In the current trial, improvement in 36-month survival was not observed with upfront surgery for stage IV breast cancer patients. However, a longer follow-up study (median, 40 months) showed statistically significant improvement in median survival. When locoregional treatment in de novo stage IV BC is discussed with the patient as an option, practitioners must consider age, performance status, comorbidities, tumor type, and metastatic disease burden.

PurposeIdiopathic granulomatous lobular mastitis (IGLM) is a rare chronic inflammatory disease of the breast with obscure etiology that mimics invasive carcinoma both clinically and radiologically. The treatment of IGLM remains controversial. The aim of proper management is to use a combination of medical and surgical treatment of this benign condition to achieve a good cosmetic result and low recurrence rate.MethodsA retrospective analysis of 19 patients with IGLM is performed based on the findings of clinical, radiological, and pathological examinations. The results of two treatments are presented: medical treatment with oral corticosteroids, and consecutive surgical excision after a follow-up period of 20 months (range, 6-75 months).ResultsThe majority of patients treated in this paper were young (mean, 34 years) parous women with a history of hormonal medication use. The main clinical finding is large, irregular, and painful mass. Hypoechoic lobulated, irregular tubular or oval shaped masses had been imaged by ultrasound. Mammographic findings were an ill-defined mass, enlarged axillary lymph nodes, asymmetric density, and architectural distortion. Diagnoses of IGLM had been established by cytological or histological examination. Symptoms subside and inflammatory changes regressed with medical treatment. The remaining lesions were excised by consecutive breast conserving surgery. The disease recurred in one patient during the follow-up period.ConclusionIGLM is an inflammatory breast disease found in young women who present with a large painful irregular mass, which mimics carcinoma, as a physical change. Breast imaging modalities are not helpful to differentiate IGLM from invasive cancer. The correct diagnosis is established by cytological or histological examination. Medical treatment with corticosteroids provides significant regression of the inflammatory disease, allowing more conservative surgery. Consecutive surgical excision of the remaining lesions with good cosmetic results provides definitive treatment and reduces the risk of recurrence.

We found that elevated serum CRP levels support surgeon's clinical diagnosis. We recommend CRP measurement as a routine laboratory test in patients with suspected diagnosis of acute appendicitis.

Background. Anatomic variations, the presence of the pyramidal lobe (PL), may impact completeness of thyroidectomy and effect of surgical treatment. Method. This study included 166 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy. The anterior cervical region between the thyroid isthmus and the hyoid bone was dissected during thyroid surgery. The incidence, size, and anatomical features of the PL were established in these patients. Results. The incidence of PL was 65.7%. No gender difference was found for PL incidence. The base of the PL was located at the isthmus in 52.3%, the left lobe in 29.4%, and the right lobe in 18.3% of patients. The mean length of the PL was 22.7 (range, 5–59) mm. The PL was longer than 30 mm in 23% of patients. One-third of the patients with short PL were men whereas women accounted for 80% of patients with long PL. Conclusions. The high incidence indicates that the PL is a common part of the thyroid. The PL generally originates from the isthmus near midline and is of variable length, extending from the isthmus up to the hyoid bone. Considering that the PL is a common structure, the prelaryngeal region should be dissected to achieve the completeness of thyroidectomy.

The high rate of positive LVI shows a close relationship with known markers of poor prognosis. The presence of LVI can predict a worse outcome for patients with invasive breast cancer. LVI may be used as an indicator of aggressive behaviour, metastatic ability (nodal and systemic) of the primary malignancy.

