Background: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) in children and adolescents is a rare but significant malignancy, often presenting at more advanced stages compared to adults, although it is associated with favorable long-term outcomes. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors and perform risk stratification with the goal of identifying low-risk patients who would benefit from a less radical treatment approach. Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged 21 years and younger with DTC treated at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia between 1980 and 2024. Results: The study analyzed 99 patients (39 children, 60 adolescents) with a median follow-up of 15.6 years (range: 0.6–43.6 years). No significant differences in long-term outcomes were observed between children and adolescents. Multivariate regression analysis identified a total number of more than 10.5 positive lymph nodes and extrathyroidal tumor extension as independent predictors of adverse events and event-free interval (EFI). Using these prognostic factors, patients were stratified into three groups: low-risk (no risk factors), intermediate-risk (one of two risk factors), and high-risk (both risk factors). Statistically significant differences in EFI were observed among the three groups. Notably, none of the patients in the low-risk group had evidence of disease after treatment. Patients classified as having no evidence of disease after treatment demonstrated significantly better EFI compared to those with evidence of disease. Conclusions: Our findings highlight the importance of meticulous risk stratification in predicting long-term outcomes and might serve as a basis for developing personalized therapeutic strategies. Identifying low-risk patients who may benefit from a less aggressive treatment approach while ensuring optimal treatment and follow-up for high-risk patients remains a central objective in the modern management of DTC.

Introduction: Radiation-induced breast angiosarcoma (RIBAS) is a rare adverse event associated with postoperative breast irradiation. The data from the literature indicate that RIBAS occurs in less than 0.3% of patients treated with adjuvant radiotherapy for breast cancer. Given the rarity, diverse clinical presentation, poor prognosis, and lack of consensus on the management, this study aimed to present experiences of our specialized cancer center with RIBAS, in terms of the incidence, presentation, management, and outcomes. Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 10,834 breast cancer patients treated at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia between January 2013 and June 2024 to detect patients that had breast-conserving surgery, followed by postoperative irradiation, and developed angiosarcoma in the irradiated area at least 3 years after radiotherapy, without distant metastases. The incidence, latency period, management, and treatment outcomes were analyzed. Results: A total of nine female patients with RIBAS were identified and included in this study. The median age at RIBAS diagnosis was 64 years (range: 36–68), with a median latency of 64 months (95% CI > 57) from irradiation to diagnosis. The mean tumor size was 55 mm (SD 32.78). Patients were followed for a median of 30 months (range: 7–40) after initial RIBAS surgery. Local recurrence occurred in seven patients (77.8%), with five undergoing re-do surgery with curative intent. Three patients developed distant metastases during follow-up. The median overall survival (OS) was 31 months (95% CI > 30), with a 3-year survival rate of 15.2% (95% CI 2.5–91.6%). The median local recurrence-free interval was 10 months (95% CI > 3). Median OS after RIBAS local recurrence and after breast cancer treatment was 17 months (95% CI > 15) and 108 months (95% CI > 88), respectively. Conclusions: RIBAS is a rare but increasingly prevalent adverse event associated with BC irradiation, marked by an aggressive disease course and high relapse rates. Awareness, prompt diagnosis, and a radical surgical approach with wide clear margins are critical for improving patients’ outcomes.

Introduction: As a widespread malignancy in women throughout the world, breast cancer has an extremely high incidence and mortality rate and therefore poses a serious public health concern. Metastasis of breast carcinoma in the urinary bladder wall poses a challenge in diagnosis because it is a rare and sometimes asymptomatic disease. This paper aims to present a rare case of urinary bladder metastasis originating from invasive lobular breast carcinoma and to emphasize the importance of recognizing atypical metastatic sites. Case Report: A 58-year-old woman with a three-year history of lobular carcinoma of the right breast presented with urinary symptoms and bilateral hydronephrosis. The initial tumor was triple-negative, staged T4bN3M0. Following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (anthracyclines and taxanes), radiotherapy, and modified radical mastectomy. The histopathological assessment of tumor response to therapy: almost complete response (pNCR), and two of ten lymph nodes were positive for metastases. The treatment was continued with Capecitabine in an adjuvant approach (8 cycles), and the patient remained asymptomatic for two years. Subsequently, she developed urosepsis and was hospitalized for bilateral hydronephrosis and renal calculi. Imaging (CT) revealed retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, and cystoscopy showed bullous edema of the bladder wall. The histopathological examination after TUR showed infiltratory carcinoma of the urinary bladder wall, and immunohistochemical staining was positive for GATA3, GCDFP-15, CDX2, and Mamaglobin. It was concluded that it was a metastasis of breast carcinoma in the urinary bladder wall. Conclusion: Despite therapeutic advances, prognosis remains poor. Awareness of this unusual metastatic pattern is crucial for timely recognition, accurate diagnosis, and multidisciplinary management.

