Mucinous Carcinoma of the Breast: Clinicopathological Features and Long-term Prognosis in Comparison with Invasive Ductal Cancer; A Single Hospital's 30+-Year Experience.

Mucinous carcinoma (MC) of the breast is a rare and special type of malignancy, with a substantial amount of extracellular mucin. We compared the clinicopathological features and the long-term survival of MC patients with those of invasive ductal carcinoma-no special type (IDC-NST) patients, and we examined prognostic factors of MC. A total of 116 patients with mucinous carcinoma and 3,258 patients with IDC-NST who underwent surgery at our hospital (1977-2008) were enrolled. The 10-year overall survival rate and breast cancer-specific survival rate (BSS) of the MC patients (88.3%, 93.7%) were both significantly higher than those of IDC-NST patients (81.6%, 85.0%) (p=0.015, p=0.005, respectively). A Cox regression analysis demonstrated that MC tended to be an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio 0.44, p=0.098). The BSS of the MC patients with positive lymph node (LN) metastasis was significantly poorer than that of the patients without it, by univariate analysis (p=0.002). The tumor size in the MC patients with positive LN metastasis (mean 3.2 cm) was significantly larger than that in the patients without it (mean 1.9 cm) (p=0.0004). Although a Cox regression analysis revealed no independent factor, MC patients with positive LN metastasis should be treated for advanced invasive ductal breast cancer.

Diminished Gastric Resection Preserves Better Quality of Life in Patients with Early Gastric Cancer.

Using the Postgastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Scale (PGSAS)-45, we compared the surgical outcomes and the quality of life (QOL) between patients undergoing limited gastrectomies and those undergoing conventional gastrectomies. In Oomoto Hospital between January 2004 and December 2013, a total of 124 patients who met the eligibility criteria were enrolled. Using the main outcome measures of PGSAS-45, we compared 4 types of limited gastrectomy procedures (1/2 distal gastrectomy [1/2DG] in 21 patients; pylorus-preserving gastrectomy [PPG] in 15 patients; segmental gastrectomy [SG] in 26 patients; and local resection [LR] in 13 patients) with conventional gastrectomy (total gastrectomy [TG] in 24 patients and 2/3 or more distal gastrectomy [WDG] in 25 patients). The TG group showed the worst QOL in almost all items of the main outcome measures. The 1/2DG, PPG, and SG groups showed better QOL than the WDG group in many of the main outcome measures, including the body weight ratio, total symptom score, ingested amount of food per meal, and the dissatisfaction for daily life subscale. The LR group showed a better intake of food than the 1/2DG, PPG, and SG groups. The body weight ratio of the LR group was better than that of the SG group. Diminished gastric resection preserved better QOL in patients with early gastric cancer.