Patient-reported outcomes one year after positive sentinel lymph node biopsy with or without axillary lymph node dissection in the randomized SENOMAC trial

Introduction: This report evaluates whether health related quality of life (HRQoL) and patient-reported arm morbidity one year after axillary surgery are affected by the omission of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Methods: The ongoing international non-inferiority SENOMAC trial randomizes clinically node-negative breast cancer patients (T1-T3) with 1-2 sentinel lymph node (SLN) macrometastases to completion ALND or no further axillary surgery. For this analysis, the first 1181 patients enrolled in Sweden and Denmark between March 2015, and June 2019, were eligible. Data extraction from the trial database was on November 2020. This report covers the secondary outcomes of the SENOMAC trial: HRQoL and patient-reported arm morbidity. The EORTC QLQC30, EORTC QLQ-BR23 and Lymph-ICF questionnaires were completed in the early postoperative phase and at one-year follow-up. Adjusted one-year mean scores and mean differences between the groups are presented corrected for multiple testing.Peer reviewe

The generalisability of randomised clinical trials : an interim external validity analysis of the ongoing SENOMAC trial in sentinel lymph node-positive breast cancer

Purpose None of the key randomised trials on the omission of axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in sentinel lymph-positive breast cancer have reported external validity, even though results indicate selection bias. Our aim was to assess the external validity of the ongoing randomised SENOMAC trial by comparing characteristics of Swedish SENOMAC trial participants with non-included eligible patients registered in the Swedish National Breast Cancer Register (NKBC). Methods In the ongoing non-inferiority European SENOMAC trial, clinically node-negative cT1-T3 breast cancer patients with up to two sentinel lymph node macrometastases are randomised to undergo completion ALND or not. Both breast-conserving surgery and mastectomy are eligible interventions. Data from NKBC were extracted for the years 2016 and 2017, and patient and tumour characteristics compared with Swedish trial participants from the same years. Results Overall, 306 NKBC cases from non-participating and 847 NKBC cases from participating sites (excluding SENOMAC participants) were compared with 463 SENOMAC trial participants. Patients belonging to the middle age groups (p = 0.015), with smaller tumours (p = 0.013) treated by breast-conserving therapy (50.3 versus 47.1 versus 65.2%, p < 0.001) and less nodal tumour burden (only 1 macrometastasis in 78.8 versus 79.9 versus 87.3%, p = 0.001) were over-represented in the trial population. Time trends indicated, however, that differences may be mitigated over time. Conclusions This interim external validity analysis specifically addresses selection mechanisms during an ongoing trial, potentially increasing generalisability by the time full accrual is reached. Similar validity checks should be an integral part of prospective clinical trials. Trial registration: NCT 02240472, retrospective registration date September 14, 2015 after trial initiation on January 31, 2015Peer reviewe

Atypical Development of Attentional Control Associates with Later Adaptive Functioning, Autism and ADHD Traits

Funder: H2020 European Research Council; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100010663Funder: Research Foundation FlandersFunder: Universiteit Gent; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004385Funder: Marguerite-Marie DelacroixFunder: Autistica; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100011706Funder: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004472; Grant(s): NHS14-1802:1Funder: K.F. Hein FondsFunder: Scott Family Junior Research FellowshipAbstract: Autism is frequently associated with difficulties with top-down attentional control, which impact on individuals’ mental health and quality of life. The developmental processes involved in these attentional difficulties are not well understood. Using a data-driven approach, 2 samples (N = 294 and 412) of infants at elevated and typical likelihood of autism were grouped according to profiles of parent report of attention at 10, 15 and 25 months. In contrast to the normative profile of increases in attentional control scores between infancy and toddlerhood, a minority (7–9%) showed plateauing attentional control scores between 10 and 25 months. Consistent with pre-registered hypotheses, plateaued growth of attentional control was associated with elevated autism and ADHD traits, and lower adaptive functioning at age 3 years

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Sentinel Node in Clinical Practice : Implications for Breast Cancer Treatment and Prognosis

The introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has conveyed several new issues, such as the risk of false negativity, long-term consequences, the prognostic significance of micrometastases and whether ALND can be omitted in sentinel lymph node- (SLN) positive patients. Archived SLN specimens from 50 false negative patients and 107 true negative controls were serially sectioned and stained with immunohistochemistry. The detection rate of previously unknown metastases did not differ between the false and the true negative patients. The risk of false negativity was higher in patients with multifocal or hormone receptor-negative tumours, or if only one SLN was found. In a Swedish multicentre cohort, 2216 SLN-negative patients in whom ALND was omitted were followed up for a median of 65 months. The isolated axillary recurrence rate was only 1.0%, and the overall survival was high (93%). The survival of 3369 breast cancer patients (2383 node-negative (pN0), 107 isolated tumour cells (pN0(i+), 123 micrometastases (pN1mi) and 756 macrometastases (pN1)) was analysed. The 5-year cause-specific and event-free survival was worse for pN1mi and pN1 patients than for pN0 patients. There was no difference in survival between pN0(i+) and pN0 patients. Tumour and SLN characteristics in 869 SLN-positive patients were compared between those with and without non-SLN metastases, and the Tenon score was calculated. The risk of non-SLN metastases was higher in case of SLN macrometastases (compared with micrometastases), a high positive/total SLN ratio and Elston grade 3 tumours, and increased with increasing tumour size. The area under the curve (AUC) for the Tenon score was 0.65, and the test thus performed inadequately in this population. In conclusion, despite the risk of false negativity, SLNB with omission of ALND in SLN-negative patients appears to be safe even in the long term. The presence of micrometastases is of prognostic importance and should entail adjuvant treatment. The need for ALND in patients with SLN micro- and even macrometastases has been questioned, but the occurrence of non-SLN metastases is hard to predict, and strong evidence for the safe omission of ALND is lacking

Sentinel Node in Clinical Practice : Implications for Breast Cancer Treatment and Prognosis

The introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has conveyed several new issues, such as the risk of false negativity, long-term consequences, the prognostic significance of micrometastases and whether ALND can be omitted in sentinel lymph node- (SLN) positive patients. Archived SLN specimens from 50 false negative patients and 107 true negative controls were serially sectioned and stained with immunohistochemistry. The detection rate of previously unknown metastases did not differ between the false and the true negative patients. The risk of false negativity was higher in patients with multifocal or hormone receptor-negative tumours, or if only one SLN was found. In a Swedish multicentre cohort, 2216 SLN-negative patients in whom ALND was omitted were followed up for a median of 65 months. The isolated axillary recurrence rate was only 1.0%, and the overall survival was high (93%). The survival of 3369 breast cancer patients (2383 node-negative (pN0), 107 isolated tumour cells (pN0(i+), 123 micrometastases (pN1mi) and 756 macrometastases (pN1)) was analysed. The 5-year cause-specific and event-free survival was worse for pN1mi and pN1 patients than for pN0 patients. There was no difference in survival between pN0(i+) and pN0 patients. Tumour and SLN characteristics in 869 SLN-positive patients were compared between those with and without non-SLN metastases, and the Tenon score was calculated. The risk of non-SLN metastases was higher in case of SLN macrometastases (compared with micrometastases), a high positive/total SLN ratio and Elston grade 3 tumours, and increased with increasing tumour size. The area under the curve (AUC) for the Tenon score was 0.65, and the test thus performed inadequately in this population. In conclusion, despite the risk of false negativity, SLNB with omission of ALND in SLN-negative patients appears to be safe even in the long term. The presence of micrometastases is of prognostic importance and should entail adjuvant treatment. The need for ALND in patients with SLN micro- and even macrometastases has been questioned, but the occurrence of non-SLN metastases is hard to predict, and strong evidence for the safe omission of ALND is lacking

Sentinel Node in Clinical Practice : Implications for Breast Cancer Treatment and Prognosis

