Monday, 10 November 2008

Mammographic density, lobular involution, and risk of breast cancer

Mammographic density, lobular involution, and risk of breast cancer
O M Ginsburg, L J Martin & N F Boyd
Br J Cancer 2008 99: 1369-1374

Link to Journal

In this review, we propose that age-related changes in mammographic density and breast tissue involution are closely related phenomena, and consider their potential relevance to the aetiology of breast cancer. We propose that the reduction in mammographic density that occurs with increasing age, parity and menopause reflects the involution of breast tissue.

We further propose that age-related changes in both mammographic density and breast tissue composition are observable and measurable phenomena that resemble Pike's theoretical construct of 'breast tissue ageing'.

Extensive mammographic density and delayed breast involution are both associated with an increased risk of breast cancer and are consistent with the hypothesis of the Pike model that cumulative exposure of breast tissue to hormones and growth factors that stimulate cell division, as well as the accumulation of genetic damage in breast cells, are major determinants of breast cancer incidence

Friday, 4 April 2008

Assessment of 1183 screen-detected, category 3B, circumscribed masses by cytology and core biopsy with long-term follow up data

G Farshid, P Downey, P G Gill & S Pieterse
British Journal of Cancer (2008) 98, 1182-1190

Link to article

Discrete masses are commonly detected during mammographic screening and most such lesions are benign. For lesions without pathognomonically benign imaging features that are still regarded likely to be non-malignant (Tabar grade 3) reliable biopsy results would be a clinically useful alternative to mammographic surveillance.

The stepwise approach to the use of FNAB and core biopsy would reduce substantially the proportion of cases requiring surgical diagnostic biopsy. Given the low probability of malignancy and the imperative to limit the morbidity associated with cancer screening, the demonstration of the reliability of FNAB as a minimally invasive but highly accurate test for this particular subset of screen-detected lesions has significant clinical utility.

Thursday, 6 March 2008

Second malignancies after breast cancer: the impact of different treatment modalities

Y M Kirova, Y De Rycke, L Gambotti, J-Y Pierga, B Asselain & A Fourquet for the Institut Curie Breast Cancer Study Group
British Journal of Cancer (2008) 98, 870-874

Journal Link

Treatment for non-metastatic breast cancer (BC) may be the cause of second malignancies in long-term survivors. Our aim was to investigate whether survivors present a higher risk of malignancy than the general population according to treatment received.

We calculated age-standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) for each malignancy, using data for the general French population from five regional registries. At a median follow-up 10.5 years, 709 patients had developed a second malignancy. The greatest increases in risk were for leukaemia (SIR: 2.07 (1.52-2.75)), ovarian cancer (SIR: 1.6 (1.27-2.04)) and gynaecological (cervical/endometrial) cancer (SIR: 1.6 (1.34-1.89); P<0.0001). face="symbol">-
0.95; P<0.007).

The increase in leukaemia was most strongly related to chemotherapy and that in gynaecological cancers to hormone therapy. Radiotherapy alone also had a significant, although lesser, effect on leukaemia and gynaecological cancer incidence. The increased risk of sarcomas and lung cancer was attributed to radiotherapy. No increased risk was observed for malignant melanoma, lymphoma, genitourinary, thyroid or head and neck cancer. There is a significantly increased risk of several kinds of second malignancy in women treated for BC, compared with the general population. This increase may be related to adjuvant treatment in some cases. However, the absolute risk is small.

Tuesday, 19 February 2008

High rates of breast conservation for large ductal and lobular invasive carcinomas combining multimodality strategies

M A Bollet, A Savignoni, J-Y Pierga, M Lae, V Fourchotte, Y M Kirova, R Dendale, F Campana, B Sigal-Zafrani, R Salmon, A Fourquet & A Vincent-Salomon
British Journal of Cancer (2008) 98, 734-741

Link

The literature reports low rates of breast conservation after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancers not amenable to initial breast-conserving surgery.

Clinical response to primary chemotherapy was significantly worse for lobular than for ductal carcinomas (47 vs 60%; P=0.04), but only histological grade remained predictive in multivariate analysis. Breast conservation was high for both ductal and lobular carcinomas (65 and 54%; P=0.07), due, in part, to the use of radiotherapy, either exclusive or preoperative, for respectively 26 and 40% of patients. The lobular type had no adverse effect, neither on locoregional control nor on overall survival, even in the group of patients treated with breast conservation.

Friday, 25 January 2008

Using MRI to plan breast-conserving surgery following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer

M Bhattacharyya, D Ryan, R Carpenter, S Vinnicombe & C J Gallagher
British Journal of Cancer (2008) 98, 289-293
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v98/n2/full/6604171a.html

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to monitor the response of patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer with the aim of undergoing breast-conserving surgery (BCS). Magnetic resonance imaging appears to be superior to conventional methods for assessing pathological response and the low rate of re-operation for positive margins indicates a valuable role in aiding the decision to undergo BCS or mastectomy.

Early onset of breast cancer in a group of British black women

R L Bowen, S W Duffy, D A Ryan, I R Hart & J L Jones
British Journal of Cancer (2008) 98, 277-281
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v98/n2/abs/6604174a.html

Black women had a higher frequency of grade 3 tumours, lymph node-positive disease, negative oestrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status and basal-like (triple negative status) tumours. There were no differences in stage at presentation; however, for tumours of 2 cm, black patients had poorer survival than white patients (HR=2.90, 95% CI 0.98-8.60, P=0.05). Black women presented, on average, 21 years younger than white women. Tumours in younger women were considerably more aggressive in the black population, more likely to be basal-like, and among women with smaller tumours, black women were more than twice as likely to die of their disease. There were no disparities in socioeconomic status or treatment received. Our findings could have major implications for the biology of breast cancer and the detection and treatment of the disease in black women