Non-sclerosing (T-cell) and sclerosing (B-cell) lymphocytic lobulitis in diagnostic breast biopsies: Clinical, imaging, and pathologic features.

Lymphocytic lobulitis (LL) is characterized by prominent lymphocytic infiltrates centered on lobules. Sclerosing lymphocytic lobulitis (SCLL) associated with diabetes mellitus (DM) or autoimmune disease (AI) was the first type to be described. Subsequently, non-sclerosing LL (NSCLL) was reported as an incidental finding in prophylactic mastectomies due to high risk germline mutations or a family history of breast cancer. The two types of LL were distinguished by stromal features and a predominant population of B-cells in the former and T-cells in the latter. In this study, 8 cases of NSCLL detected clinically or by screening were compared to 44 cases of SCLL. One case of NSCLL presented as a palpable mass, 2 as masses on screening, and 5 as MRI enhancement. In contrast, 80% of SCLL cases presented as palpable masses. Half the cases of NSCLL were associated with a BRCA1 or 2 mutation compared to 1 case of SCLL (2%). Three additional cases of NSCLL were associated with a strong family and/or personal history of breast cancer. Almost half (52%) of SCLL cases were associated with DM or AI, but only 25% of NSCLL. Immunoperoxidase studies confirmed a predominance of T-cells in NSCLL and B-cells in SCLL associated with DM or AI. It is important for pathologists to be aware of this new observation that NSCLL can be detected as a palpable mass or an imaging finding in diagnostic biopsies, as its presence can be indicative of a significant risk for breast cancer.

TBCRC 039: a phase II study of preoperative ruxolitinib with or without paclitaxel for triple-negative inflammatory breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) have overall poor clinical outcomes, with triple-negative IBC (TN-IBC) being associated with the worst survival, warranting the investigation of novel therapies. Preclinical studies implied that ruxolitinib (RUX), a JAK1/2 inhibitor, may be an effective therapy for TN-IBC. METHODS: We conducted a randomized phase II study with nested window-of-opportunity in TN-IBC. Treatment-naïve patients received a 7-day run-in of RUX alone or RUX plus paclitaxel (PAC). After the run-in, those who received RUX alone proceeded to neoadjuvant therapy with either RUX + PAC or PAC alone for 12 weeks; those who had received RUX + PAC continued treatment for 12 weeks. All patients subsequently received 4 cycles of doxorubicin plus cyclophosphamide prior to surgery. Research tumor biopsies were performed at baseline (pre-run-in) and after run-in therapy. Tumors were evaluated for phosphorylated STAT3 (pSTAT3) by immunostaining, and a subset was also analyzed by RNA-seq. The primary endpoint was the percent of pSTAT3-positive pre-run-in tumors that became pSTAT3-negative. Secondary endpoints included pathologic complete response (pCR). RESULTS: Overall, 23 patients were enrolled, of whom 21 completed preoperative therapy. Two patients achieved pCR (8.7%). pSTAT3 and IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling decreased in post-run-in biopsies of RUX-treated samples, while sustained treatment with RUX + PAC upregulated IL-6/JAK/STAT3 signaling compared to RUX alone. Both treatments decreased GZMB+ T cells implying immune suppression. RUX alone effectively inhibited JAK/STAT3 signaling but its combination with PAC led to incomplete inhibition. The immune suppressive effects of RUX alone and in combination may negate its growth inhibitory effects on cancer cells. CONCLUSION: In summary, the use of RUX in TN-IBC was associated with a decrease in pSTAT3 levels despite lack of clinical benefit. Cancer cell-specific-targeting of JAK2/STAT3 or combinations with immunotherapy may be required for further evaluation of JAK2/STAT3 signaling as a cancer therapeutic target. TRIAL REGISTRATION: www. CLINICALTRIALS: gov , NCT02876302. Registered 23 August 2016.

Gestational Pseudoangiomatous Stromal Hyperplasia Presenting as Gigantomastia: A Case Report of a Rare Breast Entity with Clinical Recommendations by a Multidisciplinary Team.

