The Impact of Residual Disease After Preoperative Systemic Therapy on Clinical Outcomes in Patients with Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is a rare and aggressive disease treated with multimodality therapy: preoperative systemic therapy (PST) followed by modified radical mastectomy (MRM), chest wall and regional nodal radiotherapy, and adjuvant biologic therapy and/or endocrine therapy when appropriate. In non-IBC, the degree of pathologic response to PST has been shown to correlate with time to recurrence (TTR) and overall survival (OS). We sought to determine if pathologic response correlates with oncologic outcomes of IBC patients. METHODS: Following review of IBC patients' records (1997-2014), we identified 258 stage III IBC patients; 181 received PST followed by MRM and radiotherapy and were subsequently analyzed. Pathologic complete response (pCR) to PST, hormone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, grade, and histology were evaluated as predictors of TTR and OS by Cox model. RESULTS: Overall, 95/181 (52%) patients experienced recurrence; 93/95 (98%) were distant metastases (median TTR 3.2 years). Seventy-three patients (40%) died (median OS 6.9 years). pCR was associated with improved TTR (hazard ratio [HR] 0.20, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.09-0.46, p < 0.01, univariate; HR 0.17, 95% CI 0.07-0.41, p < 0.0001, multivariate) and improved OS (HR 0.26, 95% CI 0.11-0.65, p < 0.01, univariate). In patients with pCR, grade III (HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.16-3.13, p = 0.01), and triple-negative phenotype (HR 3.54, 95% CI 1.79-6.98, p = 0.0003) were associated with shorter TTR, while residual ductal carcinoma in situ was not (HR 0.85, 95% CI 0.53-1.35, p = 0.48, multivariate). CONCLUSIONS: In stage III IBC, pCR was associated with prognosis, further influenced by grade, hormone receptor, and HER2 status. Investigating mechanisms that contribute to better response to PST could help improve oncologic outcomes in IBC.

Sarcoidosis mimicking metastatic breast cancer.

The clinical and radiographic aspects of sarcoidosis and malignancy might mimic one another, making the distinction between the two difficult in some cases. Although there have been many theories on the link between sarcoidosis and malignancy, the association remains unproven. An unfortunate consequence of the presence of both entities in the same patient is the risk of misdiagnosis and incorrect treatment. We describe 3 patients who presented with locally advanced breast cancer and who were found to have pulmonary findings for metastatic disease that were proven upon biopsy to be consistent with sarcoidosis.

Impact of margin status on local recurrence after mastectomy for ductal carcinoma in situ.

PURPOSE: To examine the rate of local recurrence according to the margin status for patients with pure ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) treated by mastectomy. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred forty-five consecutive women who underwent mastectomy with or without radiation therapy for DCIS from 1998 to 2005 were included in this retrospective analysis. Only patients with pure DCIS were eligible; patients with microinvasion were excluded. The primary endpoint was local recurrence, defined as recurrence on the chest wall; regional and distant recurrences were secondary endpoints. Outcomes were analyzed according to margin status (positive, close (≤2 mm), or negative), location of the closest margin (superficial, deep, or both), nuclear grade, necrosis, receptor status, type of mastectomy, and receipt of hormonal therapy. RESULTS: The primary cohort consisted of 142 patients who did not receive postmastectomy radiation therapy (PMRT). For those patients, the median follow-up time was 7.6 years (range, 0.6-13.0 years). Twenty-one patients (15%) had a positive margin, and 23 patients (16%) had a close (≤2 mm) margin. The deep margin was close in 14 patients and positive in 6 patients. The superficial margin was close in 13 patients and positive in 19 patients. One patient experienced an isolated invasive chest wall recurrence, and 1 patient had simultaneous chest wall, regional nodal, and distant metastases. The crude rates of chest wall recurrence were 2/142 (1.4%) for all patients, 1/21 (4.8%) for those with positive margins, 1/23 (4.3%) for those with close margins, and 0/98 for patients with negative margins. PMRT was given as part of the initial treatment to 3 patients, 1 of whom had an isolated chest wall recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Mastectomy for pure DCIS resulted in a low rate of local or distant recurrences. Even with positive or close mastectomy margins, the rates of chest wall recurrences were so low that PMRT is likely not warranted.

Surgical margins and the risk of local-regional recurrence after mastectomy without radiation therapy.

PURPOSE: Although positive surgical margins are generally associated with a higher risk of local-regional recurrence (LRR) for most solid tumors, their significance after mastectomy remains unclear. We sought to clarify the influence of the mastectomy margin on the risk of LRR. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The retrospective cohort consisted of 397 women who underwent mastectomy and no radiation for newly diagnosed invasive breast cancer from 1998-2005. Time to isolated LRR and time to distant metastasis (DM) were evaluated by use of cumulative-incidence analysis and competing-risks regression analysis. DM was considered a competing event for analysis of isolated LRR. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 6.7 years (range, 0.5-12.8 years). The superficial margin was positive in 41 patients (10%) and close (≤2 mm) in 56 (14%). The deep margin was positive in 23 patients (6%) and close in 34 (9%). The 5-year LRR and DM rates for all patients were 2.4% (95% confidence interval, 0.9-4.0) and 3.5% (95% confidence interval, 1.6-5.3) respectively. Fourteen patients had an LRR. Margin status was significantly associated with time to isolated LRR (P=.04); patients with positive margins had a 5-year LRR of 6.2%, whereas patients with close margins and negative margins had 5-year LRRs of 1.5% and 1.9%, respectively. On univariate analysis, positive margins, positive nodes, lymphovascular invasion, grade 3 histology, and triple-negative subtype were associated with significantly higher rates of LRR. When these factors were included in a multivariate analysis, only positive margins and triple-negative subtype were associated with the risk of LRR. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with positive mastectomy margins had a significantly higher rate of LRR than those with a close or negative margin. However, the absolute risk of LRR in patients with a positive surgical margin in this series was low, and therefore the benefit of postmastectomy radiation in this population with otherwise favorable features is likely to be small.