Co powinien wiedzieć lekarz medycyny rodzinnej o współczesnych możliwościach odtwarzania piersi u kobiet po mastektomii

Mimo że leczenie oszczędzające pierś jest coraz popularniejsze, amputacja nadal pozostaje leczeniem z wyboru, pozostawiając świadectwo choroby w postaci blizny w miejscu utraconej piersi. Rekonstrukcja piersi pozwala pacjentce uporać się z defektami fizycznymi i psychicznymi, jakie pozostawia po sobie zabieg amputacji. Poddanie się zabiegowi rekonstrukcji piersi oraz wybór metody są decyzją indywidualną. Jednak trzeba ją podejmować, licząc się z oczekiwaniami pacjentki, jej anatomią oraz ewentualnym leczeniem dodatkowym. Wskazania do zabiegu rekonstrukcji powinny brać pod uwagę możliwość wykorzystania tkanek własnych pacjentki lub implantu silikonowego. Rekonstrukcja piersi z wykorzystaniem tkanek własnych zakłada przeniesienie tkanek podbrzusza z wykorzystaniem mięśnia prostego (płat uszypułowany) lub bez mięśnia (płat wolny). Rekonstrukcja piersi za pomocą implantu silikonowego polega na jego umieszczeniu pod mięśniem piersiowym większym w odpowiednim miejscu na klatce piersiowej. Zarówno implanty silikonowe, jak i tkanki własne pacjentki to bezpieczne i uznane metody rekonstrukcji piersi posiadające swoje wady i zalety. Leczenie uzupełniające w postaci radioterapii stanowi dodatkowy problem. Z tego powodu jest wskazana konsultacja z chirurgiem plastycznym w celu ustalenia rekonstrukcji odroczonej, jednoczasowej lub jednoczasowej/odroczonej. Forum Medycyny Rodzinnej 2011, tom 5, nr 1, 115–12

Znaczenie czasu rekonstrukcji piersi po mastektomii

Zabieg rekonstrukcji piersi może być wykonany w każdym sprzyjającym dla pacjentki momencie. Jeżeli stopień zaawansowania klinicznego jest niski, stan ogólny pacjentki dobry i uzupełniająca radioterapia nie jest konieczna, pacjentce można zaproponować jednoczasową amputację z rekonstrukcją odpowiednią metodą. Jeżeli natomiast wynik badania histopatologicznego jest niekorzystny i konieczna będzie dodatkowa radioterapia, należy rozważyć rekonstrukcję w trybie odroczonym lub jednoczasową/odroczoną. Podczas rozmowy z pacjentką zawsze należy przedstawić jej wady i zalety czasu oraz metody, w taki sposób, aby mogła podjąć świadomą decyzję o sposobie leczenia. Czas wykonania zabiegu rekonstrukcji piersi zależy od wielu czynników, które pozwalają na zaproponowanie pacjentce jednej z trzech opcji: rekonstrukcji piersi jednoczasowej, odroczonej lub jednoczasowej/odroczonej. Forum Medycyny Rodzinnej 2011, tom 5, nr 3, 210–21

5000 lat krzywej uczenia się chirurgii raka piersi

W pracy przedstawiono zmieniające się na przestrzeni wieków metody chirurgicznego leczenia raka piersi. Omówiono początki leczenia z uwzględnieniem technik chirurgicznych, przedstawiono jego wyniki, przyczyny niepowodzeń, hipotezy związane z szerzeniem się raka piersi oraz ich wpływ na decyzje terapeutyczne chirurgów. Przede wszystkim zwrócono uwagę na ostatnie dekady, które przyniosły radykalne zmiany w podejściu do chirurgicznego leczenia raka piersi. Wymieniono niektóre czynniki mające istotny wpływ na epidemiologię i metody terapeutyczne raka piersi. Zaprezentowano nowe koncepcje chirurgiczne mające na celu zmniejszenie kalectwa pooperacyjnego. Ponadto wymieniono aktualnie obowiązujące sposoby chirurgicznego leczenia raka piersi oraz wskazano kierunki dalszego rozwoju. Forum Medycyny Rodzinnej 2011, tom 5, nr 2, 123–12

The impact of the Polish mass breast cancer screening program on prognosis in the Pomeranian Province