Introduction: Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) presenting as gigantomastia is rare in pregnancy but can result in severe clinical consequences for both mother and fetus. Case Presentation. A 43-year-old female with a history of biopsy-proven bilateral PASH presented at 22 3/7 weeks gestation with massive bilateral breast enlargement that was symptomatic. After multidisciplinary care, she underwent bilateral mastectomies and delivered at term with no additional complications. Conclusion: Pregnant women who undergo mastectomies for PASH-induced gigantomastia during their second trimesters will likely recover quickly, and fetal risks are low. Given the rarity of this breast entity, management guidelines are sparse. Our case report is an effort to comprehensively review this condition and share the clinical recommendations made by our institution's multidisciplinary team.

Obesity-associated changes in molecular biology of primary breast cancer.

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer (BC) and worse prognosis in BC patients, yet its impact on BC biology remains understudied in humans. This study investigates how the biology of untreated primary BC differs according to patients' body mass index (BMI) using data from >2,000 patients. We identify several genomic alterations that are differentially prevalent in overweight or obese patients compared to lean patients. We report evidence supporting an ageing accelerating effect of obesity at the genetic level. We show that BMI-associated differences in bulk transcriptomic profile are subtle, while single cell profiling allows detection of more pronounced changes in different cell compartments. These analyses further reveal an elevated and unresolved inflammation of the BC tumor microenvironment associated with obesity, with distinct characteristics contingent on the estrogen receptor status. Collectively, our analyses imply that obesity is associated with an inflammaging-like phenotype. We conclude that patient adiposity may play a significant role in the heterogeneity of BC and should be considered for BC treatment tailoring.

Identifying Patterns and Barriers in OncotypeDX Recurrence Score Testing in Older Patients With Early-Stage, Estrogen Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer: Implications for Guidance and Reimbursement.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical patterns of utilization of OncotypeDX Recurrence Score (RS) in early-stage, hormone receptor-positive, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer (BC) at an academic center with previously established internal reflex testing guidelines. METHODS: RS testing in accordance with preexisting reflex criteria and predictors of utilization outside of reflex criteria were retrospectively analyzed for the years 2019-2021 in a quality improvement evaluation. Patients were grouped according to OncotypeDX testing within (cohort A) or outside (cohort B) of predefined criteria which included a cap at age older than 65 years. RESULTS: Of 1,687 patients whose tumors had RS testing, 1,087 were in cohort A and 600 in cohort B. In cohort B, nearly half of patients were older than 65 years (n = 279; IQR, 67-72 years). For patients older than 65 years, those with RS testing were younger (median age: 69 v 73 years), with higher grade cancers (G2-3: 84.9% v 54.7%) and were more likely to be treated with chemotherapy (15.4% v 4.1%). Issues for implementation of RS testing in older patients were identified, including potential structural barriers related to the current policy on the reimbursements of genomic tests. CONCLUSION: Internal guidelines may facilitate standardized utilization of the RS in early-BC. Our data suggest that clinicians preferred broader utilization of RS across the age spectrum, with therapeutically important consequences. Modifying the current policy for reimbursement of RS testing and in internal reflexive testing criteria for those older than 65 years is warranted.

Multi-institutional Assessment of Pathologist Scoring HER2 Immunohistochemistry.