Background. Variations of recurrent laryngeal nerve (RLN) and Zuckerkandl's tubercle (ZT), which is posterior extension of lateral lobes, may affect safety of thyroidectomy. Methods. Total and hemithyroidectomy were surgical procedures in 60 and 40 patients, respectively. Surgical anatomy was studied in 87 right and 73 left lobes. Presence of ZT was noted and its incidence was determined. RLNs were identified and fully isolated. Relationship between ZT and RLN was established. Results. ZTs were identified in 66 (66%) patients and in 81 (51%) lobes. ZT was present in 53 (61%) right and in 28 (38%) left lobes. ZTs were bilateral in 15 (25%) of 60 total thyroidectomy cases. Smaller tubercles show the neurovascular crossing point. RLN was posterior (medial) to ZT in 76 (94%) occurrences. RLN was laying on anterior surface of ZT only in 5 (6%) instances. Conclusions. RLN is unusually laying lateral to ZT which is common structure in the thyroid. Lateral RLN may be more vulnerable to injury. Total thyroidectomy requires dissection of ZT adjacent to RLN. Based on unusual relations and variations, RLN should be fully isolated before excision of adjacent structures.

Introduction: Previous reports of carefully selected patients presenting with stage IV breast cancer (BC) suggest that surgery on the primary tumor may result in improved survival, but this remains unproven. The MF07-01 trial is a phase III randomized controlled trial of BC women with distant metastases at presentation who receive loco-regional (LR) treatment for intact primary tumor compared with those who do not receive such treatment. Aim: The primary objective of the trial is to compare overall survival (OS) in women treated with or without initial LR resection prior to systemic therapy for de novo stage IV BC. Materials and Methods: At the discretion of the surgeon, LR treatments consisted of either mastectomy or breast conserving surgery with level I-II axillary clearance in clinically or sentinel lymph node positive patients. Radiation therapy to whole breast was required following breast conserving surgery. At the discretion of the medical oncologist standard systemic therapy of either endocrine treatment or chemotherapy (plus trastuzumab for HER2 +) was given to all patients either immediately after randomization (no surgery group) or after surgical resection of the intact primary tumor (surgery group). After consideration of previous retrospective studies, the assumed OS difference between the two groups was determined to be 18% (35% in LR treatment group versus 17% in no-LR treatment group). A 10% drop out rate including lost to follow up was assumed. By using a one sided log-rank test with a 95% confidence (α = 0.05) and a 90% power (β = 0.9), sample size calculation revealed that 271 patients were needed to be randomized. Results: There were 140 women in the surgery group and 138 in the no-surgery group. The mean follow up time was 21.1 ± 14.5 months. The mean age was 51.6 ± 13.2 years and the groups were comparable regarding age, BMI, ER/PR, Her 2, Triple negative, tumor type and size between the groups (all p>0.05). Metastatic patterns included bone only in 45.7%, organ except bone in 28.8%, and bone plus organ in 25.5%. There were a total of 86 (31%) deaths. At 54 months the survival rate was 35% in the surgery group and 31% in the no surgery group (p = 0.24). However, OS was statistically higher in bone only, ER/PR positive and patients younger than 50 years but was lower in the triple negative patients (p<0.05). The mean survival was 7.1 months higher in surgery group comparing with no surgery group in bone only metastasis (39.1 ± 1.8 vs 32.0 ± 2.2; p = 0.13). Surgery in the group of patients who had solitary bone only metastasis had statistically significant survival benefit compared with no surgery and with patients who had multiple bone metastasis either with or without surgery (P = 0.03). Conclusion: In early follow-up of this trial comparing surgery of the primary tumor with no surgery in stage IV BC at presentation OS was similar but there were important subgroup differences; in particular those with solitary bone metastasis have a significant survival benefit and patients with bone metastasis only have a trend toward improved survival with initial surgery. Further follow-up will expand on these important findings. Citation Information: Cancer Res 2013;73(24 Suppl): Abstract nr S2-03.

Unacceptably high false negative and positive rates decrease the accuracy of the serum IL-6 test for appendicitis. Serum IL-6 measurement is not of benefit in increasing the accuracy of the diagnosis of appendicitis. Serum IL-6 results are not useful for preventing negative laparotomies in the majority of patients with right iliac fossa pain.