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Results for “Mastectomy, Modified Radical”

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PubMed1999

Tamoxifen in high-risk premenopausal women with primary breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy. Report from the Danish Breast Cancer co-operative Group DBCG 82B Trial.

Following modified radical mastectomy, pre- and perimenopausal (amenorrhoea for < 5 years) patients with stage II or III breast cancer received CMF (cyclophosphamide 600, methotrexate 40, 5-fluorouracil 600 mg/m2 intravenously (i.v.) every 4 weeks, 9 cycles). The effect on recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) of the addition of adjuvant tamoxifen (TAM) to adjuvant chemotherapy was examined by randomisation either to no additional treatment (n = 314), or concurrently TAM 30 mg daily for 1 year (n = 320). 40% had positive, 12% negative and 48% unknown receptor status. One year after surgery 21% versus 35% (CMF + TAM versus CMF) were still menstruating (P < 0.01). With a median follow-up of 12.2 years there was no difference in RFS (10-year RFS 34% versus 35%, P = 0.81) or OS (45% versus 46%, P = 0.73). In a Cox proportional hazards model, tumour size, number of metastatic lymph nodes, frequency of metastatic nodes in relation to total number of nodes removed, degree of anaplasia, age, and menostasia within the first year after operation were significant independent prognostic factors for RFS, and the same factors except age for OS. No significant interactions with TAM were seen. Thus, in this group of pre- and perimenopausal high-risk early breast cancer patients with heterogeneous receptor status given CMF i.v., concurrent TAM for 1 year did not improve the outcome. These results do not exclude that receptor positive patients may benefit from adjuvant TAM for longer periods given sequentially to chemotherapy.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and tamoxifen as adjuncts to surgery in early breast cancer: a summary of three randomized trials.

The paper summarizes up-dated results of three randomized adjuvant trials from the Stockholm Breast Cancer Group. The objective of all studies included an evaluation of the role of megavoltage radiation in the primary management of patients with early breast cancer. The first trial was started in 1971 and included 960 pre- and postmenopausal patients with operable disease. The study compared adjuvant radiotherapy with surgery alone. All patients were treated with a modified radical mastectomy. There was a sustained improvement of the recurrence-free survival with radiotherapy (p less than 0.001). Among node positive cases radiation reduced the frequency of both loco-regional recurrence (p less than 0.001) and distant metastasis (p less than 0.01). This observation indicates that distant dissemination in subgroups of patients can originate from uncontrolled local deposits of tumor cells, for instance in the regional lymph nodes. No adverse effect from radiation on long-term survival was observed. The second study was started in 1976 and compared postmastectomy radiation with adjuvant chemotherapy in pre- and postmenopausal high-risk patients. At a mean follow-up of 6 1/2 years there was no significant difference in recurrence-free survival between the two treatments. However, postmenopausal patients fared better with radiotherapy (p less than 0.01). In this subgroup, radiation was more effective than adjuvant chemotherapy in reducing both distant metastases (p less than 0.01) and loco-regional recurrences (p less than 0.001). In the third trial--which only included postmenopausal patients--2 years of adjuvant tamoxifen was compared with no adjuvant endocrine treatment. The number of treatment failures was significantly reduced with tamoxifen (p less than 0.01) but there was no significant overall survival benefit. Subset analysis indicated that tamoxifen improved the recurrence-free survival among patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy (p less than 0.01) but only to a level close to that achieved with radiotherapy alone. Addition of tamoxifen to radiotherapy failed to further increase the recurrence-free survival.

Aged↗

PubMed2003

Pain and quality of life after surgery for breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: In breast cancer (BC) patients, conservative surgery (CS) followed by irradiation or immediate breast reconstruction (IBR) after modified radical mastectomy (MRM) has been proposed in the attempt to avoid the negative impact of MRM on feminine body image. Regardless of the type of operation, BC patients may feel pain even without recurrent disease with poor adjustment in terms of quality of life (QL). METHODS: We adopted a questionnaire comprising the short form of the McGill Pain questionnaire, and a previously validated questionnaire able to identify four subscales exploring physical well-being, physical autonomy, relational life and psychological well-being. The questionnaire was mailed in 1999 to a consecutive series of 757 (CS: 481 cases; MRM + IBR with skin expander: 93 cases; MRM: 183 cases) disease-free patients treated for BC between March 1995 and March 1998. RESULTS: The final analysis assessed the data relating to 529 patients who underwent axillary dissection. Pain was reported by 39.7% of women with higher incidence in patients who underwent CS than in those who underwent MRM +/- IBR, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.07). The only statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) between the surgical groups was the pain appearance that occurred earlier in the CS patients and later in the MRM + IBR patients. No other differences were observed. The women with pain had significantly worse QL scores on all of the subscales than those without. CONCLUSION: Pain after surgery for BC distress almost one-third of patients, regardless of the type of treatment, and had a negative effect on patients' QL. The different surgical procedures may marginally influence the quantitative characteristics of pain.

