Pre- and Postoperative Antioxidant Use, Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AhR) Activation and Clinical Outcome in Different Treatment Groups of Breast Cancer Patients.

Background: Cancer patients often use antioxidants that may interact with adjuvant treatments. The purpose was to investigate pre- and postoperative antioxidant use in relation to clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in different breast cancer treatment groups.

Methods And Patients: Pre- and postoperative antioxidant (vitamin A, C, E, carotenoids, or Q10) or multivitamin use was self-reported by patients from Lund (n = 1855) and Helsingborg (n=478), Sweden.

Expression of epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related markers and phenotypes during breast cancer progression.

Purpose: The study aimed to investigate expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins and phenotypes during breast cancer progression and to relate this to patient outcome.

Methods: Protein expression patterns of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, twist, and vimentin were examined by immunohistochemistry on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples from primary tumors (PTs) (n = 419), synchronous lymph node metastases (LNMs) (n = 131) and recurrences (n = 34) from patients included in an observational prospective primary breast cancer study. Markers were evaluated individually and combined as defined EMT phenotypes (epithelial, mesenchymal, partial EMT, and negative).

Non-linear transformations of age at diagnosis, tumor size, and number of positive lymph nodes in prediction of clinical outcome in breast cancer.

Background: Prognostic factors in breast cancer are often measured on a continuous scale, but categorized for clinical decision-making. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate if accounting for continuous non-linear effects of the three factors age at diagnosis, tumor size, and number of positive lymph nodes improves prognostication. These factors will most likely be included in the management of breast cancer patients also in the future, after an expected implementation of gene expression profiling for adjuvant treatment decision-making.

The PDGF pathway in breast cancer is linked to tumour aggressiveness, triple-negative subtype and early recurrence.

Purpose: The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signalling pathway is often dysregulated in cancer and PDGF-receptor expression has been linked to unfavourable prognostic factors in breast cancer (e.g. ER negativity, high Ki67 and high grade).

Histological grade provides significant prognostic information in addition to breast cancer subtypes defined according to St Gallen 2013.

Background: The St Gallen surrogate definition of the intrinsic subtypes of breast cancer consist of five subgroups based on estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2), and Ki-67. PgR and Ki-67 are used for discriminating between the 'Luminal A-like' and 'Luminal B-like (HER2-negative)' subtypes. Histological grade (G) has prognostic value in breast cancer; however, its relationship to the St Gallen subtypes is not clear.

The three receptor tyrosine kinases c-KIT, VEGFR2 and PDGFRα, closely spaced at 4q12, show increased protein expression in triple-negative breast cancer.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a heterogeneous subgroup of breast cancer with poor prognosis and no targeted therapy available. Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are emerging targets in anticancer therapy and many RTK-inhibiting drugs are currently being developed. The aim of this study was to elucidate if there is a correlation between the protein expression of three RTKs c-KIT, VEGFR2 and PDGFRα, their gene copy number, and prognosis in TNBC compared to non-TNBC.

St Gallen molecular subtypes in primary breast cancer and matched lymph node metastases--aspects on distribution and prognosis for patients with luminal A tumours: results from a prospective randomised trial.

Background: The St Gallen surrogate molecular subtype definitions classify the oestrogen (ER) positive breast cancer into the luminal A and luminal B subtypes according to proliferation rate and/or expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) with differences in prognosis and chemo-responsiveness. Primary tumours and lymph node metastases might represent different malignant clones, but in the clinical setting only the biomarker profile of the primary tumour is used for selection of adjuvant systemic treatment. The present study aimed to classify primary breast tumours and matched lymph node metastases into luminal A, luminal B, HER2-positive and triple-negative subtypes and compare the distributions.

Biomarker expression and St Gallen molecular subtype classification in primary tumours, synchronous lymph node metastases and asynchronous relapses in primary breast cancer patients with 10 years' follow-up.

Molecular profiles of asynchronous breast cancer metastases are of clinical relevance to individual patients' treatment, whereas the role of profiles in synchronous lymph node metastases is not defined. The present study aimed to assess individual biomarkers and molecular subtypes according to the St Gallen classification in primary breast tumours, synchronous lymph node metastases and asynchronous relapses and relate the results to 10-year breast cancer mortality (BCM). Tissue microarrays were constructed from archived tissue blocks of primary tumours (N = 524), synchronous lymph node metastases (N = 147) and asynchronous relapses (N = 36).

The combination of Ki67, histological grade and estrogen receptor status identifies a low-risk group among 1,854 chemo-naïve women with N0/N1 primary breast cancer.

Background: The aim was to confirm a previously defined prognostic index, combining a proliferation marker, histological grade, and estrogen receptor (ER) in different subsets of primary N0/N1 chemo-naïve breast cancer patients.

Methodsdesign: In the present study, including 1,854 patients, Ki67 was used in the index (KiGE), since it is the generally accepted proliferation marker in clinical routine. The low KiGE-group was defined as histological grade 1 patients and grade 2 patients which were ER-positive and had low Ki67 expression.

Analysis of and prognostic information from disseminated tumour cells in bone marrow in primary breast cancer: a prospective observational study.

Background: Disseminated tumour cells (DTCs) in the bone marrow of patients with breast cancer have been identified as an independent predictor of poor prognosis in patients with non-metastatic disease. This prospective study aimed to evaluate the presence and prognostic value of DTCs in the bone marrow of female patients with primary breast cancer.

Methods: Between 1999 and 2003, bone marrow aspirates were obtained from patients at the time of surgery for primary invasive breast cancer.

Does analysis of biomarkers in tumor cells in lymph node metastases give additional prognostic information in primary breast cancer?

Background: Prognostic and treatment-predictive biomarkers in primary breast cancer are routinely analyzed in the primary tumor, whereas metastatic tumor cells in lymph node metastases are not characterized. The present study aimed to define the concordance between biomarkers in matched pairs of breast cancers and lymph node metastases and to relate their expression to clinical outcome.

Methods: Patients with primary breast cancer treated with adjuvant tamoxifen for 2 years were included.