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ObjectiveTo determine whether infiltrating lobular carcinoma (ILC) is associated with high positive-margin rates for single-stage lumpectomy procedures, and to define clinical, mammographic, or histologic characteristics of ILC that might influence the positive-margin rate, thereby affecting treatment decisions. Summary Background DataInfiltrating lobular cancer represents approximately 10% of all invasive breast carcinomas and is often poorly defined on gross examination. MethodsA group of 47 patients with biopsy-proven ILC undergoing breast-conservation therapy (BCT) at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center between 1975 and 1999 was compared with a group of 150 patients with infiltrating ductal cancer undergoing BCT during the same time period. The pathology of the lumpectomy specimen was reviewed for each patient to confirm surgical margin status. Office and surgical notes as well as mammography reports were examined to determine whether the lesions were deemed palpable before and during surgery. Patients were stratified according to age, family history, tumor size, tumor location, and histologic features of the tumor. ResultsThe incidence of positive margins was greater in the ILC group compared with the infiltrating ductal cancer group. Patient age, family history, and preoperative palpability of the tumor did not correlate with surgical margin status. Of the mammographic features identified, including spiculated mass, calcifications, architectural distortion, and other densities, only architectural distortion predicted positive surgical margin status. Tumor grade, tumor size, lymph node status, and receptor status were not predictive of surgical margin status. ConclusionsFor patients with ILC, BCT is feasible, but these patients are at high risk of tumor-positive resection margins (51% incidence) after the initial resection. Only the mammographic finding of architectural distortion was identified as a preoperative marker reliably identifying a subgroup of ILC patients at especially high risk for a positive surgical margin. For all patients with ILC considering BCT, careful counseling about the potential need for a second procedure to treat the positive margin should be included in the treatment discussion.Infiltrating lobular cancer (ILC) was first described in 1865 by Cornil 1 as a diffusely infiltrative tumor composed of small, round, and regular cells that form single lines throughout a desmoplastic stroma. In 1946, Foote and Stewart 2 developed the criteria now accepted for the diagnosis of classic ILC. Using their strict definition, ILC accounted for approximately 3% to 5% of all breast cancers. In the 1970s, solid, alveolar, mixed, and pleomorphic variants of ILC were described and the definition was broadened to include these subtypes. [3][4][5] This modern, more broadly accepted ILC category currently represents approximately 10% of all breast cancers. 4 During the past decade, attention has focused on comparing the treatment strategies used for ILC

Aggressive angiomyxoma (AAM) is a rare, locally infiltrative but nonmetastasizing tumor of the pelvic and perineal soft tissues that occurs almost exclusively in adult females. The authors describe four cases of AAM in adult males that arose in the scrotum. There was some histologic variation among the tumors. One case was focally hypercellular around the blood vessels, two were more densely cellular throughout, and one had cystic degeneration. Three of the tumors were widely infiltrative, and one of the four tumors recurred locally. The clinicopathologic features of these cases are similar to those of AAM occurring in females. In either sex, AAM should be distinguished from benign myxoid tumors with a low risk of local recurrence and fully malignant myxoid tumors with distant metastatic potential.

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Carcinoma of the gallbladder is an uncommon, but not rare tumor that is associated with a 5% five-year survival rate after resection and this rate has not appreciably improved over the last decades in most series. Nevin et al.(20) however have reported that favorably staged gallbladder cancers (according to histologic grade and depth of invasion) have a relatively good prognosis. They quoted an overall five-year survival of 21% in 66 patients. Most of the surviving patients (11) were in the favorably staged category: Stage I (intramucosal cancer) and Stage II (invasion of mucosa and muscularis). The remaining few were in Stage III (invasion of all layers), Stage IV (cystic node metastases), or Stage V (extension of metastases to the liver or distant sites). Our data has been analyzed to determine whether microstaging of the primary cancer will select out a subgroup with a favorable prognosis, and whether there are survival benefits according to the type of surgical resection. A clinical and pathologic review was done of 100 patients treated at the University of Virginia Hospital from 1930 to 1978. There were 77 women and 23 men, with an average age of 65 years (range 21-89). Gallstones were described in 78% of the patients. Surgical procedures included cholecystectomy alone (23 patients), cholecystectomy with biliary drainage (17 patients), cholecystectomy and resection of the hepatic bed (8 patients), and exploration with biopsy or bypass (44 patients). Autopsy only was done in eight patients. There were only three long-term survivors (6 years, 11 years, and 24 years). Median survival was six months with cholecystectomy alone, five months with cholecystectomy and bypass, 14 months after partial liver resection, and 2.0 months after laparotomy/bypass/biopsy. The five-year survival rate was 5% after cholecystectomy alone or with bypass, and 13% (1/8) after cholecystectomy and partial liver resection (p = 0.07). Microstaging of the primary cancers showed no prognostically favorable subgroup. Of 46 patients with microstaged lesions, only 13% were in the very favorable Stage I and II groups (only one of six survived), 46% were Stage III (1/21 survived), and the remaining 41% were in the highly unfavorable Stage IV and V groups (1/19 survived). Most patients showed progression of disease either primarily or secondarily that was locoregional (liver and nodes). Although longterm survival may accompany cholecystectomy alone for a favorable early-staged cancer, this is still uncommon. There may be theoretical, although not proven, merit for resection of the hepatic bed and regional node dissection in the selected patient, possibly complimented by adjuvant therapy. Future advances in chemotherapy and radiation will be needed to augment the current poor cure rate of this disease.