Breast Neoplasms↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Postmastectomy radiotherapy and concomitant adjuvant chemotherapy versus adjuvant chemotherapy alone in premenopausal breast cancer patients with positive axillary nodes.

AIMS: To evaluate the efficacy of postmastectomy radiotherapy (RT) combined with adjuvant chemotherapy compared to adjuvant chemotherapy alone as regards overall survival (OS), overall disease-free survival (ODFS), local disease-free survival (LDFS) and distant disease-free survival (DDFS). METHODS: We reviewed retrospectively two non-randomized groups of premenopausal high-risk breast cancer patients treated from 1985 to 1990 in the following Institutions: Department of Radiation Oncology of Brescia University, "Istituto del Radio O. Alberti" (IRA), and Department of Oncology of Brescia Hospital "Beretta Foundation" (BF). A total of 163 patients was found to satisfy the criteria of the current analysis: 81 patients received adjuvant chemotherapy alone [6 cycles CMF(1-8)] at BF and 82 patients received postoperative radiotherapy and chemotherapy [8 cycles CMF(1-21)] at IRA. A modified CMF schedule was chosen at IRA to avoid the feared increase in toxicity due to the association with RT. Primary surgical treatment was modified radical mastectomy with axillary node dissection in both cases. RESULTS: A statistically significant improvement in OS was found in systemic adjuvant therapy patients compared to those also given RT (77.6% vs 59%; P = 0.0025). No statistically significant improvement in ODFS was found in the CMF(1-8) arm compared to the RT and CMF(1-21) stm: 51.6% vs 43.6%; P = 0.46. A statistically significant improvement in LDFS at 5 years was found in irradiated patients (89.3% vs 76.2%; P <0.05). The DDFS was also improved, although without evidence of statistical significance, in the CMF(1-8) group: at 5 years 65% vs 44% (P = 0.059). CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed that RT reduces the risk of local recurrence but without a statistically significant reduction in mortality. The lack of a survival benefit may somehow reflect the dose reduction in CMF(1-21). The evidence that CMF(1-8) offers undoubtable advantages over the CMF(1-21) regimen in OS and, perhaps, in distant control suggests that the dose intensity of CMF in this setting may also be important. In fact, although many CMF(1-8) patients received a dose intensity lower than 100%, 95% of them received a dose intensity higher than the maximum one of the CMF(1-21) patients. Although our results should be interpreted with caution, they seem to provide further rationale for testing the association of postoperative radiotherapy and the CMF(1-8) regimen in stage II breast cancer with positive nodes and treated with demolitive surgery, as already done in the conservative management of breast cancer, also in view of the new support therapies now available (i.e. hematologic growth factors).

Adult↗

PubMed2006

S-1 (TS-1) maintained complete response for approximately 10 years in a case of metastatic breast cancer.

We present a patient with pulmonary metastasis from breast cancer who received S-1 (TS-1) and maintained complete response for approximately 10 years after recurrence. A 51-year-old woman underwent modified radical mastectomy for left breast cancer in November 1991. Her cancer was postoperatively classified as pT2 pN0 M0 Stage IIA. As postoperative adjunctive treatment, tamoxifen and hexylcarbamoyl 1-5-FU (HCFU) were given. During the administration period (30 months after surgery), a solitary pulmonary metastasis occurred. Three months after the start of S-1 (100 mg/body/day), the tumor disappeared on images. Thereafter she took S-1 orally for approximately 10 years, and the pulmonary metastatic focus maintained complete response. In addition, no recurrent focus was observed. The adverse events observed during S-1 treatment were nausea, low-grade neutropenia and pigmentation of fingers. All were mild, and S-1 could be continued. Our case illustrates two important characteristics of S-1. First, S-1 was effective even though this patient had a lung metastasis during adjuvant treatment with HCFU. S-1 is a combined formulation containing 5-chloro-2, 4-dihydroxypyrimidine (CDHP; gimestat), which inhibits an enzyme that metabolites 5-FU, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD). Therefore, high 5-FU concentrations are maintained with S-1, and S-1 may be effective in the patients who do not respond to other fluoropyrimidine agents. Second, since S-1 toxicity was mild, long-term treatment for approximately 10 years was possible. Since S-1 contains potassium oxonate (OXO; otastat), gastrointestinal toxicities, the main adverse events of 5-FU agents, could be reduced. The purpose of treatments for metastatic breast cancer is to maintain favorable quality of life (QOL), as well as to improve survival. S-1 could be a valuable agent for breast cancer treatments, since it showed clinical efficacy and mild toxicity, and can be given orally.