Introduction : Mammographic screening results in diagnosis of less advanced breast cancer (BC). A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials confirmed that BC screening reduces mortality. In 2007, the National Breast Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) was established in Poland with the crucial aim of reducing mortality from BC. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of participation in the NBCSP on prognosis. Material and methods : A single institution, non-randomized retrospective study was undertaken. The study population comprised 643 patients with BC treated in the Department of Surgical Oncology (DSO) at the Medical University of Gdansk over a 4-year period, from 01.01.2007 until 31.12.2010. Patients were divided into two groups: group A – patients who participated in the NBCSP (n = 238, 37.0%); and group B – patients who did not participate in the NBCSP (n = 405, 63.0%). Results : Statistical analysis revealed that group A displayed a less advanced AJCC stage (more patients in AJCC stage I, p = 0.002), lower tumor diameter (more patients with pT1, p = 0.006, and pT < 15 mm, p = 0.008) and a lower incidence of metastases to axillary lymph nodes (more patients with pNO, p = 0.01). From 2009 to 2010 the NBCSP revealed a statistically significant benefit – significantly more patients in stage 0 + I (60.7% vs. 48.8%, p = 0.018) and with tumors pT < 15 mm (48.8% vs. 35.1%, p = 0.011) were observed in group A. Conclusions : The study results revealed the beneficial impact of the NBCSP. Superior prognostic factors and favorable staging were observed in women who participated in the NBCSP

Heart laceration during oesophagectomy for the treatment of oesophageal carcinoma

Oesophagectomy remains an acceptable treatment option for oesophageal cancer. However, it is associated with relatively high morbidity with potentially devastating complications, especially for patients who have undergone previous thoracic surgery. The majority of these complications, however, can be minimised by prevention and early recognition. In this report we present a case of a patient whose right ventricle was injured during the oesophagectomy. We try to analyse the reasons for this complication and establish an algorithm of preoperative planning for such cases

Metachronous adenocarcinoma in a gastric tube after radical surgery for oesophageal cancer

In recent years the prognosis for oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients has improved. Together with this improvement, the occurrence of second primary carcinoma, especially gastric carcinoma, in tubes constructed from the stomach after oesophagectomy must be taken into account. We report a case of a patient who had this clinical presentation, which was revealed not in the normal follow-up, but in a consecutive operation carried out because of an anastomotic problem

Heterogeneity of Mesenchymal Markers Expression—Molecular Profiles of Cancer Cells Disseminated by Lymphatic and Hematogenous Routes in Breast Cancer

Breast cancers can metastasize via hematogenous and lymphatic routes, however in some patients only one type of metastases are detected, suggesting a certain proclivity in metastatic patterns. Since epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays an important role in cancer dissemination it would be worthwhile to find if a specific profile of EMT gene expression exists that is related to either lymphatic or hematogenous dissemination. Our study aimed at evaluating gene expression profile of EMT-related markers in primary tumors (PT) and correlated them with the pattern of metastatic spread. From 99 early breast cancer patients peripheral blood samples (N = 99), matched PT (N = 47) and lymph node metastases (LNM; N = 22) were collected. Expression of TWIST1, SNAI1, SNAI2 and VIM was analyzed in those samples. Additionally expression of CK19, MGB1 and HER2 was measured in CTCs-enriched blood fractions (CTCs-EBF). Results were correlated with each other and with clinico-pathological data of the patients. Results show that the mesenchymal phenotype of CTCs-EBF correlated with poor clinico-pathological characteristics of the patients. Additionally, PT shared more similarities with LNM than with CTCs-EBF. Nevertheless, LNM showed increased expression of EMT-related markers than PT; and EMT itself in PT did not seem to be necessary for lymphatic dissemination

Altered circadian genes expression in breast cancer tissue according to the clinical characteristics.

Breast cancer has a multifactorial etiology. One of the supposed and novel mechanisms is an alteration of circadian gene expression. Circadian genes play a crucial role in many physiological processes. These processes, such as genomic stability, DNA repair mechanism and apoptosis, are frequently disrupted in breast tumors. To assess the significance of circadian gene expression in breast cancer, we carried out an analysis of CLOCK, BMAL1, NPAS2, PER1, PER2, PER3 and CRY1, CRY2, TIMELESS, CSNK1E expression by the use of the quantitative Real-Time PCR technique in tumor tissue and non-tumor adjacent normal tissue sampled from 107 women with a newly diagnosed disease. The obtained data were compared to the clinical and histopathological features. PER1, PER2, PER3, CRY2 were found to be significantly down-expressed, while CLOCK, TIMELESS were over-expressed in the studied tumor samples compared to the non-tumor samples. Only gene expression of CRY1 was significantly down-regulated with progression according to the TNM classification. We found significantly decreased expression of CRY2, PER1, PER2 genes in the ER/PR negative breast tumors compared to the ER/PR positive tumors. Additionally, expression of CRY2, NPAS2 genes had a decreased level in the poorly differentiated tumors in comparison with the well and moderately differentiated ones. Our results indicate that circadian gene expression is altered in breast cancer tissue, which confirms previous observations from various animal and in vitro studies

