RESUMO
Fertility-preserving surgery (FPS) in advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) is extremely rare and consequently, information about the pregnancies of these patients is anecdotal. Therefore, management of the pregnancy after AOC is challenging, especially if an unexpected situation arises. A 31-year-old nulliparous woman was admitted to our tertiary hospital in the 18th week of twin pregnancy with sudden severe abdominal pain. Her medical history included a low-grade AOC stage IIIc diagnosed 2 years before pregnancy and treated by debulking FPS and systemic therapy with carboplatin/paclitaxel and bevacizumab. Clinical examination described normal vital signs and peritoneal irritation without any vaginal discharge. Sonography revealed free fluid in the pouch of Douglas and intact twin pregnancy. Laboratory work showed elevated leukocytes with neutrophilia. To evaluate appendicitis magnetic resonance imaging of the abdomen was indicated. This revealed a uterine rupture with the now extra-cavitary position of the twins. Simultaneously, the patient's symptoms deteriorated, and emergency surgery was necessary where hemoperitoneum with avital fetuses were present. Despite excessive blood loss the uterus could be repaired and preserved. Previous resection of the uterine serosa during her debulking FPS, administration of bevacizumab affecting smooth muscles, and overstretching the uterus in the twin pregnancy were considered as possible risk factors for the presenting uterine rupture. Pregnancy after AOC is possible but should be monitored closely, especially due to the hidden long-term consequences of its therapy. In the differential diagnosis of sudden abdominal pain during pregnancy uterine rupture should be considered even in patients with an unscared uterus.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Invasive lobular breast carcinomas (ILC) have different histological features compared to non-special type carcinomas (NST), but the effect of histological subtypes on survival is controversial. In this study, we compared clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes between ILC and NST based on a large pooled data set from three adjuvant breast cancer trials (SUCCESS A, B, and C) and investigated a potential differential effect of recurrence risk related to nodal stage on survival. METHODS: From 2005 to 2017, the large randomized controlled SUCCESS A, B, and C trials enrolled 8190 patients with primary, intermediate-to-high-risk breast carcinoma. All patients received adjuvant chemotherapy, and endocrine and/or HER2-targeted treatment was given where appropriate. Survival outcomes in terms of disease-free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS), breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS), and distant disease-free survival (DDFS) were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and analyzed using log-rank tests as well as univariable and adjusted multivariable Cox regression models. RESULTS: In the SUCCESS trials, 6284 patients had NST and 952 had ILC. The median follow-up time was 64 months. ILC patients were older, more likely to receive mastectomy, and more likely to have larger tumor sizes, lymph node infiltration, hormone receptor-positive, HER2neu-negative, and luminal A-like tumors than NST patients. In the overall cohort, no significant differences between ILC and NST were detectable regarding the four survival endpoints, with hazard ratios obtained in adjusted multivariable cox regressions of 0.96 (95% CI 0.77-1.21, p = 0.743) for DFS, 1.13 (95% CI 0.85-1.50, p = 0.414) for OS, 1.21 (95% CI 0.89-1.66, p = 0.229) for BCSS, and 0.95 (95% CI 0.73-1.24, p = 0.689) for DDFS. However, a differential effect of nodal stage on survival was observed, with better survival for ILC patients with pN0/pN1 tumors and worse survival for ILC patients with pN2/pN3 tumors compared to NST patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our results revealed that ILC was associated with worse survival compared to NST for patients at high risk of recurrence due to advanced lymph node infiltration. These findings should be taken into account for treatment decisions and monitoring.