The introduction of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) has conveyed several new issues, such as the risk of false negativity, long-term consequences, the prognostic significance of micrometastases and whether ALND can be omitted in sentinel lymph node- (SLN) positive patients. Archived SLN specimens from 50 false negative patients and 107 true negative controls were serially sectioned and stained with immunohistochemistry. The detection rate of previously unknown metastases did not differ between the false and the true negative patients. The risk of false negativity was higher in patients with multifocal or hormone receptor-negative tumours, or if only one SLN was found. In a Swedish multicentre cohort, 2216 SLN-negative patients in whom ALND was omitted were followed up for a median of 65 months. The isolated axillary recurrence rate was only 1.0%, and the overall survival was high (93%). The survival of 3369 breast cancer patients (2383 node-negative (pN0), 107 isolated tumour cells (pN0(i+), 123 micrometastases (pN1mi) and 756 macrometastases (pN1)) was analysed. The 5-year cause-specific and event-free survival was worse for pN1mi and pN1 patients than for pN0 patients. There was no difference in survival between pN0(i+) and pN0 patients. Tumour and SLN characteristics in 869 SLN-positive patients were compared between those with and without non-SLN metastases, and the Tenon score was calculated. The risk of non-SLN metastases was higher in case of SLN macrometastases (compared with micrometastases), a high positive/total SLN ratio and Elston grade 3 tumours, and increased with increasing tumour size. The area under the curve (AUC) for the Tenon score was 0.65, and the test thus performed inadequately in this population. In conclusion, despite the risk of false negativity, SLNB with omission of ALND in SLN-negative patients appears to be safe even in the long term. The presence of micrometastases is of prognostic importance and should entail adjuvant treatment. The need for ALND in patients with SLN micro- and even macrometastases has been questioned, but the occurrence of non-SLN metastases is hard to predict, and strong evidence for the safe omission of ALND is lacking

Breast-conserving surgery followed by whole-breast irradiation offers survival benefits over mastectomy without irradiation

Background: The prognostic equivalence between mastectomy and breast-conserving surgery (BCS) followed by radiotherapy was shown in pivotal trials conducted decades ago. Since then, detection and treatment of breast cancer have improved substantially and recent retrospective analyses point towards a survival benefit for less extensive breast surgery. Evidence for the association of such survival data with locoregional recurrence rates is largely lacking. Methods: The Swedish Multicentre Cohort Study prospectively included clinically node-negative patients with breast cancer who had planned sentinel node biopsy between 2000 and 2004. Axillary lymph node dissection was undertaken only in patients with sentinel node metastases. For the present investigation, adjusted survival analyses were used to compare patients who underwent BCS and postoperative radiotherapy with those who received mastectomy without radiotherapy. Results: Of 3518 patients in the Swedish Multicentre Cohort Study, 2767 were included in the present analysis; 2338 had BCS with postoperative radiotherapy and 429 had mastectomy without radiotherapy. Median follow-up was 156 months. BCS followed by whole-breast irradiation was superior to mastectomy without irradiation in terms of both overall survival (79.5 versus 64.3 per cent respectively at 13 years; P &lt; 0.001) and breast cancer-specific survival (90.5 versus 84.0 per cent at 13 years; P &lt; 0.001). The local recurrence rate did not differ between the two groups. The axillary recurrence-free survival rate at 13 years was significantly lower after mastectomy without irradiation (98.3 versus 96.2 per cent; P &lt; 0.001). Conclusion: The present data support the superiority or BCS with postoperative radiotherapy over mastectomy without radiotherapy. The axillary recurrence rate differed significantly, and could be one contributing factor in a complex explanatory model

Do clinical trials truly mirror their target population? : An external validity analysis of national register versus trial data from the Swedish prospective SENOMIC trial on sentinel node micrometastases in breast cancer

Purpose: Increasing evidence suggests that completion axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) may be omitted in breast cancer patients with limited axillary nodal metastases. However, the representativeness of trial participants for the original clinical practice population, and thus, the generalizability of published trials have been questioned. We propose the use of background data from national registers as a means to assess whether trial participants mirror their target population and to strengthen the generalizability and implementation of trial outcomes. Methods: The Swedish prospective SENOMIC trial, omitting a completion ALND in breast cancer patients with sentinel lymph node micrometastases, reached full target accrual in 2017. To assess the generalizability of trial results for the target population, a comparative analysis of trial participants versus cases reported to the Swedish National Breast Cancer Register (NKBC) was performed. Results: Comparing 548 trial participants and 1070 NKBC cases, there were no significant differences in age, tumor characteristics, breast surgery, or adjuvant treatment. Only the mean number of sentinel lymph nodes with micrometastasis per individual was lower in trial participants than in register cases (1.06 vs. 1.09, p=0.037). Conclusions: Patients included in the SENOMIC trial are acceptably representative of the Swedish breast cancer target population. There were some minor divergences between trial participants and the NKBC population, but taking these into consideration, upcoming trial outcomes should be generalizable to breast cancer patients with micrometastases in their sentinel lymph node biopsy