Optimising of axillary therapy in breast cancer: lessons from the past to plan for a better future

In this narrative review, we aim to explore the ability of radiation therapy to eradicate breast cancer regional node metastasis. It is a journey through data of older trials without systemic therapy showing the magnitude of axillary therapy (surgery versus radiation) on cancer control. Considering that both systemic and loco-regional therapies were shown to reduce any recurrence with a complex interaction, our review includes surgical, radiation, and radiobiology consideration for breast cancer, and provide our view of future practise. The aim is to provide information optimise radiation therapy in the era of primary systemic therapy.

The Lucerne Toolbox 2 to optimise axillary management for early breast cancer: a multidisciplinary expert consensus

Clinical axillary lymph node management in early breast cancer has evolved from being merely an aspect of surgical management and now includes the entire multidisciplinary team. The second edition of the "Lucerne Toolbox", a multidisciplinary consortium of European cancer societies and patient representatives, addresses the challenges of clinical axillary lymph node management, from diagnosis to local therapy of the axilla. Five working packages were developed, following the patients' journey and addressing specific clinical scenarios. Panellists voted on 72 statements, reaching consensus (agreement of 75% or more) in 52.8%, majority (51%-74% agreement) in 43.1%, and no decision in 4.2%. Based on the votes, targeted imaging and standardized pathology of lymph nodes should be a prerequisite to planning local and systemic therapy, axillary lymph node dissection can be replaced by sentinel lymph node biopsy ( ± targeted approaches) in a majority of scenarios; and positive patient outcomes should be driven by both low recurrence risks and low rates of lymphoedema.

A Short History of Bernard Fisher's Contributions to Randomized Clinical Trials

Dr. Bernard Fisher (1918-2019) was an early proponent of evidence-based medicine using the mechanism of prospective, multicenter, randomized clinical trials to test biological and clinical hypotheses. In this article, I trace how his early scientific work in striving to understand the nature of cancer metastasis through animal experiments led to a new, testable, clinical hypothesis: that surgery to remove only the tumor and a small amount of tissue around it was as effective as the more disfiguring operations that were then the standard treatment. Fisher's work with the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) using large, randomized clinical trials to demonstrate the veracity of this hypothesis led to a new paradigm in which the emphasis was placed on how systemic therapies used at an early stage of disease could effectively eradicate breast cancer for many patients. This new therapeutic approach led to the successful development of new treatments, many of which are widely used today. Ultimately, the new paradigm led to successfully preventing breast cancer in women who were at high risk for the disease but who had not yet been diagnosed with the disease. Throughout his entire career, Fisher championed the use of large prospective, randomized clinical trials despite criticism from many in the medical community who strongly criticized his use of randomization as a mechanism for testing clinical hypotheses. The approach he and the NSABP employed is still considered to be the highest standard of evidence in conducting clinical studies.

Novel temporal and spatial patterns of metastatic colonization from breast cancer rapid-autopsy tumor biopsies

BACKGROUND

Metastatic breast cancer is a deadly disease with a low 5-year survival rate. Tracking metastatic spread in living patients is difficult and thus poorly understood.

METHODS

Via rapid autopsy, we have collected 30 tumor samples over 3 timepoints and across 8 organs from a triple-negative metastatic breast cancer patient. The large number of sites sampled, together with deep whole-genome sequencing and advanced computational analysis, allowed us to comprehensively reconstruct the tumor's evolution at subclonal resolution.

RESULTS

The most unique, previously unreported aspect of the tumor's evolution that we observed in this patient was the presence of "subclone incubators," defined as metastatic sites where substantial tumor evolution occurs before colonization of additional sites and organs by subclones that initially evolved at the incubator site. Overall, we identified four discrete waves of metastatic expansions, each of which resulted in a number of new, genetically similar metastasis sites that also enriched for particular organs (e.g., abdominal vs bone and brain). The lung played a critical role in facilitating metastatic spread in this patient: the lung was the first site of metastatic escape from the primary breast lesion, subclones at this site were likely the source of all four subsequent metastatic waves, and multiple sites in the lung acted as subclone incubators. Finally, functional annotation revealed that many known drivers or metastasis-promoting tumor mutations in this patient were shared by some, but not all metastatic sites, highlighting the need for more comprehensive surveys of a patient's metastases for effective clinical intervention.

