Early video-thoracoscopic surgical pleurodesis may provide added benefit to a group of patients with advanced cancer presenting with symptomatic malignant pleural effusion. Seventy-six patients with advanced cancer and pleural effusion due to pulmonary-pleural metastases were recruited. In 51 cases (67.1%), at least one thoracentesis was performed before admission for surgery. Preoperative staging consisted of chest radiograph, CT scan, and blood gas analysis. The mean Karnofsky performance status was about 50. Pleurodesis with talc poudrage was completely successful in all patients, with a morbidity rate of 2.6%. There was no post-operative mortality. Three patients (3.9%) underwent further thoracenteses for recurrence of pleural effusion within two months after the procedure. Early use of talc insufflated by video-thoracoscopic surgery is an effective and relatively safe method for treating pleural effusion, and preventing recurrence, in advanced cancer patients.

Localization of the sentinel lymph node in breast cancer: prospective comparison of vital staining and radioactive tracing methods.

The aim of the study was to evaluate possible differences in accuracy between the radioactive tracing and vital staining method in the search for sentinel nodes in patients with breast cancer. From January 1999 to December 2000, 102 patients with T1 N0 breast carcinoma were recruited into the study for localization of sentinel nodes with vital blue dye staining and radioactive tracing and were then submitted to lumpectomy and axillary dissection. For the two methods, we estimated the percentage of sentinel nodes localized, the false-negative rate, the predictive negative and positive value and the accuracy. The vital blue dye staining method permitted localization of the sentinel node in 73% of patients with a false-negative rate of 8%, a predictive negative value of 92% and 92% accuracy. The radioactive tracing method permitted localization of the sentinel node in 97% cases with a false-negative rate of 0%, a predictive negative value of 100% and 100% accuracy (P<0.0005). The method that offers the better results is radioactive tracing. Currently, many authors use both techniques, since, in common practice, staining helps to identify the sentinel node with the probe.

[Surgical treatment of melanoma: role of the sentinel lymph node]. / La terapia chirurgica del melanoma: ruolo del linfonodo sentinella.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the surgical therapy of melanoma of the head, neck, trunk or extremities, and the reliability of sentinel node biopsy. Forty-nine patients, 23 men and 26 women, mean age 59 (range: 22-89) years, with melanoma of the skin--the sites affected were the head and neck (7), trunk (17), upper extremities (8) and lower extremities (17)--and clinically negative lymph nodes, participated in the study from January 2000 to December 2002. The mean Breslow thickness was 2.1 mm, and the median thickness 2 mm. Preoperative dynamic and static lymphoscintigraphy, intraoperative blue dye and a gamma-ray detection probe were used. If the histological examination with haematoxylin and eosin revealed metastases, therapeutic lymph-node dissection was performed. Sentinel nodes were identified by lymphoscintigraphy in 47 patients (96%); 82 sentinel nodes (mean 1.65 per patient) were removed from 56 lymph-node stations. Four patients had tumour-positive sentinel nodes. During follow-up, nodal recurrence in a sentinel-node-negative station was documented in 1 patient. Melanoma of the skin can be safely excised with 1-2 cm margins. Therapeutic lymph-node dissection is performed only in node-positive patients. Sentinel-node biopsy allows accurate staging and yields important prognostic information.