[A Case of Breast Metastasis from Renal Cell Carcinoma].

The patient was a woman in her 90s. Right radical nephrectomy for right renal cell carcinoma had been performed 2 years and 6 months ago. Since then, there had been no recurrence. However, computed tomography during postoperative follow- up period showed a 3 cm mass in the right breast, and the patient was referred to our department. Breast ultrasonography indicated a well-circumscribed, oval, and almost smooth-surfaced tumor, 27 mm in size, located in the D region of the right breast. Results of a core needle biopsy showed metastatic renal cell carcinoma and clear cell carcinoma. Preoperative examination confirmed intramammary metastases of renal cell carcinoma. Given that the patient did not experience systemic metastases, partial mastectomy of the right breast was performed. Metastatic renal cell carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis. Generally, standard treatment in this disease is chemotherapy. However, surgical resection is selected with the aim of improving the prognosis and achieving radical cure of patients with this complication if these patients are in an oligometastatic state and complete resection of metastatic lesions is feasible, as in the present case. To achieve radical cure, the patient underwent partial mastectomy under local anesthesia, which is a relatively minimally invasive surgery.

Impact of a multi-professional expert team on EOL care of children with cancer.

BACKGROUND: The quality of end-of-life (Q-EOL) care is influenced by various factors such as resources for palliative care (PC). We introduced a multi-professional expert team (MET) in 2014, which provides home-based care for children and adolescents with incurable cancer. This study investigated the impacts of the outreach activities by the MET on Q-EOL care of pediatric oncology patients. METHODS: This observational study retrospectively examined 112 patients receiving end-of-life care between 1989 and 2018 at a pediatric cancer center in Japan. Some of the indicators of Q-EOL care before and after the introduction of the outreach activities by the MET were compared. The subjects were 92 in pre-MET and 20 in post-MET periods. RESULTS: The median number of days for which the patients stayed at home during the final seven or 30 days were significantly prolonged in the post-MET period (0.0 vs 1.5 days, P = 0.020, 3.0 vs 12.0 days, P = 0.042). The change was more significant in hematologic malignancies than solid and central nervous system tumors. Patients receiving longer PC before their deaths could stay at home longer during the last 7 days. The ratio of patients receiving PC for more than 2 months was significantly increased in post-MET period (60.9 vs 90.0%, P = 0.014). More patients also greeted their deaths at home in the post-MET period (3.3 vs 25.0%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The activities of the MET transformed the end-of-life care of children and adolescents with incurable cancer. Earlier transitions to PC from curative treatment were associated with longer home-based care and more deaths at home.

[Importance of Local Therapy for Oligometastatic Breast Cancer-A Case Report].

A case of successful local treatment for metachronous oligometastases to the lung and mediastinal lymph nodes in a postmenopausal woman with breast cancer is presented. A 44-year-old woman underwent partial mastectomy and left axillary lymph node dissection for right breast cancer. Thirteen years and 3 months after the operation, she was referred to our hospital for a right lung mass detected by mass screening and diagnosed with a metastatic lung tumor from left breast cancer following CT-guided biopsy. She was simultaneously diagnosed with right breast cancer, and pulmonary metastasectomy, right partial mastectomy, and sentinel lymph node biopsy were performed. Two years after the second operation, follow-up CT showed a swollen lymph node at the pre-tracheal space, and endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer. The mediastinal lymph node metastasis showed no change in size for 2 years and 7 months with fulvestrant therapy, and no other metastases were found. Proton beam therapy of 60 GyE in 30 fractions was administered to the metastatic lymph node. Substantial tumor shrinkage with no severe toxicity was observed, and to date, the patient has remained disease-free. More cases need to be studied to investigate the appropriate strategy for local therapy in patients with oligometastatic breast cancer.

[A Case of Primary Acinic Cell Carcinoma of the Breast].

Acinic cell carcinoma(ACC)is an invasive malignancy primarily characterized by proliferation of tumor cells that resemble acinar cells of the salivary glands and pancreas. ACC of the mammary glands is rare. We report a case of primary ACC of the breast. Two masses were revealed in the left mammary gland of a 57-year-old woman who visited our hospital through screening mammography. The lesions were identified as synchronous multiple breast carcinoma of 2 different histological types; ACC and tubulolobular carcinoma. For treatment, left mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy were performed, followed by postoperative chemotherapy and endocrine therapy. Hematoxylin-eosin staining of ACC revealed abundant acinar- like structures formed by tumor cells with prominent eosinophilic granules in the cytoplasm. Immunostaining was positive for S-100 protein, α1-antichymotrypsin, α1-antitrypsin, and lysozyme. The tumor cells were negative for estrogen, progesterone, and HER2 receptors, which indicated that they had a triple-negative phenotype. Although primary ACC of the breast is regarded as low-grade triple-negative breast carcinoma with a favorable prognosis, further accumulation of cases may be needed to elucidate the biological features of ACC and investigate appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Self-reported assessment of health-related quality of life in children who underwent restorative proctocolectomy with ileal J-pouch anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis.

PURPOSE: To clarify health-related quality of life (HRQOL) by self-evaluation after restorative proctocolectomy with ileal J-pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) in children with ulcerative colitis, a questionnaire using the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ 4.0 (PedsQL) was administered. METHODS: The PedsQL was administered to 13 consecutive children (mean age 14.5 years) who underwent IPAA between 2005 and 2010 in our hospital and age-matched healthy controls. The mean duration after IPAA was 2.5 years (range 0.08-6 years) at the time of this study. Healthy children completed the same questionnaire by retrospective imaging during the past 1 month by the PedsQL evaluation policy. RESULTS: Patients' total score and each functioning score after IPAA reached the same levels as those in healthy controls. Soiling, pouchitis occurrence, and bowel movements had no significant relationship to the PedsQL total score and each functioning score. CONCLUSIONS: Interference of physical activity, emotional status, and social life caused by refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) worsens patients' HRQOL. IPAA could resolve these problems in children with UC and result in an HRQOL comparable with that in healthy children.

Monitoring of Programmed Cell Death Ligand-1 Blockade Using FDG PET/CT for Microsatellite Instability-High Metastatic Breast Cancer.

ABSTRACT: Microsatellite instability-high/mismatch repair deficiency is one of biomarkers predicting the response to pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor for metastatic solid tumors. A 44-year-old woman with stage IIIC right breast cancer was treated with mastectomy and axillary node dissection after primary systemic chemotherapy followed by radiation, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy. Eighteen months after surgery, recurrent diseases were revealed and refractory to multiple treatments. The recurrent site biopsy showed microsatellite instability-high, and programmed cell death ligand-1 inhibitor pembrolizumab was administrated. FDG PET/CT showed complete metabolic response over 12 months and is useful to monitor the response of active immunotherapy.