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis revealed the presence of substantial tumor evolution at metastatic incubator sites in a patient, with potentially important clinical implications. Our study demonstrated that sampling of a large number of metastatic sites affords unprecedented detail for studying metastatic evolution.

Metastases-directed Radiotherapy in Addition to Standard Systemic Therapy in Patients with Oligometastatic Breast Cancer: Study protocol for a randomized controlled multi-national and multi-center clinical trial (OLIGOMA)

BACKGROUND

Several recent randomized therapeutic exploratory trials demonstrated improvement of progression-free survival and in some even overall survival using stereotactic body radiotherapy in patients with oligometastatic disease. However, only very few patients enrolled in these trials had breast cancer, and results from confirmatory trials are lacking.

METHODS/DESIGN

The OLIGOMA-trial is a randomized controlled multi-national multi-center therapeutic confirmatory trial studying the role of local ablative radiotherapy as an additive treatment in patients with oligometastatic breast cancer receiving standard systemic therapy. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to standard systemic therapy according to national guidelines with or without radiotherapy to all metastatic sites. Randomization will be stratified according to type and line of systemic therapy, which has to be determined by a multidisciplinary tumor board before enrollment. Patients with up to five metastatic lesions are eligible, including patients with up to three brain metastases (only in case of extracranial disease) and with locoregional recurrence (only in case of additional metastatic lesions). In the standard arm, palliative radiotherapy to symptomatic metastases is permitted if at least one lesion remains untreated. The co-primary endpoints are progression-free survival and quality of life. The primary hypothesis is that progression-free survival in the experimental arm will be superior to the standard arm while simultaneously demonstrating non-inferiority of quality of life at 12 weeks after randomization. Secondary endpoints are feasibility, overall survival, toxicity, quality of life and patient satisfaction. A translational sub-study with collection of ctDNA will be conducted.

DISCUSSION

The OLIGOMA-trial will provide high level evidence on the use of and benefit from local ablative radiotherapy for patients with oligometastatic breast cancer.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The OLIGOMA-trial is registered at clinicialtrials.gov under the identification NCT04495309. The related information was first posted on July 31st 2020.

Isoforms of IDH in breast carcinoma: IDH2 as a potent prognostic factor associated with proliferation in estrogen-receptor positive cases

BACKGROUND

Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) is an important enzyme that oxidatively decarboxylates isocitrate to α-ketoglutarate, and three isoforms (IDH1-3) have been identified. Overexpression and/or downregulation of IDH isoforms was reported in several human malignancies, suggesting importance of IDH in oncogenesis. However, significance of IDH isoforms remains largely unclear in the breast carcinoma.

METHODS

We immunolocalized IDH1, IDH2 and IDH3α in 226 breast carcinomas and evaluated their clinical significance. Subsequently, we examined effects of IDH2 on proliferation in breast carcinoma cells.

RESULTS

Immunoreactivity of IDH1-3α was detected in 53%, 38% and 41% of breast carcinomas, and the non-neoplastic epithelium was IDH1-positive, IDH2-negative and IDH3α-positive. IDH1 immunoreactivity was inversely associated with pathological T factor (pT) and Ki-67 in the breast carcinoma, while IDH3α immunoreactivity was not significantly associated with clinicopathological factors. IDH2 status was positively correlated with stage, pT, histological grade, HER2, Ki-67 and microvessel density. Moreover, IDH2 status was significantly associated with worse prognosis of the patients, and it turned out an independent prognostic factor for estrogen-receptor (ER) positive patients. These findings were more evident in the IDH1-negative / IDH2-positive/IDH3α-negative subgroup which is the opposite immunohistochemical IDH phenotype of normal mammary epithelium. In vitro studies demonstrated that RNA interference of IDH2 significantly decreased proliferation activity of T47D and SKBR-3 cells.

