Methods: Young women (aged less than 50 years) newly diagnosed with stage I or II (T1-2 N0-1 M0) breast cancer in four hospitals in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong in 1990-2012 were included. Overall survival (OS) was compared for patients treated by BCS and those who had a mastectomy. Propensity score analysis was used to account for differences in demographic, tumour and treatment characteristics between the groups.
Results: Some 63·5 per cent of 3536 women underwent mastectomy. Over a 15-year period, only a modest increase in rates of BCS was observed. Although BCS was significantly associated with favourable prognostic features, OS was not significantly different for BCS and mastectomy; the 5-year OS rate was 94·9 (95 per cent c.i. 93·5 to 96·3) and 92·9 (91·7 to 94·1) per cent respectively. Inferences remained unchanged following propensity score analysis (hazard ratio for BCS versus mastectomy: 0·81, 95 per cent c.i. 0·64 to 1·03).
Conclusion: The prevalence of young women with breast cancer treated by mastectomy remains high in Asian countries. Patients treated with BCS appear to survive as well as those undergoing mastectomy.
PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 11 cases of malignant phyllodes were retrospectively reviewed between Nov 2014 and Oct 2017.
RESULTS: The median age was 45 years old (31- 61 years). The median pathological tumor size was 10.5cm (2-28cm). 6 patients (55%) were premenopausal. 7 patients (64%) were treated eventually with mastectomy and 4 (36%) were treated with breast conserving surgery. 4 (36%) patients had Axillary Clearance done while axillary sampling was done in 2 patient. The remainder 5 (45%) required axillary clearance at a later op. 6 (55%) patients received postoperative radiotherapy. After a median follow up period of 11 months (range 4-33 months), 8 developed local recurrence. The overall 2 year survival rate was 18%.
CONCLUSION: Malignant Phyllodes tumors are rare tumors that occur in fairly young women, when compared with the adenocarcinoma of the breast. They tend to grow to reach large with absence of nodal metastasis. Ultimately surgery is the mainstay of management but with postoperative radiotherapy it can decrease the local recurrence rates in certain presentations however recurrence rate is high and overall survival rates are poor.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighteen facilities in 10 Asian countries participated in this prospective, interventional, single-arm study. The study included two independent regimens: hypofractionated whole-breast irradiation (WBI) for patients who had undergone breast-conserving surgery and hypofractionated PMRT for patients who had undergone total mastectomy at a dose of 43.2 Gy in 16 fractions. In the hypofractionated WBI group, patients with high-grade factors received additional 8.1 Gy boost irradiation sessions for the tumour bed in three fractions.
RESULTS: Between February 2013 and October 2019, 227 and 222 patients were enrolled in the hypofractionated WBI and hypofractionated PMRT groups, respectively. The median follow-up periods in the hypofractionated WBI and hypofractionated PMRT groups were 61 and 60 months, respectively. The 5-year locoregional control rates were 98.9% (95% confidence interval 97.4-100.0) and 96.3% (95% confidence interval 93.2-99.4) in the hypofractionated WBI and hypofractionated PMRT groups, respectively. Regarding adverse events, grade 3 acute dermatitis was observed in 2.2% and 4.9% of patients in the hypofractionated WBI and hypofractionated PMRT groups, respectively. However, no other adverse events were observed.
CONCLUSION: Although further follow-up is required, hypofractionated radiotherapy regimens for postoperative patients with breast cancer in East and Southeast Asian countries are effective and safe. In particular, the proven efficacy of hypofractionated PMRT indicates that more patients with advanced breast cancer can receive appropriate care in these countries. Hypofractionated WBI and hypofractionated PMRT are reasonable approaches that can contain cancer care costs in these countries. Long-term observation is required to validate our findings.
METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, the QoL of 208 patients who underwent mastectomy and the BCS treatment were assessed, using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire. The questionnaire was administered at the baseline, 6 and 12 months following diagnosis. One-way ANCOVA was used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS: A total of 208 female survivors of Stage 0-II breast cancer were included, among them 47.1% underwent BCS and 52.9% underwent mastectomy. Older (63.3%), Chinese women (63.6%), and patients with primary education (71.7%) were more likely to undergo mastectomy. At baseline, no significant differences were observed for QoL in both treatment groups. At 6 months, patients who underwent BCS had better social functioning scales( P = 0.006) and worse symptom scales for dyspnoea (P = 0.031), compared to mastectomy patients. One year after diagnosis, the role functioning score of the mastectomy group was significantly higher than the BCS group, specifically among patients who had undergone chemotherapy (P = 0.034).