Administration, Oral↗

PubMed1998

[Breast reconstruction: autologous tissue versus implant].

UNLABELLED: Modified radical mastectomy remains the standard for treatment of breast cancer. Women faced with the diagnosis of breast cancer often find it difficult to cope with the arousing emotions. Fear of death or cancer recurrence and a perceived loss of femininity often coexists with the desire for a return to normality and wholeness. For women seeking breast reconstruction various techniques have been developed. Two different ways for breast reconstruction have become a standard. One way is the reconstruction by tissue expansion or transposing locally available tissue with the use of implants. The other way is the reconstruction of the breast without using any implants with the Latissimus dorsi flap or the TRAM flap. METHODS: We performed 291 breast reconstructions. In 125 women available tissue and an implant was used. The Latissimus dorsi flap was used in 57 cases and 109 TRAM flaps either pedicled or as a microvascular flap were performed. RESULTS: Using expanders we found a perforation of the device in 2 cases. After using implants there were capsular contracture in 2 cases and in 1 case we had an infection. Using autologous tissue we had 2 partial flap necrosis, 4 hematomas, and 4 prolonged healings. There was no complete flap necrosis. DISCUSSION: Breast reconstruction using autologous tissue i.e. the TRAM flap is supposed to be a standard technique. Microsurgical transplantation of the TRAM flap shows almost no morbidity of the donor site area. Autologous tissue follows the changes of the body like weight gain or reduction to a certain extend and shows neither capsular contracture nor other implant associated side effects. Women get the impression that the TRAM flap is like soft tissue to the touch and not like a foreign body. The aesthetic results were in all cases superior sometimes needing minor secondary correction and mostly shaping of the nippel-areola complex. All patients were pleased with the result.

Breast Implantation↗

PubMed1998

High-dose therapy with peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) support using an innovative mobilization regimen in patients with high-risk primary or chemoresponsive metastatic breast cancers.

High-dose therapy followed by peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) support was performed in 29 patients with primary high-risk (Group I) or chemoresponsive metastatic (Group II) breast cancer patients. Group I patients had received PBSC mobilization within 4 weeks of modified radical mastectomy. Group II patients had to achieve minimal residual disease (MRD) by induction chemotherapy before being considered eligible for PBSC mobilization and high-dose therapy. An innovative FE120C regimen (5-FU 600 mg/m2, i.v., day 1; epirubicin 120 mg/m2, i.v., day 1; cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2, i.v., day 1) plus G-CSF (300 microg/day, subcutaneous injection for 9 days, from day 4 post-FE120C) was used to mobilize PBSCs. After high-dose CTCb (cyclophosphamide 6,000 mg/m2, thiothepa 500 mg/m2, carboplatin 800 mg/m2, in 4 days), patients received PBSC infusion and daily C-CSF 300 microg subcutaneous injection. There were 19 and 16 patients enrolled into Group I and Group II, respectively. Ten of the Group II patients had achieved minimal residual disease (MRD) after induction chemotherapy. The median numbers of mobilized total CD34 + cells for Group I and Group II patients were 27.3 (9.2 to 114.1) x 10(6)/kg and 17.1 (5.9 to 69.1) x 10(6)/kg respectively. The median time to neutrophil recovery (ANC > or = 500/microL) was 8 and 9 days in Group I and II, respectively. The median time to platelet recovery (> or = 50,000/microL) was 10 and 15 days in Group I and II, respectively. No major treatment-related toxicities were noted. In Group I, 13 out of 19 patients (68.4%; 43-87%, 95% C.I.) remained recurrence-free with a median follow-up of 31 months (6 + to 55 + months). In Group II, 3 out of 10 patients (30%; 7-65%, 95% C.I.) remained progression-free at 33 +, 35 +, 39 + months from induction therapy. We suggest that the FE120C plus G-CSF is an effective and innovative regimen for PBSC mobilization in breast cancer patients, and high-dose CTCb therapy with PBSC support is a safe and well-tolerated treatment modality.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic significance of pathological response of primary tumor and metastatic axillary lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast carcinoma.