CONCLUSION

These results suggest that IDH2 is associated with an aggressive phenotype of breast carcinoma through increasing cell proliferation, different from IDH1 and IDH3α, and immunohistochemical IDH2 status is a potent prognostic factor especially in ER-positive breast cancer patients.

OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7 as potent markers for distant metastasis in estrogen receptor-positive breast carcinoma

Metastatic breast cancer is a highly lethal disease, and it is very important to evaluate the biomarkers associated with distant metastasis. However, molecular features of distant metastasis remain largely unknown in breast cancer. Estrogens play an important role in the progression of breast cancer and the majority of stage IV breast carcinomas express estrogen receptor (ER). Therefore, in this study, we examined molecular markers associated with distant metastasis in ER-positive breast carcinoma by microarray and immunohistochemistry. When we examined the gene expression profile of ER-positive stage IV breast carcinoma tissues (n = 7) comparing ER-positive stage I-III cases (n = 11) by microarray analysis, we newly identified OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7, which were closely associated with the distant metastasis. Subsequently, we performed immunohistochemistry for OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7 in 168 ER-positive breast carcinomas. OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7 immunoreactivities were significantly associated with stage, pathological T factor, distant metastasis and Ki67 status in the ER-positive breast carcinomas. Moreover, these immunoreactivities were significantly associated with a worse prognostic factor for distant metastasis-free and breast cancer-specific survival in ER-positive stage I-III breast cancer patients. However, when we performed immunohistochemistry for OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7 in 40 ER-negative breast carcinomas, these immunoreactivities were not generally associated with the clinicopathological factors examined, including distant metastasis and prognosis of patients, in this study. These results suggest that OLFM4, LY6D and S100A7 immunoreactivity are associated with an aggressive phenotype of ER-positive breast carcinoma, and these are potent markers for distant metastasis of ER-positive breast cancer patients.

Lymph Node Dissection in Patients With Melanoma and Sentinel Lymph Node Metastasis: An Updated, Evidence-Based Decision Algorithm

Recent publication of the results of clinical trials in which lymph node dissection was not associated with any survival benefit in patients with sentinel node metastasis makes it necessary to reconsider the treatment of patients with melanoma. This article provides an update on the available evidence on the diverse factors (routes of metastatic spread, predictors, adjuvant therapy, etc.) that must be considered when treating patients with sentinel node-positive melanoma. The authors propose a decision-making algorithm for use in this clinical setting. The current evidence no longer supports lymph node dissection in patients with low-risk sentinel node metastasis (sentinel node tumor load ≤1mm).

Serial or Parallel Metastasis of Cutaneous Melanoma? A Study of the German Central Malignant Melanoma Registry

For more than a century the Halstedian hypothesis of contiguous metastasis from the primary tumor through the lymphatics to distant sites shaped lymph node surgery for melanoma. We challenge this dogma of serial metastatic dissemination. A single-center series of 2,299 patients with cutaneous metastatic melanoma was investigated to analyze overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival of stage IV patients with or without primary lymphatic metastasis. Results were then compared with those of 2,134 patients from three independent centers of the German Central Malignant Melanoma Registry. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for the initial metastatic pathway. Distant metastasis-free survival (hazard ratio = 1.02; 95% confidence interval = 0.91-1.14; P = 0.76) and overall survival (HR = 1.09; 95% CI = 0.96-1.23; P = 0.177) did not differ between stage IV patients with primary hematogenous or primary lymphatic metastasis. Melanoma localization was the only significant risk factor for the initial metastatic pathway. These findings indicate that regional and distant metastases originate from the primary tumor itself in a rather parallel than serial fashion and could explain the lack of survival benefit associated with immediate complete lymph node dissection in sentinel lymph node-positive melanoma patients.

