Temporal changes in breast cancer incidence in South Asian women.

Background: Breast cancer in the UK resident population of South Asian ethnicity has been lower than that in indigenous women. Leicester has a large South Asian population and a breast cancer unit with comprehensive data on diagnosed cancers. This study analysed the annual incidence of new breast cancer diagnoses in females from 1998 to 2009 to determine any changes in recent years.

Do primary mammary osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma exist? A review of a large multi-institutional series of malignant matrix-producing breast tumours.

Unlabelled: The existing literature describing the clinicopathological features and behaviour of matrix-producing (MP) malignant breast tumours presents conflicting results. As a consequence it remains uncertain whether these tumours should be treated as sarcoma and managed by a specialist sarcoma team or treated using the same principles as conventional ductal carcinoma, a dilemma that prompted this study. Improved understanding of the clinicopathological characteristics of primary mammary MP-sarcomas, namely osteosarcoma and chondrosarcoma, is required.

Tumour markers predictive of successful treatment of breast cancer with primary endocrine therapy in patients over 70 years old: a prospective study.

We report a prospective study of women over 70 years of age with early breast cancer who had primary endocrine treatment. Core biopsies of the cancer were taken at diagnosis and assessed using immunohistochemistry for oestrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), pS2, cyclin D1, p21, p53, HER2 and MIB1 (Ki67). Outcome analysis was performed at a median follow-up of 70 months.

Management of elderly patients with breast cancer: the time for surgery.

Introduction: Most patients with breast cancer are likely to benefit from local treatment (surgery and/or radiotherapy). Historically an arbitrary cut-off of 70 years has been widely used, above which women were considered for tamoxifen-only treatment. We looked at the proportion of our patients who did not have early surgery for breast cancer to see if this cut-off might have been used too rigidly, resulting in suboptimal treatment of some patients over 70 years of age.