PURPOSE: The prognostic significance of pathological response of primary tumor and metastatic axillary lymph nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was assessed in patients with noninflammatory locally advanced breast carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between January 1989 and April 1995, 148 consecutive patients with locally advanced breast carcinoma participated in the study. Of these, 140 fully evaluable patients (67, stage IIIA; 73, stage IIIB) were treated with three courses of 5-fluorouracil, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FAC), followed by modified radical mastectomy when technically feasible or definitive radiation therapy. The median age was 53 years (range, 26 to 75 years); 55% of patients were postmenopausal. RESULTS: Objective response was recorded in 99 of 140 patients (71%; 95% confidence interval, 63% to 79%). Complete response occurred in 11 patients (8%), and partial response occurred in 88 patients (63%). No change was recorded in 37 patients (26%), and progressive disease occurred in 4 patients (3%). One hundred and thirty-six patients underwent the planned surgery. Maximal pathological response of the primary tumor (in situ carcinoma or minimal microscopic residual tumor) was observed in 24 (18%); 112 patients (82%) presented minimal pathological response of the primary tumor (gross residual tumor). The number of metastatic axillary nodes after neoadjuvant chemotherapy was as follows: N0, 39 patients (29%); N1-N3, 35 patients (26%); > N3, 62 patients (45%). Considering the initial TNM status, 75% of the patients had decreases in tumor compartment after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Also, 31% and 23% of patients with clinical N1 and N2, respectively, showed uninvolved axillary lymph nodes. A significant correlation was noted between pathological response of primary tumor and the number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes. Median disease-free survival was 34 months, whereas median overall survival was 66 months. Pathological responses of both primary tumor and metastatic axillary lymph nodes were strongly correlated with disease-free survival and overall survival in univariate analyses. Additionally, in a proportional hazard regression model and in an accelerated failure time model, metastatic axillary lymph nodes significantly influenced both disease-free survival and overall survival, whereas pathological response of primary tumor did so on disease-free survival only. CONCLUSION: After neoadjuvant chemotherapy, pathological responses of both primary tumor and metastatic axillary lymph nodes had a marked prognostic significance and influenced outcome for patients with locally advanced breast carcinoma. Our results suggest that maximal tumor shrinkage and sterilization of potentially involved axillary nodes may represent a major goal of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Further studies are warranted to clarify whether these results reflect the therapeutic effect or intrinsic biologic factors of the tumor.

Adenocarcinoma↗

PubMed1998

Use of radioimmunoguided surgery after induction chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer.

Twenty-one patients with histologically proven locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) were treated with a combined modality approach based on primary chemotherapy and radical modified mastectomy followed by adjuvant chemotherapy. Surgery was performed by using radioimmunoguided surgery (RIGS) technique with the preoperative injection of Iodine-125 labeled monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) B72.3 anti-TAG (11 patients, Group A) and FO23C5 anti-carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA; 10 patients, Group B). The role of RIGS was defined at surgery by using an intraoperative hand-held gamma-detecting probe (GDP) to locate the primary tumor, possible clinically occult multicentric foci and ipsilateral lymph node metastases. In Group A, RIGS correctly defined the primary tumor in seven out of 11 patients (63.3%) and was able to find multicentric tumors in two out of four patients (50%). Positive lymph nodes were identified by RIGS in three out of eight patients (37.5%). In Group B, patients RIGS correctly located the primary in 4/10 cases (40%); in two RIGS-positive cases, the tumor was clinically not evident after primary chemotherapy (yT0). RIGS correctly identified multicentric foci of tumor in one out of two cases (50%). Correct lymph nodal RIGS assessment was observed in three out of nine patients (33.3%). No RIGS false-positive findings occurred in the 21 patients included in the study. RIGS appears to be a reliable technique for the intraoperative diagnosis and staging of breast cancer with a potential role especially when conservative surgery is planned after primary chemotherapy in LABC.

Aged↗

PubMed1983

Surgical management of primary breast cancer.

