Menopausal hormone therapy and risk of clinical breast cancer subtypes.

Background: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease with subtypes that may vary in their etiologies. Menopausal hormone therapy has been associated more strongly with lobular and tubular than ductal histologic types and with tumors that are smaller, hormone receptor-positive, and of lower grade. At the same time, correlations have been observed between histology and clinical characteristics.

Risk of different histological types of postmenopausal breast cancer by type and regimen of menopausal hormone therapy.

In a large population-based case-control study in Germany, including 3,464 breast cancer cases aged 50-74 at diagnosis and 6,657 population based and frequency matched controls, we investigated the effects of menopausal hormone therapy (HT) by type, regimen, timing and progestagenic constituent on postmenopausal breast cancer risk overall and according to histological type. Data were collected by face-to-face interviews. Logistic and polytomous logistic regression analysis were used to estimate odds ratios (OR) and 95%-confidence intervals (95% CI).

Endoscopic stenting of the common bile duct allows successful treatment of a breast cancer patient with excessive liver metastases.

The treatment of a jaundiced patient with hyperbilirubinaemia due to breast cancer liver metastases is still a challenging problem. The associated hepatic dysfunction often represents a limiting factor for delivering standard dose chemotherapy. We report on the successful treatment of a jaundiced patient with excessive, recurrent liver metastases from breast cancer, using a combined chemotherapy of mitomycin and 5-fluorouracil after endoscopic stenting of the common bile duct.

Paclitaxel treatment of breast cancer cell lines modulates Fas/Fas ligand expression and induces apoptosis which can be inhibited through the CD40 receptor.

Objective: Cytotoxic chemotherapy of advanced breast cancer is frequently complicated by drug resistance. Our goal was to define the role of the apoptosis-regulating receptors Fas (CD95) and CD40 in the chemosensitivity of breast cancer.

Methods: The sensitivity of four breast cancer cell lines to paclitaxel and mitoxantrone was evaluated using an ATP-based cell viability assay.