Impact of Number of Positive Lymph Nodes and Lymph Node Ratio on Survival of Women with Node-Positive Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the association of axillary lymph node ratio (LNR) and number of positive lymph nodes (pN) with the risk of breast cancer recurrence and death. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of node-positive stage II and III breast cancer patients diagnosed and treated between 2008 and 2009 at the Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), Brazil. Overall and disease-free survival curves for number of positive lymph nodes (pN) and lymph node ratio (LNR) risk groups were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the log-rank test. Multivariate analysis was performed using stepwise forward Cox regression models. RESULTS: In total, 628 women with node-positive breast cancer were included. Most patients (69.5%) had advanced clinical stage tumors (≥IIB). The median follow-up was 58 months (range: 3-92 months). The adjusted recurrence hazard of pN2 and pN3 patients was 2.47 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] 1.72-3.56) and 2.42 (1.62-3.60), respectively, compared to pN1 patients (p<0.001), while the hazard of intermediate (0.21-0.65) and high-risk (>0.65) LNR was 2.11 (1.49-3.00) and 3.19 (2.12-4.80), respectively, compared to low-risk LNR (≤0.20) patients (p<0.001). On the other hand, the hazard of death of pN2 and pN3 patients was 2.17 (1.42-3.30) and 2.41 (1.53-3.78), respectively (p<0.001), and the hazard of intermediate (0.21-0.65) and high-risk (>0.65) LNR patients was 1.70 (1.13-2.56) and 2.74 (1.75-4.28), respectively (p≤0.001). CONCLUSION: Higher pN and LNR were associated with shorter disease-free survival and overall survival times.

Impact of Treatment Type on Overall Survival in ElderlyBrazilian Women with Breast Cancer

Objective: To analyze the survival of elderly patients with breast cancer according to the type of treatment used. Methods: A cohort study of women aged 80 or over with breast cancer registered with the Brazilian National Cancer Institute (Instituto Nacional do Câncer - INCA) between 2008 and 2009 was conducted. Prognosis was analyzed according to the cancer treatment performed: surgery, radiotherapy, or hormone therapy. Analysis of the overall 5-year survival rate was performed using the Kaplan - Meier method, and comparisons of curves were undertaken using the log-rank test. For multiple regression analysis, Cox regression was used, adjusting for age and clinical stage, considering values of p < 0.05 as significant. Data were all analyzed using the statistical package SPSS version 20. Results: 70 women with a mean age of 84.0 ± 3.7 years at diagnosis participated in the study. The median follow-up time was 37.1 months (range 0.5­75.5), and 31 deaths (44.3%) occurred during this time. The median survival time was 51.2 months (95% CI, 44.9­57.4), higher in those who underwent surgery (p = 0.012) and those who had hormone therapy (p=0.001). Treatment with surgery reduced the risk of death by 61.7% (HR 0.3; 95% CI, 0.1­0.6; p = 0.001) when adjusted for clinical stage and age at diagnosis. However, there was no significant benefit from radiotherapy (HR 1.2; 95% CI, 0.5­2.5; p = 0.694). Conclusion: Treatment with surgery and hormone therapy increased the survival of our Brazilian patients with breast cancer aged 80 or over.

Margens cirúrgicas no tratamento conservador do câncer de mama:revisão sistemática / Surgical margins in conservative treatment of breast cancer: systematic review

Há um intenso debate sobre margens cirúrgicas, embora o Consenso Internacional de 2010 defina margem positiva como tumor microscópico tocando o nanquim e margem de 2 mm para carcinoma in situ. No Instituto Nacional de Câncer, considerou-se adequada a margem de 10 mm para pacientes submetidas à cirurgia conservadora, e a reexcisão foi recomendada para aquelas menores que 10 mm. Buscamos referências bibliográficas no banco de dados MEDLINE que estudassem a taxa de ampliações de margens cirúrgicas e neoplasia residual, além da associação entre margens e recidiva de câncer de mama nas pacientes submetidas a tratamento conservador. Identificamos 113 artigos, porém apenas 5 foram incluídos. Encontramos apenas 2 artigos que associaram taxa de ampliação e neoplasia residual nas peças de reexcisão. Os demais artigos incluídos avaliaram o impacto das margens cirúrgicas na recorrência local e a distância e na sobrevida global. A presença de doença residual na peça de ampliação demonstrou-se importante fator prognóstico e correlaciona-se com o risco de doença acdistância, demonstrando que o componente biológico do tumor é mais importante do que a distância das margens.

There is an extensive debate about surgical margins, although 2010 International Consensus defines positive margin as microscopic tumor touching the stain and 2 mm for in situ carcinoma. At INCA, is considered satisfactory 10 mm margin for patients undergoing conservative surgery, and reexcision is recommended for those smaller than 10 mm. We searched for references at MEDLINE that studied reexcision rates and residual disease, and the association between surgical margins and breast cancer relapse between patients treated with conservative surgery. An amount of 113 articles were identified, but only 5 included. Only 2 articles associated reexcision rates and residual disease in reexcision specimens. The others evaluated the impact of surgical margins in local and distance recurrence and global survival. Residual disease in reexcision specimens was an important prognostic factor and correlates to the risk of distant recurrence, showing that the biologic component of the tumor might be more important than margins distance.