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negative hormone receptors and dual anti-HER2 treatment. Although overall survival rates were not significantly different between arms, patients who reached pCR with L + T therapy were nearly doubled compared to the patients in the single agent arms. Additional exploratory analyses will be presented.

Background: The literature is conflicting regarding oncological outcome and morbidity associated to portal–mesenteric resection during pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) in patients with pancreatic head adenocarcinoma (PHAC). Methods: A meta-analysis of studies comparing PD plus venous resection (PD+VR) and standard PD exclusively in patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreatic head was conducted. Results: Twenty-three cohort studies were identified, which included 6037 patients, of which 28.6% underwent PD+VR and 71.4% underwent standard PD. Patients who received PD+VR had lower 1-year overall survival (OS) (odds radio OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.67–0.92, p = 0.003), 3-year OS (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.59–0.87, p = 0.0006), and 5-year OS (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.39–0.83, p = 0.003). Patients in the PD+VR group were more likely to have a larger tumor size (MD 3.87, 95% CI 1.75 to 5.99, p = 0.0003), positive lymph nodes (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.06–1.45, p = 0.007), and R1 resection (OR 1.74, 95% CI 1.37–2.20, p < 0.0001). Thirty-day mortality was higher in the PD+VR group (OR 1.93, 95% CI 1.28–2.91, p = 0.002), while no differences between groups were observed in rates of total complications (OR 1.07, 95% CI, 0.81–1.41, p = 0.65). Conclusions: Although PD+VR has significantly increased the resection rate in patients with PHAC, it has inferior survival outcomes and higher 30-day mortality when compared with standard PD, whereas postoperative morbidity rates are similar. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of PD+VR in the context of multimodality treatment of PHAC.

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The recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound changes to healthcare systems as well as had deleterious repercussions on the care of cancer patients. In this comparative study, we sought to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the surgical management of breast cancer in a breast unit in an Italian region with a low incidence of COVID-19 infection. Eighty-three patients were included, of whom 41 received surgery during the height of the pandemic (Group A, operated on between March and April 2020), and 42 during the same period of the year in 2019 (Group B). Clinicopathological characteristics and surgical outcomes were compared between the two groups. There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics of the two groups with regard to age (p = 0.62), tumour size (p = 0.25), grade (p = 0.27), histology (p = 0.43), positive lymph node status (p = 0.35), and ER positive status (0.35). Waiting time for surgery was slightly longer in Group A (49.11 vs. 46.39 days, p = 0.38). Patients receiving immediate breast reconstruction were significantly less in Group A (p < 0.001). The use of sentinel node biopsy was similar in the two groups (p = 0.84). Hospital stay was longer in patients of Group B (p = 0.008). The use of regional nerve blocks was lower in Group A (p < 0.001). Patients operated on during the height of the pandemic were less likely to receive immediate reconstruction and regional nerve blocks during surgery. These features configure a situation of reduced level of care for patients with breast cancer. Efforts should be taken by the healthcare systems to maintain standard of care, even in case of a new peak in the coronavirus outbreak.