Comparison of metabolic changes after neoadjuvant endocrine and chemotherapy in ER-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

Survival of breast cancer patients has improved, and treatment-related changes regarding metabolic profile deterioration after neoadjuvant systemic treatment (NST) become important issues in cancer survivors. We sought to compare metabolic profile changes and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) between patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) and neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) 3 years after the treatment. In a prospective, randomized, phase III trial which compared 24 weeks of NCT with adriamycin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel and NET with goserelin and tamoxifen (NEST), 123 patients in the Asan Medical Center were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate metabolic changes, such as body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), total cholesterol (TC), fasting glucose, and the NLR.

A Propensity Score-matched Analysis of Long-term Oncologic Outcomes After Nipple-sparing Versus Conventional Mastectomy for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer.

Objectives: To compare the long-term oncologic outcomes of nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) with those of conventional mastectomy (CM) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).

Summary Of Background Data: NSM has been increasingly implemented in patients with breast cancer. However, oncologic efficacy of NSM in patients with LABC has not been sufficiently demonstrated.

Analysis of the serial circulating tumor cell count during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients.

We evaluated the prognostic implications of the circulating tumor cell (CTC) count in non-metastatic, HER2-negative breast cancer patients who failed to achieve pathologic complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT). A total of 173, non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with NCT were prospectively enrolled. CTCs were obtained from blood drawn pre-NCT and post-NCT using a SMART BIOPSY SYSTEM isolation kit (Cytogen Inc.

Efficacy of neoadjuvant endocrine therapy compared with neoadjuvant chemotherapy in pre-menopausal patients with oestrogen receptor-positive and HER2-negative, lymph node-positive breast cancer.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) has demonstrated efficacy in post-menopausal patients with hormone-responsive breast cancer. This trial was designed to compare the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) with NET in pre-menopausal breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: In this prospective, randomised, phase III study, oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive, HER2-negative, and lymph node-positive pre-menopausal breast cancer patients were recruited from 7 hospitals in South Korea.

Oncologic Outcomes of Nipple-sparing Mastectomy and Immediate Reconstruction After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.

Objectives: To evaluate the oncologic outcomes and risk factors for locoregional recurrence (LRR) and nipple-areola complex recurrence (NR) in a large series of breast cancer patients who underwent nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) and immediate reconstruction after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).

Summary Of Background Data: The use of NSM and immediate reconstruction in breast cancer patients receiving NACT is increasing. However, the oncologic safety of this approach is unclear.

Recurrence Outcomes After Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy and Immediate Breast Reconstruction in Patients with Pure Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.

Background: Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) has become increasingly prevalent for patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) requiring mastectomy. However, few data regarding recurrence outcomes after NSM are available for this patient population. This study evaluated the locoregional recurrence (LRR) rate for patients with pure DCIS who underwent NSM followed by immediate breast reconstruction without adjuvant radiotherapy and investigated potential risk factors for LRR and/or nipple-areola complex recurrence (NR).

Breast Cancer Recurrence in the Nipple-Areola Complex After Nipple-Sparing Mastectomy With Immediate Breast Reconstruction for Invasive Breast Cancer.

Importance: The main concern associated with nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) is the risk of local breast cancer recurrence at the retained nipple-areola complex (NAC) consequent to occult nipple involvement. Long-term follow-up data regarding the oncologic safety of modern therapeutic NSM in terms of cancer recurrence at the NAC and survival are limited.

Objective: To assess the incidence, risk factors, treatment, and long-term outcomes associated with cancer recurrence at the NAC in a large series of patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent NSM and immediate breast reconstruction.

MRI-based 3D-printed surgical guides for breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most accurate technique for evaluating residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. However, precise determination of the extent of dispersed residual tumor in the breast following treatment remains a difficult task. We hereby introduce three-dimensional (3D)-printed surgical guides for use in breast cancer patients undergoing breast-conserving surgery after receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Clinical Implication of HER2 Status in Hormone Receptor-Positive Mucinous Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Mucinous carcinoma (MC) is a rare breast cancer with favorable outcome. Unlike typical breast cancer, the current guidelines do not recommend chemotherapy or anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) therapy for hormone receptor (HR)-positive MC, regardless of HER2 status. We evaluated the prognostic implication of HER2 status in HR-positive MC.

Significance of EZH2 expression in canine mammary tumors.

Background: Current studies report that aberrations in epigenetic regulators or chromatin modifications are related to tumor development and maintenance. EZH2 (Enhancer of zeste homolog 2) is one of the catalytic subunits of Polycomb repressive complex 2, a crucial epigenetic regulator. EZH2 has a master regulatory function in such processes as cell proliferation, stem cell differentiation, and early embryogenesis.

Enhanced biglycan gene expression in the adipose tissues of obese women and its association with obesity-related genes and metabolic parameters.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling dynamically occurs to accommodate adipose tissue expansion during obesity. One non-fibrillar component of ECM, biglycan, is released from the matrix in response to tissue stress; the soluble form of biglycan binds to toll-like receptor 2/4 on macrophages, causing proinflammatory cytokine secretion. To investigate the pattern and regulatory properties of biglycan expression in human adipose tissues in the context of obesity and its related diseases, we recruited 21 non-diabetic obese women, 11 type 2 diabetic obese women, and 59 normal-weight women.

Young women with breast cancer in the United States and South Korea: comparison of demographics, pathology and management.

Background: Breast cancer diagnosed in young women may be more aggressive, with higher rates of local and distant recurrence compared to the disease in older women. Epidemiologic evidence suggests that Korean women have a lower incidence of breast cancer than women in the United States, but that they present at a younger age than their American counterparts. We sought to compare risk factors and management of young women with breast cancer in Boston, Massachusetts (US) with those in Seoul, South Korea (KR).

