Adjuvant T-DM1 versus trastuzumab in patients with residual invasive disease after neoadjuvant therapy for HER2-positive breast cancer: subgroup analyses from KATHERINE.

BACKGROUND: In the KATHERINE study (NCT01772472), patients with residual invasive early breast cancer (EBC) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) plus human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-targeted therapy had a 50% reduction in risk of recurrence or death with adjuvant trastuzumab emtansine (T-DM1) versus trastuzumab. Here, we present additional exploratory safety and efficacy analyses. PATIENTS AND METHODS: KATHERINE enrolled HER2-positive EBC patients with residual invasive disease in the breast/axilla at surgery after NACT containing a taxane (± anthracycline, ± platinum) and trastuzumab (± pertuzumab). Patients were randomized to adjuvant T-DM1 (n = 743) or trastuzumab (n = 743) for 14 cycles. The primary endpoint was invasive disease-free survival (IDFS). RESULTS: The incidence of peripheral neuropathy (PN) was similar regardless of neoadjuvant taxane type. Irrespective of treatment arm, baseline PN was associated with longer PN duration (median, 105-109 days longer) and lower resolution rate (∼65% versus ∼82%). Prior platinum therapy was associated with more grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia in the T-DM1 arm (13.5% versus 3.8%), but there was no grade ≥3 hemorrhage in these patients. Risk of recurrence or death was decreased with T-DM1 versus trastuzumab in patients who received anthracycline-based NACT [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.51; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38-0.67], non-anthracycline-based NACT (HR = 0.43; 95% CI: 0.22-0.82), presented with cT1, cN0 tumors (0 versus 6 IDFS events), or had particularly high-risk tumors (HRs ranged from 0.43 to 0.72). The central nervous system (CNS) was more often the site of first recurrence in the T-DM1 arm (5.9% versus 4.3%), but T-DM1 was not associated with a difference in overall risk of CNS recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: T-DM1 provides clinical benefit across patient subgroups, including small tumors and particularly high-risk tumors and does not increase the overall risk of CNS recurrence. NACT type had a minimal impact on safety.

The mammary gland iodide transporter is expressed during lactation and in breast cancer.

The sodium/iodide symporter mediates active iodide transport in both healthy and cancerous thyroid tissue. By exploiting this activity, radioiodide has been used for decades with considerable success in the detection and treatment of thyroid cancer. Here we show that a specialized form of the sodium/iodide symporter in the mammary gland mediates active iodide transport in healthy lactating (but not in nonlactating) mammary gland and in mammary tumors. In addition to characterizing the hormonal regulation of the mammary gland sodium/iodide symporter, we demonstrate by scintigraphy that mammary adenocarcinomas in transgenic mice bearing Ras or Neu oncogenes actively accumulate iodide by this symporter in vivo. Moreover, more than 80% of the human breast cancer samples we analyzed by immunohistochemistry expressed the symporter, compared with none of the normal (nonlactating) samples from reductive mammoplasties. These results indicate that the mammary gland sodium/iodide symporter may be an essential breast cancer marker and that radioiodide should be studied as a possible option in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer.

Latent mammary tuberculosis: a case report.

Tuberculosis of the breast was diagnosed in this 63-year-old woman 14 years after she was treated for tuberculous pericarditis. Case history and a review of the literature are presented.

Compartment syndrome in combined arterial and venous injuries of the lower extremity.

In 9 of 45 patients treated for dual vascular injuries of the lower extremity, concomitant fasciotomies were performed at the time of initial surgery for associated soft tissue injury, fracture, or prolonged ischemia. Eight other patients developed compartment syndrome requiring delayed fasciotomy. In seven of them, vein was either ligated or the repaired vein became occluded. In the eighth patient, peripheral venous hypertension was caused by massive swelling of the thigh. In the laboratory, compartment pressure was monitored by wick catheter in 24 hind limbs of 12 dogs subjected to experimental conditions simulating vascular injuries and their management. There was a significant increase in compartment pressure in a group that simulated arterial and venous injuries managed by arterial repair and venous outflow obstruction. Based on our study, we suggest that obstruction to venous drainage and venous hypertension are major factors in the development of compartment syndrome in dual vascular injuries of the lower extremity.

