The impact of the early COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health during pregnancy and postpartum.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal mental health during pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Methods: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic situation during and post pregnancy was addressed on three main factors; maternal mental health, mother-child bonding, and maternal self-confidence. To do this, two different patient cohorts were compared; data from one cohort was collected pre-pandemic, and data was collected from the other cohort at the beginning of the pandemic.

Ovarian cancer cells regulate their mitochondrial content and high mitochondrial content is associated with a poor prognosis.

Most cancer patients ultimately die from the consequences of distant metastases. As metastasis formation consumes energy mitochondria play an important role during this process as they are the most important cellular organelle to synthesise the energy rich substrate ATP, which provides the necessary energy to enable distant metastasis formation. However, mitochondria are also important for the execution of apoptosis, a process which limits metastasis formation.

[Traumatic childbirth and trauma-sensitive obstetric support].

Childbirth can be a very happy and empowering experience for women but also one of suffering and despair. Biographical traumatic experiences, especially sexual, physical and emotional violence, are risk factors for a traumatic childbirth experience with the danger of subsequent trauma sequelae and impaired mother-child bonding; however, obstetrically indicated interventions or poor communication in the delivery room can also primarily be experienced as traumatic.In recent years, policies affecting traumatic childbirth experience have been controversially and sometimes emotionally discussed.

Ovarian Cancer-Cell Pericellular Hyaluronan Deposition Negatively Impacts Prognosis of Ovarian Cancer Patients.

Background: Hyaluronan (HA), a component of the extracellular matrix, is frequently increased under pathological conditions including cancer. Not only stroma cells but also cancer cells themselves synthesize HA, and the interaction of HA with its cognate receptors promotes malignant progression and metastasis.

Methods: In the present study, HA deposition in tissue sections was analyzed by hyaluronan-binding protein (HABP) ligand histochemistry in 17 borderline tumors and 102 primary and 20 recurrent ovarian cancer samples.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on stress and other psychological factors in pregnant women giving birth during the first wave of the pandemic.

Background: The onset of mental illness such as depression and anxiety disorders in pregnancy and postpartum period is common. The coronavirus induced disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the resulting public policy responses represent an exceptional situation worldwide and there are hints for adverse psychosocial impact, hence, the study of psychological effects of the pandemic in women during hospitalization for delivery and in the postpartum period is highly relevant.

Methods: Patients who gave birth during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany (March to June 2020) at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Würzburg, Germany, were recruited at hospital admission for delivery.

Evaluation of different imaging modalities for axillary lymph node staging in breast cancer patients to provide a personalized and optimized therapy algorithm.

Purpose: The reliable detection of tumor-infiltrated axillary lymph nodes for breast cancer [BC] patients plays a decisive role in further therapy. We aimed to find out whether cross-sectional imaging techniques could improve sensitivity for pretherapeutic axillary staging in nodal-positive BC patients compared to conventional imaging such as mammography and sonography.

Methods: Data for breast cancer patients with tumor-infiltrated axillary lymph nodes having received surgery between 2014 and 2020 were included in this study.

Optimized process quality in certified breast centers through adherence to stringent diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms effects of structural as well as socio-demographic factors on start of therapy.

Purpose: An increasing incidence of breast cancer can be observed worldwide. Since a delay of therapy can have a negative impact on prognosis, timely cancer care is an important quality indicator. By receiving treatment at a certified breast cancer center, the patient has the best chance of treatment in accordance with guidelines and the best prognosis.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychological stress in breast cancer patients.

Background: The majority of breast cancer patients are severely psychologically affected by breast cancer diagnosis and subsequent therapeutic procedures. The COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions on public life have additionally caused significant psychological distress for much of the population. It is therefore plausible that breast cancer patients might be particularly susceptible to the additional psychological stress caused by the pandemic, increasing suffering.

[COVID-19 in obstetric anesthesia : Prospective surveillance of peripartum infections with SARS-CoV-2 and peripartum course of disease in affected women].

Background: In the current pandemic regarding the infection with the SARS-CoV-2-virus and COVID-19 as the disease, concerns about pregnant women, effects on childbirth and the health of the newborn remain high. Initially, due to the early manifestation of the disease in younger patients, high numbers of COVID-19 patients in women needing peripartum care were expected.

Objective: This article aims to provide a general overview over the beginning of the pandemic as well as the second wave of infections in Germany and Switzerland, regarding SARS-CoV‑2 positive pregnant women hospitalized for childbirth.

Expression of the Peptidase "Fibroblast Activation Protein" on Decidual Stromal Cells Facilitating Tissue Remodeling.

Introduction: Expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP) has been detected in activated fibroblasts participating in injury response, fibrotic and inflammatory conditions, and tumorigenesis. Human endometrium is equally characterized by rapid tissue remodeling events due to the reproductive tasks comprising the activity of proteolytic enzymes.

