Prognostic value of HER3, PTEN and p-HER2 expression in patients with HER2positive breast cancer.

Background: HER2 overexpression is an unfavorable prognostic factor in patients with breast cancer, but it is also a target for the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab, which is effective in adjuvant and palliative settings. HER2 positivity is an inclusion criterion for immunotherapy, but it is not a positive predictive factor, and only half of patients benefit from the treatment.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic and predictive value of HER3, PTEN and phosphorylated HER2 (p-HER2) expression in primary breast tumors of patients treated with trastuzumab in an adjuvant or palliative regimen.

Desmoplastic cerebral astrocytoma of infancy: a case report.

We report a case of desmoplastic cerebral astrocytoma of infancy (DCAI), in a 7-month-old boy. DCAI belongs to a group of recently described central nervous system (CNS) tumors, which also includes desmoplastic infantile ganglioglioma (DIG), pleomorphic xanthoastrocytoma (PXA) and dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor (DNT), all characterized by relatively favorable prognosis and occurring mostly in children and young adults. DCAI is a rare neoplasm arising in the cerebral hemispheres within the first two years of life, and histologically is characterized by dense fibrous desmoplasia.