The HercepTest was approved 20+ years ago as the companion diagnostic test for trastuzumab in human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER2) or ERBB2 gene-amplified/overexpressing breast cancers. Subsequent HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays followed, including the now most common Ventana 4B5 assay. Although this IHC assay has become the clinical standard, its reliability, reproducibility, and accuracy have largely been approved and accepted on the basis of concordance among small numbers of pathologists without validation in a real-world setting. In this study, we evaluated the concordance and interrater reliability of scoring HER2 IHC in 170 breast cancer biopsies by 18 breast cancer-specialized pathologists from 15 institutions. We used the Observers Needed to Evaluate Subjective Tests method to determine the plateau of concordance and the minimum number of pathologists needed to estimate interrater agreement values for large numbers of raters, as seen in the real-world setting. We report substantial discordance within the intermediate categories (<1% agreement for 1+ and 3.6% agreement for 2+) in the 4-category HER2 IHC scoring system. The discordance within the IHC 0 cases is also substantial with an overall percent agreement (OPA) of only 25% and poor interrater reliability metrics (0.49 Fleiss' kappa, 0.55 intraclass correlation coefficient). This discordance can be partially reduced by using a 3-category system (28.8% vs 46.5% OPA for 4-category and 3-category scoring systems, respectively). Observers Needed to Evaluate Subjective Tests plots suggest that the OPA for the task of determining a HER2 IHC score 0 from not 0 plateaus statistically around 59.4% at 10 raters. Conversely, at the task of scoring HER2 IHC as 3+ or not 3+ pathologists' concordance was much higher with an OPA that plateaus at 87.1% with 6 raters. This suggests that legacy HER2 IHC remains valuable for finding the patients in whom the ERBB2 gene is amplified but unacceptably discordant in assigning HER2-low or HER2-negative status for the emerging HER2-low therapies.

Perspectives of acute, post-acute, physician and community support providers on community collaborative efforts to improve transitions of care.

BACKGROUND: Transitional care (TC) involves multiple organizations as patients transition from hospitals. Collaboration to reduce readmissions has been encouraged by government initiatives. As part of Project ACHIEVE, a comparative TC study, we sought provider perspectives on TC improvement efforts. METHODS: We aimed to identify perceived problems that drove improvement efforts, influences on interventions implemented, facilitators or barriers to desired outcomes, and sustainability. Investigators interviewed 63 representatives from collaborative improvement efforts across 13 states in 2015. Directed content analysis was performed, with inductive coding as insights emerged. Data was also analyzed for differences in participant perceptions, such as the organization represented, geographic characteristics, and source of funding for interventions. RESULTS: Participants in semi-structured interviews included physicians, nurses, care navigators, and administrators from hospitals, nursing facilities, community-based organizations, and medical practices. Participants reported that changing reimbursement practices and readmissions penalties drove TC efforts, and common problems they sought to address included insufficient inter-provider communication, medication management, and challenges related to chronic condition management. Solutions implemented were often adapted according to community and setting characteristics and population factors. Findings also suggest differences in the types of interventions implemented according to funding sources, which also impacted the ability to sustain these interventions. CONCLUSIONS: Cross-site collaboration, communication, and partnership among stakeholders is essential to effective transitional care. Collaboration led to shared understanding among stakeholders of health care and support services available in the community. Coalition-based work also facilitated trust among partners which led to expansion and sustainment of TC efforts. Unmet social needs of patients are a barrier. IMPLICATIONS: Opportunities exist for increased and improved collaboration among clinical providers with community-based and social services organizations. Increased involvement of primary care providers in such collaborations would improve communication with both the patient and involved providers. Communities with external funding were more likely to implement evidence-based interventions, while those relying on institutional support addressed identified problems with more targeted interventions.

A Distinct Chromatin State Drives Therapeutic Resistance in Invasive Lobular Breast Cancer.

Most invasive lobular breast cancers (ILC) are of the luminal A subtype and are strongly hormone receptor-positive. Yet, ILC is relatively resistant to tamoxifen and associated with inferior long-term outcomes compared with invasive ductal cancers (IDC). In this study, we sought to gain mechanistic insights into these clinical findings that are not explained by the genetic landscape of ILC and to identify strategies to improve patient outcomes. A comprehensive analysis of the epigenome of ILC in preclinical models and clinical samples showed that, compared with IDC, ILC harbored a distinct chromatin state linked to gained recruitment of FOXA1, a lineage-defining pioneer transcription factor. This resulted in an ILC-unique FOXA1-estrogen receptor (ER) axis that promoted the transcription of genes associated with tumor progression and poor outcomes. The ILC-unique FOXA1-ER axis led to retained ER chromatin binding after tamoxifen treatment, which facilitated tamoxifen resistance while remaining strongly dependent on ER signaling. Mechanistically, gained FOXA1 binding was associated with the autoinduction of FOXA1 in ILC through an ILC-unique FOXA1 binding site. Targeted silencing of this regulatory site resulted in the disruption of the feed-forward loop and growth inhibition in ILC. In summary, ILC is characterized by a unique chromatin state and FOXA1-ER axis that is associated with tumor progression, offering a novel mechanism of tamoxifen resistance. These results underscore the importance of conducting clinical trials dedicated to patients with ILC in order to optimize treatments in this breast cancer subtype. SIGNIFICANCE: A unique FOXA1-ER axis in invasive lobular breast cancer promotes disease progression and tamoxifen resistance, highlighting a potential therapeutic avenue for clinical investigations dedicated to this disease. See related commentary by Blawski and Toska, p. 3668.