Introduction: Breast sarcomas (BS) are rare malignant tumors with aggressive behavior and limited evidence guiding outcome assessment. Data on distant metastasis-free interval (DMFI) in this population are scarce. This study aimed to describe oncologic outcomes and clinicopathologic characteristics in patients with BS treated with curative intent. Methods: Patients with primary or secondary breast sarcoma treated at a single tertiary cancer center between 2013 and 2025 were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with metastatic disease at diagnosis were excluded. DMFI was the primary endpoint, and OS was the endpoint. Survival outcomes were estimated using Kaplan-Meier methodology and presented descriptively. Results: Twenty-six patients met the inclusion criteria. Angiosarcoma was the most common histologic subtype, predominantly occurring as secondary disease after prior breast radiotherapy. Median DMFI was not reached during follow-up, with 71.5% of patients remaining metastasis-free at 3 years, whereas median OS was 31 months with a 3-year OS of 46.9%. Patients with higher pathological T stage, larger tumors, tumor necrosis, younger age, and narrower resection margins tended to demonstrate shorter DMFI. Differences in overall survival were most pronounced according to resection margin status. Conclusions: Tumor burden-related factors, tumor necrosis, and surgical margin width showed clinically relevant differences in metastasis-related outcomes and survival in breast sarcoma. Adequate surgical resection remains critical in this rare and heterogeneous disease.

The sentinel lymph node (SLN) in melanoma is almost always the first site of metastasis and its histopathological assessment is essential for the determination of staging and clinical outcome. Furthermore, this procedure offers the investigation of the early immune response in SLN as melanoma-derived factors suppress the immunity in an early stage that may facilitate metastasis. A better understanding of the immunological changes in SLN may help in the therapeutic stimulation of melanoma immunity to prevent tumor metastasis. SLN tissues without malignant cells from 74 cutaneous melanoma patients (stage I and II) were analyzed. By flow cytometry, we measured the percentage of natural killer cells, CD3+ T lymphocytes, and their expression of interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and inhibitory immune checkpoint molecules (ICMs), and the percentage of CD4+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). Melanoma patients with worse prognosis, in stage IIB-C, had decreased percentage of total CD3+ and CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes, trend of IFN-γ decrease, increased inhibitory programmed cell death 1 and T cell immunoglobulin and mucin-domain containing 3 ICMs, and higher percentage of Tregs in their SLNs compared with stage I-IIA patients. Furthermore, patients with nodular melanoma had decreased CD3+CD8+ cells compared with patients with superficial spreading melanoma and together with patients with localization of primary tumor on extremities had an increase in the expression of analyzed ICMs. This study provides new results of the impairment of immune response in SLN of cutaneous melanoma patients with high risk for metastasis and could help in the introduction of new immunotherapies that could restore immunity and prevent metastasis in SLN.

Introduction: Differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) in children and adolescents is a ra-re, but significant malignancy, often presenting at more advanced stages compared to adults, although it is associated with favorable long-term outcomes. This study aimed to identify prognostic factors and perform risk stratification with the goal of identify-ing low-risk patients who would benefit from less radical treatment approach. Meth-ods: This retrospective cohort study included patients aged 21 years and younger with DTC, treated at the Institute for Oncology and Radiology of Serbia between 1980 and 2024. Results: The study analyzed 99 patients (39 children, 60 adolescents) with a me-dian follow-up of 15.6 years (range: 0.6–43.6 years). No significant differences in long-term outcomes were observed between children and adolescents. Multivariate regression analysis identified a total number of more than 10.5 positive lymph nodes and extrathyroidal tumor extension as independent predictors of adverse events and event-free interval (EFI). Based on these prognostic factors, patients were stratified in-to low-, intermediate-, and high-risk groups. Statistically significant differences in EFI were observed among the three groups. Notably, none of the patients in the low-risk group had evidence of disease after treatment. Patients classified as having no evidence of disease after treatment demonstrated significantly better EFI compared to those with evidence of disease. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance of meticulous risk stratification in predicting long-term outcomes and might serve as a basis for developing personalized therapeutic strategies. Identifying low-risk patients who may benefit from a less aggressive treatment approach, while ensuring optimal treatment and follow-up for high-risk patients, remains a central objective in the mod-ern management of DTC.