A Nomogram to Predict the Benefit of Radiation Therapy After Breast-Conserving Surgery in Elderly Patients with Stage I & ER-Negative, or Stage II/III Disease

BACKGROUND

Radiotherapy (RT) may be omitted for elderly (age >70 years) breast cancer patients with favorable disease [stage I and estrogen receptor (ER)-positive with endocrine therapy]. This study sought to develop a nomogram to predict the survival benefit of RT in elderly patients with stage I & ER-negative or stage II/III (regardless of ER status) disease.

METHODS

We used surveillance, epidemiology and end results data to identify 9,079 patients (age ≥70 years) with stage I & ER-negative or stage II/III (regardless of ER status) disease who received breast-conserving surgery between 1990 and 2005. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Competing-risk regression was used to determine the effect of predictors on CSS. A nomogram was then developed and validated using bootstrapped technique.

RESULTS

With a median follow-up of 83 months, the overall 10- and 15-year CSS were 82.1 and 75.8 %, respectively. RT was significantly associated with improved CSS in the multivariate analysis. A nomogram was developed for the prediction of 10-year CSS and showed a bootstrapped-corrected area under the curve value of 0.679. RT did not deliver any survival benefit to patients with predicted CSS >90 %. In addition, RT significantly increased the 10-year CSS by 3.6 and 10.1 % in patients with predicted CSS from 0.80 to 0.90 and <0.80, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

This nomogram is a useful tool to predict the 10-year CSS in patients with stage I and ER-negative or stage II/III (regardless of ER status) disease. The benefit of RT varied among patients with different predicted CSS.

Sentinel Node Biopsy Alone versus Completion Axillary Node Dissection in Node Positive Breast Cancer: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction. There has been recent interest in validity of completion axillary node dissection after a positive sentinel node. This systematic review aims to ascertain if sentinel lymph node dissection alone was noninferior to axillary lymph node dissection for breast cancer patients who have a positive sentinel node. Method. A systematic review of the electronic databases Embase, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials was carried out. Only randomised trials that had patients with positive sentinel node as the study sample were included in the meta-analysis using the reported hazard ratios with a fixed effect model. Results. Three randomised controlled trials and five retrospective studies were identified. The pooled effect for overall survival was HR 0.94, 95% CI [0.79, 1.19], and for disease free survival was HR 0.83, 95% CI [0.60, 1.14]. The reported rates for locoregional recurrence were similar in both groups. The surgical morbidity was found to be significantly more in patients who had underwent axillary dissection. Conclusion. Amongst patients with micrometastasis in the sentinel node, no further axillary dissection is necessary. For patients with macrometastasis in the sentinel node, it is reasonable to consider omitting axillary dissection to avoid the morbidity of the procedure.

Review on targeted treatment of patients with advanced-stage renal cell carcinoma: a medical oncologist's perspective

Renal cell carcinomas make up 3% of all cancers and one in four patients is metastatic at time of diagnosis. This cancer is one of the most resistant to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Studies have shown that the efficiency of interferon-alpha and/or interleukin-2 based immune therapies is limited in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma but latest advances in molecular biology and genetic science have resulted in better understanding of its biology. Tumor angiogenesis, tumor proliferation and metastasis develop by the activation of signal message pathways playing a role in the development of renal cell carcinomas. Better definition of these pathways has caused an increase in preclinic and clinical studies into target directed treatment of renal cell carcinoma. Many recent studies have shown that numerous anti-angiogenic agents have marked clinical activity. In this article, the focus is on general characteristics of molecular pathways playing a major role in renal cell carcinoma, reviewing clinical information onagents used in the target directed treatment of metastatic lesions.

