Revision surgery for breast cancer: single-institution experience.

At Tata Memorial Hospital, as a dedicated breast service at a tertiary cancer center in India, incompletely performed breast surgeries are encountered very frequently; however, there is a lack of published data on incompletely performed breast surgeries, revision surgeries, and their outcomes. Between March 2000 and November 2003, the authors audited 850 breast cancer patients who presented at their institute who had undergone surgery outside the institution. On the basis of study criteria, these patients were evaluated for completeness of surgery. Patients in whom the surgical intervention was considered incomplete were evaluated for a completion revision surgery. Of 850 patients, 424 (50%) had undergone surgical intervention with therapeutic intent. Of these 424 patients, 191 (45%) had received incomplete surgical intervention. Completion revision surgery was performed for 153 patients. Complete data were available for 148 patients, of which 123 patients had residual lymph nodes in the axilla. The median number of lymph nodes dissected was 8, and 64 patients had metastatic lymph node(s) left behind. A high proportion of patients with breast cancer who presented at the institute had undergone incomplete surgery outside in nonspecialty centers. Almost half of those patients who underwent incomplete surgery had surgically excisable disease left behind. The possible detrimental impact of inadequate surgical intervention may be very large in India and in other low-resource settings.

A new scoring system for gallbladder cancer (aiding treatment algorithm): an analysis of 335 patients.

BACKGROUND: There is currently no preoperative staging/scoring system available for gallbladder cancer. Unfortunately, in gallbladder cancer, patients manifest advanced stages of the disease. There is need for a methodology that can aid accurate preoperative staging and the subsequent treatment algorithm. We thus sought to validate a new scoring system, the Tata Memorial Hospital Staging System (TMHSS), for gallbladder cancer. METHODS: TMHSS is based on the cumulative impact of specific features of computed tomographic scan, presence or absence of jaundice, and serum cancer antigen 19-9 levels. This scoring system was first proposed in 2004. Patients with gallbladder cancer were enrolled onto the testing sample for TMHSS to ascertain its validity. A total of 335 consecutive patients with gallbladder cancer who sought care at the Tata Memorial Hospital between May 1, 2005, and December 31, 2006, were studied. Treatment was suggested on the basis of current existing protocols. Each patient was assigned a TMHSS score, and the treatment decision taken was compared with the algorithm generated for each individual score. Concurrence of the decision taken with the score generated algorithm was tested by the Kendall tau-b test. RESULTS: Ordinal-by-ordinal analysis of the value of the test was .75, which showed excellent concurrence and a statistically significant P value (P < .0001). CONCLUSION: TMHSS provides an excellent correlative treatment plan for patients with gallbladder cancer. It has the potential to reduce unnecessary surgical explorations and to direct patients to the ideal treatment strategy, thereby offering a degree of prognostication.

Influence of surgical technique on axillary seroma formation: a randomized study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of surgical technique in the form of electrocautery and suction drains on seroma formation following surgery for breast cancer. A prospective randomized study was carried out. One hundred and sixty patients with breast cancer who underwent surgery were allocated to four arms using a 2 x 2 factorial design. This method enabled us to evaluate the independent effect of two different causative factors on the incidence of postoperative seroma formation using a single dataset with limited numbers. The main outcome measure was postoperative seroma formation defined as a postoperative axillary collection requiring more than one aspiration after removal of the drain. The incidence of seroma in our institution is 90%. Incidence of postoperative seroma was 88.3% if electrocautery was used, which reduced to 82.2% if surgery was carried out using scissors for dissection and ligatures for haemostasis (P = 0.358). There was no influence on the incidence of seroma formation whether suction drain (84.6%) or corrugated drains (86.1%) were used (P = 0.822). The use of electrocautery in axillary dissection does not adversely affect postoperative seroma formation after surgery for breast cancer. The use of different drainage techniques has no bearing on the postoperative seroma formation. The surgical technique has no influence on the rate of seroma formation after surgery for breast cancer.

Breast conservation surgery without pre-operative mammography--a definite feasibility.

