MR Imaging-Guided Focused Ultrasound for Breast Tumors.

Breast tumors remain a complex and prevalent health burden impacting millions of individuals worldwide. Challenges in treatment arise from the invasive nature of traditional surgery and, in malignancies, the complexity of treating metastatic disease. The development of noninvasive treatment alternatives is critical for improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

Novel Form of Breast Intraoperative Radiation Therapy with CT-Guided High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy: Interim Results of a Prospective Phase-II Clinical Trial.

Background: Precision breast intraoperative radiation therapy (PB-IORT) is a novel method of IORT that uses customized CT-based treatment plans and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. We conducted a phase-II multi-institution trial to evaluate the efficacy of PB-IORT.

Study Design: Between 2015 and 2022, 3 centers enrolled women aged 45 years and older with invasive or in situ carcinoma measuring 3 cm or smaller and N0 status (n = 358).

Identifying the effectiveness of 3D culture systems to recapitulate breast tumor tissue in situ.

Purpose: Breast cancer heterogeneity contributes to chemotherapy resistance and decreased patient survival. To improve patient outcomes it is essential to develop a technology that is able to rapidly select the most efficacious therapy that targets the diverse phenotypes present within the tumor. Breast cancer organoid technologies are proposed as an attractive approach for evaluating drug responses prior to patient therapy.

Pain Management in Breast Surgery: Recommendations of a Multidisciplinary Expert Panel-The American Society of Breast Surgeons.

Opioid overdose accounted for more than 47,000 deaths in the United States in 2018. The risk of new persistent opioid use following breast cancer surgery is significant, with up to 10% of patients continuing to fill opioid prescriptions one year after surgery. Over prescription of opioids is far too common.

Toxicity and cosmetic outcomes after treatment with a novel form of breast IORT.

Purpose: Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT), a form of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI), is an appealing alternative to postoperative whole breast irradiation for early-stage breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to examine the toxicity and cosmetic outcomes of patients treated with a novel form of breast IORT (precision breast IORT; PB-IORT), that delivers a targeted, higher dose of radiation than conventional IORT.

Methods And Materials: The first 204 patients treated with PB-IORT in a Phase II clinical trial (NCT02400658) with 12 months of followup were included.

Treatment of Breast Fibroadenoma with Ultrasound-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: Breast fibroadenomas (FAs) are common, benign, and often bothersome. Current management includes observation or surgical excision. This study evaluated the safety and feasibility of ultrasound-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound ablation for the treatment of FAs.

Diabetes Mellitus and Metformin Are Not Associated With Breast Cancer Pathologic Complete Response.

Background: Metformin use has been linked to pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy for several malignancies. We aimed to investigate the association of diabetes mellitus (DM) and metformin use with pCR in breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: All breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy during June 2013-October 2016 at two academic medical centers were identified.

Use of Mental Health Apps by Breast Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers in the United States: Protocol for a Pilot Pre-Post Study.

Background: Over one-third of cancer patients experience clinically significant mental distress, and distress in caregivers can exceed that of the cancer patients for whom they care. There is an urgent need to identify scalable and cost-efficient ways of delivering mental health interventions to cancer patients and their loved ones.

Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the protocol to pilot a mobile app-based mental health intervention in breast cancer patients and caregivers.

The impact of bariatric surgery on qualitative and quantitative breast density.

Background: Obesity and breast density are associated with breast cancer in postmenopausal women. Bariatric surgery effectively treats morbid obesity, with sustainable weight loss and reductions in cancer incidence. We evaluated changes in qualitative and quantitative density; hypothesizing breast density would increase following bariatric surgery.

Implementation of an HDR brachytherapy-based breast IORT program: Initial experiences.

Purpose: A multidisciplinary team at our institution developed a novel method of intraoperative breast radiation therapy (precision breast intraoperative radiation therapy [PB-IORT]) that uses high-dose-rate brachytherapy with CT on-rails imaging to deliver high-dose, customized radiotherapy to patients with early-stage breast cancer. This report summarizes our program's experience developing and implementing PB-IORT.

Methods And Materials: Literature on PB-IORT was reviewed including published articles and abstracts.

Utility of CT imaging in a novel form of high-dose-rate intraoperative breast radiation therapy.

Introduction: Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is an alternative to whole breast radiation following breast conserving surgery. Conventional breast IORT is limited by lack of cross-sectional imaging. In response, our institution developed Precision Breast IORT (PB-IORT) which utilizes intraoperative computed tomography (CT) images for confirmation of brachytherapy applicator placement and for treatment planning.

The Changing Paradigms for Breast Cancer Surgery: Performing Fewer and Less-Invasive Operations.

Historically, through the conduct of prospective clinical trials, breast cancer surgeons have performed less radical breast and axillary surgeries with no survival decrement to our patients. Currently, other opportunities exist for the treating breast surgeon to do less. Possibilities include active surveillance for ductal carcinoma in situ, ablative therapy for small primary breast cancers, selective omission of a sentinel node biopsy, and selective elimination of breast surgery after neoadjuvant systemic therapy.

Race is associated with completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer.

Background: Completion of prescribed neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer is paramount to patients obtaining full benefit from the treatment; however, factors affecting neoadjuvant chemotherapy completion are not known. We hypothesized that race is a predictor of completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Methods: All patients with breast cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy 2009-2016 at a single institution were stratified by completion of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and by race.

ERα-Mediated Nuclear Sequestration of RSK2 Is Required for ER Breast Cancer Tumorigenesis.