Examination of Low ERBB2 Protein Expression in Breast Cancer Tissue.

IMPORTANCE: Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd) has shown efficacy in patients with breast cancer with ERBB2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) scores of 1+ or 2+ but not 0 as read in central pathology laboratories. The drug is currently being tested in large randomized clinical trials with registration intent for this patient population. OBJECTIVE: To determine the suitability of the current standard ERBB2 IHC assays to select patients with low ERBB2 positivity for treatment with T-DXd. DESIGN AND SETTING: Assessment of data from College of American Pathologists surveys and assessment of analytic data from a Yale University-based study of concordance of 18 pathologists reading 170 breast cancer biopsies. RESULTS: The total survey data set included scores over 2 years from 1391 to 1452 laboratories of 40 ERBB2 cores from each laboratory (20 cores twice a year for a total of 80). College of American Pathologists surveys show that 19% of cases read by the laboratories generate results with less than or equal to 70% concordance for IHC ERBB2 score 0 vs 1+. When 18 pathologists read the scanned slides from a selected set of breast cancer biopsies using a 4-point scale, there was only 26% concordance between 0 and 1+ compared with 58% concordance between 2+ and 3+. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this study using a current standard ERBB2 IHC assay, the scoring accuracy for ERBB2 IHC in the low range (0 and 1+) was poor. This inaccuracy in the real world could lead to misassignment of many patients for treatment with T-DXd.

Effects of Different Transitional Care Strategies on Outcomes after Hospital Discharge-Trust Matters, Too.

BACKGROUND: As health systems shift toward value-based care, strategies to reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes become increasingly important. Despite extensive research, the combinations of transitional care (TC) strategies associated with best patient-centered outcomes remain uncertain. METHODS: Using an observational, prospective cohort study design, Project ACHIEVE sought to determine the association of different combinations of TC strategies with patient-reported and postdischarge health care utilization outcomes. Using purposive sampling, the research team recruited a diverse sample of short-term acute care and critical access hospitals in the United States (N = 42) and analyzed data on eligible Medicare beneficiaries (N = 7,939) discharged from their medical/surgical units. Using both hospital- and patient-reported TC strategy exposure data, the project compared patients "exposed" to each of five overlapping groups of TC strategies to their "control" counterparts. Primary outcomes included 30-day hospital readmissions, 7-day postdischarge emergency department (ED) visits and patient-reported physical and mental health, pain, and participation in daily activities. RESULTS: Participants averaged 72.3 years old (standard deviation =10.1), 53.4% were female, and most were White (78.9%). Patients exposed to one TC group (Hospital-Based Trust, Plain Language, and Coordination) were less likely to have 30-day readmissions (risk ratio [RR], 0.72; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.57-0.92, p < 0.001) or 7-day ED visits (RR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.55-0.93, p < 0.001) and more likely to report excellent physical and mental health, greater participation in daily activities, and less pain (RR ranged from 1.11 to 1.15, p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: In concert with care coordination activities that bridge the transition from hospital to home, hospitals' clear communication and fostering of trust with patients were associated with better patient-reported outcomes and reduced health care utilization.

