Radiation Oncology/Breast/Occult



Occult Breast Primary


Guidelines

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  • NCCN Guideline (v2.2010)
    • Mammogram and axillary ultrasound
    • Chest/abdomen/pelvic CT
    • Breast MRI:
      • If MRI+, then follow stage-appropriate pathway
      • If MRI-, T0N1
        • Mastectomy + ANLD
        • ALND + WBRT +/- nodal irradiation
        • Chemotherapy as per N1 guidelines
      • If MRI-, T0N2-3, then neoadjuvant chemotherapy, followed by mastectomy + ALND as per locally advanced guideline (presumably including PMRT)


Overview

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  • Rare presentation (<1%)
  • Breast MRI may be positive in as many as 60-70% of mammogram/ultrasound negative patients
    • There is limited information on outcomes of patients who are MRI-
  • Omiting local therapy (mastectomy or RT) results in poor outcomes, with local failure >70% and significantly worse OS
  • Local therapy with mastectomy or ALND + RT appears equivalent
  • 5-year LRR ranges between 10% and 58% in retrospective studies

Breast MRI

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  • Orbis Medical Centre, The Netherlands; 2010 PMID 19822403 -- "Breast MRI in clinically and mammographically occult breast cancer presenting with an axillary metastasis: a systematic review." (de Bresser J, Eur J Surg Oncol. 2010 Feb;36(2):114-9. Epub 2009 Oct 12.)
    • Systematic review. 8 retrospective studies.
    • Outcome: Breast MRI can detect otherwise occult cancer in >2/3 patients; high sensitivity but low specificity. In 80% of such patients, lesions can again be found with U/S for biopsy
    • Conclusion: Breast MRI can result in additional detection of otherwise occult lesions. Because of low specificity, lesions should be histologically confirmed


Breast Conservation Therapy

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  • SEER/MD Anderson; 2010 (1983-2006) PMID 20564117 -- "Population-based analysis of occult primary breast cancer with axillary lymph node metastasis." (Walker GV, Cancer. 2010 Jun 8. [Epub ahead of print])
    • SEER analysis, 750 patients with T0 N+ M0 disease (incidence 0.1%). ALND 80%, mastectomy 37%, RT 45%, neither mastectomy/RT 29%. Observation only 12%. Majority of patients pre-MRI era. Median F/U 4 years
    • Outcome: 4-year OS 73%, CSS 83%. 10-year OS if BCT/Mastectomy 65% vs ALND only 58% vs observation 47% (SS). If ALND, no difference in 10-year OS between mastectomy 63% and BCT 76% (NS). MVA predictors for poor CSS: ER-, ≥ 10 LN+, <10 LN resected. Over time, increasing use of BCT and decreasing use of mastectomy.
    • Conclusion: Need locoregional therapy; BCT with ALND and RT appears to provide equivalent outcomes to mastectomy