Validation of the Prognostic Significance of the Prognostic Stage Group According to the Eighth Edition of American Cancer Joint Committee on Cancer Staging System in Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: An Analysis From Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results 18 Database.

BACKGROUND: The eighth edition of the American Cancer Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for breast cancer put forward the prognostic stage groups for the first time based on the traditional anatomic tumor-node-metastasis staging system. Our study intends to validate the predictive significance of the eighth edition staging system in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We collected and accessed 26,589 eligible cases of TNBC from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2010-2015) and reclassified the patient cohort according to the eighth edition of the AJCC staging system into anatomic and prognostic stages. RESULTS: The results showed that more than half of the patients upstaged in the prognostic stage when compared with the anatomic stage. By comparing with the anatomic stage, the prognostic stage had a higher likelihood ratio and linear trend χ2 values. The prognostic stage group also had higher Akaike information criterion and Bayesian information criterion values than the anatomic stage group. CONCLUSIONS: The prognostic staging system in TNBC patients performs more optimistic prognostic stratification and predictability than the anatomic staging system. Moreover, the latest AJCC staging system has a milestone importance to the history of breast cancer staging system.

Association of Axillary Lymph Node Evaluation With Survival in Women Aged 70 Years or Older With Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Survival in elderly patients undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) has not been specifically analyzed. This study aimed to explore the association between different types of axillary lymph node (ALN) evaluations and survival of elderly breast cancer patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted of invasive ductal breast cancer patients 70 years and older in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database (2004-2016). Analyses were performed to compare the characteristics and survival outcomes of patients who received surgical lymph node dissection and those who did not. Breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival were compared by using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis and propensity score matching (PSM) methods to account for selection bias from covariate imbalance. RESULTS: Of the 75,950 patients analyzed, patients without ALN evaluation had a significantly worse prognosis, while there was no significant difference for BCSS between using a sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) and an axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) after adjustment for known covariates [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) = 0.991, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.925-1.062, p = 0.800]. In the stratification analyses after PSM, the ALND did not show a significant BCSS advantage compared with SLNB in any subgroups except for the pN1 stage or above. Furthermore, after PSM of the pN1 stage patients, SLNB was associated with a significantly worse BCSS in hormone receptor negative (HR-) patients (HR = 1.536, 95%CI = 1.213-1.946, p < 0.001), but not in the hormone receptor positive (HR+) group (HR = 1.150, 95%CI = 0.986-1.340, p = 0.075). CONCLUSION: In our study, ALND does not yield superior survival compared with SLNB for elderly patients with pN1 stage HR+ breast cancer. Although our findings are limited by the bias associated with retrospective study design, we believe that in the absence of results from randomized clinical trials, our findings should be considered when recommending the omission of ALND for elderly breast cancer patients.

Is Cervical Traction Effective in Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain Patients With Unsatisfactory NSAID Control? A Nomogram to Predict Effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: In this retrospective study, our objective was to establish a nomogram to predict the effectiveness of cervical traction in young and middle-aged chronic nonspecific neck pain (CNNP) patients with unsatisfactory nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) control. For CNNP patients with unsatisfactory NSAID control, the effectiveness of cervical traction varies. Neck muscle fat infiltration and clinical features may associate with the effectiveness. METHODS: A total of 186 suitable patients were classified into a training data set (from August 2015 to July 2018, n = 118) and a validation data set (from August 2018 to June 2019, n = 68) with time sequence. All patients were included to receive magnetic resonance imaging scan to calculate posterior cervical fat and muscle features, then undergoing unified cervical traction in an outpatient clinic. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was used to select potentially relevant features to predict effectiveness possibility of cervical traction. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to develop the predicting model, presenting with a nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was assessed based on its calibration, discrimination, and clinical utility. RESULTS: Through the LASSO regression model, we identified 4 predictors including sex, good exercise compliance, the ratio of the cross-sectional area (CSA) between fat and muscle on C5 level (C5 fat CSA/muscle CSA), the ratio of CSA between fat and centrum on C5 level (C5 fat CSA/centrum muscle CSA). The nomogram provided good calibration and discrimination in the training cohort, showing an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.704 (95% CI, 0.608-0.799) and good concordance between the predicted and actual probabilities with Spiegelhalter's Z-test (P = 0.835). Discrimination of the model in the validation data set was acceptable, with AUC of 0.691 (95% CI, 0.564-0.817). Decision curve analysis revealed the nomogram to be clinically useful. CONCLUSIONS: Male sex, good exercise compliance, lower C5 fat CSA/centrum CSA, and and lower C5 fat CSA/muscle CSA could be favorable features to predict the effectiveness of cervical traction in CNNP patients with unsatisfactory NSAID control.