Surgical management and prognosis of phyllodes tumors of the breast

Margin status impact on recurrence of phyllodes tumors in high-risk groups: a retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Phyllodes tumor (PT) is an fibroepithelial tumor with potential for local recurrence. The optimal margin for surgical resection of PT is still debated, particularly in cases of positive margins. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for phyllodes tumor recurrence and the effect of a free margin on tumor recurrence by considering these risk factors.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective observational study of patients diagnosed with PT who had undergone surgical management. The data were collected from medical records from 2001 to 2020 in the breast clinic of Shahid Motahhari Clinic of Shiraz. Patients were followed up for at least 3 years after the operation to be checked for local recurrence or distant metastasis at regular intervals.

RESULTS

This retrospective study included 319 patients with PT who underwent surgical management. Of these patients, 83.9% (n = 267), 7.6% (n = 24), and 8.5% (n = 27) were classified as benign, borderline, and malignant, respectively. 8.8% of all patients and 7.6% of non-malignant cases experienced local recurrence, and risk factors for recurrence included oral contraceptive use, smoking, size > 4 cm, stromal overgrowth, and stromal cell atypia. A negative surgical margin decreased the prevalence of recurrence in tumors > 4 cm and with stromal overgrowth significantly.

CONCLUSION

The study found that a negative margin in all patients did not reduce the recurrence rate in benign and borderline phyllodes tumors, suggesting close follow up as a reasonable alternative. However, a negative margin may be effective in reducing recurrence in certain high-risk groups.

Recurrence is Not Associated with Margin Status in Phyllodes Tumor

BACKGROUND

Phyllodes tumor (PT) is a rare fibroepithelial neoplasm of the breast. The proper extent of resection is still under debate. This study aimed to investigate the optimal surgical margin to prevent recurrence after surgery for PT and to evaluate risk factors for local recurrence (LR).

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of a prospective cohort database was performed. Patients who underwent curative surgery for PT at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital between July 2003 and February 2022 were reviewed.

RESULTS

Of the 439 patients included, 285 were benign, 129 were borderline, and 25 were malignant. There was no statistically significant difference in 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) between margin-negative and margin-involved patients (87.3% vs. 85.1%, p = 0.081). When patients were classified into groups, according to margin status, as conventional (≥ 1 cm from tumor), close (< 1 cm from tumor), or involved, 5-year DFS rates were also similar (100% vs. 86.9% vs. 85.1%, p = 0.170). In subgroup analysis for different histologic grades, 5-year DFS was not affected by margin involvement. In univariate analysis, large tumor size (> 5 cm; hazard ratio [HR] 2.857, p = 0.028) and infiltrative tumor border (HR 3.096, p = 0.012) were independent risk factors for LR. Further multivariate analysis found both factors to be prognostic.

CONCLUSIONS

Recurrence was not significantly influenced by margin status in all histological grades. In benign and borderline tumors, local excision without wide surgical margins could be sufficient, and watchful waiting could be an option for patients with positive margins after initial surgery.

Predicting the recurrence-free survival of phyllodes tumor of the breast: a nomogram based on clinicopathology features, treatment, and surgical margin

Background

Grading based on histopathologic indicators cannot accurately assess the prognosis of phyllodes tumor (PT) of the breast. This article aimed to investigate the correlation between PT prognosis and clinicopathological features, treatment, and surgical margin.

Methods

The clinicopathological data of patients with pathologically confirmed PT at our institution were retrospectively collected. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional risk models were employed to test the effects of different variables on the prognosis of PT. A nomogram to predict the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) of PT was proposed, and its discriminative ability and calibration were tested using the concordance index (C-index), area under the curve (AUC), and calibration plots. All statistical analyses were performed using R.

Results

A total of 342 PT patients were included, including 242 benign (70.8%), 75 borderline (21.9%) and 25 malignant (7.3%) cases. The median follow-up period was 64.5 months (range, 3-179 months), 66 PT patients had local recurrence (LR), and four patients had distant metastasis. The 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year RFS of the PT patients were 90.8%, 81.8%, 78%, and 76.7%, respectively. Age, fibroadenoma (FA) surgery history, treatment, mitotic activity, and surgical margin were selected as the independent factors for PT prognosis. The nomogram showed good discriminative ability and calibration, as indicated by the C-index [0.78, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75-0.11].

Conclusions

Independent predictors related to PT prognosis were selected to establish a nomogram for predicting the RFS of PT. This nomogram was able to objectively stratify PT patients into prognostic groups and performed well in the internal validation.

Surgery for phyllodes tumour of the breast. What should be surgical margins?

BACKGROUNDS

Optimal and tailored surgical treatment of phyllodes tumour(PT) of the breast is controversial. This study aims to determine the appropriate surgical margin in the treatment of PT.

METHODOLOGY

The data of 132 patients who underwent breast surgery with the diagnosis of PT at the Breast Unit of Istanbul Faculty of Medicine from 2000 to 2022 were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

Median age was 38 and patients with benign PT were younger than others(median age was 34, 44, and 43 for benign, borderline, and malignant, respectively) (P = 0.001). Local recurrence was observed in 7 (5.3%) patients, systemic recurrence was observed in 3 (2.3%) patients, and disease-related death was observed in 2 (1.5%) patients. Local recurrence occurred in 1.4% (n = 1) of benign tumours, 8.3% (n = 2) of borderline tumours, and 10.3% (n = 4) of malignant tumours. All of the systemic recurrences and deaths were seen in the malignant group. The local recurrence rate was found to be higher in borderline and malignant tumours with surgical margins less than 10 mm (44.4% versus 3.7%, P = 0.003), and tumours larger than 5 cm (11.8% versus 1.3%, P = 0.015). In comparison, there was no correlation between the surgical margin proximity, tumour diameter, and local recurrence rates in benign PT (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

According to our findings, negative surgical margins seem to be sufficient in the treatment of benign phyllodes tumours. Furthermore at least 1 cm negative surgical margins must be achieved for malignant and borderline phyllodes tumours to avoid local recurrence.