Are lower levels of apoptosis and autophagy behind adenomyotic lesion survival?

Research Question: How are markers of cell death, invasiveness and progesterone signalling expressed in endometrium and ectopic lesions from adenomyosis patients?

Design: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue was collected from 15 control and 15 adenomyosis participants . To assess cell survival capacity, caspase 3 and microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3B) were immunolabelled as markers of apoptosis and autophagy respectively. Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) expression served as a marker of extracellular matrix degradation and invasion activity.

M2 macrophages enhance endometrial cell invasiveness by promoting collective cell migration in uterine adenomyosis.

Research Question: Are M2 macrophages implicated in endometrial invasiveness in adenomyosis?

Design: Seventeen formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded uterine samples and 16 fresh endometrial biopsies were collected from women with or without adenomyosis. Double immunofluorescence was performed to determine the predominant macrophage population in adenomyosis between M1 and M2 phenotypes. The invasion capacity of endometrial cells was assessed by invasion assays and quantitative polymerase chain reaction for genes involved in cell motility and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT).

[Breast cancer and pregnancy. Apropos of 96 cases followed for 3 and 1/2 years at the Centre Léon Bérard, Lyons].

96 cases where cancer of the breast and pregnancy were associated have been studied at the Léon Bérard Centre of Lyon with a follow-up of at least 3 years. Those patients who had a malignant tumour of the breast, which was treated, and then became pregnant (19 cases) were not made any worse (79 per cent survival in 5 years). This was quite independent of the outcome of the pregnancy.