Rates of residual disease with close but negative margins in breast cancer surgery

Does Nipple-Ward Positive Margin Contribute to a Higher Rate of Re-Excision Procedures After a Lumpectomy with Pathology-Confirmed Positive Margins? A Retrospective Study

Background

Positive margins on lumpectomy specimens are associated with a twofold increased risk of local breast tumor recurrence. Prior literature has demonstrated various techniques and modalities for assessing margin status to reduce re-excision rates. However, there is paucity of literature analyzing which margin contributes to the highest re-excision rates. Therefore, the primary aim of the study was to investigate whether the nipple-ward margins resulted in a higher rate of re-excision in our patient population.

Methods

 A retrospective chart review was performed on patients who had re-excision surgery. Nipple-ward margin was identified by correlating radiological and pathological reports. A cut-off of more than 25% was used to demonstrate correlation between nipple-ward margin and re-excision rate.

Results

A total of 98 patients' data were analyzed, with 41 (41.8%), 14 (14.3%), 5 (5.1%), and 38 (38.8%) diagnosed with DCIS, IDC, ILC, and mixed pathology on their margins, respectively. Overall, 48% (n=47) of the positive margins were nipple-ward, with 44.7% (n=21) reporting DCIS. Upon stratification, 45 (45.9%) cases were single-margin positive, with 26 (57.8%) being nipple-ward. Furthermore, the remaining 53 (54.1%) patients had multiple positive margins, with 21 (39.6.7%) nipple-ward cases.

Conclusion

Positive nipple-ward margins significantly contribute to a higher re-excision rate p < 0.001; 48% of re-excision surgeries had positive nipple-ward margins, and 57.8% of positive single-margin cases were nipple-ward. Taking an additional shave during initial lumpectomy decreases re-excision rates. However, planning a lumpectomy procedure with a more elliptical rather than a spherical resection with additional cavity shave (ie, larger volume) in the nipple-ward direction and minimizing the remaining cavity shaves so the total volume resected remains unchanged. Nevertheless, future studies with larger sample sizes are required to bolster our findings.

Association of Surgical Margin Status with Oncologic Outcome in Patients Treated with Breast-Conserving Surgery

We aimed to compare the prognosis of patients with close resection margins after breast-conserving surgery (BCS) with that of patients with negative margins and identified predictors of residual disease. A total of 542 patients with breast cancer who underwent BCS between 2003 and 2019 were selected and divided into the close margin (114 patients) and negative margin (428 patients) groups. The median follow-up period was 72 (interquartile range, 42-113) months. Most patients received radiation therapy (RTx) and systemic therapy according to their stage and molecular subtype. The 10-year locoregional recurrence-free survival rates of the close and negative margin groups were 88.2% and 95.5%, respectively (p = 0.001). Multivariable analysis showed that adjuvant RTx and margin status after definitive surgery were significantly associated with locoregional recurrence. Of the 57 patients who underwent re-excision, 34 (59.6%) had residual disease. Multivariable analysis revealed that a histological type of positive or close margins and multifocality were independent predictive factors for residual disease. Although the current guidelines suggest that no ink on tumor is an adequate margin after BCS, a close resection margin may be associated with locoregional failure. The treatment strategy for close resection margins after BCS should be based on individual clinicopathological features.

Do All Positive Margins in Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing a Partial Mastectomy Need to Be Resected?

BACKGROUND

Positive margins have been reported in 20% to 40% of patients undergoing a partial mastectomy, often resulting in re-excision. How often the re-excision yields additional cancer and whether there are predictors of residual disease remain unknown.

STUDY DESIGN

Patients who had a positive margin (defined as tumor at ink for patients with invasive disease or within 1 mm for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ) in the SHAVE (A Randomized Controlled Trial of Routine Shave Margins Versus Standard Partial Mastectomy in Breast Cancer Patients) trial before randomization were evaluated to determine the rate of additional disease either in cavity shave margins or at re-excision. Details of the SHAVE trial can be found elsewhere.

RESULTS

Of the 235 patients in the trial, 82 (34.9%) had a positive margin before randomization; 58 of these patients underwent either cavity shave margins excision or a re-excision of the positive margin(s). Twenty-one (36.2%) patients had residual disease. On bivariate analysis, residual disease was associated with younger patient age (median 51 vs 62 years; p = 0.007), and the presence of high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ (57.1% vs 31.3% for grade 2 and 0% for grade 1; p = 0.025). The following factors were not associated with further disease: patient race; ethnicity; BMI; volume of resection; number of positive margins; extent of ductal carcinoma in situ; and extent, grade, and histologic subtype of invasive cancer. On multivariate analysis, only patient age younger than 60 years remained a significant predictor of residual disease (odds ratio 3.920; 95% CI 1.081 to 14.220; p = 0.038).