Pyogenic splenic abscess in intravenous drug addiction.

Among the surgical complications of intravenous drug addiction, pyogenic splenic abscess is considered to be a rare entity. A review of the literature reveals only 24 cases of splenic abscess secondary to this particular etiology. The authors report five patients with intravenous drug addiction who underwent splenectomy for pyogenic splenic abscess within 1 year. Fever and abdominal pain were the only constant physical signs. Three patients had associated infective endocarditis, and the other two patients sustained blunt trauma to the left side of the trunk weeks earlier. Computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound were diagnostic in all five patients preoperatively, and they were complementary when combined. Four of the five patients had Staphylococcus aureus septicemia at the time of splenectomy. Three patients recovered from their operations, and the other two, both with endocarditis, died postoperatively from causes unrelated to splenic abscess and splenectomy. A high index of suspicion is warranted in this susceptible group of patients with vague abdominal signs and persistent sepsis to rule out splenic suppuration. The noninvasive imaging methods, CT scan and ultrasound, facilitate early diagnosis in these patients.

Mammographic changes following biopsy and lumpectomy-breast irradiation.

Mammographic architectural distortion occurred at the operative site in 86 percent of lumpectomy patients and in 34 percent of biopsy patients during the first year (P < 0.001). These changes can mimic carcinoma and may be slow to resolve.

Three dimensional staging of breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Breast cancers are three dimensional solids but very few are spherical. We hypothesized that calculations based on the greatest diameter would not accurately reflect tumor volume and that three dimensional measurements would affect tumor staging. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 165 invasive carcinomas measuring 2.5 cm or less and having three measured diameters (a > or = b > or = c) noted were evaluated. Tumor volume was calculated using four geometric models: the spherical 4/3 pi (a/2)3, prolate spheroid 4/3 pi (a/2) (c/2)2, oblate spheroid 4/3 pi (a/2)2 (b/2), and ellipsoid 4/3 pi (a/2 x b/2 x c/2). The ellipsoid correctly determined the volume for any tumor shape. All cases were stratified according to the TNM staging system. Differences in mean volume calculated as a sphere and ellipsoid for each tumor subclass were analyzed using Student's T test. The reclassification of tumors by the ellipsoid formula was determined. RESULTS: Seventy-six (46.1%) had tumors with three different diameters while only six (3.6%) were true spheres having three identical diameters. Mean tumor volume analysis of T1a, T1b, T1c, and T2 tumors demonstrated a statistically significant overestimation of volume when utilizing the sphere formula instead of the ellipsoid formula (p < 0.05). The differences in volume were more dramatic as the diameters increased. A total of 41 tumors were moved into smaller T subclasses including 10 node positive patients. CONCLUSIONS: Tumor volume analysis demonstrates that use of only the greatest diameter poorly reflects the true volume of a lesion and consistently overestimates volume. The ellipsoid formula accurately calculates volume for these three dimensional tumors and when utilized has significant relevance to staging small invasive breast cancers.

Subtle differences in quality of life after breast cancer surgery.

BACKGROUND: Lumpectomy with axillary dissection (LAD) has taken its place alongside mastectomy (M) as the treatment of choice for stage I and II breast cancer. Its appeal is based on lessening disfigurement and thus improving quality of life. METHODS: We used the SF-36 Health Survey modified with ten questions relevant to breast cancer surgery to evaluate whether quality of life with LAD was better than with mastectomy in women with stage I and II disease. The additional questions addressed satisfaction with intimate relationships and sexuality, and explored impact on the way women dress, use bathing suits, hug people, are comfortable with nudity, and rate their sexual drive and sexual responsiveness. RESULTS: LAD was not associated with statistically significant better quality-of-life scores on any SF-36 questions, except vitality (P = .02). No differences were noted in the areas of intimacy and sexual satisfaction. LAD patients reported significant differences in matters of dress, use of bathing suits, hugging, comfort with nudity, and sexual drive compared to patients undergoing mastectomy. CONCLUSIONS: The SF-36 health survey detected few differences in quality of life measures between patients with LAD and those with mastectomy. However, LAD impacts favorably on the way women dress, on comfort with nudity, and on sexual drive.

