Neoadjuvant Radiotherapy to Facilitate Immediate Breast Reconstruction: A Systematic Review and Current Clinical Trials

Annals of Surgical Oncology - Postmastectomy radiotherapy currently is used for locally advanced breast cancers that carry a high risk of locoregional failure. However, radiotherapy can have...     

Limited evidence of human papillomavirus in [corrected] breast tissue using molecular in situ methods

BACKGROUND:

Human papillomavirus (HPV) has been proposed as an etiologic agent of breast cancer based on numerous reports of high‐risk (oncogenic) HPV types in malignant breast tissues. However, most of those studies used standard and nested solution polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques, both of which are disadvantaged by vulnerability to laboratory contamination from positive control DNA and the inability to localize the signal to a specific cell type. To overcome these drawbacks, the authors of this report explored the use of in situ molecular methods of viral detection to reassess the frequency of HPV in malignant breast tissue.

METHODS:

In situ hybridization (ISH) was used with probes that were specific for the capsid region of 12 oncogenic HPV types, and in situ PCR (IS‐PCR) was used with primers that were specific for the capsid region of HPV‐16, which is the most common oncogenic HPV type. These methods were resistant to molecular contamination and allowed identification of the positive cell type. The specimens examined were malignant tissues from patients with 70 breast cancer patients at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

RESULTS:

HPV was observed in 4 of 70 specimens (5.7%) using ISH and in 2 of 70 specimens (2.9%) of specimens using IS‐PCR. Concordance between the 2 methods was high for negative specimens; both methods yielded negative results in 66 of 70 specimens (94.3%). However, there was no concordance for the few positive specimens, probably because of differences in sensitivity and the targeted HPV types.

CONCLUSIONS:

Oncogenic (high‐risk) HPV types were present in malignant breast epithelium very infrequently and, thus, may be causative agents of only a relatively small proportion of all breast cancers. Cancer 2012;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.     

Biologic features and prognosis of ductal carcinoma in situ are not adversely impacted by initial large body mass

Obesity is associated with adverse biologic features and poor outcome in patients with invasive breast cancer, yet this relationship has not been evaluated in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). From 1996 to 2009, body mass index (BMI) was recorded at initial diagnosis for 1,885 patients with DCIS treated at our institution. Patients were categorized as obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)), overweight (BMI 25 to <30 kg/m(2)), or of normal weight or underweight (BMI < 25 kg/m(2)). Logistic regression was used to examine associations between BMI and patient, clinical, and pathologic features and treatment. Local-regional recurrence was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method. All statistical tests were two-sided. Of the 1,885 patients, 514 (27.7%) were obese, 510 (27.5%) were overweight, and 831 (44.8%) were normal/underweight. In multivariate analysis, overweight and obese patients were significantly more likely to be African American (odds ratio [OR], 3.93; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.66-5.80) or Hispanic (OR, 1.44; CI, 1.02-2.04), be postmenopausal (OR, 1.63; CI, 1.28-2.07), have diabetes (OR, 4.60; CI, 2.60-8.12), have estrogen-receptor-positive DCIS (OR, 1.39; CI, 1.00-192), and present with a radiologic abnormality rather than clinical symptoms (OR, 1.35; CI, 1.01-1.80). At a median follow-up time of 4.96 years (range, 1.0-14.34 years), no significant differences in local recurrence rates were detected based on patients' initial BMI category. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in risk of recurrence between diabetic patients receiving metformin or not. In conclusion, higher BMI is not associated with adverse biologic features or prognosis in patients with DCIS.     

Disseminated tumor cells predict survival after neoadjuvant therapy in primary breast cancer

BACKGROUND:

Tumor cells that disseminate to the bone marrow (disseminated tumor cells [DTCs]) have been identified in 30% of patients with stage I through II breast cancer (BC) and predict outcome. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is effective in reducing the size of primary tumors or eradicating lymph node metastases before surgery, but little is known regarding the presence or significance of DTCs after NACT.

METHODS:

The authors evaluated DTCs in 95 patients with clinical stage I through III BC. Bone marrow samples were collected after completion of NACT at the time they underwent surgery for primary BC. DTCs were assessed using an anticytokeratin antibody cocktail. Primary tumor markers, the extent of lymph node (LN) involvement, they type of NACT administered, and response to NACT were compared with presence of DTCs. Chi‐square and Fisher exact tests were used for statistical analyses.

RESULTS:

The median patient age at diagnosis was 51 years, and the median follow‐up was 24 months. Forty‐six percent of patients had tumors classified as T1/T2, 20% had T3 tumors, 34.5% had T4 tumors, and 81% had lymph node metastasis before NACT. DTCs were identified in 26% of patients after NACT. No associations were observed between DTCs and primary tumor characteristics or LN involvement. A pathologic complete response was observed in 25 patients (26%) but was not predictive of DTCs after NACT (P = .83). DTCs after NACT predicted worse BC‐specific survival (P < .02).

CONCLUSIONS:

The presence of DTCs was an independent predictor of outcome after NACT. The current results indicated that monitoring hematogenous micrometastatic disease after NACT may be useful in selecting patients who might benefit from additional systemic adjuvant therapies. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.     