CONCLUSIONS

Positive margins are associated with further disease in more than one-third of patients and, aside from young age, there are no predictors of this. These findings support continued re-excision of positive margins, particularly in patients younger than 60 years of age.

Let us cut to the core: is core biopsy enough for subcentimeter breast cancer?

BACKGROUND

Breast conservation therapy has become a preferred method of treating early-stage breast cancer. As care continues to evolve, certain lesions allowed less invasive treatment options. A simplified explanation of early breast cancer care is detection, biopsy, surgery, and adjuvant therapy. The authors look to challenge that algorithm for a specific type of disease.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed to identify all subcentimeter breast cancer that underwent surgery after core biopsy. These cases (n = 115) were analyzed for biopsy technique and outcome of final surgical excision to find when no residual disease was found on final pathology, potentially rendering the surgical resection an unneeded procedure.

RESULTS

The authors found that 17 of 115 patients (14.8%) who underwent biopsy for subcentimeter breast cancer had no residual disease found on final surgical resection. Although the subsets were small, the largest core needle resulted in negative pathology two of three times, while the smallest gauge, never resulted in negative resection at time of surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Nearly, fifteen percent of patients were found to have no residual disease on final surgical pathology. These results were obtained when the radiologist was simply trying to get tissue diagnosis. The authors postulate that this percentage could be even higher if protocols were initiated to biopsy these small lesions with larger core biopsies and possibly alleviate the need for formal surgery in these specific, small lesion.

Focally positive margins in breast conserving surgery: Predictors, residual disease, and local recurrence

BACKGROUND

Re-excision after breast conserving surgery (BCS) for invasive breast cancer (IBC) can be omitted for focally positive margins in the Netherlands, but this guideline is not routinely followed. Focally positive and extensively positive margins have rarely been studied separately and compared to negative margins regarding clinicopathological predictors, residual disease incidence, and local recurrence.

METHODS

All females with BCS for Tis-T3, without neo-adjuvant chemotherapy between 2005 and 2014 at one university hospital were included. Clinicopathological and follow-up information was collected from electronic patient records. Index tumor samples from all patients with re-excision were reviewed by one pathologist. Margins were classified as negative (≥2 mm width), close (<2 mm width), focally positive (≤4 mm length of tumor touching inked margin), or extensively positive (>4 mm length).

RESULTS

From 499 patients included, 212 (43%) had negative, 161 (32%) had close, 59 (12%) had focally positive, and 67 (13%) had extensively positive margins. Increasingly involved margins were associated with lobular type, tumor size, and adjacent DCIS in IBC patients and lesion size in purely DCIS patients. In IBC patients, 17%, 49%, and 77% had re-excision after close, focally positive, and extensively positive margins and residual disease incidence was 55%, 50%, and 70% respectively. In purely DCIS patients, 26 (65%), 13 (87%), and 16 (94%) had re-excision after close, focally positive, and extensively positive margins and residual disease incidence was 39%, 46%, and 90% respectively.

CONCLUSION

Incidence of residual disease after focally positive margins was not different from close margins, but was significantly higher after extensively positive margins. We recommend quantifying extent of margin involvement in all pathology reports.

Pulsed-dose-rate peri-operative brachytherapy as an interstitial boost in organ-sparing treatment of breast cancer

Purpose

To evaluate peri-operative multicatheter interstitial pulsed-dose-rate brachytherapy (PDR-BT) with an intra-operative catheter placement to boost the tumor excision site in breast cancer patients treated conservatively.

Material and methods

Between May 2002 and October 2008, 96 consecutive T1-3N0-2M0 breast cancer patients underwent breast-conserving therapy (BCT) including peri-operative PDR-BT boost, followed by whole breast external beam radiotherapy (WBRT). The BT dose of 15 Gy (1 Gy/pulse/h) was given on the following day after surgery.

