The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Surgical Management of Breast Cancer: Global Trends and Future Perspectives.

INTRODUCTION: The rapid spread of COVID-19 across the globe is forcing surgical oncologists to change their daily practice. We sought to evaluate how breast surgeons are adapting their surgical activity to limit viral spread and spare hospital resources. METHODS: A panel of 12 breast surgeons from the most affected regions of the world convened a virtual meeting on April 7, 2020, to discuss the changes in their local surgical practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, a Web-based poll based was created to evaluate changes in surgical practice among breast surgeons from several countries. RESULTS: The virtual meeting showed that distinct countries and regions were experiencing different phases of the pandemic. Surgical priority was given to patients with aggressive disease not candidate for primary systemic therapy, those with progressive disease under neoadjuvant systemic therapy, and patients who have finished neoadjuvant therapy. One hundred breast surgeons filled out the poll. The trend showed reductions in operating room schedules, indications for surgery, and consultations, with an increasingly restrictive approach to elective surgery with worsening of the pandemic. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 emergency should not compromise treatment of a potentially lethal disease such as breast cancer. Our results reveal that physicians are instinctively reluctant to abandon conventional standards of care when possible. However, as the situation deteriorates, alternative strategies of de-escalation are being adopted. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study aimed to characterize how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting breast cancer surgery and which strategies are being adopted to cope with the situation.

An Unusual Case of Invasive Encapsulated Papillary Carcinoma of the Breast: A Case Report.

Papillary carcinoma of the breast is a rare type of breast malignancy, making up less than 2% of breast cancers, and only some are encapsulated papillary carcinoma. Usually, EPC are low-grade luminal like tumors. The authors report a case of a 50-year-old female with the diagnosis of an unusual high-grade triple negative encapsulated papillary carcinoma with an area of invasive papillary carcinoma and negative axillary lymph nodes. Considering its rarity, the description of this case and its clinical management are important in order to better understand this entity and choose the best clinical approach.

O carcinoma papilar é um tipo raro de cancro da mama, com incidência inferior a 2%, sendo apenas uma parte carcinoma papilar encapsulado. Normalmente, o carcinoma papilar encapsulado apresenta-se como um carcinoma da mama tipo luminal e bem diferenciado. Os autores apresentam o caso de uma mulher de 50 anos com o diagnóstico de carcinoma papilar encapsulado triplo negativo e pouco diferenciado com uma área de carcinoma papilar invasivo e gânglios linfáticos axilares negativos. Considerando a sua raridade, a descrição deste caso e da sua abordagem torna-se importante um melhor entendimento desta entidade e para compreender a melhor prática clínica a utilizar.

How to become a breast cancer specialist in 2018: The point of view of the second cohort of the Certificate of Competence in Breast Cancer (CCB2).

Breast cancer (BC) is the most frequent cancer in women and the leading cause of cancer death in females worldwide. Rapid research advancements add to the complexity of treatment options for this disease. It is known that the quality of patients' care is deeply affected by healthcare professionals following these advancements. There is a growing need for academic education to increase clinical knowledge and skills of physicians treating BC patients. The certificate of Competence in Breast Cancer Program (CCB) is a Certificate in Advanced Studies (CAS) organized by the European School of Oncology in cooperation with Ulm University (Germany), which focuses on both the clinical and scientific competence required for improving quality in the management of BC patients. This paper describes the experience of the second CCB cohort (CCB2), which brought together 24 physicians from four continents who shared the common will to improve their competence and skills in BC treatment.

Neoplasm of uncertain behaviour of the breast-a retrospective study in a breast unit.

INTRODUCTION: Breast lesions include a heterogeneous group of entities with variable clinical behaviour and morphological presentation, mostly classified as benign or malignant, with predictable behaviour. However, there are lesions with clinical, breast imaging and/or biopsy characteristics that do not clarify their nature. These lesions have an uncertain behaviour regarding their malignant potential at diagnosis.We intend to relate the preoperative diagnosis of neoplasm of uncertain behaviour of the breast (NUnBB) regarding the core needle biopsy and the histological result after excisional biopsy. METHODS: This is a retrospective study of patients submitted to local excision of breast lesions with a perioperative diagnosis of NUnBB, classified as 2383 at 'International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems' (ICD 9), between January 2007 and October 2016 in a breast unit. RESULTS: Ninety-two cases with the diagnosis of NUnBB were analysed: 91 females with a mean age of 59 ± 14 years. All were submitted to local excision of breast lesion as ambulatory surgery with the following histology: 64% benign, 3% malignant potential and 33% malignant. Of those who presented malignant results, 69% underwent a surgical re-intervention for local control of the disease. DISCUSSION: Regarding the considerable number of malignant lesions at final histology and the high percentage of which are re-operated, NUnBB should be treated with the same priority as a confirmed malignant neoplasm and whenever possible, using the most appropriate surgical technique.