Metaplastic carcinoma of the breast (MCB) is a rare form of cancer containing mixture of epithelial and mesenchymal elements in variable combinations. Few and conflicting clinical data are available in the literature addressing optimal treatment modalities, prognosis and outcome. A retrospective study was conducted to review all patients with MCB diagnosed and treated at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center between 1994-2004. The aim is to describe patient's clinicopathologic features and to analyze treatment results. Nineteen female patients were studied. The median age was 48 years (range, 14-58). The median tumor size was 9 cm (range, 3-18). Stage distribution was II in 8 patients, III in 9 and IV in 2. Nine cases were identified as purely epithelial and 10 (53%) as mixed epithelial and mesenchymal metaplasia. Hormone receptors were positive in only 2 patients. Modified radical mastectomy performed in 11 patients and 15 underwent axillary node dissection. Adjuvant chemotherapy was given to 9 patients and postoperative radiotherapy to 8. Twelve patients relapsed with median time of relapse of 12 months (range, 2-28). At a median follow-up of 21 months (range, 7-83), the 3-year event free survival (EFS) and overall survival for the patients diagnosed with loco-regional disease were 15% and 48% respectively. Tumor size correlated significantly with EFS. MCB is an aggressive form of breast cancer associated with poor outcome, high incidence of local recurrence and pulmonary metastases. The disease tends to be estrogen/progesterone receptor negative. Tumor size has an important impact on outcome. The best treatment approach is yet to be defined.

This series characterized the clinicopathologic features and outcome of adult patients with early stage WR-NHLs. No survival difference was noted between stage I and stage II, and the outcome was favorable. Primary tonsillar site and the low-risk group of the modified IPI predicted favorable OS and EFS. CMT is probably superior to single modality treatment; however, prospective studies are warranted.

Data about the prognostic and predictive value of HER-2/neu overexpression in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) treated with primary chemotherapy is limited. Therefore, this retrospective study was performed to examine this issue. Fifty-four consecutive patients with LABC were prospectively managed using a uniform multimodality approach. Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and survival were examined against HER-2/neu overexpression as determined by an immunohistochemistry method on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples of breast cancer using the commercially available, United States Food and Drug Administration-approved kit HercepTest (Dako Corp, Carpinteria, CA). The number of patients in each HercepTest immunostaining group were as follows; 0 in 12 patients (22%), 1+ in 8 (15%), 2+ in 12 (22%), and 3+ in 22 (41%). None of the clinical variables was significantly associated with HER-2/neu expression. After primary therapy, 22% of patients attained clinical complete response and an additional 70% achieved clinical partial response with an overall response rate of 92% (95% confidence interval: 100% to 79%). There was no significant correlation between clinical response and HercepTest positivity (p = 0.85). Of 52 patients with complete pathological data, there was no significant difference in HercepTest status between those who attained complete pathological response (46%) and those who did not (38%) (p = 0.74). Moreover, there was no significant difference in disease-free survival (75% vs 84%, [p = 0.26]) or overall survival (81% vs 84% [p = 0.31]) between those who overexpressed HER-2/neu and those with negative HercepTest, respectively. In patients with LABC, HER-2/neu overexpression determined using HercepTest assay and according to the manufacturer's approved guidelines failed to demonstrate a predictive or a prognostic role.