Use of Geriatric Assessment Tools in Selecting Therapies in Women Aged ≥70 Years With Hormone Receptor-Positive Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Preliminary Experience With a Quality Improvement Initiative.

Purpose: To develop a multidisciplinary algorithmic approach to management of women aged ≥70 years with clinically staged T1N0 hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, including geriatric assessments predicting life expectancy and the likelihood of functional decline in the near future, in the context of a program-wide quality improvement initiative, to better select patients for therapeutic interventions.

Methods And Materials: Two geriatric assessment tools, the Combined Lee-Schonberg Index and the Vulnerable Elderly Scale, were introduced into our clinical workflow to predict long-term mortality and likelihood of functional decline. Scores from these tools, along with patient preferences and clinical features, were incorporated into a preoperative algorithm addressing the use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB), and a postoperative algorithm addressing the use of adjuvant radiation therapy (RT).

Quality of life after contralateral prophylactic mastectomy in newly diagnosed high-risk breast cancer patients who underwent BRCA1/2 gene testing.

Purpose: Recent studies indicate that high-risk breast cancer patients (ie, women who carry mutations in BRCA1/2 genes) who opt for contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) have a substantially reduced risk of developing contralateral breast cancer. However, the immediate and long-term impact of this decision on women's quality of life and psychosocial functioning is largely unknown. In this study, we compared the impact of BRCA1/2 genetic test result and CPM on these outcomes among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients who opted for CPM at the time of their definitive surgical treatment versus patients who did not.

Sentinel lymph node positivity of patients with ductal carcinoma in situ or microinvasive breast cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the rates of sentinel lymph node (SLN) positivity in patients with a final diagnosis of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) or microinvasive breast cancer (MIC).

Methods: One hundred thirty patients underwent SLN mapping from 1998 to 2003 for DCIS or MIC.

Results: One hundred nine patients with DCIS and 21 with MIC underwent SLN mapping.

Can axillary dissection be avoided in patients with sentinel lymph node metastasis?

Background: Who should undergo a completion dissection following identification of a +sentinel lymph node (SLN) is controversial.

Methods: The records of 1,133 patients who underwent SLN mapping were reviewed. The association between patient, tumor, and treatment characteristics and the presence of +SLNs and +nonSLNs was analyzed using two-way tables of frequency counts and Pearson chi2 test.

Factors associated with involvement of four or more axillary nodes for sentinel lymph node-positive patients.

Purpose: Sentinel lymph node-positive (SLN+) patients who are unlikely to have 4 or more involved axillary nodes might be treated with less extensive regional nodal radiation. The purpose of this study was to define possible predictors of having 4 or more involved axillary nodes.

Methods And Materials: The records of 224 patients with breast cancer and 1 to 3 involved SLNs, who underwent completion axillary dissection without neoadjuvant chemotherapy or hormonal therapy were reviewed.

Impact of BRCA1/BRCA2 counseling and testing on newly diagnosed breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Approximately 5% to 10% of newly diagnosed breast cancer patients carry a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation. Given these patients' high risk for contralateral breast cancer, bilateral mastectomy is increasingly considered a treatment option for newly diagnosed BRCA1/2 carriers. In the present study, we prospectively evaluated the impact on surgical decision-making of pretreatment genetic counseling and BRCA1/BRCA2 testing among breast cancer patients at high-risk for carrying a mutation.

Imaging and Management of Breast Masses During Pregnancy and Lactation.

Detection and management of breast abnormalities that develop during pregnancy and lactation is difficult for both the clinician and the radiologist. This article reviews the hormonal and physiologic effects on the breast during pregnancy and lactation. Breast masses that occur in pregnant or lactating patients, including pregnancy-associated breast cancer, are discussed and the corresponding ultrasound and mammographic findings are presented.