Breast Cancer + Benign Pathologies - Treatment, Investigation (Cytology & Biopsy) Flashcards
risk factors for breast cancer (9)
- increasing age (MAIN)
- previous breast cancer
- genetics: BRCA 1/2 (5%)
- HRT use > 10 yrs
- early menarche and late menopause
- late pregnancy
- alcohol > 14 units per week
- high weight (more adipose = more estrogen storage)
- post RT for hodgkin’s lymphoma
presentation of breast cancer (5)
- lump (MAIN) - usually painless
- mastalgia - persistent unilateral pain
- nipple changes/discharge
- change in breast size, shape, contour
- DVT, lymphedema
what is peau d’orange and what is it a sign of?
redness of pitting of the skin over the breast - like orange
sign of inflammatory breast cancer, the worst kind
3 stages of diagnosing breast cancer
- history and examination
- radiological: mammogram, USS, MRI
- cytopathological: a. FNA, b. core biopsy
what is the main difference between FNA and core biopsy?
- FNA - cell sample, cytology
2. core biopsy - tissue sample, histopathology (ER/PR, HER2 receptor status)
when is MRI used in breast imaging?
- risk of lobular cancer
- dense breast (younger)
- benign disease
which breast imaging is the most sensitive in older women?
mammogram
what is the difference between invasive and in situ disease and what investigation is needed to find out?
core biopsy needed
- in situ: within the basement membrane
- invasive: breached basement membrane
what are some of the further investigations you will do after core biopsy? (3)
- ER positivity
- PR positivity
- HER2 receptor status –> gives prognostic indication
neo-adjuvant vs adjuvant
neo-adjuvant: before surgery
adjuvant: after surgery
what are some of the adverse prognostic factors (that worsens prognosis and increases the chance of recurrence) (6)
- node involvement +
- tumor grade 3
- tumor type
- ER/PR -
- HER 2 +
- lymphovascular invasion
what prognostic factors are included int he nottingham prognostic index (NPI)? (3)
- node involvement
- tumor grade
- tumor type
what are the different types of breast cancer? divide it into invasive and non-invasive cancer, which is the most common?
- invasive - most common type:
- ductal carcinoma (75-80%)
- lobular carcinoma (10%)
- others (10%)
- non invasive:
- ductal carcinoma in situ
- lobular carcinoma in situ
what are the different methods of staging breast cancer?
- bloods: FBC, U&Es, LFTs (check liver spread), Ca2+/PCO2 (check bone spread)
- imaging: mammogram, USS, MRI
are tumor markers useful in breast cancer?
no, there is no tumor marker in breast cancer
what are the common locations of local and distant mets (for distant list them in order)
local - chest wall, nipples, skin, underlying muscle
distant:
1. bone
2. lung
3. liver
4. brain (esp HER2+)
5. bone marrow
what are some of the treatments for breast cancer?
- surgery:
- breast conservative surgery
- mastectomy
- axilla surgery
- RT
- chemo
- hormone therapy
- targeted therapy (HER2) - trastuzumab/herceptin, pertuzumab
what should you do after a routine or pre-operative USS axilla? (what happens when it is or isn’t normal)
- normal –> sentinel node biopsy
2. abnormal –> FNA
what should you do if an FNA result of axilla is negative or positive?
- negative –> sentinel node biopsy
2. positive –> axillary clearance or RT
what are the 2 dyes use in the duo technique for sentinel node biopsy?
- tachnetium 99
2. evans blue
what are some of the complications of axillary clearance? (5)
- lymphedema (10-17%)
- nerve damage and altered sensations
- reduced shoulder joint ROM
- vascular damage
- radiation induced sarcoma
when are patients given RT and what are the exceptions?
ALL patients after wide local excision need RT unless:
- > 60 yrs
- T1, N0
- low Ki67 < 25 (stained tumor cells in the total number of malignant cels)
what is the recommended regimen for RT?
3 weeks
- boosts effective in preventing local recurrence in young ppl
what are some of the complications of RT?
- skin telangiectasia
- radiation pneumonitis
- cutaneous radionecrosis, osteonecrosis
- angiosarcoma
what type of breast cancer patient is chemo most effective in? What is oncotype testing and how is this related to chemo?
< 50 yrs and have the adverse prognostic factors
oncotype testing done for those who are ER+/HER2- and have no nodal involvement to see whether chemo would still be effective for them despite not having the adverse prognostic factors
what are the 3 types of hormone and therapy used (drug names) - tell their mechanism of action, dosage, differences in benefits and side effects
- tamoxifen
- 20 mg once daily for 5-10 yrs
- blocks ER receptor directly
- effective in all age groups
- effective after chemo
- side effects: thromboembolism, avoid in PE/DVT
- AI (letrozole, arimidex) - inhibits ER synthesis
- 2.5 and 1 mg respectively, once daily for 5 yrs
- inhibits ER synthesis
- used in postmenopausal women
- improves disease survival if switching drugs
- side effects: osteoporosis
- zoladex - blocks FSH/LH
what receptor does hormone therapy target?
ER, FSH and LH (hormones), enzymes used in the synthesis of ER