A multicentre prospective feasibility study of carbon dye tattooing of biopsied axillary node and surgical localisation in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The primary aim of this prospective, multicentre feasibility study was to determine whether the biopsied axillary node can be marked using black carbon dye and successfully identified at the time of surgery. METHODS: We included breast cancer patients undergoing needle biopsy of the axillary node. The biopsied node was tattooed at the time of needle biopsy (fine needle aspiration or core biopsy) or at a separate visit with black carbon dye (Spot® or Black Eye™). Participants underwent primary surgery or neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) and axillary surgery (SNB or ALND) as per routine care. RESULTS: 110 patients were included. Median age of the women was 59 (range 31-88) years. 48 (44%) underwent SNB and 62 (56%) ALND. Median volume of dye injected was 2.0 ml (range 0.2-4.2). Tattooed node was identified intra-operatively in 90 (82%) patients. The identification rate was higher (76 of 88, 86%) in the primary surgery group compared with NACT (14 of 22, 64%) (p = 0.03). Of those undergoing NACT, the identification rate was better in the patients undergoing SNB (3 of 4, 75%) compared with ALND (11 of 18, 61%) (p > 0.99). The tattooed node was the sentinel node in 78% (28 of 36) patients in the primary surgery group and 100% (3 of 3) in the NACT group. There was no learning curve for surgeons or radiologists. The identification rate did not vary with timing between dye injection and surgery (p = 0.56), body mass index (p = 0.62) or volume of dye injected (p = 0.25). CONCLUSION: It is feasible to mark the axillary node with carbon dye and identify it intra-operatively. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03640819.

Use of 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-CT in the management of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma.

The prognosis and preferred management of breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma is dependent on whether lymphoproliferative cells are confined to within the fibrous capsule, in an effusion or lining the fibrous capsule, or if there is spread beyond the capsule in the form of a mass lesion. We describe a case where 18F-fludeoxyglucose positron emission tomography-CT was used to confirm localized disease and guide management decisions.

Successful management of elderly breast cancer patients treated without radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer in the elderly may follow a less aggressive course. There are data suggesting that radiotherapy (RT) following breast conserving surgery (BCS) for invasive carcinoma may not be necessary in some elderly patients. The addition of RT to surgery might constitute an imposition to such patients due to age-related factors. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of BCS without adjuvant RT in this group of patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 92 elderly (median age 75 years; range: 70 - 87 years) patients (analysed as 93 'patients' due to one patient having bilateral cancers) managed in a dedicated breast clinic and who underwent BCS for invasive carcinoma was carried out. Eighty-three patients did not receive postoperative RT to the breast (no-RT group) whereas the remaining 10 had RT (RT-group). RESULTS: The median age in this group was 75 (range 70 - 87) years. The mean tumour size was 18 mm with a median follow-up of 37 (range 6 - 142) months. In the no RT group, adjuvant endocrine therapy with tamoxifen was given to 40/53 patients. No patients in the oestrogen receptor (ER) negative group received tamoxifen. The local recurrence (LR) rate in this group was 8.4% (2.4% per year, n = 7/83), with median time to LR of 17 months. In this no-RT group LR was correlated to ER status (2/53 ER+, 5/26ER-, p = 0.024) and margins of excision (n = 1/54 >5 mm, 2/17 1-5 mm, 4/12 <1 mm, p = 0.001). Within the ER positive group the LR rate was 0.92% per annum (0.62% per annum in patients treated with adjuvant tamoxifen, regardless of margin status). Breast cancer specific survival was correlated to histological grade (p < 0.05) and ER status (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: It would appear that omission of RT following successful BCS in elderly patients with ER positive tumours receiving adjuvant tamoxifen may be acceptable. The LR rate as shown in this retrospective study is highly comparable to that of younger patients treated by conventional therapy. This concept is now being evaluated prospectively following a change in treatment practice.

Investigation into the possible cause of subjective decreased sensory perception in the nipple-areola complex of women with macromastia.

Patients with macromastia often comment on a lack of sensation in their nipple-areola complex. A study was designed to investigate the cause of this decreased sensation. Two hypotheses were proposed. First, the decreased sensation could result from neuropraxia of the sensory nerve fibers secondary to traction caused by the heavy breast parenchyma. The second hypothesis proposed that tissue expansion of the nipple and areola by the voluminous breast parenchyma caused a decrease in nerve fibers per surface area and hence decreased sensory perception. Sixty-one patients were assessed in the study. All patients underwent surgery in which histological biopsy of either the areola alone (31 reduction mammaplasty patients) or the nipple and areola (30 mastectomy patients) was possible. Before surgery, each nipple-areola complex was tested with Weinstein Enhanced Sensory Test monofilaments as a quantitative test of tactile sensation. Breast cup size, ptosis, and weight of tissue excised were recorded to allow general assessment of the breast size. The nipple and areola biopsy specimens were assessed using immunohistochemistry (S-100 polyclonal antibody, Dako Z311) to measure nerve fiber count per unit area. Statistical analysis was undertaken to find any association among sensitivity, breast cup size, ptosis, weight of tissue resected, and nerve fiber density in the nipple and areola biopsy specimens. Sensitivity at the areola decreased with increasing breast cup size (r = 0.47, p < 0.001) and ptosis (r = 0.42, p = 0.002 for increasing distance between inframammary crease and nipple; r = 0.49, p < 0.001 for increasing manubrium to nipple distance). There was a weak correlation between nerve fiber density at the areola and breast cup size (r = -0.22, p = 0.1). Sensitivity at the nipple was higher than at the areola. Nerve fiber density count at the nipple was higher than at the areola, but there was no statistically significant correlation between nipple sensitivity and breast cup size, ptosis, or weight of tissue resected. The results suggest that the areola and nipple are different in their neuroanatomy. The areola is a thin, pliable structure that is predisposed to stretch as the breast enlarges and therefore experience a decrease in nerve fiber density. The nipple is a compact structure that is less likely to stretch with breast enlargement. In the nipple, neither sensory perception nor nerve fiber density varied with size or breast ptosis. The perceived lack of sensation in the nipple-areola complex is multifactorial. This study shows that neither traction injury to the sensory nerves nor decreased nerve density alone can explain the subjective numbness reported by patients with macromastia. Psychological factors, such as dissatisfaction with body form or interpretation of lack of sensation in the areola as also affecting the nipple, may influence the patient's assessment of the nipple-areola sensitivity.