A reappraisal of prophylactic mastectomy.

The concept of prophylactic mastectomy was nurtured in the shadow of the radical mastectomy. It evolved as preferable to the mutilation caused by the procedure. It developed during a time when the difference between benignancy and malignancy was not as clear and when patients with benign disease were thought to be at significant risk. The idea of surgical prophylaxis accompanied by a superior cosmetic result, in comparison to the radical mastectomy is a noble one. In retrospect, however, it is clear that the indications were ill defined, based often on unfounded risk and predicated on patient and physician anxiety. The scope of risk in carcinoma of the breast has been narrowed, with new information identifying only specific subsets of women with proliferative types of benign disease as more susceptible to the subsequent development of carcinoma. Extensive reviews of material taken at biopsy that had been validated longitudinally have provided data to substantiate this contention. The concept of familial high risk must take into account the number of affected family members, at age diagnosis, menopausal status and bilaterality. The majority of indicants that motivated and propitiated the performance of the bulk of prophylactic mastectomies have lost their relevance. Prophylactic mastectomy for carcinoma, therefore, can perhaps be reserved for women with biopsy-proved, high-risk lesions or an exceptional familial risk, or both, or hereditary risk. Such women must choose for themselves and accept the uncertainty of hypothetic risk reduction, life-long continued surveillance and an altered body image. Guiding patients in the decision should involve a multidisciplinary team composed of a surgical oncologist, geneticist, pathologist, psychotherapist and plastic surgeon. As a concept, the reduction of risk is appealing, but remains yet to prove itself superior to rigorous clinical surveillance with high-quality mammography. The experience reflected in the literature of a seemingly low rate of subsequent carcinoma cannot be judged, because it seems that operations were applied indiscriminantly to patients selected by unknown means and from an unknown population pool. Success based on protecting those not at increased risk only invalidates the operation further. Most surgical and medical oncologists recognize that carcinoma of the breast is either localized or disseminated at the time of the initial diagnosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Nonoperative management versus early operation for blunt splenic trauma in adults.

Forty-eight adult patients with isolated splenic trauma from blunt injury were analyzed during a six year period (1980 to 1986). Early laparotomy was performed upon 38 patients and splenic preservation was accomplished in 18. The remaining ten patients who were hemodynamically stable were managed nonoperatively with close monitoring. Splenic injuries were confirmed by one of the imaging methods, such as computed tomography, radionuclide scan or ultrasound. One patient with known hepatic cirrhosis underwent embolization of the splenic artery and recovered. Nonoperative treatment failed in seven of the remaining nine patients, mandating an exploratory laparotomy between the third and tenth day of admission. In six of the seven patients, splenic preservation was unsuccessful, necessitating a splenectomy. The length of hospital stay was longer for this latter group (a mean of 15.8 days) than for patients who had splenorrhaphy (a mean of 7.5 days), or splenectomy (a mean of 8.7 days, p less than 0.001). Patients managed nonoperatively required more units of blood compared with those undergoing splenorrhaphy (4.1 units versus 1.7 units, p less than 0.01). A review of the literature reveals that splenic preservation is possible in less than 25 per cent of the patients who fail to respond to nonoperative management. We conclude that splenic injuries after blunt trauma in adults are treated best by early laparotomy in order to achieve maximal splenic preservation.

The inverse relationship between microvessel counts and tumor volume in breast cancer.

