No abstract

Intracystic papillary carcinoma (IPC), a breast tumor mainly occuring in the elderly, has long been considered as a variant of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). This is now debated since metastatic cases have been reported. In this study, surgical pieces of 20 IPCs were reassessed, and markers of myopepithelial layer (p63, CD10 and Smooth Muscle Actin) as well as estrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PgR) and C-erb-B2 oncoprotein expression were systematically performed and quantified. In 10 cases, an associated unequivocal invasive component was found. In all 20 cases, no myoepithelial layer was found. Eighteen tumors were ER positive, 14 were PgR positive. Moreover, none of the tumors over-expressed C-erb-B2 oncoprotein. Therefore this study showed that in all cases of IPC there were microscopic features of invasive carcinoma despite good clinical prognostic indicators, and that precise characterization of tumors requires extensive paraffin embedding of surgical pieces.

Purpose: Although sexual health (SH) is a major concern for many patients with breast cancer (BC), only few of them receive adequate information on this topic throughout their whole care pathway. BEROSE is a single-center pilot cross-sectional observational study, which aimed at evaluating communication on SH between women with BC and their health-care providers.Methods: From June 12th to July 31st, 2020, a survey was distributed to patients consulting at Breast Cancer Unit of Gustave Roussy Cancer Center. The primary endpoint was the rate of women reporting to have received information on SH from health professionals throughout active treatment administration or BC follow-up.Results: Of 348 surveys collected, 318 were fully completed and included in the analysis. Sixty-one percent of women were older than 50 years and 65% had a localized BC. The majority (63%) was receiving hormone-therapy (37%) or chemotherapy (26%). Overall, 65% reported that they had not received any information about SH throughout their care, while 69% felt it would have been important to discuss sexual issues. For 31% of women, professionals, preferably oncologists or gynecologists, should have initiated the discussion on SH, during an in-person consultation. Concerning satisfaction on SH, 83% reported being satis ed or very satis ed before BC diagnosis, and only 30% at the time they completed the survey.Conclusion: Most of women undergoing treatment or follow-up for BC feel that they lack of adequate information regarding sexual issues associated to BC. The impact of BC diagnosis and treatment on SH should be discussed with all women from the rst visit and then regularly readdressed.

At baseline, there was a non-significant trend for decreased density with increasing age. Volumetric breast density (VBD) significantly decreased after oophorectomy from a median VBD of 12.5% at baseline to 10.2% post-surgery which was driven by a reduction in fibroglandular volume. There was a higher absolute decrease in VBD in patients aged between 40-50 (p < 0.01). Using Volpara Density Grades (analogous to BI-RADS 4th edition density categories), 84% of females displayed a decrease in density category over the study period compared to only 76% using the radiologists' visual classification (p < 0.001) Conclusion: Oophorectomy is associated with a decrease in breast density and younger patients exhibit a larger absolute decrease. Volpara is more sensitive to identify change over time compared to visual assessment. Advances in knowledge: Oophorectomy is associated with a significant decrease in VBD in patients with BRCA mutations and Volpara Density Grades were more sensitive to identify decreases in density compared to visually assessed BI-RADS categories. Decreases in breast density following oophorectomy surgery in BRCA patients may be one of the mechanisms contributing to the observed decreased breast cancer risk after surgery. However, further studies are needed to investigate the relationship between breast density, oophorectomy and breast cancer risk in BRCA patients.