Although ribosomal protein S6 kinase A3 (RSK2) activation status positively correlates with patient responses to antiestrogen hormonal therapies, the mechanistic basis for these observations is unknown. Using multiple and models of estrogen receptor-positive (ER) breast cancer, we report that ERα sequesters active RSK2 into the nucleus to promote neoplastic transformation and facilitate metastatic tumor growth. RSK2 physically interacted with ERα through its N terminus to activate a proneoplastic transcriptional network critical to the ER lineage in the mammary gland, thereby providing a gene signature that effectively stratified patient tumors according to ERα status.

A pilot study of the immunogenicity of a 9-peptide breast cancer vaccine plus poly-ICLC in early stage breast cancer.

Background: Breast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. There is evidence that immunotherapy may play a role in the eradication of residual disease. Peptide vaccines for immunotherapy are capable of durable immune memory, but vaccines alone have shown sparse clinical activity against breast cancer to date.

Anti-Yo Mediated Paraneoplastic Cerebellar Degeneration Associated with Pseudobulbar Affect in a Patient with Breast Cancer.

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD) is a rare anti-Yo mediated paraneoplastic syndromes rarely that is infrequently associated with breast cancer. We present a case of a 52-year-old female presenting with diplopia, gait instability, dysarthria, dysphagia, nystagmus, and, most notably, new onset paroxysmal episodes of uncontrollable crying concerning for pseudobulbar affect (PBA). Serologic testing showed anti-Yo antibodies.

Development of a RSK Inhibitor as a Novel Therapy for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer.

Metastatic breast cancer is an incurable disease and identification of novel therapeutic opportunities is vital. Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) frequently metastasizes and high levels of activated p90RSK (RSK), a downstream MEK-ERK1/2 effector, are found in TNBC. We demonstrate, using direct pharmacologic and genetic inhibition of RSK1/2, that these kinases contribute to the TNBC metastatic process in vivo Kinase profiling showed that RSK1 and RSK2 are the predominant kinases targeted by the new inhibitor, which is based on the natural product SL0101.

A Novel Form of Breast Intraoperative Radiation Therapy With CT-Guided High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy: Results of a Prospective Phase 1 Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Existing intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) techniques are criticized for the lack of image guided treatment planning and energy deposition with, at times, poor resultant dosimetry and low radiation dose. We pioneered a novel method of IORT that incorporates customized, computed tomography (CT)-based treatment planning and high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy to overcome these drawbacks: CT-HDR-IORT.

Methods And Materials: A phase 1 study was conducted to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of CT-HDR-IORT.

Intraoperative breast radiation therapy with image guidance: Findings from CT images obtained in a prospective trial of intraoperative high-dose-rate brachytherapy with CT on rails.

Purpose: Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is an increasingly popular approach to breast conserving therapy in the treatment of early-stage breast cancer. A drawback to IORT compared with postoperative adjuvant radiation therapy is that it is not performed using image guidance. Our aim was to report on how our institution's unique IORT workflow integrates CT image guidance and how these CT images were used intraoperatively to change applicator positioning.

Techniques for intraoperative radiation therapy for early-stage breast carcinoma.

Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is a method of accelerated partial breast irradiation developed to replace other longer courses of radiotherapy with a single radiation session administered at the time of breast-conserving surgery. The purpose of this review is to summarize the advantages and disadvantages of breast IORT techniques that are currently available, as well to consider potential alternative techniques for breast IORT or ultra-short course breast radiotherapy. Furthermore, we highlight the published outcomes for the IORT treatment approaches including: electron therapy, superficial photon therapy and other techniques.

Use of prophylactic postoperative antibiotics during surgical drain presence following mastectomy.

Background: National guidelines recommend one dose of perioperative antibiotics for breast surgery and discourage postoperative continuation. However, reported skin and soft tissue infection (SSI) rates after mastectomy range from 1-26 %, higher than expected for clean cases. Utility of routine or selective postoperative antibiotic use for duration of drain presence following mastectomy remains uncertain.

Dosimetric comparison of (192)Ir high-dose-rate brachytherapy vs. 50 kV x-rays as techniques for breast intraoperative radiation therapy: conceptual development of image-guided intraoperative brachytherapy using a multilumen balloon applicator and in-room CT imaging.

Purpose: At our institution, the availability of a shielded procedure room with in-room CT-on-rails imaging allows for the exploration of a high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy approach for breast intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT). We hypothesize that HDR brachytherapy will permit a higher prescription dose without increasing toxicity. In this study, we compare the dosimetry of intraoperative HDR brachytherapy, using multilumen balloon applicator, to IORT with a 50 kV source and then select a prescription dose for a subsequent clinical trial.

MRI utilization in newly diagnosed breast cancer: a survey of practicing surgeons.

Background: Whereas guidelines supporting breast MRI in high-risk screening exist, guidelines for MRI use in newly diagnosed breast cancer are lacking. We, therefore, conducted a study of breast surgeons to determine practice beliefs surrounding MRI use in newly diagnosed breast cancer.

Methods: A survey sent to 2,274 American Society of Breast Surgeons members in December 2010 queried routine MRI use (defined as >75 % of time) in specific clinical scenarios.

A theory-based decision aid for patients with cancer: results of feasibility and acceptability testing of DecisionKEYS for cancer.

Purpose: Appropriate utilization of treatment is a goal for all patients undergoing cancer treatment. Proper treatment maximizes benefit and limits exposure to unnecessary measures. This report describes findings of the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a short, clinic-based decision aid and presents an in-depth clinical profile of the participants.