Results

No increased bleeding or delayed wound healing related to the implants were observed. The only side effects included one case of temporary peri-operative breast infection and 3 cases of fat necrosis, both early and late. In 11 patients (11.4%), subsequent WBRT was omitted owing to the final pathology findings. These included eight patients who underwent mastectomy due to multiple adverse prognostic pathological features, one case of lobular carcinoma in situ, and two cases with no malignant tumor. With a median follow-up of 12 years (range: 7-14 years), among 85 patients who completed BCT, there was one ipsilateral breast tumor and one locoregional nodal recurrence. Six patients developed distant metastases and one was diagnosed with angiosarcoma within irradiated breast. The actuarial 5- and 10-year disease free survival was 90% (95% CI: 84-96%) and 87% (95% CI: 80-94%), respectively, for the patients with invasive breast cancer, and 91% (95% CI: 84-97%) and 89% (95% CI: 82-96%), respectively, for patients who completed BCT. Good cosmetic outcome by self-assessment was achieved in 58 out of 64 (91%) evaluable patients.

Conclusions

Peri-operative PDR-BT boost with intra-operative tube placement followed by EBRT is feasible and devoid of considerable toxicity, and provides excellent long-term local control. However, this strategy necessitates careful patient selection and histological confirmation of primary diagnosis.

Visualization of Grossly Undetectable Breast Tumors by Refixation in Lymph Node Revealing Solution

Introduction Breast lesions might be missed by the traditional method of inspection, palpation, and sectioning of the specimen. Lymph node revealing solution (LNRS) was first introduced by us as a fixative that enhances the retrieval of lymph nodes in breast carcinoma and other malignancies. This is a preliminary report of our experience with the use of LNRS in order to visualize malignant breast tumors that were not detected by the traditional method. Material and Methods Eight post-chemoradiation-treated tumors, 6 relumpectomy specimens, and 1 post mammotome lumpectomy with no grossly detectable residual tumor and 2 mastectomy specimens with multifocal tumors which were missed by the first inspection were postfixed in LNRS for 24 hours and sectioned. Results In some of the cases, small tumors up to 0.5 cm were visualized as white gray lesions. Carcinoma has been confirmed by histopathologic examination and the final diagnosis had to be changed. Conclusion Postfixation in LNRS enhances the visualization of grossly undetectable breast lesions and it is worthwhile to use it in problematic cases in order to arrive at a more accurate diagnosis.

Reoperations after primary breast conserving surgery in women with invasive breast cancer in Catalonia, Spain: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Although complete tumor resection is accepted as the best means to reduce recurrence, reoperations after lumpectomy are a common problem in breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess the reoperation rates after primary breast conserving surgery in invasive breast cancer cases diagnosed in Catalonia, Spain, between 2005 and 2011 and to identify variations based on patient and tumour characteristics.

METHODS

Women with invasive incident breast cancer identified from the Patient's Hospital Discharge Database [174.0-174.9 codes of the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) as the primary diagnosis] and receiving primary breast conserving surgery were included in the study and were followed up to 3 and 12 months by collecting information about repeat breast cancer surgery.

RESULTS

Reoperation rates after primary breast conserving surgery decreased from 13.0 % in 2005 to 11.7 % in 2011 at 3 months and from 14.2 % in 2005 to 12.9 % in 2011 at 12 months' follow-up. While breast conservation reoperations saw a slight, non-significant increase in the same period (from 5.7 to 7.3 % at 3 months, and from 6.0 to 7.5 % at 12 months), there was a significant decrease in radical reoperation (from 7.3 to 4.4 % at 3 months and from 8.2 to 5.4 % at 12 months). Overall, additional breast surgeries decreased among younger women.

CONCLUSIONS

Despite the rise of breast conserving surgery, reoperation rates following initial lumpectomy in Catalonia decreased by 10 % at 3 and 12 months' follow-up, remaining low and almost unchanged. Ultimately, there was also a significant decrease in mastectomies.

Surgery and radiation therapy of triple-negative breast cancers: From biology to clinics

Triple negative breast cancer refers to tumours lacking the expression of the three most used tumour markers, namely oestrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). These cancers are known to carry a more dismal prognosis than the other molecular subtypes. Whether a more aggressive local-regional treatment is warranted or not in patients with triple-negative breast cancer is still a matter of debate. Indeed there remain a number of grey zones with respect to the optimization of the extent and the timing of surgery and radiation therapy (RT) in this patient population, also in consideration of the significant heterogeneity in biological behaviour and response to treatment identified for these tumours. The objective of this review is to provide an insight into the biological and clinical behaviour of triple-negative breast cancers and revisit the most recent advances in their management, focussing on local-regional treatments.