"One of the lead authors, Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli*, associate professor in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. "The CellSearch(R) CTC test provides an early indication about patients' disease progression and overall survival."
This study was co-authored by Dr. Silvia Formenti, chair of the department of radiation oncology at NYU Langone Medical Center and the Sandra and Edward H. Meyer Professor of Radiation Oncology at NYU School of Medicine, and Dr. Paul Levine of George Washington University, who contributed tissues.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 1 2008 (Re-printed with permission from Thomas A. Buchholz, M.D.)
Locoregional Treatment Outcomes After Multimodality Management of Inflammatory Breast Cancer
Ian J. Bristol, M.D., Wendy A. Woodward, M.D., Ph.D., Eric A. Strom, M.D., Massimo Cristofanilli, M.D., Delora Domain, B.S., S. Eva Singletary, M.D., George H. Perkins, M.D., Julia L. Oh, M.D., Tse-Kuan Yu, M.D., Ph.D., Welela Terrefe, M.D., Aysegul A. Sahin, M.D., Kelly K. Hunt, M.D., Gabriel N. Hortobagyi, M.D., Thomas A. Buchholz, M.D.
Purpose
The aims of this study were to determine outcomes for patients with inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) treated with multimodality therapy, to identify factors associated with locoregional recurrence, and to determine which patients may benefit from radiation dose escalation.
Methods and Materials
We retrospectively reviewed 256 consecutive patients with nonmetastatic IBC treated at our institution between 1977 and 2004.
Results
The 192 patients who were able to complete the planned course of chemotherapy, mastectomy, and postmastectomy radiation had significantly better outcomes than the 64 patients who did not. The respective 5-year outcome rates were: locoregional control (84% vs. 51%), distant metastasis–free survival (47% vs. 20%), and overall survival (51% vs. 24%) (p <0.0001 for all comparisons). Univariate factors significantly associated with locoregional control in the patients who completed plan treatment were response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, surgical margin status, number of involved lymph nodes, and use of taxanes. Increasing the total chest-wall dose of postmastectomy radiation from 60 Gy to 66 Gy significantly improved locoregional control for patients who experienced less than a partial response to chemotherapy, patients with positive, close, or unknown margins, and patients <45 years of age.
Conclusions
Patients with IBC who are able to complete treatment with chemotherapy, mastectomy, and postmastectomy radiation have a high probability of locoregional control. Escalation of postmastectomy radiation dose to 66 Gy appears to benefit patients with disease that responds poorly to chemotherapy, those with positive, close, or unknown margin status, and those <45 years of age.
March 15, 2008 Breast cancer more aggressive among obese women, states a new study. Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, Co-director of the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Clinic at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston Texas, and his colleagues observed 606 women in this study, which was published in the March 15 issue of Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