Angiogenesis has emerged as an indicator of metastatic potential in invasive breast cancer. Exponential tumor growth and the appearance of metastasis are observed as new microvessels form. We postulated that the relevance of angiogenesis would be enhanced if analyzed as a function of tumor volume rather than greatest diameter alone and that microvessel counts would proportionately increase as does volume. Since tumors are three-dimensional solids, volume was calculated using the formula for an ellipsoid, V = pi/6 (a x b x c). Sixty-four tumors < or = 2.5 cm were studied and analyzed in 5 mm incremental ranges. Mean microvessel counts did not vary significantly among these tumor size groups. However, analysis of microvessel counts as a function of tumor volume decreased from 947.1/cm3 (0-0.5 cm) to 18.1/cm3 (2.1-2.5 cm), a greater than 50-fold difference. High microvessel density in small cancers supports the notion of metastasis as an early event, making these small tumors perhaps ideal targets for antiangiogenic agents.

Portal vein injuries. Noninvasive follow-up of venorrhaphy.

The authors report their experience with 14 patients with portal vein injuries (1976-1986) treated at a level I trauma center. Seven patients (50%) survived and included six of 10 patients (60%) who had venorrhaphy and one in whom the portal vein was ligated. Associated injuries were present in all the patients (mean Abdominal Trauma Index: 39.5) and accounted for the high mortality rate. Follow-up data after repair or ligation of the portal vein seldom are reported in the literature. The authors studied all three patients who survived portal venorrhaphy since 1982 by real-time ultrasonography. Patency of the repair could be established in two patients. In the third patient postvenorrhaphy thrombosis was diagnosed by ultrasonographic examination. Sequential ultrasonographic examinations demonstrated resolution of the thrombus on anticoagulant therapy. Ultrasonography provides a noninvasive and easily reproducible method of studying the portal vein after repair.

Collagen gene expression in the neomatrix of carcinoma of the breast.

Excessive deposition of extracellular matrix or neomatrix is a characteristic of desmoplastic invasive breast carcinomas. Type I and III collagens are abundant neomatrix components. Archival breast tissue sections were studied using 35S-labeled cDNA probes for alpha 1(I) and alpha 1(III) procollagen and in situ hybridization. Among the 33 invasive breast cancers, hybridization was seen forming a gradient-like pattern in fibroblasts closest to tumor cells. In the 10 ductal carcinomas in situ studied, a ring-like pattern of hybridization was seen in proximity to the basement membrane zone. Adjacent normal and benign tissues did not demonstrate the patterns of hybridization described in malignant tissues. Gene expression for neomatrix interstitial collagens occurs before there is evidence of invasion in carcinoma of the breast.

Collagen induced MMP-2 activation in human breast cancer.

Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), a zymogen requiring proteolytic activation for catalytic activity, has been implicated broadly in the invasion and metastasis of many cancer model systems, including human breast cancer (HBC). MMP-2 has been immunolocalized to carcinomatous human breast, where the degree of activation of MMP-2 correlates well with tumor grade and patient prognosis. Using Matrigel assays, we have stratified HBC cell lines for invasiveness in vitro, and compared this to their potential for metastatic spread in nude mice. HBC cell lines expressing the mesenchymal marker protein vimentin were found to be highly invasive in vitro, and tended to form metastases in nude mice. We have further discovered that culture on collagen-I gels (Vitrogen; Vg) induces MMP-2-activator in highly invasive but not poorly invasive HBC cell lines. As seen for other MMP-2-activator inducing regimens, this induction requires protein synthesis and an intact MMP-2 hemopexin-like domain, appears to be mediated by a cell surface activity, and can be inhibited by metalloproteinase inhibitors. The induction is highly specific to collagen I, and is not seen with thin coatings of collagen I, collagen IV, laminin, or fibronectin, or with 3-dimensional gels of laminin, Matrigel, or gelatin. This review focuses on collagen I and MMP-2, their localization and source in HBC, and their relationship(s) to MMP-2 activation and HBC metastasis. The relevance of collagen I in activation of MMP-2 in vivo is discussed in terms of stromal cell: tumor cell interaction for collagen I deposition, MMP-2 production, and MMP-2-activation. Such cooperativity may exist in vivo for MMP-2 participation in HBC dissemination. A more complete understanding of the regulation of MMP-2-activator by type I collagen may provide new avenues for improved diagnosis and prognosis of human breast cancer.