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma: treating a systemic disease with systemic therapy

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma, even when resectable, remains highly lethal. Although surgical outcomes have improved considerably, median overall survival after surgery and adjuvant therapy such as single-agent gemcitabine remains less than 2 years. We discuss preclinical and clinical data supporting the contention that even early-stage pancreatic cancer is a systemic disease. Autopsy series reveal that 70% to 85% of patients die of systemic recurrence, rather than local disease, after pancreatic cancer resection. Preclinical studies using genomics and mouse models reveal evidence of metastatic spread even before histopathologic evidence of a pancreatic tumor. Analogous to breast cancer, we propose that the Halstedian approach of treating pancreatic cancer as a local, surgical problem should be replaced by Fisher's alternative hypothesis of cancer as a systemic disease. Newer multiagent chemotherapy regimens have shown meaningful response rates and improvement in overall survival in the metastatic setting and, for the first time, offer investigators an opportunity to use effective systemic therapy. We emphasize that a surgery-first approach is not resonant with our current understanding of pancreatic adenocarcinoma biology and that an upfront systemic approach for even resectable pancreatic cancer warrants testing in clinical trials.

Significance of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after breast conserving treatment: role of surgical removal

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the pattern over time (dynamics) of further recurrence and death after ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) in breast cancer patients undergoing breast conserving treatment (BCT).

METHODS

A total of 338 evaluable patients experiencing IBTR were extracted from a database of 3,293 patients undergoing BCT. The hazard rates for recurrence and mortality throughout 10 years of follow-up after IBTR were assessed and were compared to the analogous estimates associated to the primary treatment.

RESULTS

In a time frame with the time origin at the surgical treatment for IBTR, the hazard rate for further recurrence displays a bimodal pattern (peaks at the second and at the sixth year). Patients receiving mastectomy for IBTR reveal recurrence and mortality dynamics similar to that of node positive (N+) patients receiving mastectomy as primary surgery, apart from the first two-three years, when IBTR patients do worse. If the patients with time to IBTR longer than 2.5 years are considered, differences disappear.

CONCLUSIONS

The recurrence and mortality dynamics following IBTR surgical removal is similar to the corresponding dynamics following primary tumor removal. In particular, patients with time to IBTR in excess of 2.5 years behave like N+ patients following primary tumor removal. Findings may be suitably explained by assuming that the surgical manoeuvre required by IBTR treatment is able to activate a sudden growing phase for tumor foci most of which, as suggested by the systemic model of breast cancer, would have reached the clinical level according to their own dynamics.

Loco-regional therapy and breast cancer survival: searching for a link

OBJECTIVE

The relationship between loco-regional (LR) control and breast cancer survival was investigated with the intention of generating a new biological hypothesis to explain some of the paradoxes unaccounted for by the prevailing conceptual model of the disease.

BACKGROUND

The progressive reduction of surgical aggressiveness has been accompanied by an increase of breast cancer survival mainly attributed to the adoption of adjuvant systemic therapies. More recently, it has been recognized that effective LR control may prolong the survival of breast cancer patients, although the reasons for this improvement have not yet been clearly defined.

METHODS

The literature (PubMed) was reviewed for publications related to breast cancer LR treatments using the following key words: breast cancer surgery, breast cancer radiotherapy, breast cancer loco-regional control, breast cancer survival.

RESULTS

Although breast cancer is frequently a multifocal disease, neither mastectomy nor whole breast irradiation are always mandatory to obtain adequate local control. Conversely, selected groups of patients carry a particularly elevated risk of LR relapse and require more effective treatments to be developed. True LR recurrences are associated with a decreased overall survival and this may be related to a complex relationship between circulating tumor cells, re-seeding of the primary tumor site and several metabolic effects linked to the act of surgery.

CONCLUSION

The prevention of LR recurrences is a major goal of breast cancer care, which requires a better understanding of the complex relationships between the primary tumor and its metastatic process.

Radiation-induced sarcoma of the breast: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Radiation-induced sarcoma (RIS) is a rare, aggressive malignancy. Breast cancer survivors treated with radiotherapy constitute a large fraction of RIS patients. To evaluate evidenced-based practices for RIS treatment, we performed a systematic review of the published English-language literature.

METHODS

We performed a systematic keyword search of PubMed for original research articles pertaining to RIS of the breast. We classified and evaluated the articles based on hierarchical levels of scientific evidence.