The approach to primary operable, or potentially curable breast cancer is a controversial field of oncology and is subject to a number of ongoing clinical experiments in many centers. This report discusses the recommended treatment for patients with this disease who are evaluated at the Breast Service of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. The most widely practiced treatment is modified radical mastectomy, with radical mastectomy reserved for patients having more advanced lesions. Modified radical mastectomy is defined as total mastectomy plus axillary lymph node dissection either with preservation of the pectoralis minor muscle or its removal. The latter allows a more thorough axillary dissection and is preferred for patients with invasive carcinomas. In either case, axillary node sampling is not advocated and will miss a significant percentage of axillary metastases. In patients with negative axillary lymph nodes, who are not candidates for adjuvant systemic therapy, breast reconstruction is possible within a few months of mastectomy. For patients with involved axillary nodes, trials of adjuvant chemotherapy (perhaps with antiestrogen therapy for estrogen-receptor positive primary tumors) seem to offer the best hope for improved survival. With available follow-up of such trials to date, there seems little doubt that at a minimum, such treatment prolongs disease-free interval. The role of adjuvant radiation therapy is more controversial, and the difficulty in combining this with chemotherapy is apparent.

Axilla↗

PubMed1990

Treatment of breast cancer by radical surgery: a personal experience of 653 patients with minimal follow-up of 10 years.

From June 1952 through December 1976, 695 radical operations were performed on 653 women suffering from invasive cancer of the breast. All operations were performed by a single surgeon (E.C.); the same principles in the selection of the patient techniques of surgery and overall treatment were practiced. Postoperative radiation therapy was used only in the beginning of the study, and 56 (15.9%) of the group with axillary metastases received such therapy. No patient with negative axillary lymph node received radiation therapy. No postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy or immunotherapy was administered. Complete follow-up data were obtained in 94.7% of all patients. In accord with the UICC clinical classification, 96 were classified as stage I (14.7%), 445 as stage II (68.1%), and 111 as stage III (17.%); 1 (0.1%) was not classified. From the 653 patients, 651 (two postoperative deaths) were observed for an average of 141.9 months. The longest period of follow-up evaluation for any patient was more than 35 years and the minimum, 10 years. Survival was calculated for the entire study group and for patients classified by nodal status and stage of disease. The 10-year overall survival rate for 651 patients is 60.4%; for those with positive nodes 46.4%, and for those with negative nodes, 76.7%. The overall survival, according to clinical stage, was as follows: the 5-year survival for patients in stage I was 89.5%, and the 10-year survival was 83.1%. In the stage II group, the 5-year survival was 76.1% and the 10-year survival, 58.5%. The patients in stage III had only a 62.1% 5-year survival and a 47.7% 10-year survival.

Adult↗

PubMed1996

Clinicopathologic features associated with long-term survival in node-negative breast cancer patients.

This study was undertaken to assess blood vessel invasion (BVI) and other histologic features to determine the best method of histologic prognosis in node-negative breast cancer patients. The prognostic significance of the clinico-pathological findings was evaluated in 70 patients with node-negative breast cancer among 135 patients operated on between 1971 and 1981. The prognostic factors investigated included BVI, peritumor lymphatic invasion, clinical tumor size, nuclear grade, histological grade, mitotic grade, and tumor necrosis. BVI was detected by factor VIII-related antigen and elastica van Gieson staining. BVI-negative patients had a 20-year cumulative survival of 93.7%, versus 74.7% for BVI-positive patients (P = 0.0294). The clinical tumor size also correlated well with prognosis (P < 0.001). However, the other histologic features did not correlate with a poor prognosis. Moreover, we retrospectively examined the effect of postoperative chemotherapy for patients with BVI and T3, and the prognosis of those given chemotherapy seemed to be better than that of those who were not. Tumors measuring more than 51 mm and BVI may thus represent adverse prognostic factors in node-negative breast cancer patients.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

The psychological and cosmetic aspects of breast conserving therapy compared with radical mastectomy.

An evaluation of the psychological and cosmetic morbidity of 31 patients who had undergone breast conserving treatment (BCT group) and 71 patients who had undergone radical mastectomy (RM group) revealed that 85% and 73%, respectively, were satisfied with their operative results. BCT appeared superior to RM in relation to body image, with 93% of the BCT group indicating BCT as a future choice of treatment, whereas only 35% of the RM group indicated RM as a future choice of treatment. For 59% of the BCT patients, the results were considered excellent or good by a physician, but fear of recurrence was frequently expressed by both groups even though an early stage of breast cancer had been significantly more common in the BCT group than the RM group. Sexual adjustment was the same in both groups. Body image was thus concluded to have been improved by BCT rather than RM, but psychological morbidity was essentially the same in both groups.

