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Aim of the study The European Society of Breast Cancer Specialists (EUSOMA) has fostered a voluntary certification process for breast units to establish minimum standards and ensure specialist multidisciplinary care. In the present study we assess the impact of EUSOMA certification for all breast units for which sufficient information was available before and after certification. Materials and methods For 22 EUSOMA certified breast units data of 30,444 patients could be extracted from the EUSOMA database on the evolution of QI's before and after certification. Results On the average of all units, the minimum standard of care was achieved for 12/13 QI's before and after EUSOMA certification (not met for DCIS receiving just one operation). There was a significant improvement of 5 QI's after certification. The proportion of patients with invasive cancer undergoing an axillary clearance containing >9 lymph nodes (91.5% vs 89.4%, p 0.003) and patients with invasive cancer having just 1 operation (83.1% vs 80.4%, p < 0.001) dropped, but remained above the minimum standard. The targeted standard of breast care was reached for the same 4/13 QI's before and after EUSOMA certification. Conclusion Although the absolute effect of EUSOMA certification was modest it further increases standards of care and should be regarded as part of a process aiming for excellence. Dedicated units already provide a high level of care before certification, but continuous monitoring and audit remains of paramount importance as complete adherence to guidelines is difficult to achieve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction A paradigm shift in breast cancer was introduced by Sørlie's concept of intrinsic subtypes [1]. We validated this concept – which was originally based on 84 individuals – in a large cohort study of 1035 patients with oncoplastic surgery and analyzed if early and late recurrences are linked to a specific intrinsic tumor subtype or resection margins. Materials and methods 1035 patients with oncoplastic surgery (2004–2009) were analyzed with regard to treatment characteristics and patterns of early (<5 years) and late recurrence (>5 years) and survival related to the intrinsic subtypes. Data was retrieved from patient's charts, customized patients questionnaires and cancer registries. Results 944 patients with primary, unilateral breast cancer, median age 58 years, were eligible for analysis. At a median FU of 5.2 years, LRR was 4.0%, 5-year-OS 94.5% and DFS 90.9%. Intrinsic subtypes, but not T-size, nodal-status, resections margins nor histopathology, governed local control and survival. There was no signal for prevelance of unclear margins in any of intrinsic subgroups and no preference of any oncoplastic technique attributed to them. TNBC and Her2 non-luminal breast cancer had highest recurrence and lowest survival rates. Although sentinel involvement (SLN+) was prevailing in the Luminal-B-Her 2 negative subtype at 34.3%, this did not translate into a higher axillary dissection rate. Conclusion This study confirmed the intrinsic subtype concept on a large clinical basis and describes the patterns of early and late recurrence in oncoplastic surgery, concluding that bigger risk may not be overcome by bigger surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Introduction Breast conservation is a legacy of Umberto Veronesi who laid the groundwork for the preservation of the body image of women affected by breast cancer (BC) with the Milan I study in the late 70ies of the last millennium. Breast conservative surgery (BCS) has two aspects: oncological safety of tumour resection with free margins and aesthetic preservation of the breast. Determinants of local control used to be T-size, nodal status and receptor status until biologically driven concepts defined risk of recurrence on the basis of molecular portraits. We explored whether these concepts of intrinsic subtypes prove at a large scale in the context of BCS and which surgical techniques procure best oncological and aesthetic outcomes, avoiding re-excision and necessity of conversion to mastectomy. Patients and methods We analyzed 1035 BCS patients with primary unilateral breast cancer (2004–2009) with regards to the local recurrence as a function of tumour location, surgical technique, resection volume, T-size, nodal status, grading, histopathological and intrinsic subtype and margins. Results Five surgical techniques were applied to 944 eligible patients at a median follow-up of 5.2 years with the following frequency: Glandular rotation mammoplasty (63.8%), tumour-adapted rotation mammoplasty (20.9%), dermoglandular rotation mammoplasty (6.7%), 4.4% (lateral thoracic wall advancement), 0.7% latissimus dorsi flap (0.7%) and others (13.5%). Tumour-free margins were achieved in 88.6% of all patients at first surgery. Recurrence was independent of the surgical technique used, resection volume, T-size (in a T1/T2-cohort), nodal status (in low N-stages: NO/N1) and histopathology (inv.-ductal vs. lobular), however non-invasive subtype (DCIS), high grading (G3 vs. G1), non-luminal Her2 positive BC and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) were significantly associated with local recurrence. Conclusions Five defined oncoplastic principles presented in our nomogramme (targeted breast surgery) allow the reconstruction of major segmental resection defects during breast-conserving therapy with high clinical applicability and result in favorable oncological and aesthetic outcome. Recurrence was not a function of traditional prognostic factors like T-size or nodal status (in a T1/T2, N0/N1 cohort), but of grading, intrinsic subtypes and non-invasive breast cancer components. Lobular histology, multi-centricity and DCIS were predictive for breast preservation failure and conversion to mastectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]