Objective: We therefore hypothesized that FAP-positive fibroblasts could also be involved in physiological processes requiring tissue remodeling, such as decidualization during early pregnancy.

Effect of adjuvant radiotherapy in elderly patients with breast cancer.

Background: Radiotherapy (RT) is of critical importance in the locoregional management of early breast cancer. Although RT is routinely used following breast conserving surgery (BCS), patients may occasionally be effectively treated with BCS alone. Currently, the selection of patients undergoing BCS who do not need breast irradiation is under investigation.

B Prognostic Score: External Validation of a Clinical Decision-making Tool for Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Background: The B Prognostic Score (BPS) is a clinical decision-making tool in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that provides risk classification based on routine parameters. This study validates the BPS in an independent series of MBC for the whole study group and for each intrinsic subtype.

Patients And Methods: We analyzed 641 metastasized patients, treated in 17 German certified breast cancer centers between 2001 and 2009.

Beta-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHB) can influence the energetic phenotype of breast cancer cells, but does not impact their proliferation and the response to chemotherapy or radiation.

Background: Ketogenic diets (KDs) or short-term fasting are popular trends amongst supportive approaches for cancer patients. Beta-hydroxybutyrate (3-OHB) is the main physiological ketone body, whose concentration can reach plasma levels of 2-6 mM during KDs or fasting. The impact of 3-OHB on the biology of tumor cells described so far is contradictory.

Are There Breast Cancer Patients with Node-Negative Small Tumours, Who Do Not Benefit from Adjuvant Systemic Therapy?

Objective: To identify subgroups of patients with pT1 pN0 breast cancer (BC) who might not profit from adjuvant systemic therapy (AST).

Methods: Data of 3,774 pT1 pN0 BC patients from 17 certified BC centres within the BRENDA study group were collected between 1992 and 2008 and retrospectively analysed. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression models.

Do Patients with Luminal A Breast Cancer Profit from Adjuvant Systemic Therapy? A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Background: Luminal A breast cancers respond well to anti-hormonal therapy (HT), are associated with a generally favorable prognosis and constitute the majority of breast cancer subtypes. HT is the mainstay of treatment of these patients, accompanied by an acceptable profile of side effects, whereas the added benefit of chemotherapy (CHT), including anthracycline and taxane-based programs, is less clear-cut and has undergone a process of critical revision.

Methods: In the framework of the BRENDA collective, we analyzed the benefits of CHT compared to HT in 4570 luminal A patients (pts) with primary diagnosis between 2001 and 2008.

Pattern of metastatic spread and subcategories of breast cancer.

Purpose: The development of metastases is the most aggressive attribute of breast cancer. In this retrospective multicenter study, we evaluated if and how the different pathological breast cancer subtypes influence the spreading of tumor cells, the development of metastasis and the survival of breast cancer patients.

Methods: This retrospective German multicenter study is based on the BRENDA collective including 9625 breast cancer patients treated in the adjuvant setting.

Factors influencing the development of visceral metastasis of breast cancer: A retrospective multi-center study.

Purpose: Visceral metastasis of breast cancer (BC) is an alarming development and correlates with poor median overall survival. The purpose of this retrospective study is to examine the risk factors for developing visceral metastasis by considering tumor biology and patient characteristics.

Methods: Using the BRENDA database, the risk factors such as histological and intrinsic subtypes of BC, age at primary diagnosis, grading, nodal status, tumor size and year of primary diagnosis were examined in univariate and multivariate analysis.

The impact of breast cancer biological subtyping on tumor size assessment by ultrasound and mammography - a retrospective multicenter cohort study of 6543 primary breast cancer patients.

Background: Mammography and ultrasound are the gold standard imaging techniques for preoperative assessment and for monitoring the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Maximum accuracy in predicting pathological tumor size non-invasively is critical for individualized therapy and surgical planning. We therefore aimed to assess the accuracy of tumor size measurement by ultrasound and mammography in a multicentered health services research study.

Evaluation of clinical parameters influencing the development of bone metastasis in breast cancer.

Background: The development of metastases is a negative prognostic parameter for the clinical outcome of breast cancer. Bone constitutes the first site of distant metastases for many affected women. The purpose of this retrospective multicentre study was to evaluate if and how different variables such as primary tumour stage, biological and histological subtype, age at primary diagnosis, tumour size, the number of affected lymph nodes as well as grading influence the development of bone-only metastases.

CD33(+) /HLA-DR(neg) and CD33(+) /HLA-DR(+/-) Cells: Rare Populations in the Human Decidua with Characteristics of MDSC.

Problem: Human pregnancy needs a remarkable local immune tolerance toward the conceptus. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are important players promoting cancer initiation and progression by suppressing T-cell functions and thus inducing immune tolerance. Therefore, MDSC were expected within decidua.