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The St. Gallen 5-tyre surrogate classification for breast cancer subtypes accurately predicts breast cancer presenting features (with emphasis on prediction of nodal involvement), recurrence patterns and disease free survival.

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Background Mucinous and serous borderline ovarian tumours (mBOTs and sBOTs) are controversial diseases.Objectives With this systematic review we aim to evaluate the different high-risk histopathological features and recurrence rates. Data collection and analysis Lethal recurrence data for micropapillary patterns (MPs), microinvasion, non-invasive and invasive implants, and intraepithelial carcinoma (IECA). The primary measure of effect was the odds ratio of lethal recurrence reduction.Results Data from patients in 42 studies including 4414 sBOTs and 12 studies including 894 mBOTs were pooled. Of these, 53.3% presented early-stage typical sBOTs, 24.4% presented with MPs, 22.3% presented with microinvasion, 34.4% presented with non-invasive implants, and 7.3% presented with invasive implants. The pooled lethal recurrence rates were, respectively: 18.3, 16.8, 10.7, 16.2, and 33.8%. Patients with MPs were more likely to suffer lethal recurrence when compared with high-stage sBOTs (odds ratio, OR 0.501; P = 0.003), whereas the trend in microinvasive sBOTs did not reach statistical significance. Regarding mBOTs, 61.6% presented with early-stage typical mBOTs, 19.6% presented with microinvasion, 34.8% presented with IECA, and six patients presented with non-invasive implants; none presented with invasive implants. The lethal recurrence rates were, respectively: 3.6, 0, 3.7, and 0%.Conclusion Micropapillary patterns (MPs) showed a higher risk for lethal recurrence when compared with high-stage sBOTs. Regarding mBOTs, IECA and microinvasion do not play a role in the lethal recurrence rate.Keywords Intraepithelial carcinoma, invasive implants, microinvasive borderline ovarian tumours, micropapillary serous borderline ovarian tumours, mucinous borderline ovarian tumours, non-invasive implants.Tweetable abstract Micropapillary pattern confirmed as high-risk in BOT. IECA and microinvasion don't play a role in mucinous BOT.

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The adaptive immune system is involved in tumor establishment and aggressiveness. Tumors of the ovaries, an immune-privileged organ, spread via transceolomic routes and rarely to distant organs. This is contrary to tumors of non-immune privileged organs, which often disseminate hematogenously to distant organs. Epigenetics-based immune cell quantification allows direct comparison of the immune status in benign and malignant tissues and in blood. Here, we introduce the "cellular ratio of immune tolerance" (immunoCRIT) as defined by the ratio of regulatory T cells to total T lymphocytes. The immunoCRIT was analyzed on 273 benign tissue samples of colorectal, bronchial, renal and ovarian origin as well as in 808 samples from primary colorectal, bronchial, mammary and ovarian cancers. ImmunoCRIT is strongly increased in all cancerous tissues and gradually augmented strictly dependent on tumor aggressiveness. In peripheral blood of ovarian cancer patients, immunoCRIT incrementally increases from primary diagnosis to disease recurrence, at which distant metastases frequently occur. We postulate that non-pathological immunoCRIT values observed in peripheral blood of immune privileged ovarian tumor patients are sufficient to prevent hematogenous spread at primary diagnosis. Contrarily, non-immune privileged tumors establish high immunoCRIT in an immunological environment equivalent to the bloodstream and thus spread hematogenously to distant organs. In summary, our data suggest that the immunoCRIT is a powerful marker for tumor aggressiveness and disease dissemination.

Background. Treatment of borderline ovarian tumors (BOTs) remains contentious, and there is no consensus regarding therapy for BOTs with invasive implants (BOTi). The benefits of platinum‐based adjuvant treatment were evaluated in patients with BOTi at primary diagnosis. Methods. The PubMed database was systematically searched for articles using the following terms: ((borderline) OR (low malignant potential) AND (ovarian)) AND ((tumor) OR (cancer)) AND (invasive implants) AND ((follow‐up) OR (survival) OR (treatment) OR (chemotherapy) OR (adjuvant treatment) OR (surgery) OR (surgical treatment)). Results. We identified 27 articles including 3,124 patients, 181 with invasive implants. All studies provided information regarding mortality or recurrence rates. Central pathological examination was performed in 19 studies. Eight studies included more than 75% stage I patients; 7 included only advanced‐stage patients, and 14 included only serous BOT. The pooled recurrence estimates for both treatment groups (adjuvant treatment: 44.0%, upfront surgery: 21.3%) did not differ significantly (p = .114). A meta‐analysis of the 6 studies providing separate mortality data for both treatment groups favored surgical treatment only, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (.05 < p < .1; odds ratio: 0.33; 95% confidence interval: 0.09–1.71; p = .086). We were unable to pool the results of the included studies because not all studies registered events in both treatment groups. Egger's regression indicated low asymmetry of the studies (p = .39), and no heterogeneity was found (I2 = 0%). Conclusion. We did not find evidence supporting platinum‐based adjuvant therapy for BOT with invasive implants.

A 57-year-old woman with invasive breast cancer was referred for adjuvant chemotherapy after undergoing breast conservative therapy and axillary dissection. A port was inserted in the contralateral subclavian vein and epirubicin, cyclophosphamide and 5-fluorouracil was the treatment of choice. After the first cycle, the patient was sent home. The following day, she reported rapidly developing redness and pain in the right breast and diagnosis of epirubicin extravasation was made. She was hospitalised, the port was surgically removed and approximately two-thirds of the breast underwent tissue necrosis. The necrotic tissue was resected and a skin graft was harvested from the thigh. She was offered DIEP-flap reconstruction 8 months later. There were no complications, except for marginal necrosis of the flap. Necrosectomy was performed and resolved through an advancement flap.