Development and psychometric properties of surveys to assess patient and family caregiver experience with care transitions.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to develop and administer surveys that assess patient and family caregiver experiences with care transitions and examine the psychometric properties of the surveys. The surveys were designed to ask about 1) the transitional care services that matter most to patients and their caregivers and 2) care outcomes, including the overall quality of transitional care they received, patient self-reported health, and caregiver effort/stress. METHODS: Survey items were developed based on a review of the literature, existing surveys, focus groups, site visits, stakeholder and expert input, and patient and caregiver cognitive interviews. We administered mail surveys with telephone follow up to patients recently discharged from 43 U.S. hospitals. Patients identified the caregivers who helped them during their hospital stay (Time 1 caregiver) and when they were home (Time 2 caregiver). Time 1 and Time 2 caregivers were surveyed by telephone only. The psychometric properties of the survey items and outcome composite measures were examined for each of the three surveys. Items that performed poorly across multiple analyses, including those with low variability and/or a high missing data, were dropped except when they were conceptually important. RESULTS: The analysis datasets included responses from 9282 patients, 1245 Time 1 caregivers and 1749 Time 2 caregivers. The construct validity of the three proposed outcome composite measures-Overall Quality of Transitional Care (patient and caregiver surveys), Patient Overall Health (patient survey) and Caregiver Effort/Stress (caregiver surveys) -was supported by acceptable exploratory factor analysis results and acceptable internal consistency reliability. Site-level reliability was acceptable for the two patient outcome composite measures, but was low for Caregiver Effort/Stress (< 0.70). In all surveys, the Overall Quality of Transitional Care outcome composite measure was significantly correlated with other outcome composite measures and most of the single-item measures. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, the final patient and caregiver surveys are psychometrically sound and can be used by health systems, hospitals, and researchers to assess the quality of care transitions and related outcomes. Results from these surveys can be used to improve care transitions, focusing on what matters most to patients and their family caregivers.

Strengthening Pathology Capacity to Deliver Quality Cancer Care in Cities in LMICs.

Diagnostic pathology services for oncology health systems are essential; yet, surveys, observations, and hard data from across low- and middle-income countries have revealed that these services are almost always lacking adequate quality and often missing completely. The City Cancer Challenge Foundation (C/Can), the American Society for Clinical Pathology, and C/Can partner cities undertook intense analysis of their existing pathology services as part of a year-long assessment process including the specific formation of a pathology-focused team. Internal and external expert assessments identified sustainable solutions adapted to the local context and level of resources and created specific local implementation projects. Through local leadership, capacity development, and collaboration, services were improved city-wide in three cities: Cali, Colombia; Asunción, Paraguay; and Yangon, Myanmar. Common problems identified across cities included deficiencies in personnel training, equipment, reagents, processes, quality, and coordination. Specific solutions included quality training, standard process development and regulation, implementation of new services, and public-private collaboration. As the first cities joining the C/Can initiative, Cali, Asunción, and Yangon demonstrate the success of the approach and the value of local expertise in identifying problems and solutions. The additional value of international partners' expertise created opportunities for growth through mentorship and technical support. Importantly, the power of healthcare programs with strong political support is emphasized.

Use of the Xpert Breast Cancer STRAT4 for Biomarker Evaluation in Tissue Processed in a Developing Country.

OBJECTIVES: Breast cancer immunohistochemistry (IHC) biomarker testing is limited in low-resource settings, and an alternative solution is needed. A point-of-care mRNA STRAT4 breast cancer assay for ESR1, PGR, ERBB2, and MKi67, for use on the GeneXpert platform, has been recently validated on tissues from internationally accredited laboratories, showing excellent concordance with IHC. METHODS: We evaluated STRAT4/IHC ESR1/estrogen receptor (ER), ERBB2/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) concordance rates of 150 breast cancer tissues processed in Rwanda, with undocumented cold ischemic and fixation time. RESULTS: Assay fail/indeterminate rate was 2.6% for ESR1 and ERBB2. STRAT4 agreement with ER IHC was 92.5% to 93.3% and 97.8% for HER2, for standard (1x) and concentrated (4x) reagent-conserving protocols, respectively. Eleven of 12 discordant ER/ESR1 cases were ESR1- negative/IHC-positive. These had low expression of ER by IHC in mostly very small tumor areas tested (7/12; <25 mm2). In two of three discordant HER2 cases, the STRAT4-ERBB2 result correlated with the subsequent fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) result. STRAT4-ERBB2 results in 9 of 10 HER2-IHC equivocal cases were concordant with FISH. CONCLUSIONS: The STRAT4 assay is an alternative for providing quality-controlled breast cancer biomarker data in laboratories unable to provide quality and/or cost-efficient IHC services.

