The effect of surgery type on survival and recurrence in very young women with breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The impact of surgical treatment on outcomes in breast cacner in very young women remains unclear. We sought to determine the effect of surgery type on risk of recurrence and survival in a population-based cohort. METHODS: All women diagnosed with breast cancer aged ≤35 (1994-2003) were identified from the Ontario Cancer Registry. Patient, tumor, and treatment variables, including primary surgery, recurrences, and death were abstracted from chart review. Cox regression models were fit to determine the effect of surgery type on recurrence and overall survival. RESULTS: We identified 1,381 patients with 11-year median follow-up of which 793 (57%) had BCS. Of the remaining mastectomy patients, 52% had postmastectomy radiation. Overall, 41% of patients sustained a recurrence of any type and 31% died. Controlling for known confounders, there was no association between type of surgery and death from any cause (HR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.78, 1.25) or first recurrence (HR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.75, 1.14). Distant recurrence was most common (13% in BCS; 25.3% in mastectomy) with local recurrence 12.4% after BCS and 7.5% after mastectomy. CONCLUSIONS: In this cohort of very young women who were selected for treatment with BCS and mastectomy, we found similar oncologic outcomes. J. Surg. Oncol. 2017;115:122-130. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Can Molecular Biomarkers Help Reduce the Overtreatment of DCIS?

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), especially in the era of mammographic screening, is a commonly diagnosed breast tumor. Despite the low breast cancer mortality risk, management with breast conserving surgery (BCS) and radiotherapy (RT) is the prevailing treatment approach in order to reduce the risk of local recurrence (LR), including invasive LR, which carries a subsequent risk of breast cancer mortality. However, reliable and accurate individual risk prediction remains elusive and RT continues to be standardly recommended for most women with DCIS. Three molecular biomarkers have been studied to better estimate LR risk after BCS-Oncotype DX DCIS score, DCISionRT Decision Score and its associated Residual Risk subtypes, and Oncotype 21-gene Recurrence Score. All these molecular biomarkers represent important efforts towards improving predicted risk of LR after BCS. To prove clinical utility, these biomarkers require careful predictive modeling with calibration and external validation, and evidence of benefit to patients; on this front, further research is needed. Most trials do not incorporate molecular biomarkers in evaluating de-escalation of therapy for DCIS; however, one-the Prospective Evaluation of Breast-Conserving Surgery Alone in Low-Risk DCIS (ELISA) trial-incorporates the Oncotype DX DCIS score in defining a low-risk population and is an important next step in this line of research.