Low Levels of Vitamin D in a Cohort of Women with Impalpable Breast Lesions from Rio de Janeiro/Brazil

Background: Low levels of vitamin D have been described as a risk factor for the development of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the serum levels of vitamin D (25OHD) in patients with impalpable breast lesions comparing with a control group. Methods: Vitamin D quantification (25OHD) was assessed in the plasma of 65 patients with impalpable breast lesions and from 20 health controls using a chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. Pearson's chi-square test and nonparametric t-Student were used to evaluate statistical significance between the clinical variables and the means of quantification of vitamin D. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the correlation between age and vitamin sufficiency for the cases and the controls. Results: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and/or insufficiency in women with malignant lesions was 84% and 60% for the control group. Using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, the relationship between vitamin D levels and age presented significant association only for the control group (P=0.002). Using ROC curve, the plot area (0.778) for the control group defined a cut-off value of 45 years to age, with specificity and sensitivity of 60% and 50%, respectively. Thus, the odds ratio for vitamin D insufficiency in women over 45 years was 1.37 (P=0.011). For the case group, clinical characteristics, histological grade, and lymph node involvement did not show any significant association. Conclusion: The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency is high in women with impalpable breast lesions, as well as in the control group, even in a tropical city. According to the results the age advancement may be involved with the decrease in vitamin D levels in plasma, but there was no statistical association between low levels of Vitamin D and breast cancer.

Erythema multiforme associated with prophylactic use of phenytoin during cranial radiation therapy.

PURPOSE: A case of erythema multiforme associated with prophylactic use of phenytoin during cranial radiation therapy is reported. SUMMARY: A 60-year-old woman with intraductal adenocarcinoma of the breast and cerebral metastasis who had an implanted central venous catheter arrived at the hospital for the treatment of cerebral metastasis. She underwent whole brain irradiation and was given a total dose of 3750 cGy over 15 fractional doses spaced over three weeks. At the beginning of cranial radiation therapy, prophylactic oral ranitidine, oral dexamethasone, and oral phenytoin were initiated to prevent seizures. After 30 days of continuous prophylactic phenytoin and cranial radiation therapy, the patient developed an episode of coughing with yellow sputum, mucositis, and a minor skin reaction that was diagnosed in the emergency department as radiotherapy-associated lesions. After 2 days, the patient returned to the hospital with severe mucositis and an erythematous macular eruption on the scalp and auricular region within the radiation field. These were believed to be due to the radiation therapy, and the patient was subsequently hospitalized. The eruption dramatically extended over the next day, with itching micropapular urticarial lesions over large areas of the face, trunk, and genital region. The condition had worsened by the next day, with erythematous eruptions on the whole body (including the extremities), skin detachment, and vesicular lesions on the eyelids. The patient was then diagnosed toxic epidermal necrolysis. CONCLUSION: A patient with intraductal adenocarcinoma of the breast and cerebral metastasis developed erythema multiforme after receiving concurrent phenytoin and radiation therapy.

[Microcalcifications associated with in situ ductal breast carcinoma. Mammographic and histological correlations with morphometric evaluation]. / Microcalcificazioni associate a carcinoma mammario duttale in situ. Correlazioni mammografiche e istologiche con valutazioni morfometriche.

This study includes 33 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ and its aim is to detect and classify microcalcifications according to their appearance, mammographically, histologically and morphometrically. From the histological point of view, intraductal carcinomas are classified following the criteria proposed by Holland et al. The types of carcinoma examined reveal the presence of different microcalcifications. The calcifications associated with G1 carcinomas appear as highly compact morphometrically, fine or mainly so mammographically and laminated or mixed histologically; no granular calcifications are observed. On the other hand, calcifications associated with type G2 appear as coarse mammographically, granular histologically and scarcely compact morphometrically. Finally, G3 carcinomas mainly reveal by mammography vermicular calcifications (in a few cases associated with fine ones). Granular calcifications are predominant on histological examination while morphometry shows the poorest level of compactness.

Lipoma of the midbrain. Post-mortem finding in a patient with breast cancer.

Intracranial lipomas are rare, usually do not have clinical expression and are located more frequently in the corpus callosum. Other locations include the spinal cord, midbrain tectum, superior vermis, tuber cinereum, infundibulum and more rarely cerebellopontine angle, hypothalamus, superior medullary velum and insula. We report the case of a lipoma of the left inferior colliculus which was a post-mortem finding in a woman who died of breast cancer. Although there are reports of intracranial lipomas in patients with malignant tumors there is no explanation for the co-existence of the two tumors. The present tumor also includes a segment of a nerve which is not uncommon, but a less common finding was the presence of nests of Schwann cells within it, shown by immunohistochemistry.