Lymphovascular invasion (LVI) has been a predictor of worse survival outcomes in breast cancer. However, the role of LVI compared than pathologic complete response (pCR) following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to examine the association between LVI and survival outcomes and clinicopathological features in patients with breast cancer treated with NAC. We retrospectively analyzed 187 patients with breast cancer treated with NAC and surgery between 2005 and 2013 in our institution. Kaplan–Meier analyses were used to assess recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Median follow-up was 57.9 months. Mastectomy (vs breast conserving surgery [BCS]; hazard ratio [HR], 1.791; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.022–3.139; P = .042), ypN1-3 stage (vs ypN0 stage; HR, 2.561; 95% CI, 1.247–5.261; P = .010), and LVI (vs no LVI; HR, 2.041; 95% CI, 1.170–3.562; P = .012) were associated with worse RFS. Mastectomy (vs BCS; HR, 2.768; 95% CI, 1.173–6.535; P = .020), LVI (vs no LVI; HR, 3.474; 95% CI, 1.646–7.332, P = .001), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 overexpression type (vs luminal A type; HR, 11.360; 95% CI, 1.501–85.972; P = .019) were associated with worse OS. Patients with LVI and hormone receptor-negative cancer had the worst RFS (P < .001) and OS (P < .001). LVI more than pCR in surgical breast cancer specimens obtained after NAC was a significant independent prognostic factor. Patients with hormonal receptor-negative cancer and LVI had unfavorable survival outcomes. We suggest that patients with hormone receptor-negative cancer and LVI should receive short-term follow-up and appropriate management.

There is still debate regarding the role of routine central lymph node (LN) dissection in treating clinically node-negative papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). The aim of this study was to investigate the risk factors for lateral recurrence after total thyroidectomy and prophylactic bilateral central LN dissection in clinically node-negative PTC patients.We retrospectively collected the medical records of 1406 PTC patients who underwent total thyroidectomy and prophylactic bilateral central LN dissection between January 2004 and December 2008. We used Cox- proportional hazards regression analyses to inspect the predictive factors for recurrence.During a median follow-up of 107 months (range, 13–164 months), 68 (4.8%) and 37 (2.6%) patients experienced recurrence in any lesion and in lateral neck LN, respectively. Male, main tumor size >1 cm, nodal factors (pathologic N1a, positive delphian LN, and LN ratio >0.15), lymphovascular invasion, and extrathyroidal extension (ETE) were significantly associated with lateral neck LN recurrence in univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed that male (hazard ratio [HR], 2.217; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.057–4.647; P = .035), main tumor size >1 cm (HR, 2.257; 95% CI, 1.138–4.476; P = .020), pathologic N1a (HR, 5.957; 95% CI, 2.573–13.789; P < .002), minor ETE (vs no ETE; HR, 3.027; 95% CI, 1.315–6.966; P = .009), and gross ETE (vs no ETE; HR, 4.058; 95% CI, 1.685–9.774; P = .002) were independent predictors for lateral neck LN recurrence.Among patients with pathologic N1a, those with LN ratio of more than 0.55 had worse lateral neck LN recurrence-free survival. Lateral neck LN recurrence in clinically node-negative PTC patients is predicted by the factors of male, main tumor size >1 cm, ETE, and pathologic N1a.

Purpose: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) has become the standard treatment for patients with locally advanced breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate prognosis according to molecular subtype and clinicopathologic factors in patients with locally advanced breast cancer treated by NAC. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 91 patients with breast cancer who underwent NAC followed by surgery between January 2005 and January 2010. The patients were classified into four molecular subtype groups: luminal A, luminal B, HER2 enriched, and triple negative (TN). Results: Thirty-five (38%) patients had luminal A, 13 (14%) patients luminal B, 22 (24%) patients HER2 enriched and 21 (21%) patients TN breast cancer. Patients with TN breast cancer tended to be more than 50 years of age and to have a higher histologic grade. There were statistically significant differences according to ypN stage (ypN0 vs. ypN1-3; p= 0.019, 5-year disease-free survival [DFS]; p= 0.005, 5-year overall survival [OS]) and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) (p= 0.003, 5-year DFS; p= 0.006, 5-year OS) in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate analysis, LVI was a significant factor in 5-year DFS (odds ratio 2.145, 95% confidence interval 1.064-4.324, p= 0.033). There was no significant difference among molecular subtypes in DFS (p= 0.161) or OS (p= 0.084). Conclusion: LVI was associated with prognosis in patients with locally advanced breast cancer treated by NAC and surgery. However, molecular subtype had no effect on 5-year DFS or OS.