Phyllodes tumors of the breast: Adjuvant radiation therapy revisited

BackgroundPhyllodes tumors (PT) are rare entity and surgical resection is the cornerstone of treatment. No standard of care exists regarding adjuvant treatment especially radiation therapy (RT).Patients and methodsWe analyzed all patients with non-metastatic, resected phyllodes tumors who presented to our institution from January 2005 through December 2019. Primary study endpoints included local recurrence free survival (LRFS) and overall survival (OS).ResultsOne hundred and eight patients were analyzed (patients with incomplete treatment and follow up data were excluded). Fifty patients had benign phyllodes, 26 patients had borderline and 32 patients had malignant phyllodes. In the benign group, no significant difference in LRFS was observed between patients who received adjuvant RT (n = 3) and those who did not (5-year LRFS 100% vs. 85% respectively, p = 0.49). The 5 year OS for patients who received RT was 60% vs. 89% for those who did not (p 0.40). In the borderline/malignant group, adjuvant RT significantly improved five year LRFS (90% in the RT group vs. 42% in the no RT group, p = 0.005). The 5 year LRFS in patients treated with margin negative breast conserving surgery and RT was 100% vs. 34.3% in patients who did not receive RT (p 0.022). Patients treated with mastectomy and RT had a 5 year LRFS of 100% vs. 83% for patients who did not receive RT (p 0.24). On multivariate analysis, radiation therapy was independently associated with decreased hazard of local failure (HR 0.21, CI 0.05–0.89, p = 0.03). No difference in OS was found between the RT and no RT groups (5-year OS was 52% vs. 45% respectively, p 0.54).ConclusionThe results of the current study confirm the excellent prognosis of benign phyllodes tumors; warranting no further adjuvant treatment after margin-negative surgical resection. For patients with borderline/malignant phyllodes tumors, adjuvant radiation therapy significantly improved LRFS after margin negative wide local excision; however, patients treated with mastectomy did not attain the same benefit from adjuvant irradiation.     

Plaque‐like myofibroblastic tumor,a rare entity of childhood: Possible pitfalls in differential diagnosis

Plaque‐like myofibroblastic tumor is a rare and benign pediatric soft tissue tumor. It presents as a slowly growing plaque reaching several centimeters in diameter, made up of multiple nodules. The clinical and histological features of this benign entity are similar to other fibrohistiocytic or myofibroblastic tumors occurring in childhood, so the diagnosis can be difficult. The correlation between clinical data, histopathology, and immunohistochemistry is necessary for the correct diagnosis.     

A diagnostically‐challenging case of melanoma ex blue nevus with comprehensive molecular analysis,including the 23‐gene expression signature (myPath melanoma)

Melanoma ex blue nevus (MEBN) is a rare, aggressive, and potentially lethal neoplasm. Distinguishing MEBN from an atypical cellular blue nevus can be very challenging. We report a diagnostically difficult case of MEBN with lymph node metastases, in which single nucleotide polymorphism array and fluorescence in situ hybridization were used to arrive at the correct diagnosis. It was also analyzed by the recently‐introduced proprietary 23‐gene expression signature test. To the best of our knowledge, this is the second reported case of MEBN analyzed by the 23‐gene expression signature, which provided a false‐negative result. More studies are needed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of this test in various melanocytic proliferations.     

Intraneural angioleiomyoma of the median nerve presenting as a forearm mass: A case report

Angioleiomyoma is a solitary form of leiomyoma which is typically encountered in the subcutis. They are mostly seen in lower extremities, and the upper extremity is the second most common location for these lesions. There are only a few reports about the presence of an angioleiomyoma within a peripheral nerve in the upper extremity. Here we report a 56-year-old male patient who was referred to our clinic after an attempt was made for removal of a forearm mass at another institution. The lesion was encased within the median nerve and there was an unusual hypervascularity around the tumor with numerous vessels entering the lesion. Removal of the tumor without apparent damage to nerve fascicles was possible. Histopathological examination of the excision material revealed an intraneural angioleiomyoma. Following surgery, the patient was free of any functional deficits and no evidence of recurrence was observed at one year follow-up. There is no data regarding recurrence in intraneural lesions due to the lack of a large series. It would not be wrong to recommend spare grossly uninvolved fascicles if the nerve in question is not expendable.     

Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors in 2020

Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are rare slow-growing tumors with distinct histological, biological, and clinical characteristics that have increased in incidence and prevalence within the last few decades. They contain chromogranin A, synaptophysin and neuron-specific enolase which are necessary for making a diagnosis of neuroendocrine tumor. Ki-67 index and mitotic index correlate with cellular proliferation. Serum chromogranin A is the most commonly used biomarker to assess the bulk of disease and monitor treatment and is raised in both functioning and non-functioning neuroendocrine tumors. Most of the gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are non-functional. World Health Organization updated the classification of neuroendocrine tumors in 2017 and renamed mixed adenoneuroendocrine carcinoma into mixed neuroendocrine neoplasm. Gastric neuroendocrine tumors arise from enterochromaffin like cells. They are classified into 4 types. Only type I and type II are gastrin dependent. Small intestinal neuroendocrine tumor is the most common small bowel malignancy. More than two-third of them occur in the terminal ileum within 60 cm of ileocecal valve. Patients with small intestinal neuroendrocrine tumors frequently show clinical symptoms and develop distant metastases more often than those with neuroendocrine tumors of other organs. Duodenal and jejuno-ileal neuroendocrine tumors are distinct biologically and clinically. Carcinoid syndrome generally occurs when jejuno-ileal neuroendocrine tumors metastasize to the liver. Appendiceal neuroendocrine tumors are generally detected after appendectomy. Colonic neuroendocrine tumors generally present as a large tumor with local or distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Rectal neuroendocrine tumors are increasingly being diagnosed since the implementation of screening colonoscopy in 2000. Gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors are diagnosed and staged by endoscopy with biopsy, endoscopic ultrasound, serology of biomarkers, imaging studies and functional somatostatin scans. Various treatment options are available for curative and palliative treatment of gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors.     

乳腺密度对浸润性小叶癌术前MRI评估的影响

目的:探讨MRI在浸润性小叶癌(ILC)术前诊断中的应用价值，并评估乳腺密度对其影响。方法:选取75例术前30天内行MRI检查的I-Ⅲ期ILC患者列入本项研究，根据腺体含量评估乳腺密度，在MRI下测量肿瘤大小，并对比其与病理大小的一致性。结果:75例入组患者中26例（34.7%）患者经MRI评估发现新的可疑病灶，20例（26.7%）患者改变了手术方式。高密度乳腺型患者额外病灶检出率明显高于低密度乳腺型患者（51.6% vs 22.7%，P=0.010）。MRI评估肿瘤大小在低密度乳腺型患者中容易被低估（36.4% vs 12.9%，P=0.024），在高密度乳腺型患者中容易被高估（6.8% vs 29.0%，P=0.010），但两组患者与病理大小一致性的比例无明显差异。结论:ILC患者术前乳腺MRI检查能够提高额外恶性肿瘤的检出率，而乳腺密度是影响MRI评估的重要因素。     

Pangenomic Classification of Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors

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清肺化浊汤联合胸腺五肽治疗恶性肿瘤合并肺部感染效果及对淋巴细胞亚群水平的影响

目的探究清肺化浊汤联合胸腺五肽治疗恶性肿瘤合并肺部感染的临床效果和对淋巴细胞亚群水平影响。方法选取恶性肿瘤合并肺部感染的患者109例作为研究对象,按随机数字表法将其分为两组,对照组54例患者采用胸腺五肽进行治疗,观察组55例患者在观察组的基础上予以清肺化浊汤辅助治疗。观察比较两组治疗前后临床症状改善情况、炎症指标和T淋巴细胞亚群水平变化情况。结果观察组胸部X线好转时间、退热时间、咳痰咳嗽好转时间明显优于对照组(P<0.05);观察组炎症因子水平、CD3^+(71.08±3.86)%、CD4^+(41.17±3.21)%、CD4^+CD25^+(1.52±0.37)%和CD3^+CD+8(25.17±2.56)%水平明显优于对照组炎症因子水平、CD3^+(64.31±4.17)%、CD4^+(34.24±2.53)%、CD4^+CD25^+(2.11±0.45)%和CD3^+CD+8(27.84±2.15)%,差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论清肺化浊汤联合胸腺五肽治疗恶性肿瘤合并肺部感染患者效果明显,可以有效改善患者的临床症状,降低炎症因子水平,增强患者的免疫功能,值得临床推广应用。