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Stereotactic biopsy and open biopsy represent useful diagnostic tools of breast lesions. However, both affect the Quality of Life (QoL) in various degrees. We conducted this prospective longitudinal comparative study in order, first to access the impact of these techniques on short-term QoL and second to compare and critically discuss our results with those of literature review. Group A (58 patients) underwent vacuum-assisted stereotactic biopsy and Group B (46 patients) underwent open biopsy. The Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQol) was estimated using the European Quality of Life scale (EuroQol) and the SF-36 (The 36-Item Short-Form Health Status Survey) questionnaires. The stereotactic breast biopsy seems to be more accepted from the patients as it affects quality of life to a lesser extent than open breast biopsy. This difference is mainly attributable to a reduction of physical discomfort and pain.

Metaplastic breast carcinoma represents a very rare neoplasm which accounts for less than 1% of all breast malignancies. Τhe tumour usually consists of epithelial and non-epithelial elements in different amounts and variables. Herein, we present a case of a 59-year-old woman who presented with a 7-month history of a large painless mass in the upper outer quadrant of her left breast that proved to be a metaplastic carcinoma. The metastatic workup revealed one small metastasis in the upper lobe of the right lung. Treatment included neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgery, postoperative radiotherapy and adjuvant chemotherapy. The neoplasm usually does not express oestrogen and progesterone receptors as well as Her2/neu protein. The tumour has a dismal prognosis with the size being a significant predictor on outcome.

Background and Objectives Patients with gastric lymphoma treated by chemotherapy or radiation therapy are at high risk of developing complications, most commonly perforation or bleeding. In any case of upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding during conservative treatment for gastric lymphoma, thorough investigation is required to exclude other causes of hemorrhage which could be managed appropriately. When the source of bleeding is the tumor, the only effective measure is resection of the stomach, a very dangerous operation in these poor-risk patients. Methods We treated 3 consecutive patients with life-threatening gastric bleeding from lymphoma treated by chemotherapy. Results We successfully controlled the hemorrhage by surgical devascularization. Conclusion Devascularization of the involved part of the stomach is safe and effective. J. Surg. Oncol. 2000;74:138–140. © 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Concurrent skull and liver metastases from follicular thyroid carcinoma is a very rare event. We herein present the case of a 72-year-old woman who initially presented with a swelling in the right supraorbital region that proved to be metastasis from a well-differentiated follicular thyroid carcinoma of clear-cell type. The metastatic workup disclosed a huge liver metastasis and an additional metastasis in the left iliac fossa. The treatment of this patient included a total thyroidectomy, an excision of the skull lesion, and the administration of radioiodine therapy, as well as thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy. However, the course of her disease was relentless. Although well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma tends to show an excellent course, the presence of metastatic disease leads to a very dismal prognosis.

Primary gastric non-Hodgkin's lymphoma is a well-defined clinicopathological entity with a distinct histological spectrum and indolent course. Its optimal management still remains controversial. In this study we present our experience with surgery being part of the multimodal treatment and we compare our results with those referred to in the world literature.Sixty-five patients (37 males, 28 females) with gastric MALT lymphoma were retrospectively analyzed. Forty-seven patients underwent curative resection, eleven received chemotherapy as primary treatment, two patients received radiotherapy before any other treatment and five patients received combined chemo-radiation therapy.For the early stages of the disease (I-III), radical resection offered a two-year survival rate of 100% and 93%, respectively, and a five-year survival of 85% and 67%, respectively. For those stage I patients, who were managed surgically followed by adjuvant therapy, the two- and five-year survival was 90% and 78%, respectively. For stage II patients for whom chemo-radiation therapy followed surgery, the two- and five-year survival was 88% and 65%, respectively.In view of the results of our study, surgery is an adequate treatment modality for the early stages of the disease. The addition of radiotherapy or chemotherapy does not improve the overall survival. Conversely, for the advanced stages (II2-IV), primary chemotherapy is the best treatment option with surgery being reserved for cytoreduction or chemo-radiotherapy-induced complications.