RESUMO
PURPOSE: Breast cancer is a growing public health challenge in Thailand. Pathum Raksa project was launched in 2015, as a result of higher than expected rate of triple-negative breast cancers in Thai women. The purpose of this project was to identify the cause(s) and address the issue(s), hence improving the quality of breast cancer biomarker testing in Thailand. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nineteen hospitals across the country, with 902 breast cancer patients were enrolled in this study during 2015-2020. The pre- and post-data from Pathum Raksa initiative was only available for Khon Kaen University (KKU) and Udonthani hospitals in Northeast Thailand. We developed a resource-stratified strategic plan that included designing a unique specimen container, forming multidisciplinary teams from the Surgery and Pathology Departments, and employing locally developed innovative technologies to optimize the entire process of breast cancer diagnostics and biomarker testing. RESULTS: The rate of triple-negative breast cancers in KKU and Udonthani decreased 52.8% (p = 0.02) and 28.9% (p = 0.48), respectively. The rate of ER+ breast cancers in both hospitals increased 5% post-Pathum Raksa implementation. The rate of HER2-neu+ (score 3+) also increased in both hospitals (particularly an increased 65% rate in KKU). Luminal A/B cancers were the most common subtype in both KKU and Udonthani hospitals. CONCLUSION: Pathum Raksa project has significantly improved breast cancer biomarker testing in Thailand. As a result of this national innovation, false-negative rates of breast biomarkers have significantly decreased, resulting in improving prognosis, treatment, and survival of breast cancer women in Thailand.
RESUMO
Sentinel lymph node (SLN) provides accurate nodal staging for breast cancer. This technique has been introduced in Siriraj Hospital since 1998. The goal of this study is to assess its accuracy in predicting the state of the axilla, and compare the results of standard examination and multilevel sectioning. A retrospective analysis of 195 breast cancer patients who underwent both SLN biopsy (using dye alone as the lymphatic mapping) and axillary node dissection during 1998-2002 were analyzed. All slides including SLNs and the non-SLNs (NSLNs) were reviewed and multilevel study was performed on all SLNs and NSLNs [four levels of hematoxylin-eosin (HE) at 200 µm interval and keratin stains on the first and fourth levels]. Of 195 patients, 30% of cases were SLN-positive (32 NSLN-positive and 27 NSLN-negative). Additional study could detect positive axillary nodes 10.8% (4 SLN-positive and 5 NSLN-positive) more than standard HE stain. The false negative rate increased from 20.3% to 24.1%. The concordance between SLN and NSLN statuses was 89.7%. The sensitivity was 75.9%. By multivariate analysis, the significant predictors for axillary node metastasis were tumor size of more than 2.2 cm, histologic type of invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), not otherwise specified (NOS) and lymphovascular invasion (LVI). By univariable analysis, the significant predictors of NSLN metastasis after positive-SLN were outer location of the tumor, LVI and perinodal extension. In conclusion, use of multilevel and immunohistochemistry increased detection of positive-SLNs. Caution should be kept in accepting SLN biopsy using peritumoral dye technique alone as the procedure for staging due to a high false-negative rate. The concordance rate of 89.7% confirmed the reliability of SLN. Outer location of tumor, LVI and perinodal extension is significant predictors of positive-NSLN after positive-SLN.