Development and psychometric properties of surveys to assess provider perspectives on the barriers and facilitators of effective care transitions.

BACKGROUND: The quality of the discharge process and effective care transitions between settings of care are critical to minimize gaps in patient care and reduce hospital readmissions. Few studies have explored which care transition components and strategies are most valuable to patients and providers. This study describes the development, pilot testing, and psychometric analysis of surveys designed to gain providers' perspectives on current practices in delivering transitional care services. METHODS: We underwent a comprehensive process to develop items measuring unique aspects of care transitions from the perspectives of the three types of providers (downstream, ambulatory, and hospital providers). The process involved 1) an environmental scan, 2) provider interviews, 3) survey cognitive testing, 4) pilot testing, 5) a Stakeholder Advisory Group, 6) a Scientific Advisory Council, and 7) a collaborative Project ACHIEVE (Achieving Patient-Centered Care and Optimized Health in Care Transitions by Evaluating the Value of Evidence) research team. Three surveys were developed and fielded to providers affiliated with 43 hospitals participating in Project ACHIEVE. Web-based survey administration resulted in 948 provider respondents. We assessed response variability and response missingness. To evaluate the composites' psychometric properties, we examined intercorrelations of survey items, item factor loadings, model fit indices, internal consistency reliability, and intercorrelations between the composite measures and overall rating items. RESULTS: Results from psychometric analyses of the three surveys provided support for five composite measures: 1) Effort in Coordinating Patient Care, 2) Quality of Patient Information Received, 3) Organizational Support for Transitional Care, 4) Access to Community Resources, and 5) Strength of Relationships Among Community Providers. All factor loadings and reliability estimates were acceptable (loadings ≥ 0.40, α ≥ 0.70), and the fit indices showed a good model fit. All composite measures positively and significantly correlated with the overall ratings (0.13 ≤ r ≤ 0.71). CONCLUSIONS: We determined that the items and composite measures assessing the barriers and facilitators to care transitions within this survey are reliable and demonstrate satisfactory psychometric properties. The instruments may be useful to healthcare organizations and researchers to assess the quality of care transitions and target areas of improvement across different provider settings.

Improving evidence-based grouping of transitional care strategies in hospital implementation using statistical tools and expert review.

BACKGROUND: As health systems transition to value-based care, improving transitional care (TC) remains a priority. Hospitals implementing evidence-based TC models often adapt them to local contexts. However, limited research has evaluated which groups of TC strategies, or transitional care activities, commonly implemented by hospitals correspond with improved patient outcomes. In order to identify TC strategy groups for evaluation, we applied a data-driven approach informed by literature review and expert opinion. METHODS: Based on a review of evidence-based TC models and the literature, focus groups with patients and family caregivers identifying what matters most to them during care transitions, and expert review, the Project ACHIEVE team identified 22 TC strategies to evaluate. Patient exposure to TC strategies was measured through a hospital survey (N = 42) and prospective survey of patients discharged from those hospitals (N = 8080). To define groups of TC strategies for evaluation, we performed a multistep process including: using ACHIEVE'S prior retrospective analysis; performing exploratory factor analysis, latent class analysis, and finite mixture model analysis on hospital and patient survey data; and confirming results through expert review. Machine learning (e.g., random forest) was performed using patient claims data to explore the predictive influence of individual strategies, strategy groups, and key covariates on 30-day hospital readmissions. RESULTS: The methodological approach identified five groups of TC strategies that were commonly delivered as a bundle by hospitals: 1) Patient Communication and Care Management, 2) Hospital-Based Trust, Plain Language, and Coordination, 3) Home-Based Trust, Plain language, and Coordination, 4) Patient/Family Caregiver Assessment and Information Exchange Among Providers, and 5) Assessment and Teach Back. Each TC strategy group comprises three to six, non-mutually exclusive TC strategies (i.e., some strategies are in multiple TC strategy groups). Results from random forest analyses revealed that TC strategies patients reported receiving were more important in predicting readmissions than TC strategies that hospitals reported delivering, and that other key co-variates, such as patient comorbidities, were the most important variables. CONCLUSION: Sophisticated statistical tools can help identify underlying patterns of hospitals' TC efforts. Using such tools, this study identified five groups of TC strategies that have potential to improve patient outcomes.

