Publications by authors named "Francesca Muscara"

The most significant prognostic factor in early breast cancer is lymph node involvement. This stage between localized and systemic disease is key to understanding breast cancer progression; however, our knowledge of the evolution of lymph node malignant invasion remains limited, as most currently available data are derived from primary tumors. In 11 patients with treatment-naïve node-positive early breast cancer without clinical evidence of distant metastasis, we investigated lymph node evolution using spatial multiregion sequencing ( = 78 samples) of primary and lymph node deposits and genomic profiling of matched longitudinal circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

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Background: The role of nipple discharge cytology (NDc) in the surgical management of breast cancer patients is unclear. We aimed: (i) to evaluate the effect of malignant NDc on the surgical approach to the nipple-areola complex, and (ii) to verify the association between malignant NDc and nipple malignancy.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed a case series of 139 patients with NDc who underwent breast surgery.

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Splenic artery aneurysms (SAA) are the third most common intra-abdominal aneurysm. Complications include invasion into surrounding structures often in association with preexisting pancreatic disease. We describe an 88-year-old female, with no history of pancreatic disease, referred with lower gastrointestinal bleeding.

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Background: Recent studies have demonstrated that axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) does not affect patient survival, even in those with one or two positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). On the other hand, patients with 3 or more metastatic lymph nodes are eligible for chemotherapy. Therefore, it is crucial to identify a priori patients at risk of having a high number of metastatic axillary lymph nodes for their surgical and/or clinical management.

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