Mammography is mandatory before breast conservation. Its limited availability in developing countries has discouraged surgeons in rural areas from practicing breast conservation. We analyzed the database of breast surgeries at our institute to investigate whether breast conservation could be safely performed if clinically feasible without the use of mammography. If mammography had not been performed in the 735 patients undergoing surgery, breast conservation could have been erroneously performed in 38 (5.17%) patients; 13 had impalpable mammographic multicentricity and 25 had extensive microcalcifications. A detailed analysis showed that this error in decision would have been detected and rectified in each of the above patients before commencement of radiotherapy. We conclude that although mammography cannot be totally excluded from the treatment algorithm for palpable breast cancer, conservative surgery can be offered in clinically suitable cases even if pre-operative mammography is not available due to limited resources in the developing world.

Medial pectoral pedicle: a critical landmark in axillary dissection.

Surgery for breast cancer has evolved over the last century and has gone from limited to radical, extended radical and back to conservative surgery. Along this journey, one constant feature has been the necessity for a complete axillary dissection. In recent times, this concept has also been successfully challenged and now we are in an era of conservative or limited surgery in the axilla as well. These surgical procedures such as four-node axillary sampling or the technology-driven sentinel node biopsy are conservative axillary procedures and are often performed through very small incisions. With limited access to the surgical field, there is always an increased chance of inadvertent and unnecessary injury to surrounding vital anatomical structures such as nerves or blood vessels. A well-designed road map can definitely prevent such mishaps. This paper describes a simple technique of axillary surgery, which is step-wise and makes use of a relatively constant landmark, namely the medial pectoral pedicle, present within the axilla. Such a regimented systematic approach not only allows us to minimize the risks of complications during axillary surgery, but also enables us to train beginners easily and efficiently.

Hepatic resection for metastasis from adenoid cystic carcinoma of parotid gland.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is the commonest malignant tumor of the submandibular and minor salivary glands; the parotid gland constitutes a small share of this neoplasm. We present a 30-year-old woman with solitary liver metastasis from an adenoid cystic carcinoma of the parotid gland, which had been surgically treated 10 years ago. The patient underwent successful resection of this metastasis.

Interpectoral approach to dissection of the axillary apex: an elegant and effective approach.

BACKGROUND: Axillary dissection is the gold standard for treatment of the axilla. It provides important prognostic information, accurately stages the axilla, and has the lowest recurrence rate among all modalities. In today's age of conservation surgery, the axilla is often addressed through a cosmetically acceptable small incision with limited access, thereby making clearance of the level III nodes difficult. METHODS: We describe a method of apical lymph node dissection through the interpectoral plane, which effectively clears the apex despite the constraints of limited exposure. RESULTS: This method has been used in nearly 5,000 axillary dissections performed at our institute, with excellent results. It preserves the innervation of the pectoral muscles and affords access to the interpectoral nodes. CONCLUSIONS: Our method has a short learning curve, provides good exposure of a difficult area and consistently provides a good yield of nodes.

Pediatric thyroid cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The treatment of pediatric thyroid cancer evokes considerable controversy. The extent of surgery and role of postoperative radioactive iodine are not clearly defined. We analyzed the behavior of pediatric thyroid cancers and its management. METHODS: Eighty-three patients, from 1964-2000, were identified by a search of our database. The clinical course of 26 patients was not evaluated because of inadequate follow-up and the remaining 57 patients were included in the final survival analysis. These 26 patients were included for analyses of epidemiological data. RESULTS: There were 27 males and 56 females. Cervical lymphadenopathy was a common presentation (57.8%). The predominant histology was papillary carcinoma (57%). Sixteen patients (19.2%) had pulmonary metastases at presentation. Patients with cervical nodes had a significantly higher incidence of pulmonary metastasis compared to those who presented with thyroid nodule (P = 0.037). Five patients (31.2%) with pulmonary metastases had a negative chest X-ray and were detected only on the radioiodine scan. At median follow-up of 64 months, all 57 patients were alive, 10 with disease and 47 disease free. CONCLUSION: Despite its advanced stage at presentation, pediatric thyroid cancer is associated with an excellent prognosis. We advocate total thyroidectomy and radioactive iodine as the best management option as the incidence of pulmonary metastases is high.