A Randomized Phase II Trial of Capecitabine Plus Vinorelbine Followed by Docetaxel Versus Adriamycin Plus Cyclophosphamide Followed by Docetaxel as Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Given the promising activity of capecitabine and vinorelbine in metastatic breast cancer, this randomized phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of this combination as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Patients with operable breast cancer (n=75) were randomly assigned to receive either four cycles of adriamycin 60 mg/m(2) plus cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks followed by four cycles of docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) every 3 weeks (AC-D) or four cycles of capecitabine 2,000 mg/m(2) (day 1-14) plus vinorelbine 25 mg/m(2) (days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks followed by four cycles of docetaxel 75 mg/m(2) (CV-D). The primary endpoint was pathologic complete response (pCR) in the primary breast (ypT0/is).

Detection of internal mammary lymph node metastasis with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography in patients with stage III breast cancer.

Purpose: The present study assessed the positive predictive value (PPV) of (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for the detection of internal mammary node (IMN) metastasis in patients with clinical stage III breast cancer.

Methods: Patients who were diagnosed with clinical stage III breast cancer and underwent pretreatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT were retrospectively analyzed. The (18)F-FDG PET/CT scans were prospectively reviewed by two board-certified nuclear medicine physicians in a blinded manner.

Impact of triple-negative breast cancer phenotype on prognosis in patients with stage I breast cancer.

Purpose: Although most patients with stage I breast cancer have a good prognosis, their clinical outcomes may vary significantly. We assessed clinical outcomes and prognostic factors in stage I breast cancer patients with and without triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) phenotype.

Methods: Of 2,489 patients undergoing breast cancer surgery between January 1998 and December 2002, 554 (22.

Lymph node ratio and pN staging in patients with node-positive breast cancer: a report from the Korean breast cancer society.

Patients with node-positive breast cancer are currently classified according to pN stage. Lymph node ratio (LNR), the ratio of positive to total removed lymph nodes, maybe a more useful prognostic factor in these patients. We therefore compared LNR and pN staging as prognostic factors in patients with node-positive breast cancer.

Vitamin D deficiency is correlated with poor outcomes in patients with luminal-type breast cancer.

Purpose: Vitamin D deficiency may be an indicator of poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer before surgery. We investigated the association between serum vitamin D concentration and breast cancer prognosis according to intrinsic cancer subtypes.

Methods: From June to December 2006, serum 25-OHD was measured in 310 Korean women with breast cancer who were treated at the Asan Medical Center, Korea.

Normal and abnormal sonographic findings at the thyroidectomy sites in postoperative patients with thyroid malignancy.

Objective: We describe typical sonography characteristics of locally recurrent tumors after thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer and the benign conditions mimicking tumor recurrence, with an emphasis on the differential diagnosis.

Conclusion: Ultrasound is an effective imaging technique not only for the detection of locally recurrent tumors but also for the differential diagnosis of locally recurrent tumors and other abnormalities mimicking tumor recurrence.

Mammaglobin, a valuable diagnostic marker for metastatic breast carcinoma.

Identification of metastasis and occult micrometastases of breast cancer demands sensitive and specific diagnostic markers. In this study, we assessed the utility of a mouse monoclonal antibody to human mammaglobin for one such purpose. Immunohistochemical stains were performed on paraffin-embedded sections from a total of 284 cases, which consisted of primary breast invasive carcinomas (41 cases) with matched metastases to ipsilateral axillary lymph nodes, metastatic breast carcinoma to liver (1 case) and kidney (1 case), non-breast neoplasms (161 cases), and normal human tissues (39 cases).

Interleukin-2 gene-encoded stromal cells inhibit the growth of metastatic cholangiocarcinomas.

Aim: To demonstrate bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) can be used as an attractive target for genetic modification in the treatment of malignant diseases.

Methods: Using a hamster model of biliary cancer, we investigated the therapeutic effects of interleukin-2 (IL-2) gene-modified BMSCs. Syrian golden hamsters were injected via the femoral vein with 5 x 10(5) cells of the KIGB-5 biliary cancer cell line (n=20).

Clinical and cytologic features of papillary neoplasms of the breast.

Objective: To compare the cytologic features benign and malignant papillary breast lesions.

Study Design: We reviewed the clinical and cytologic features in 29 cases of intraductal papilloma and 26 cases of atypical papilloma or papillary carcinoma that had been diagnosed by histologic examination. The diameter of the mass was examined as a clinical feature.

Manganese dipyridoxyl diphosphate (MnDPDP)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of acute reperfused myocardial injury in a cat model: part I: comparison with pathologic examination.

Rationale And Objectives: To investigate the capacity of manganese dipyridoxyl diphosphate (MnDPDP)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to discriminate the injured myocardium from the normal myocardium in a cat model.

Materials And Methods: Fourteen cats were prepared for acute myocardial infarction with 90-minute occlusion followed by 120-minute reperfusion. Inversion recovery gradient-recalled echo (IR-GRE) MR images were obtained at 60-minute intervals for 4 hours after the injection of MnDPDP, and ex vivo after the cats were killed.

Clinical value of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human breast carcinoma.

Purpose: To determine whether COX-2 expression is associated with clinicopathological parameters, including c-erb-B2 overexpression and angiogenesis, and the disease-free survival of patients with operable breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: Paraffin-embedded tissue samples were selected from 205 patients surgically resected for breast cancer, between 1991 and 1997, and followed-up for at least 4 years. Samples were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies to COX-2, c-erb-B2 and CD34.