A prospective study comparing touch imprint cytology,frozen section analysis,and rapid cytokeratin immunostain for intraoperative evaluation of axillary sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer

BACKGROUND:

The intraoperative evaluation of axillary sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) allows the surgeon to complete axillary dissection in 1 setting at the time of the primary breast surgery. However, to the authors' knowledge, there is no consensus regarding the optimal method for intraoperative evaluation of SLNs in breast cancer. The authors of this report prospectively compared touch imprint (TI) cytology with frozen section (FS) analysis and rapid cytokeratin immunostaining (RCI) of SLNs for the intraoperative evaluation of disease and compared the results with final pathologic examination (FP).

METHODS:

Patients with invasive breast carcinoma who were diagnosed with lymph node‐negative disease (based on preoperative clinical and sonographic evaluation with or without fine‐needle aspiration of the indeterminate lymph nodes) and who subsequently were scheduled for lymphatic mapping were eligible to participate in this prospective protocol. TI and FS analysis were performed on all SLNs, and the lymph nodes were stained by the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) method. RCI was performed using the enhanced polymer 1‐step cytokeratin method. The results of TI, FS, RCI, TI plus FS, and FS plus RCI were compared with the results from FP, including 1 H&E stain and cytokeratin immunostain of the third level.

RESULTS:

One hundred patients with invasive mammary carcinoma were accrued to the study. Eighty‐five tumors were the ductal type, 8 tumors were lobular, 5 tumors were mixed ductal and lobular, 1 was an adenoid cystic tumor, and 1 tumor was metaplastic carcinoma. Seventy‐two tumors were staged clinically as T1N0M0, 25 tumors were staged as T2N0M0, and 3 tumors were staged as T3N0M0. Metastatic carcinoma was detected in the SLNs by 1 or more methods, including TI, FS, RCI, and FP, in 20 tumors, which included 12 macrometastases and 8 micrometastases. TI detected 8 of 12 macrometastases (67%), FS detected 12 of 12 macrometastases (100%), RCI detected 12 of 12 macrometastases (100%), and FP detected 12 of 12 macrometastases (100%). TI detected 1 of 8 micrometastases (13%), FS detected 3 of 8 micrometastases (38%), RCI detected 4 of 8 micrometastases (50%), and FP detected 6 of 8 micrometastases (75%). The sensitivities of TI, FS, RCI, TI plus FS, and FS plus RCI (with FP as the gold standard) were 50%, 72%, 78%, and 83%, respectively, and the sensitivities of the same intraoperative methods were 45%, 75%, 80%, and 85%, respectively, with detection of metastatic disease by any method as the gold standard. The specificities of the different methods (with FP as the gold standard) were 100% for TI and 97.5% for FS, RCI, TI plus FS, and FS plus RCI. The specificity of each method was 100% when the detection of metastatic disease by any method was regarded as the gold standard. Although the difference in sensitivity between FS and TI was not statistically significant (P = .08), the difference between RCI and TI bordered on significance (P = .046); however, FS analysis plus RCI was significantly superior to TI (P = .03) and produced results comparable to those of FP.

CONCLUSIONS:

The sensitivities of FS, RCI, TI plus FS, and FS plus RCI were better than the sensitivity of TI cytology of axillary SLNs. However, only the combination of FS and RCI was statistically superior to TI and generated results comparable to those of FP in SLNs. RCI can be completed within the time constraints for intraoperative use and, in conjunction with FS, can be useful for generating results closer to those generated by FP. FS analysis plus RCI have a role in the intraoperative evaluation of SLNs. Cancer 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society.     

Biologic and immunologic effects of preoperative trastuzumab for ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast

BACKGROUND:

Through this study, the authors sought to investigate the biologic and immunologic effects of preoperative trastuzumab in patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) of the breast.

METHODS:

Patients with DCIS were enrolled in this open‐label phase 2 trial and tested for HER2. Trastuzumab was given by intravenous infusion (8 mg/kg). The patients then had surgery 14 to 28 days after treatment. Tissue and peripheral blood samples were obtained before therapy and at the time of surgery to examine residual disease and immunologic response.

RESULTS:

Median age of the 69 enrolled patients was 53 years, mean mammographic size of the DCIS lesions was 5.2 ± 1.2 cm, and 24 patients (35%) were found to have HER2 overexpression/amplification (12 received trastuzumab and 12 untreated patients provided tissue for blinded, controlled biomarker analyses). No overt histologic evidence of response was noted. No significant change in mean pretherapy staining for Ki‐67 (44.3 ± 3.4%) and cleaved caspase‐3 (2.6 ± 0.8%) was noted when surgical specimens from drug‐treated patient samples were compared with those not treated. Trastuzumab significantly augmented antibody‐dependent cell mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) in 100% of patients; this was demonstrated to be mediated through CD56+ degranulating natural killer cells (P < .01). One patient developed a significant anti‐HER2 humoral CD4 T‐cell response.

CONCLUSIONS:

Single‐dose monotherapy with trastuzumab for patients with HER2‐positive DCIS does not result in significant, clinically overt, histologic, antiproliferative, or apoptotic changes, but does result in the ability to mount ADCC mediated through natural killer cells and may also induce T‐cell dependent humoral immunity. Further studies of trastuzumab for DCIS appear warranted. Cancer 2011. © 2010 American Cancer Society.