Objective: To identify the predictive factors of cancer invading into the nipple. Methods: Patients with breast cancer undergoing mastectomy between May 2009 and March 2019 were reviewed retrospectively. Of these, those with breast cancer within 2 cm of the nipple areolar complex on ultrasonography were included in this study. Clinicopathological data of the primary tumor and imaging findings from mammography, ultrasonography, and MRI were compared between cases with and without nipple involvement by cancer. Results: In total, 156 of the 821 patients identified were included in the analysis. Of them, 29 had nipple involvement by cancer. Univariate analysis revealed that the following imaging results were significantly associated with nipple involvement: perineural invasion, lymphovascular invasion, lymph node metastasis; relation type between the tumor and the nipple on ultrasonography; periareolar skin thickening on mammography; and short tumor-nipple distance, continuous enhancement between the nipple and tumor, skin enhancement, and nipple enhancement on MRI. However, on multivariate logistic regression analysis, only invasion type of tumor on ultrasonography and nipple enhancement and short tumor-nipple distance on MRI were significantly correlated with nipple involvement by cancer. Conclusion: Imaging findings on preoperative mammography, ultrasonography and MRI are effective predictors for nipple involvement by cancer. Advances in knowledge: Preoperative mammography, ultrasonography, and MRI help predict nipple involvement by breast cancer.

Whether surgery should be performed after excisional biopsy based on mammography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings has not been evaluated for breast cancer with suspicious microcalcifications on mammography. This study investigated the ability of mammography and MRI to predict residual malignancy after excisional biopsy for suspicious microcalcifications and whether background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) influences the diagnostic performance of MRI. Fifty-one patients with breast cancer who underwent excisional biopsy for suspicious microcalcifications between January 2009 and February 2019 were enrolled in this single-center retrospective study. Two expert readers independently evaluated the ability of mammography and MRI to predict residual malignancy at the surgical site. The diagnostic value of mammography and MRI was evaluated using histopathology as the standard. Thirty-two patients had residual malignancy. The average overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, accuracy, and area under the curve for residual malignancy were 78.1%, 42.1%, 69.4%, 42.1%, 62.7%, and 0.601 for mammography and 81.2%, 57.8%, 76.4%, 57.8%, 73.5%, and 0.696 for MRI; the respective values for residual malignancy were 88.8%, 57.1%, 72.7%, 57.4%, 76.5%, and 0.73 in the low BPE group and 71.4%, 60%, 83.3%, 57.4%, 65.7%, and 0.657 in the high BPE group. MRI is more accurate than mammography for prediction of residual malignancy after excisional biopsy for breast cancer with suspicious microcalcifications. However, the BPE of MRI influences diagnostic performance, so careful assessment is needed in patients with moderate or marked BPE.

The cosmetic outcomes of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) have recently gained increasing attention, and surgeons are exploring the use of the acellular dermal matrix (ADM) as a safe and effective method of breast reconstruction. This study evaluated the clinical progress of patients with breast cancer following the application of sheet-type ADM for breast reconstruction after BCS. This retrospective study included 137 patients who underwent BCS using ADM at a single center between October 2019 and October 2021. During surgery, sheet-type ADM was folded and inserted into the excised defects. Complications and cancer recurrence were evaluated during surveillance follow-up until December 2023, and maintenance of the inserted ADM was quantitatively compared using volume analysis of the first and last follow-up computed tomography (CT). Of the 137 evaluated patients, 16 (11.6%) had minor complications, and 17 (12.4%) underwent biopsy during the surveillance period. One patient was diagnosed with recurrence. ADM volume was measured in 55 patients. The mean volume reduction between the first and last CT scans was 1.81 ± 2.06 cm³ (a decrease of 17.42 ± 19.82%), which was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The insertion of ADM after BCS is a safe and effective method for addressing volume defects, even though a slight reduction occurs in ADM volume.

Kim JS, et al. Ann Surg Treat Res. 2021 Jun;100(6):313-319. https://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2021.100.6.313

To investigate the usefulness of imaging features for differentiating between small lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC). It included 52 female with LCISs (median 45 years, range 32-67 years) and 180 female with ILCs (median 49 years, range 36-75 years), with the longest diameter of ≤ 2 cm, who were evaluated between January 2012 and December 2016. All the female underwent mammography and ultrasonography. Twenty female with LCIS and 150 female with ILC underwent MRI. The clinical and imaging features were compared, and multivariate analysis was performed to identify the independent predictors of LCIS. Female with LCIS were also subgrouped by lesion size and compared with the female with ILC. Multivariate analysis showed that younger age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.100], smaller lesion size (OR = 1.103), oval or round shape (OR = 4.098), parallel orientation (OR = 5.464), and isoechotexture (OR = 3.360) were significant independent factors predictive of LCIS. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for distinguishing LCIS from ILC was 0.904 (95% confidence interval, 0.857-0.951). Subgroup analysis showed that benign features were more prevalent in female with smaller LCISs (≤ 1 cm) than in those with ILC. Small LCISs tend to demonstrate more benign features than small ILCs. Several imaging features are independently predictive of LCIS.