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Aim: To investigate the impact of biological subtypes in locoregional recurrence in Chinese breast cancer patients receiving postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT)., Methods and Materials: About 583 patients who received postmastectomy radiation between 2010 and 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. According to immunohistochemical staining profile, patients were classified into: Luminal A-like, Luminal B-like, HER2-positive, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Local and regional recurrence (LRR) cumulative incidences were calculated by competing risks methodology and the power of prognostic factors was examined by Gray's test and the test of Fine and Gray., Results: The median follow-up was 70.9 months. About 34 LRR events occurred. For Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-positive, and TNBC patients, the 5-year LRR cumulative incidence rates were 1.57%, 4.09%, 10.74%, and 10.28%. Compared with Luminal A, HER2-positive subtype and TNBC had a significant increased risk of LRR (HR was 5.034 and 5.188, respectively). In univariate analysis, predictive factors for higher LRR were HER2-positive subtype (HR = 4.43, P < .05), TNBC (HR = 4.70, P < .05), and pN3 (HR = 5.83, P < .05). In the multivariate model, HER2-positive subtype (HR = 5.034, P < .05), TNBC (HR = 5.188, P < .05), and pN3 (HR = 9.607, P < .01) were independent predictors of LRR. LRR without trastuzumab was similar to that of TNBC (without vs TNBC, 17.88% vs 10.28%, P > .05) in HER2-positive subtype patients, while LRR with trastuzumab was approximate to Luminal A (with vs Luminal A, P > .05). Additionally, endocrine therapy also significantly reduced LRR incidence in the luminal subtype cohort (without vs with therapy, 6.25% vs 2.89%, HR = 0.365, P < .1)., Conclusions: Biological subtype was a prognostic factor of LRR in the PMRT setting among Chinese breast cancer patients., (© 2020 The Authors. Cancer Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Radiotherapy has been an important component of cancer treatment. In the malignancy with long survival, radiation-induced cardiovascular toxicity significantly jeopardize patients' outcome. Despite that its pathophysiological mechanism is not clear yet, many studies have confirmed the positive correlation between cardiovascular involvement dose, irradiated volume and radiation-induced cardiotoxicity. Therefore, reducing cardiovascular involvement dose as well as irradiated volume is the key to cardiac sparing techniques in radiotherapy. Cardiac sparing techniques includes: (1) methods that reduce radiation fields and dose; (2) methods that increase the distance between heart and irradiated fields; (3) new techniques such as intensity modulated radiotherapy and proton therapy. Although researches in dosimetry have showed that cardiac sparing techniques could lower cardiovascular involvement dose and irradiated volume, further validation is needed for curative effect.

Background: Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the breast (PSCCB) is a rare clinical classification of breast tumors. Little is known about its clinicopathological features, prognosis and potential therapeutic strategies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) on patients with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the breast. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed patients diagnosed with PSCCB in our center. All pathological slides were reviewed by an experienced pathologist to confirm the diagnosis. Furthermore, we searched the public database for patients with SCC of the breast. Then, we analyzed the clinicopathological features, treatment methods and patient outcomes. Results: We identified 14 patients with primary SCC of the breast in our center. Additionally, 739 patients with SCC of the breast from the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database were diagnosed between 1975 and 2016. Only 453 patients who underwent surgery were included in this study. Patients from the SEER database had a more advanced tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage than patients from our center. The median overall survival (OS) of all patients was 104 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 87.2–120.8 months), and the 5‐year OS was 60.8% (95% CI, 56.1%–65.5%). Most of the patients (58%) tested negative for hormonal receptor expression. Multivariate analysis showed that PORT was an independent prognostic factor for OS. Conclusion: The results of our study demonstrate that SCC of the breast presents aggressive behavior with unique clinical characteristics. PORT improved OS significantly in patients with SCC of the breast. Longer‐term studies are needed to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The role of adjuvant postmastectomy radiotherapy (PMRT) remains controversial for patients with pT3N0M0 breast cancer, especially when patients are treated with the updated adjuvant chemotherapy. Our study aimed to compare locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRFS), disease-free survival (DFS), and breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) in pT3N0M0 patients with and without postmastectomy radiotherapy. Patients and Methods: Between October 2000 and 8 September 2016, the database of the Breast Cancer Center of Shanghai yielded 114 patients with node-negative non-metastatic breast cancer larger than 5 cm. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to assess the risk factors for survivals. Differences between the two groups were compared using the Log rank test. Results: Fifty-nine (51.8%) of the patients received adjuvant PMRT. The median follow-up was 62.3 months. Five-year LRFS was 100% in the PMRT group vs 98.1% in the non-PMRT group (P=0.17); 5-year DFS was 97.1% for the entire cohort, 98.0% for the PMRT group vs 96.2% for the non-PMRT group (P=0.18). Univariate analysis identified that family history of malignant tumors, lymphovascular invasion (LVI), or triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) molecular subtype were associated with higher locoregional recurrence (LRR) (P< 0.05). No PMRT was the only risk factor independently associated with poorer DFS (P=0.048) on multivariate analysis. No difference in BCSS was observed between the two groups. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated a low LRR rate and good survival for node-negative breast cancer > 5 cm. Patients with family history of malignant tumors, TNBC subtype, LVI positivity, or grade 3 disease are at high risk for LRR and might benefit from PMRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The indication for internal mammary node irradiation (IMNI) after preoperative systemic therapy in breast cancer remains vague. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of IMNI in patients with clinical stage II-III breast cancer after preoperative systemic therapy and surgery.Methods and Materials: Between August 2005 and December 2013, 497 patients with clinical stage II-III breast cancer underwent anthracycline- or taxane-based preoperative systemic therapy, surgery, and postoperative radiation therapy. A median dose of 50 Gy (range, 46-60 Gy) in 25 fractions was delivered to the chest wall or breast with IMNI (n = 236) or without IMNI (n = 261). Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) rates with or without IMNI were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Propensity score matching was performed to adjust for the unbalanced characteristics between the 2 groups. Prognostic factors associated with survival were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis.Results: The median follow-up time was 64 months. Patients with IMNI presented with more advanced clinical T stage, pathologic N stage, positive lymph-vascular invasion, and medically or centrally located disease (P < .05). The 5-year DFS and OS rates were 73.7% and 86.3% in the IMNI group and 71.5% and 86.7% in the non-IMNI group, respectively (P > .05). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that IMNI was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (P = .018) and resulted in a borderline improvement in OS (P = .067). After propensity score matching, characteristics were well balanced. The 5-year DFS rates of IMNI and non-IMNI group were 76.8% and 63.4%, respectively (P = .030), and the 5-year OS rates were 88.9% and 84.1%, respectively (P = .083). IMNI was independently prognostic for DFS (P = .014) and OS (P = .047) in matched patients.Conclusions: IMNI improves survival outcomes in patients with clinical stage II-III breast cancer after preoperative systemic therapy. Further prospective studies are warranted to identify the role of IMNI in the preoperative systemic therapy setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]