Papillary lesions of the breast: Outcomes of 156 patients managed without excisional biopsy

Papillomas of the breast are benign epithelial neoplasms. Because of the low, but continued potential for malignancy, the treatment options after initial diagnosis remain controversial. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical course of patients with papilloma who were managed by active surveillance following initial diagnosis by core needle biopsy or vacuum-assisted biopsy. This retrospective study analyzed 174 patients with 180 papillomas that were diagnosed by core needle biopsy (113 cases) or vacuum-assisted biopsy (67 cases) at the Breast Center Seefeld Zurich between February 2002 and May 2011. We excluded 24 cases that underwent excisional biopsy for removal of the lesion. Over a mean follow-up of 3.5 years, 13 further events occurred in 156 cases (8%). These events included two cases of ductal carcinoma in situ (one after 4 and one after 6 years), one case of atypical ductal hyperplasia, one radial scar, eight cases of papilloma, and one case of flat epithelial atypia. No invasive carcinomas occurred during the follow-up period. Conservative management of 156 papillary lesions with removal by vacuum-assisted biopsy and surveillance was not associated with invasive cancer over a median follow-up of 3.5 years. Therefore, this approach seems to be a safe option for the clinical management of papillary lesions

Nuclear astrophysics with radioactive ions at FAIR

The nucleosynthesis of elements beyond iron is dominated by neutron captures in the s and r processes. However, 32 stable, proton-rich isotopes cannot be formed during those processes, because they are shielded from the s-process flow and r-process β-decay chains. These nuclei are attributed to the p and rp process. For all those processes, current research in nuclear astrophysics addresses the need for more precise reaction data involving radioactive isotopes. Depending on the particular reaction, direct or inverse kinematics, forward or time-reversed direction are investigated to determine or at least to constrain the desired reaction cross sections. The Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) will offer unique, unprecedented opportunities to investigate many of the important reactions. The high yield of radioactive isotopes, even far away from the valley of stability, allows the investigation of isotopes involved in processes as exotic as the r or rp processes