RESULTS

We identified 124 original articles available for analysis, which included 1,831 patients. No randomized controlled trials involving RIS patients were found. We present the best available evidence for the etiology, comparative biology to primary sarcoma, prognostic factors, and treatment options for RIS of the breast.

CONCLUSION

Although the evidence to guide clinical practice is limited to single institutional cohort studies, registry studies, case-control studies, and case reports, we applied the available evidence to address clinically relevant questions related to best practice in patient management. Surgery with widely negative margins remains the primary treatment of RIS. Unfortunately, the role of adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy remains uncertain. This systematic review highlights the need for additional well-designed studies to inform the management of RIS.

True local recurrences do not metastasize

Generally, the limits of local tumor control are in part connected with the term "field cancerization" and are known from oral, lung, prostate, or mammary cancer. With the example of breast cancer (BC), the problem of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences (IBTR) after breast-conserving surgery will be reviewed. Three types of local recurrences are distinguished: true recurrences, new primaries, or residual tumors. Good data for BC allow the description of the time-dependent risk of these three types, relative to the diagnosis of the primary tumor, because the time of initiation and the growth duration of the IBTR can be estimated. Two hypotheses explain the data: first, local recurrences may be initiated years before the diagnosis of a primary tumor (PT) and can then appear as multifocal PT at diagnosis, and second, true local recurrences probably do not metastasize. The generalizability of these hypotheses for other tumors will be discussed.

Tumor cell seeding during surgery-possible contribution to metastasis formations

In spite of optimal local control in breast cancer, distant metastases can develop as a systemic part of this disease. Surgery is suspected to contribute to metastasis formation activating dormant tumor cells. Here we add data that seeding of cells during surgery may add to the risk of metastasis formation. The change in circulating epithelial tumor cells (CETC) was monitored in 66 breast cancer patients operated on with breast conserving surgery or mastectomy and during the further course of the disease, analyzing CETC from unseparated white blood cells stained with FITC-anti-EpCAM. An increase in cell numbers lasting until the start of chemotherapy was observed in about one third of patients. It was more preeminent in patients with low numbers of CETC before surgery and, surprisingly, in patients without involved lymph nodes. Patients with the previously reported behavior—Reincrease in cell numbers during adjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent further increase during maintenance therapy—were at increased risk of relapse. In addition to tumor cells already released during growth of the tumor, cell seeding during surgery may contribute to the early peak of relapses observed after removal of the primary tumor and chemotherapy may only marginally postpone relapse in patients with aggressively growing tumors.

A new era in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer

Randomized controlled mammography screening trials and the evaluation of service screening have unequivocally proven that regular mammography screening significantly reduces mortality from breast cancer. This evidence contradicts the theory of Fisher, claiming that breast cancer is a systemic disease from its inception and undermines the justification for systemic therapy in most screen-detected cancers, because they are still localized to the breast and can be cured by local treatment alone. When high quality mammographic screening is offered at regular intervals to 40- to 74- year-old women, over 50% of the invasive cancers will be detected in the size range of 1-14 mm, fewer than 20% will be axillary node positive, and only about 20% will be poorly differentiated. This predominance of early-stage disease has created a revolutionary new era for those involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with breast cancer.

Distant metastases do not metastasize

Distant metastases (MET) are for most solid cancers decisive life-threatening events. Data about MET-free survival and survival after MET show a strong dependency on the kind of cancer and the prognostic features. Nonetheless, within biological subgroups, the MET process is very homogenous. Therefore, the growth rate can be estimated from initiation of MET to MET diagnosis and to time of death. Based on the known volume doubling time of breast cancer, the time of the first possible dissemination can also be estimated. Important consequences of these MET-initiation estimates are the hypotheses that almost all MET are initiated before removal of the primary tumor and that MET do not metastasize in a clinically relevant magnitude. Although breast cancer data were primarily used to form these hypotheses, the discussed MET process can be generalized to all solid cancers. The impact of these hypotheses on diagnostic, curative and palliative treatment, aftercare, and especially on clinical research would be important.