Prevalence and anatomy of the axillary arch and its implications in surgical practice: A meta-analysis

Purpose

The following research aimed to investigate the prevalence and anatomical features of the axillary arch (AA) – a muscular, tendinous or musculotendinous slip arising from the latissimus dorsi and that terminates in various structures around the shoulder girdle. The AA may complicate axillary lymph node biopsy or breast reconstruction surgery and may cause thoracic outlet syndrome.

Pre-Operative Evaluation of Axillary Lymph Node Status in Patients with Suspected Breast Cancer Using Shear Wave Elastography

The aim of this study was to evaluate shear wave elastography (SWE) for pre-operative evaluation of axillary lymph node (LN) status in patients with suspected breast cancer. A total of 130 axillary LNs in 130 patients who underwent SWE before fine-needle aspiration, core biopsy or surgery were analyzed. On gray-scale images, long and short axes, shape (elliptical or round), border (sharp or unsharp) and cortical thickening (concentric, eccentric or no fatty hilum) of LNs were assessed. On SWE, mean, maximum, minimum, standard deviation and the lesion-to-fat ratio (E_ratio) values of elasticity were collected. Gray-scale and SWE features were compared statistically between metastatic and benign LNs using the χ²-test and independent t-test. Diagnostic performance of each feature was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). Logistic regression analysis was used to determine gray-scale or SWE features independently associated with metastatic LNs. Of the 130 LNs, 65 (50%) were metastatic and 65 (50%) were benign after surgery. Metastatic LNs were significantly larger (p = 0.018); had higher elasticity indexes at SWE (p < 0.0001); and had higher proportions of round shape (p = 0.033), unsharp border (p = 0.048) and eccentric cortical thickening or no fatty hilum (p = 0.005) compared with benign LNs. On multivariate analysis, E_ratio was independently associated with metastatic LNs (odds ratio = 3.312, p = 0.008). E_ratio had the highest AUC among gray-scale (0.582–0.719) and SWE (0.900–0.950) variables. SWE had good diagnostic performance in metastatic axillary LNs, and E_ratio was independently associated with metastatic LNs.     

Treating Positive Axillary Disease in Elderly Breast Cancer Patients: The Impact of Age on Radiation Therapy

IntroductionBreast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in females, and 30% of these patients are over the age of 70 years. Studies have shown deviation from the standard treatment paradigms in the elderly, especially in regard to radiation treatment.MethodsWe performed a retrospective chart review on 118 patients over the age of 70 years diagnosed with breast cancer and pathologically proven axillary disease over an 8-year period at an urban academic hospital to examine which patient factors influenced radiotherapy.ResultsIncreasing patient age was associated with a decrease in the probability of receiving radiotherapy, while HER2-negative patients were more likely to receive radiation. Neither race, number of coexisting medical conditions, or insurance status showed any influence on radiation treatment.ConclusionPatient age has a significant influence if elderly patients with axillary disease receive radiotherapy. Further investigation and validation are needed to understand why chronological age rather than biological age influences treatment modalities.     

The Comparative Study of Ultrasonography,Contrast-Enhanced MRI,and 18F-FDG PET/CT for Detecting Axillary Lymph Node Metastasis in T1 Breast Cancer

Purpose

A more noninvasive evaluation of axillary lymph node in breast cancer is one of the principal challenges of breast cancer treatment. To detect axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) in T1 breast cancer, we have compared the axillary ultrasonography (AUS), contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI), and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) to determine the most adequate test or a combination of tests.

Methods

Retrospectively, 349 T1 breast cancer patients who were preoperatively examined using AUS, cMRI, and PET/CT between 2008 and 2011 and whom underwent pathological evaluations of axillary lymph nodes were reviewed and analyzed.

Results

In total, 26.4% (92/349) of patients exhibited ALNM. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of AUS for determining ALNM were 44.6%, 88.7%, 58.6%, 81.7%, and 77.1%, respectively. cMRI was similar to AUS. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of PET/CT were 44.5%, 94.2%, 73.2%, 82.6%, and 81.1%, respectively. The combination including cMRI and PET/CT was the most accurate with sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy values of 39.1%, 98.8%, 92.3%, 81.9%, and 83.1%, respectively. The mean number (3.5±4.2) of ALNMs in the patients who were positive based on cMRI and PET/CT and also pathologically proven to exhibit ALNM was significantly larger than the number (2.16±2.26) in other patients who exhibited ALNM (p=0.035).

Conclusion

There are no definitive modalities for detecting ALNM in T1 breast cancers to replace sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB). If ALNM is suspected based on cMRI and PET/CT, the axillary dissection without SLNB might be a better option because it is related to high possibilities of ALNM and large axillary metastatic volumes.     

腋窝乳房外Paget病1例

患者男,83岁。左侧腋窝红斑伴瘙痒6年。多次按湿疹治疗,无效;3年前始皮损伴轻度疼痛,瘙痒明显,反复破溃不能愈合。近日来皮损增大明显,予手术切除。切除物组织病理示:表皮轻度角化过度,表皮全层可见单个或成巢的Paget细胞,真皮浅层较多淋巴细胞浸润;AB染色(+),PAS染色(-);免疫组化示:CK7,CK8/18,CEA和Ki67均(+);S100和HMB45均(-)。诊断:乳房外Paget病。     

腋部瘢痕挛缩畸形手术疗效的评价

目的:为了更有效地提高腋部瘢痕挛缩畸形手术后的疗效。方法:对各种腋部瘢痕进行分类,根据不同的腋部瘢痕挛缩畸形分别采用不同方法进行治疗,并比较其适应证和疗效。结果:五瓣法和肩胛皮瓣岛状转移法疗效稳定,中厚植皮如果术后缺乏持续的功能锻炼,再次挛缩的发生率相对较高。结论:轻度瘢痕挛缩宜采用五瓣法矫正,中、重度的瘢痕挛缩,如果肩胛部局部条件许可宜采用肩胛皮瓣岛状转移修复。     

Different radiation techniques to deliver therapeutic dose to the axilla in patients with sentinel lymph node-positive breast cancer: Doses,techniques challenges and clinical considerations

Purpose

To evaluate the coverage of different levels of axillary lymph nodes and organs at risk according to the field design of AMAROS study (levels I–II–III–IV), breast tangents with supraclavicular and infraclavicular fields (levels II–III–IV) and high tangent fields to the breast after breast-conserving surgery.

Case Report and Dosimetric Analysis of an Axillary Recurrence After Partial Breast Irradiation with Mammosite Catheter

Partial breast irradiation (PBI) was designed in part to decrease overall treatment times associated with whole breast radiation therapy (WBRT). WBRT treats the entire breast and usually portions of the axilla. The goal of PBI is to treat a smaller volume of breast tissue in less time, focusing the dose around the lumpectomy cavity. The following is a case of a 64-year-old woman with early-stage breast cancer treated with PBI who failed regionally in the ipsilateral axilla. With our dosimetric analysis, we found that the entire area of this axillary failure would have likely received at least 45 Gy if WBRT had been used, enough to sterilize microscopic disease. With PBI, this area received a mean dose of only 2.8 Gy, which raises the possibility that this regional failure may have been prevented had WBRT been used instead of PBI.