Mastitis and Mammary Abscess Management Audit (MAMMA) in the UK and Ireland.

Background: The aim of this multicentre prospective audit was to describe the current practice in the management of mastitis and breast abscesses in the UK and Ireland, with a specific focus on rates of surgical intervention.

Methods: This audit was conducted in two phases from August 2020 to August 2021; a phase 1 practice survey and a phase 2 prospective audit. Primary outcome measurements for phase 2 included patient management pathway characteristics and treatment type (medical/radiological/surgical).

Efficient management of new patient referrals to a breast service: the safe introduction of an advanced nurse practitioner-led telephone breast pain service.

Introduction: There has been an almost 100% increase in referrals to breast cancer diagnostic clinics in the past decade. Breaching of the two-week cancer referral target is now commonplace, potentially delaying diagnoses of breast malignancy in many women. Almost one in five of these referrals are women with mastalgia, not a symptom linked to breast cancer.

The calpain system is associated with survival of breast cancer patients with large but operable inflammatory and non-inflammatory tumours treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

The calpains are a family of intracellular cysteine proteases that function in a variety of important cellular functions, including cell signalling, motility, apoptosis and survival. In early invasive breast cancer expression of calpain-1, calpain-2 and their inhibitor, calpastatin, have been associated with clinical outcome and clinicopathological factors.The expression of calpain-1, calpain-2 and calpastatin was determined using immunohistochemistry on core biopsy samples, in a cohort of large but operable inflammatory and non-inflammatory primary breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Serial MRI scans help in assessing early response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and tailoring breast cancer treatment.

Background: Tailoring neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) during breast cancer treatment is performed to improve overall tumour response, with increasing evidence to support its role. This study evaluates our breast unit's experience in MRI assessment of tumour response as an aid in tailoring NAC.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients treated with NAC for breast cancer between 2005 and 2009 who underwent MRI to assess tumour response.

Effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on breast cancer phenotype, ER/PR and HER2 expression - Implications for the practising oncologist.

Purpose: To assess the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on breast cancer characteristics, hormone receptors and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression and whether testing should be repeated on residual tumours.

Material And Methods: Patients with primary operable breast cancer who received NACT at a single United Kingdom tertiary referral centre were included. Tumour type, grade (including details of mitotic grade, tubule formation and pleomorphism), oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and HER2 status were compared between pre-treatment and post-treatment residual samples using tissue microarrays.

Lumbar herniation following extended autologous latissimus dorsi breast reconstruction.

Background: Reconstructive breast surgery is now recognized to be an important part of the treatment for breast cancer. Surgical reconstruction options consist of implants, autologous tissue transfer or a combination of the two. The latissimus dorsi flap is a pedicled musculocutaneous flap and is an established method of autologous breast reconstruction.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy induces expression levels of breast cancer resistance protein that predict disease-free survival in breast cancer.

Three main xenobiotic efflux pumps have been implicated in modulating breast cancer chemotherapy responses. These are P-glycoprotein (Pgp), Multidrug Resistance-associated Protein 1 (MRP1), and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP). We investigated expression of these proteins in breast cancers before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) to determine whether their levels define response to NAC or subsequent survival.

Redo aortic valve replacement after partial upper sternotomy (hemisternotomy) in a patient with idiopathic thrombocytopenia: a case report.

Background: We present a case of redo aortic valve replacement in a patient with thrombocytopenia. The initial operation was performed through limited access transverse sternotomy. This is the first report of this kind in the literature.