Methylene Blue Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging in Breast Cancer Sentinel Node Biopsy

Introduction: Fluorescence-based navigation for breast cancer sentinel node biopsy is a novel method that uses indocyanine green as a fluorophore. However, methylene blue (MB) also has some fluorescent properties. This study is the first in a clinical series presenting the possible use of MB as a fluorescent dye for the identification of sentinel nodes in breast sentinel node biopsy. Material and methods: Forty-nine patients with breast cancer who underwent sentinel node biopsy procedures were enrolled in the study. All patients underwent standard simultaneous injection of nanocolloid and MB. We visualized and assessed the sentinel nodes and the lymphatic channels transcutaneously, with and without fluorescence, and calculated the signal-to-background ratio (SBR). We also analyzed the corresponding fluorescence intensity of various dilutions of MB. Results: In twenty-three patients (46.9%), the location of the sentinel node, or the end of the lymphatic path, was visible transcutaneously. The median SBR for transcutaneous sentinel node location was 1.69 (range 1.66–4.35). Lymphatic channels were visible under fluorescence in 14 patients (28.6%) prior to visualization by the naked eye, with an average SBR of 2.01 (range 1.14–5.6). The sentinel node was visible under fluorescence in 25 patients (51%). The median SBR for sentinel node visualization with MB fluorescence was 2.54 (range 1.34–6.86). Sentinel nodes were visualized faster under fluorescence during sentinel node preparation. Factors associated with the rate of visualization included diabetes (p = 0.001), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (p = 0.003), and multifocality (p = 0.004). The best fluorescence was obtained using 40 μM (0.0128 mg/mL) MB, but we also observed a clinically relevant dilution range between 20 μM (0.0064 mg/mL) and 100 μM (0.032 mg/mL). Conclusions: For the first time, we propose the clinical usage of MB as a fluorophore for fluorescence-guided sentinel node biopsy in breast cancer patients. The quenching effect of the dye may be the reason for its poor detection rate. Our analysis of different concentrations of MB suggests a need for a detailed clinical analysis to highlight the practical usefulness of the dye

Expression of epithelial to mesenchymal transition-related markers in lymph node metastases as a surrogate for primary tumor metastatic potential in breast cancer

Abstract Background Breast cancers are phenotypically and genotypically heterogeneous tumors containing multiple cancer cell populations with various metastatic potential. Aggressive tumor cell subpopulations might more easily be captured in lymph nodes metastases (LNM) than in primary tumors (PT). We evaluated mRNA and protein levels of master EMT regulators: TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG, protein levels of EMT-related markers: E-cadherin, vimentin, and expression of classical breast cancer receptors: HER2, ER and PgR in PT and corresponding LNM. The results were correlated with clinicopathological data and patients outcomes. Methods Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from PT and matched LNM from 42 stage II-III breast cancer patients were examined. Expression of TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG was measured by reverse-transcription quantitative PCR. Protein expression was examined by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays. Kaplan-Meier curves for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using F-Cox test. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were computed using Cox regression analysis. Results On average, mRNA expression of TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG was significantly higher in LNM compared to PT (P TWIST1 and SNAIL in LNM was associated with shorter OS (P = 0.04 and P = 0.02, respectively) and DFS (P = 0.02 and P = 0.01, respectively), whereas their expression in PT had no prognostic impact. Negative-to-positive switch of SNAIL protein correlated with decreased OS and DFS (HR = 4.6; 1.1-18.7; P = 0.03 and HR = 3.8; 1.0-48.7; P = 0.05, respectively). Conclusions LNM are enriched in cells with more aggressive phenotype, marked by elevated levels of EMT regulators. High expression of TWIST1 and SNAIL in LNM, as well as negative-to-positive conversion of SNAIL confer worse prognosis, confirming the correlation of EMT with aggressive disease behavior. Thus, molecular profiling of LNM may be used as surrogate marker for aggressiveness and metastatic potential of PT.</p