Our previous study on breast cancer BRCA carriers disclosed a high local recurrence (LR) rate in patients who underwent skin sparing (SSM) or nipple sparing mastectomy (NSM) without postoperative radiation therapy (RT), compared to breast conservation surgery or mastectomy with RT. The current study compares the LR rates in BRCA versus non BRCA carriers after SSM/NSM in relation the receipt of RT. The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee. Data collected included patient- (e.g., age), tumour- (e.g., subtype, stage), and treatment-related factors and outcomes. LR was defined as ipsilateral chest wall recurrence. P value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A total of 255 patients (127 BRCA, 128 non-BRCA) were included. Patients who did not receive RT had an earlier disease stage (most N0). No differences were found for LR rate in non-BRCA versus BRCA groups per involved breast and per patient. Comparing the subgroup of patients who did not receive RT, there were no statistically significant differences in LR between non-BRCA versus BRCA (p-value > 0.05). Similarly, there were no significant differences in LR for the subgroup of patients who did receive RT (p-value > 0.05). Regardless of BRCA status, patients who received RT had significantly lower LR rates. No differences in overall survival were noted between the groups. Our results confirm high LR rates after SSM and NSM in patients who are not treated with RT, independent of BRCA-status. This mandate further investigation, as previous studies did not show a benefit of postmastectomy RT in the early breast cancer stage of those patients.

Background. While BRCA1/BRCA2 pathogenic sequence variants (PSVs) clearly confer an increased risk for invasive breast cancer, the extent to which these mutant alleles increase DCIS risk is less clear. Objective. To assess the rate of detection over a 5-year period, and MRI imaging features of pure noncalcified DCIS in a cohort of Israeli BRCA1/BRCA2 PSV carriers attending a high-risk clinic from 2015 to 2020. Materials and Methods. All female BRCA1/BRCA2 PSV-carriers followed at the Meirav High-risk clinic from 2015 to 2020 were eligible if they underwent semiannual breast imaging (MRI/mammography) and MRI-guided biopsy-proven pure DCIS. Clinical data, pathology information, and imaging characteristics were retrieved from the computerized archiving system. Results. 18/121 (15.2%) participating BRCA1 PSV carriers and 8/81 (10.1%) BRCA2 PSV-carriers who underwent MRI-guided biopsy were diagnosed with DCIS. The median age of BRCA1 carriers and BRCA2 carriers was 49.8 years and 60.6 years, respectively ( ). Negative estrogen-receptor tumors were diagnosed in 13/18 (72%) BRCA1 and 2/8 (25%) BRCA2 PSV carriers ( ). Thirteen (13/18–72%) BRCA1 carriers had intermediate to high-grade or high-grade DCIS compared with 4/8 (50%) of BRCA2 carriers ( ). Over the 5-year study period, 29/1100 (2.6%) BRCA1/BRCA2 PSV carriers were diagnosed with DCIS seen on MRI only. Conclusion. MRI-detected noncalcified DCIS is more frequent in BRCA1 PSV carriers compared with BRCA2 carriers, unlike the BRCA2 predominance in mammography-detected calcified DCIS. BRCA1-related DCIS is diagnosed earlier, more likely to be estrogen receptor-negative and of higher grade compared with BRCA2-related DCIS. Future prospective studies should validate these results and assess the actual impact they might have on clinical management of BRCA PSV carriers.

To determine surgical outcomes and breast cancer disease-free survival outcomes of women with early stage breast cancer with and without use of preoperative breast MRI according to breast tissue density. Women with early stage breast cancer diagnosed from 2004 to 2009 were classified into 2 groups: 1) those with dense and heterogeneously dense breasts (DB); 2) those with nondense breasts (NDB) (scattered fibroglandular and fatty replaced tissue). The 2 groups were reviewed to determine who underwent preoperative MRI. Breast tissue density was determined with mammography according to ACR BI-RADS. Patients were compared according to tumor size, grade, stage, and treatment. Survival analysis was performed using Kaplan-Meier estimates. In total, 261 patients with mean follow-up of 85 months (25–133) were included: 156 DB and 105 NDB. Disease-free survival outcomes were better in the DB group in patients with MRI than in those without MRI: patients with MRI had significantly fewer local recurrences (P < 0.016) and metachronous contralateral breast cancers (P < 0.001), but this was not the case in the NDB group. Mastectomies were higher in the DB group with preoperative MRI than in those without MRI (P < 0.01), as it was in the NDB group (P > 0.05). Preoperative breast MRI was associated with reduced local recurrence and metachronous contralateral cancers in the DB group, but not in the NDB group; however, the DB patients with MRI had higher mastectomy rates.