Management of the axilla in postmenopausal patients with cN0 hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant endocrine therapy and its prognostic impact.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences in nodal positivity if the sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) is performed before or after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) in breast cancer patients, and its impact on prognosis. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was performed in a single center including 91 postmenopausal cases with clinically node-negative and hormone receptor-positive/HER2-negative (HR + /HER2-) breast cancer, treated with NET and SLNB. SLNB was done pre-NET until 2014, and post-NET thereafter. Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) was indicated only in SLNB macrometastasis, although in selected elderly patients, it was omitted. Kaplan-Meier survival curves were estimated in relation to the status of the axilla, and the differences assessed using the log-rank test. RESULTS: Between December 2006 and March 2022, SLNB was performed pre-NET in 14 cases and post-NET in 77. Both groups were similar in baseline tumor and patient characteristics. SLNB positivity was similar regardless of whether SLNB was performed before (5/14, 35.7%) or after NET (27/77, 37%), with 2/14 SLN macrometastases in the pre-NET cohort and 17/77 in the post-NET cohort. Only three patients (18.7%) with SLN macrometastasis had > 3 positive nodes following ALND. The 5-year overall survival and distant disease-free survival were 92.4% and 94.8%, respectively, with no significant differences according to SLNB status (p 0.5 and 0.8, respectively). CONCLUSION: SLN positivity did not differ according to its timing (before or after NET). Therefore, NET has no effect on lymph node clearance. Furthermore, the prognosis is good regardless of the axillary involvement. Therefore, factors other than axillary involvement may affect the prognosis in these patients.

Impact of the initial experience in the penile inversion vaginoplasty technique on satisfaction levels: a pilot retrospective cohort study.

Background: There is a growing interest in reporting satisfaction levels of transgender women undergoing vaginoplasty surgery. The lack of information regarding satisfaction during the initial experience of the vaginoplasty technique, and the moderate morbidity related to the surgery, could discourage the immersion of new groups in initiating a program of this kind. Therefore, we aim to report patients' level of satisfaction during our initial experience in the penile inversion vaginoplasty technique. Methods: Retrospective study of patients who underwent penile inversion vaginoplasty in our center between September 2019 and August 2021. Surgery technique, demographic data, preoperative clinical variables, and short and long-term follow-up are described. Six months after surgery, a survey elaborated by the research team was conducted by phone. The score goes from 1 to 5, and it evaluates satisfaction on esthetics, functional, psychosocial, and global aspects. Results: Twenty patients underwent penile inversion vaginoplasty in our center during the described period. The average age was 35.6 years old, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.7 kg/m2, and they presented low comorbidity. Half of the patients presented at least one complication, most of which were minor. One patient was urgently reoperated due to bleeding, and three patients were reoperated on a scheduled basis from minor surgeries. 90% of the patients answered the questionnaire. The most common answers to all four areas covered (esthetics, functional, psychosocial, and global) were satisfied or very satisfied, resulting in a mean over four points in each one of the sections. Lastly, 94.4% of the patients reported being satisfied with their choice of having undergone surgery. Conclusions: Our initial experience in penile inversion vaginoplasty reveals good satisfaction results at short follow up.

Angiosarcoma primario y secundario de mama: estudio de 8 casos con evidencia de origen linfático en los angiosarcomas posradioterapia / Primary and secondary angiosarcoma of the breast. A study of 8 cases with evidence of a lymphatic origin in post-radiation angiosarcomas

Objetivo. Analizar las diferencias entre los angiosarcomas primarios y posradioterapia de mama. Pacientes y métodos. Revisamos retrospectivamente angiosarcomas de mama entre los años 2000 y 2010. Realizamos un estudio clinicopatológico e inmunohistoquímico con CKAE1/AE3, CD31, CD34, Ki-67, D2-40. Resultados. Se incluyeron 8 mujeres, 4 con angiosarcomas primarios y 4 secundarios. La edad media era de 66 años en los primarios y de 74 en los secundarios. El periodo de latencia medio posradioterapia en los angiosarcomas secundarios fue de 118 meses. Tres tumores secundarios afectaban la piel, 3 angiosarcomas primarios eran intraparenquimatosos y los 2 restantes fueron mixtos. Todos los casos fueron CD31+/CD34+/CKAE1/AE3−. Los angiosarcomas secundarios expresaron el marcador linfático D2-40, mientras que los primarios eran D2-40−. Conclusiones. Los angiosarcomas secundarios expresan D2-40, mientras que los primarios son negativos para este marcador. Ello evidencia un origen vascular linfático para los angiosarcomas posradioterapia (AU)

Objective. To analyze differences between primary and radiation-associated secondary breast angiosarcomas. Patients and methods. We retrospectively reviewed all cases of angiosarcoma diagnosed at our hospital between 2000 and 2010. We analyzed the clinical and pathological features. In the immunohistochemical study, we assessed expression of CKAE1/AE3, CD31, CD34, Ki-67 and D2-40. Results. There were 8 women, 4 with primary angiosarcoma and 4 with secondary angiosarcoma. The mean age at presentation was 66 years for primary tumors and 74 years for secondary angiosarcomas. The mean latency period for radiation-associated angiosarcomas was 118 months. Three secondary tumors involved the skin, 3 primary angiosarcomas were intramammary and the remaining 2 were mixed. All tumors were CD31+/CD34+/CKAE1/AE3−. The secondary angiosarcomas also expressed D2-40, while the primary tumors were negative for this lymphatic marker. Conclusions. Secondary angiosarcomas express D2-40, while primary angiosarcomas are negative for this lymphatic marker. This finding suggests a lymphatic origin for post-radiation angiosarcomas (AU)

Efficacy and safety of concurrent trastuzumab plus weekly paclitaxel-FEC as primary therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer in everyday clinical practice.

One of the most efficacious primary therapies in HER2-positive breast cancer was published by the M.D. Anderson group in 2005. This randomized trial evaluated the addition of trastuzumab to a taxane-anthracycline based chemotherapy. Despite largely significant differences in pathological complete response (pCR) in the trastuzumab group (65 vs. 26 %) this regimen did not become a common standard due to toxicity concerns and its premature closure with a small sample size. In order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of this regimen in an off-trial setting we conducted a prospectively monitorized series of consecutive patients with early or locally advanced Her-2 positive breast cancer following the same treatment strategy. Stage II-IIIC HER2-positive breast cancer patients, including inflammatory disease, were treated with weekly-trastuzumab for 24 weeks administered concurrently with all primary chemotherapy containing paclitaxel (80 mg/m(2)) for 12 weeks and 4 cycles of FEC-75 (fluorouracil 500 mg/m(2), epirubicine 75 mg/m(2), and cyclophosphamide 500 mg/m(2)) followed by surgery. The objectives were efficacy, in terms of pCR in both the breast and lymph nodes, and safety, with close cardiac monitoring during and after treatment. From August 2004 to February 2009, 83 patients were included. Most patients (73.5 %) had node involvement and 13.2 % had inflammatory disease. Fifty-one patients (61.4 %) achieved a pCR in breast and axilla (95 % CI 50-72 %). HR-negative tumors were associated with higher pCR rate than HR-positive tumors (77 vs. 48 %, P = 0.006). At a median follow-up of 50.2 months no patient developed symptomatic cardiac failure, and 9 patients (10.8 %) presented a transient asymptomatic decrease in left ventricular ejection fraction. Primary therapy with concurrent trastuzumab plus paclitaxel-FEC for HER2-positive breast cancer in everyday practice is highly effective and safe confirming the results observed in a randomized trial stopped prematurely.