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Objectives Compared to European women, breast cancers in African women present at a younger age, with a higher tumor grade and are more often estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) negative. We here investigate the histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics (ER, PR and human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2)) and the proportion of triple negative (Tneg) invasive breast cancers from an unselected series of patients diagnosed in Kinshasa, and compare them to a population of Caucasian women with a palpable breast cancer. Materials and methods From 2010 till 2013, during the first breast cancer awareness campaign, organized in Kinshasa, 87 patients were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Diagnose was based on core biopsy. The control group consisted of Caucasian women (University Hospitals of Leuven, Belgium) with a palpable mass, diagnosed between 2000 till 2009, treated with surgery of which the histopathological and immunohistochemical characteristics were collected on excision specimens. Each patient in the Kinshasa group was matched based on age and tumor size to one or more patients of the Leuven database. Differences between both groups with respect to hormone receptors (ER, PR, HER2, Tneg) or grade are presented as relative risks (RR). The analysis is based on a log-binomial model accounting for clustering through matching by a random intercept for cluster. Differences between both groups with respect to hormone receptors correcting for grade is performed by the inclusion of grade as a covariate in the model. Results After adjusting for age, tumor volume and tumor grade, ER was more frequently negative (RR = 0.71, p < 0.001), with a trend in the same direction for PR (RR = 0.87, p = 0.057), and HER2 more often positive (RR = 1.60, p = 0.015) compared to the group from the University Hospitals of Leuven. There was no difference in the proportion of breast cancers being triple negative. Sub-analysis showed that the higher HER2 positive rate was only observed in older patients (≥50y: RR = 2.07, p = 0.007) whereas no difference in HER2 positive rate was found in younger patients (<50y: RR = 1.30, p = 0.358). A higher ER negative rate was observed in both age groups, however more pronounced in older patients (≥50y: RR = 0.64, p = 0.001; <50y: RR = 0.79, p = 0.018). Conclusion Breast cancer in women of Kinshasa presents at younger age and is more aggressive (more frequently ER negative and HER2 positive) compared to Caucasian women and this is more pronounced in older women (>50y). Only the ER results were concordant with the results of two similar studies (comparing an African with a European group), but were different when compared to studies on African-American women with breast cancer. This information is very important considering the treatment option: as more tumors are ER negative, endocrine therapy cannot be given while chemotherapy is often too expensive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Completion axillary lymph node dissection (cALND) is the golden standard if breast cancer involves the sentinel lymph node (SLN). However, most non-sentinel lymph nodes (NSLN) are not involved, cALND has a considerable complication rate and does not improve outcome. We here present and validate our predictive model for positive NSLNs in the cALND if the SLN is positive. Consecutive early breast cancer patients from one center undergoing cALND for a positive SLN were included. We assessed demographic and clinicopathological variables for NSLN involvement. Uni- and multivariate analysis was performed. A predictive model was built and validated in two external centers. 21.9% of 470 patients had at least one involved NSLN. In univariate analysis, seven variables were significantly correlated with NSLN involvement: tumor size, grade, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), number of positive and negative SLNs, size of SLN metastasis and intraoperative positive SLN. In multivariate analysis, LVI, number of negative SLNs, size of SLN metastasis and intraoperative positive pathological evaluation were independent predictors for NSLN involvement. The calculated risk resulted in an AUC of 0.76. Applied to the external data, the model was accurate and discriminating for one (AUC = 0.75) and less for the other center (AUC = 0.58). A discriminative predictive model was constructed to calculate the risk of NSLN involvement in case of a positive SLN. External validation of our model reveals differences in performance when applied to data from other institutions concluding that such a predictive model requires validation prior to use. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Invasive lobular breast cancer (ILC) is generally believed to have an increased risk for late relapse compared to invasive ductal breast cancer (IDC). However, the study most often referred to is a chemotherapy trial that mainly included node positive patients. We hypothesize that nodal status may influence the hazard of relapse since time of diagnosis differently in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) and ILC. Methods: Primary operable breast cancer patients from our institution diagnosed between 2000 and 2009 were studied. Multivariable analysis and subgroup analyses were performed to assess whether ILC carries a different prognosis compared to IDC. SEER data were used for external validation. Results: In lymph node negative patients, ILC carries a better prognosis regarding distant metastasis free interval (DMFI) (HR 3.242 (1.380–7.614), p = 0.0069) with a trend towards improved breast cancer specific survival (BCSS), over the entire study frame (UZ Leuven data). In lymph node positive patients, both DMFI (HR 0.466 (0.309–0.703), p = 0.0003) and BCSS (HR 0.441 (0.247–0.788), p = 0.0057) are significantly worse for ILC, especially after longer follow-up (>4–5 years) (UZ Leuven data). Similar results were found in the SEER cohort. Results remained identical when excluding screen detected cases (data not shown). Conclusion: The prognostic impact of lobular histology not only depends on time since diagnosis but also on nodal status. The general believe that ILC have compromised late-term outcome compared to IDC seems untrue for the majority ( = node negative) of ILCs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Measuring CA15.3 serum levels in the early breast cancer setting is not recommended by current ASCO guidelines. In this large single center study, we assess the prognostic value of preoperative (n = 3746), postoperative (n = 4049) and change in (n = 3252) CA15.3, also across different breast cancer phenotypes. Preoperative, postoperative and change in CA15.3 were all significant (p = 0.0348, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001 respectively in multivariate analysis) predictors of distant metastasis free survival. For breast cancer specific survival, only postoperative and change in CA15.3 were significant predictors (p < 0.0001 both). Multivariate prognostic models did not improve by incorporating information on preoperative CA15.3, but did improve when introducing information on postoperative CA15.3 for distant metastasis (p = 0.0365) and on change in CA15.3 for breast cancer specific survival (p = 0.0291). Change in CA15.3 impacts on prognosis (distant metastasis) differently in different breast cancer phenotypes. A decrease in CA15.3 may be informative of improved prognosis in basal like and HER2 like breast cancer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]