Omission of Surgical Axillary Lymph Node Staging in Patients with Tubular Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: With more effective screening and treatment strategies, there is debate over whether surgical axillary staging should be deescalated for patients with small favorable breast cancers, such as tubular carcinoma (TC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified patients with TC [defined as > 90% tubular tubules (angulated, not multilayered)] and known surgical axillary staging from our institutional database (2000-2018). Using the National Cancer Database (NCDB) (2004-2015), we identified patients with TC, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and pT1 estrogen receptor (ER)-positive invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). We determined the rates of lymph node (LN) metastases, and the 5- and 10-year overall survival (OS) for patients with LN-negative versus LN-positive disease using the Kaplan-Meier method and propensity match analysis. RESULTS: In our institutional cohort, we identified 112 patients with T1 TC; only one (0.9%) patient had nodal involvement. In the NCDB cohort, we identified 6938 patients with T1 TC; 323 (4.7%) patients had axillary LN disease. The rate of axillary LN involvement for TC was comparable to that identified for patients with DCIS (4.2%), and much lower than that found for patients with grade I-III, T1, ER-positive IDC (20.5%), and patients with grade I, T1, ER-positive IDC (14.4%). There was no difference in 5-year (94.6% versus 95.4%, p = 0.67) and 10-year (83.9% versus 85.2%, p = 0.98) OS between TC patients with or without LN involvement. Kaplan-Meier survival curves even after propensity score matching suggest that tubular histology is independently associated with improved survival. CONCLUSIONS: T1 TC is an excellent starting point for deescalation of surgical axillary staging.

Identifying Breast Cancer Care Quality Measures for a Cancer Facility in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa: Results of a Systematic Literature Review and Modified Delphi Process.

PURPOSE: The burden of cancer is growing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including sub-Saharan Africa. Ensuring the delivery of high-quality cancer care in such regions is a pressing concern. There is a need for strategies to identify meaningful and relevant quality measures that are applicable to and usable for quality measurement and improvement in resource-constrained settings. METHODS: To identify quality measures for breast cancer care at Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence (BCCOE) in Rwanda, we used a modified Delphi process engaging two panels of experts, one with expertise in breast cancer evidence and measures used in high-income countries and one with expertise in cancer care delivery in Rwanda. RESULTS: Our systematic review of the literature yielded no publications describing breast cancer quality measures developed in a low-income country, but it did provide 40 quality measures, which we adapted for relevance to our setting. After two surveys, one conference call, and one in-person meeting, 17 measures were identified as relevant to pathology, staging and treatment planning, surgery, chemotherapy, endocrine therapy, palliative care, and retention in care. Successes of the process included participation by a diverse set of global experts and engagement of the BCCOE community in quality measurement and improvement. Anticipated challenges include the need to continually refine these measures as resources, protocols, and measurement capacity rapidly evolve in Rwanda. CONCLUSION: A modified Delphi process engaging both global and local expertise was a promising strategy to identify quality measures for breast cancer in Rwanda. The process and resulting measures may also be relevant for other LMIC cancer facilities. Next steps include validation of these measures in a retrospective cohort of patients with breast cancer.