Higher relative survival in breast cancer patients treated in certified and high-volume breast cancer centres - A population-based study in Belgium.

Objectives: The study was undertaken to assess the association between certification and volume of breast centres on the one hand and survival on the other in patients with invasive breast cancer (IBC).

Methods: The study comprises a cohort of 46,035 patients diagnosed with IBC between 2014 and 2018, selected from the nation-wide Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) database, which was linked with health insurance, hospital discharge and vital status data. Overall and relative survival probabilities were obtained with Kaplan-Meier method and an actuarial approach based on Ederer II, respectively.

A Rare Case of Pseudoangiomatous Stromal Hyperplasia in a Male Patient.

Pseudoangiomatous stromal hyperplasia (PASH) is a rare benign breast condition that can mimic the appearance of breast cancer on imaging studies.

Variability in hospital treatment costs: a time-driven activity-based costing approach for early-stage invasive breast cancer patients.

Objectives: Using a standardised diagnostic and generic treatment path for breast cancer, and the molecular subtype perspective, we aim to measure the impact of several patient and disease characteristics on the overall treatment cost for patients. Additionally, we aim to generate insights into the drivers of cost variability within one medical domain.

Design, Setting And Participants: We conducted a retrospective study at a breast clinic in Belgium.

Intraoperative ketorolac in high-risk breast cancer patients. A prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: Ketorolac has been associated with a lower risk of recurrence in retrospective studies, especially in patients with positive inflammatory markers. It is still unknown whether a single dose of pre-incisional ketorolac can prolong recurrence-free survival.

Methods: The KBC trial is a multicenter, placebo-controlled, randomized phase III trial in high-risk breast cancer patients powered for 33% reduction in recurrence rate (from 60 to 40%).

Tamoxifen Metabolism and Efficacy in Breast Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Trial.

Levels of endoxifen, the most active metabolite of tamoxifen, vary by the highly polymorphic cytochrome P450 (CYP) 2D6 enzyme. We prospectively investigated tamoxifen efficacy by serum endoxifen levels and the tamoxifen activity score (TAS). A prospective observational multicenter study included postmenopausal women with an estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer receiving first-line tamoxifen, 20 mg daily in the neoadjuvant or metastatic setting, recruited between February 2009 and May 2014.

Breast cancer prevention: lifestyle changes and chemoprevention.

Susceptibility to breast cancer is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Research is exploring which factors influence breast cancer risk, and by which mechanisms they exert their influence. Women should be informed about lifestyle factors influencing their life time breast cancer risk and encouraged by their physician to adapt changes in diet, physical activity, reproductive issues and use of hormone substitution after menopause, to minimize the risk.

Case report of a poorly differentiated uterine tumour with t(10;17) translocation and neuroectodermal phenotype.

Endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS) with primitive neuroectodermal differentiation is a very uncommon entity. Such a case presenting as stage IIIc (International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) 2010) disease in a 51-year-old female is described. Microscopy suggested a small blue round cell tumour.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy versus primary debulking surgery in advanced ovarian cancer.

Primary surgical cytoreduction followed by chemotherapy usually is the preferred management of advanced (stage III or IV) ovarian cancer. The presence of residual disease after surgery is one of the most important adverse prognostic factors for survival. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been proposed as an alternative approach to conventional surgery as initial management of bulky ovarian cancer, with the goal of improving surgical quality.

Interval debulking surgery: an alternative for primary surgical debulking?

Retrospective analyses suggest that a subgroup of patients with Stage III and IV ovarian carcinoma can be treated with neo-adjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery. The absolute indications for neo-adjuvant chemotherapy appear to be Stage IV disease (excluding pleural fluid) or metastases of more than 1 g at sites where resection is impossible. In patients with an estimated total metastatic tumor load of >100 g, the presence of at least two of the following relative indications for neo-adjuvant chemotherapy are considered to be necessary: 1) uncountable (>100) peritoneal metastases, 2) estimated metastatic tumor load of >1000 g, 3) presence of large (>10 g) peritoneal metastatic plaques, 4) large volume ascites, and 5) World Health Organization (WHO) status II or III.

Trocar implantation metastasis after laparoscopy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer: can the risk be reduced?

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine risk factors for trocar implantation metastasis after diagnostic laparoscopy in patients with primary or recurrent advanced ovarian cancer.

Study Design: Eighty-three women with primary advanced ovarian cancer and 21 women with recurrent ovarian cancer undergoing a laparoscopy for a tissue diagnosis and for assessment of operability were included in the study. The occurrence of implantation metastasis at the trocar incision scars was analyzed according to clinicopathologic characteristics.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy or primary debulking surgery in advanced ovarian carcinoma: a retrospective analysis of 285 patients.

Objective: This study was aimed at comparison of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with primary debulking surgery in advanced ovarian carcinoma.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 285 patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma treated between 1980 and 1997 was performed.

Results: In the period 1980-1988 all patients underwent primary debulking surgery and 82% were cytoreduced to less than 0.

The feasibility of open laparoscopy in gynecologic-oncologic patients.

Gynecologic-oncologic patients are at increased risk for complications with closed laparoscopy. Open laparoscopy eliminates the steps of blind insufflation and trocar insertion. This study is the first large series of open laparoscopies to assess the feasibility and safety of the open laparoscopy technique in patients with gynecologic malignancies.