Adaptation, Psychological↗

PubMed1997

Myomammary flap of pectoralis major muscle for breast reconstruction: new technique.

Simple mastectomy and modified radical mastectomy is still the preferred surgical technique for management of breast cancer, as it is always in the second stage (II). Breast reconstruction in Egypt is always accompanied by reduction mammoplasty of the other breast. The new method utilizes a myomammary flap from the other side. This flap depends on the other breast being of moderate or large size. The flap being transferred depends on the pedicle of the pectoralis major tunneled under the skin. The new technique utilizes the nipple on the healthy side to reconstruct the nipple of the new breast at the same time. A reduction mammoplasty was achieved in healthy contralateral huge breasts. A total of 23 female patients were submitted for breast reconstruction using a pectoralis major myomammary flap from the other relatively large breast. The flap depended on a blood supply from the pectoral branch of the thoracoacromial artery. Good cosmetic results were achieved in 60% of cases, fair results in 25%, and unsatisfactory results in 15%. In conclusion, this new technique of breast reconstruction is suitable especially for patients with large, healthy breasts and for relatively poor patients.

Adolescent↗

PubMed2006

Synchronous bilateral breast carcinoma in a 50-year-old man with 45,X/46,XY mosaic karyotype: report of a case.

We report a case of synchronous bilateral breast cancer in a patient with ambiguous external genitalia attributed to a 45,X/46,XY mosaicism. To our knowledge, this represents the first such case ever to be reported. Mammography, ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging all showed bilateral suspicious breast masses with microcalcifications. There were no radiological findings of muscle invasion or axillary lymphadenopathy. The patient was successfully treated by bilateral radical modified mastectomy followed by external irradiation and adjuvant endocrine therapy. Histological examination revealed a bilateral ductal carcinoma in situ, with a cribriform and papillary pattern and microfoci of infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The hormonal profile revealed high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone, and low levels of testosterone. Testicular sonography revealed small hypoechoic testicles with bilateral microlithiasis. This case shows that 45,X/46,XY men may have an increased risk of breast cancer and must be followed up carefully.

Breast Neoplasms, Male↗

PubMed2004

Long-term survival of a patient with primarily chemo-resistant metastatic breast cancer treated with medroxyprogesterone acetate.

The prognosis of breast cancer patients with liver metastases is extremely poor. Here we present the case of a 66-year-old female breast cancer patient with multiple liver metastases diagnosed 2 years after a radical modified mastectomy followed by adjuvant tamoxifen. At progression, anthracycline-based chemotherapy was administered, but a CT scan following two cycles of FEC (5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide) showed progression of the liver metastases. Chemotherapy was therefore switched to medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). After 3 months the patient's general status improved, and disease stabilization was observed at the next CT scan. A further 4 months of MPA treatment resulted in complete response of all liver lesions. Treatment with oral MPA was continued for 4 years. At present, 11 years after the diagnosis of metastatic liver involvement, the patient is alive, free of cancer, and fully ambulatory. Despite bulky visceral disease and chemoresistance, hormonal treatment with MPA resulted in a spectacular and long-lasting response.

Aged↗

PubMed2001

Extramedullary plasmacytoma of the breast simulating breast cancer.

A patient with a palpable mass in the breast suggestive of carcinoma underwent radical modified mastectomy. Surprisingly, histology of the tumor revealed an extramedullary plasmacytoma. Further diagnostic work up showed no evidence of underlying multiple myeloma. Among neoplastic lesions of the breast, although rare, malignancy of mesenchymal or lymphoproliferative origin should always be considered.

Aged↗

PubMed1984

Management of primary breast cancer. What the past decade has taught us.

Early detection of breast cancer provides the best chance of cure. For women with stage O or clinical stage I disease, two surgical options are available, with equivalent long-term survival. An increasing number of these women are choosing lumpectomy with radiation therapy to the remaining breast tissue rather than modified radical mastectomy. Clinical stage II patients are treated with modified radical mastectomy. For premenopausal women with positive axillary lymph nodes, six months of adjuvant chemotherapy increases survival. Whether postmenopausal women with positive nodes benefit from chemotherapy is unclear. At present they are best treated in the context of a therapeutic trial. A subset of premenopausal women with stage I breast cancer have tumors that are estrogen receptor-negative and are at high risk of recurrence. These women may benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy and should be entered into a therapeutic trial.

Antineoplastic Agents↗