Sonographic correlations with the new molecular classification of invasive breast cancer.

Ultrasound is a useful adjunct to mammography for the characterisation and biopsy of solid breast lesions. Protein expression profiling of breast cancer has identified specific subgroups with potential clinical, biological and therapeutic implications. The aim of this study was to determine the ultrasound correlates of these novel molecular classes of invasive breast cancer.

Global histone modifications in breast cancer correlate with tumor phenotypes, prognostic factors, and patient outcome.

Post-translational histone modifications are known to be altered in cancer cells, and loss of selected histone acetylation and methylation marks has recently been shown to predict patient outcome in human carcinoma. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect a series of histone lysine acetylation (H3K9ac, H3K18ac, H4K12ac, and H4K16ac), lysine methylation (H3K4me2 and H4K20me3), and arginine methylation (H4R3me2) marks in a well-characterized series of human breast carcinomas (n = 880). Tissue staining intensities were assessed using blinded semiquantitative scoring.

Forkhead-box A1 (FOXA1) expression in breast cancer and its prognostic significance.

The forkhead-box A1 (FOXA1) controls downstream transcription of oestrogen receptor (ER)-regulated genes. In this study, the biological and prognostic value of FOXA1 expression was assessed immunohistochemically in a large and well-characterised series of invasive breast carcinoma with a long term follow-up using tissue microarray. FOXA1 expression was associated with steroid hormone receptors (ERalpha, PgR and AR), other variables of good prognosis such as smaller tumour size, lower histological grade, luminal cytokeratins (CK18 and CK7/8), BRCA1 and E-cadherin.

Is acinic cell carcinoma a variant of secretory carcinoma? A FISH study using ETV6'split apart' probes.

Aims: Acinic cell carcinomas (ACCs) and secretory carcinomas (SCs) of the breast are rare, low-grade malignancies that preferentially affect young female patients. Owing to the morphological and immunohistochemical similarities between these lesions, they have been proposed to be two morphological variants of the same entity. It has been demonstrated that SCs of the breast consistently harbour the t(12;15)ETV6-NTRK3 translocation.

Basal phenotype: a powerful prognostic factor in small screen-detected invasive breast cancer with long-term follow-up.

Objective: To assess the frequency and prognostic significance of a basal phenotype in a group of women with screen-detected invasive breast cancers with long-term follow-up and to focus particularly on women with small ( < 15 mm) breast cancers.

Methods: The study group was derived by finding women common to a consecutive series of 1944 invasive breast cancers diagnosed in Nottingham between 1986 and 1998 with a known basal phenotype status and a prospectively collected database of all screen-detected breast cancers. In total, 356 women constituted the study group.