CONCLUSION: Patients who underwent BCS had better social functioning and worse dyspnoea symptoms compared to patients undergoing mastectomy at six months. During one year, there were only significant improvements in the role functioning among the mastectomy groups compared to the BCS groups. After further stratification, only mastectomy patients who received chemotherapy exhibited improved role functioning compared to patients those who did not undergo chemotherapy. Providing social and physical support postoperatively and monitoring patients for cancer worry, or other symptoms in the long-term survivorship period would be important to ensure optimal QoL.
Methods: 80 patients with invasive breast cancer receiving BCS after neoadjuvant chemotherapy were included in this non-randomized case-control study. 40 patients with specimen radiography performed in a standard approach (control group) were compared to 40 patients with use of a radiopaque tissue transfer system (study group).
Results: 19/80 (23.75%) patients required re-excision because of involved margins; among those, 14/40 (35%) were in the control group and 5/40 (12.5%) in the study group. The association between the use of the radiopaque tissue transfer system and the lower re-excision rate was statistically significant (p = 0.023).
Conclusion: Our analysis provides a rationale for the routine use of a radiopaque tissue transfer system for specimen radiography in BCS after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for invasive breast cancer in order to reduce re-excision rates.
METHODS: Patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer (BC) from 2005 to 2013 at our tertiary institution were included and divided according to race and subtypes. Demographic and clinical information of non-metastatic TNBC patients were analyzed. Log-rank test, univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to find associated risk factors related with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS).
RESULTS: Among 1227 BC patients, 129 (10.5%) had TNBC. TNBC patients had the worst OS (P: 0.0005) and DFS (P: 0.0016) among the subtypes. However, variations in race did not have any difference in OS or DFS among TNBC patients. Axillary lymph node involvement, invasive lobular histology, larger tumor size, and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) were factors associated with both poor DFS and OS among TNBC patients.
CONCLUSIONS: Racial variation did not have any impact on the prognosis of the TNBC.
METHODOLOGY: A total of 21 breast cancer patients who underwent breast-conserving surgery and IORT, either as IORT alone or IORT boost plus external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), were recruited in this prospective study. EBT3 film was calibrated in water and used to measure skin dose during IORT at concentric circles of 5 mm and 40 mm away from the applicator. For patients who also had EBRT, the maximum skin dose was estimated using the radiotherapy treatment planning system. Mid-term skin toxicities were evaluated at 3 and 6 months post-IORT.
RESULTS: The average skin dose at 5 mm and 40 mm away from the applicator was 3.07 ± 0.82 Gy and 0.99 ± 0.28 Gy, respectively. Patients treated with IORT boost plus EBRT received an additional skin dose of 41.07 ± 1.57 Gy from the EBRT component. At 3 months post-IORT, 86% of patients showed no evidence of skin toxicity. However, the number of patients suffering from skin toxicity increased from 15% to 38% at 6 months post-IORT. We found no association between the IORT alone or with the IORT boost plus EBRT and skin toxicity. Older age was associated with increased risk of skin toxicities. A mathematical model was derived to predict skin dose.
CONCLUSION: EBT3 film is a suitable dosimeter for in vivo skin dosimetry in IORT, providing patient-specific skin doses. Both IORT alone and IORT boost techniques resulted in similar skin toxicity rates.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective analysis of 15 patients with central retroareolar breast cancer operated from 2012 to 2018 in University Malaya Medical Center. We assessed postoperative complications, margins, locoregional recurrence, and survival outcome. All patients received postoperative radiotherapy. Patients were followed-up 1 week, 1 month, 3 monthly for 1 year and 6 monthly for 5 years.
RESULTS: Mean age of patients is 62 years. Mean follow-up is 51 months (15-84 months). All tumors were less than 5 cm (1-2.5 cm). Majority of the patients are stage 1 (6 patients/40%) and stage 2 (8 patients/ 53.3%). 2 patients had surgical site infection resolved with antibiotics. One patient had hematoma. None require reoperation. Tumor margins were clear in all patients. No locoregional recurrence. Overall survival is 100%. All are satisfied with their cosmetic outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS: Grisotti flap is a volume displacement technique, which provides satisfactory cosmetic outcome for centrally located breast cancer. This evolutionary thinking leads us to changes in existing techniques with the purpose of achieving oncological safety while reaching for better esthetic results. Our 5 years' experience in Asian population showed that this technique is oncologically safe with good cosmetic outcomes and could be used selectively. It provides a good alternative in patients who are otherwise subjected for mastectomy. This relatively simple technique is a worthwhile endeavor and should be offered when feasible.