α-Methylacyl-CoA racemase: a useful immunohistochemical marker of breast carcinoma with apocrine differentiation.

Carcinoma with apocrine differentiation is an androgen receptor (AR)-positive subset of triple-negative breast carcinomas. In addition to carcinoma with apocrine differentiation, other AR-positive triple-negative breast carcinomas occur, albeit less frequently. We found that α-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR), also known as P504S, is overexpressed in carcinoma with apocrine differentiation and non-neoplastic apocrine metaplasia.

Multicenter Prospective Study of Color Doppler Ultrasound for Breast Masses: Utility of Our Color Doppler Method.

The use of color Doppler ultrasound (CD) for distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions remains controversial. This study (JABTS BC-04 study) was aimed at confirming the usefulness of our CD diagnostic criteria. We evaluated ultrasound images of 1408 solid breast masses from 16 institutions in Japan (malignant: 839, benign: 569).

A multicenter, observational study of metastatic breast cancer patients who were treated with eribulin mesylate or taxane-based regimens.

Aim: This multicenter, observational study aimed to investigate the survival benefit of eribulin as well as that of taxane-based regimens in Japanese patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in a real-world setting.

Methods: This study enrolled women with MBC who received eribulin or taxane-based regimens with or without bevacizumab in routine clinical practice from July 2011 to March 2014. Patients were followed until September 2015.

Ultrasound Image Classification of Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) of the Breast: Analysis of 705 DCIS Lesions.

The Japan Association of Breast and Thyroid Sonology (JABTS) proposed, in 2003, a conceptual classification system for non-mass abnormalities to be applied in addition to the conventional concept of masses, to facilitate detecting ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesions. The aim of this study was to confirm the utility of this system and to clarify the distribution of these findings in DCIS lesions. Data on 705 surgically treated DCIS lesions from 16 institutions in Japan were retrospectively reviewed.

Educational program and testing using images for the standardization of breast cancer screening by ultrasonography.

Background: To improve the quality of breast cancer screening by ultrasonography, both effective training and evaluation of the performance of the examiners of breast ultrasound are essential.

Methods: The Educational Committee of the Japan Association of Breast and Thyroid Sonology, an NPO, has established 2-day training programs on breast ultrasonography with tests at the end of the programs. The tests are performed using images to evaluate the ability of observers to detect and evaluate lesions on ultrasound.

A patient with diabetes and breast cancer in whom virilization was caused by a testosterone-producing mature cystic teratoma containing a Brenner tumor.

A 74-year-old woman with impaired glucose tolerance exhibited virilization. An examination of various hormone levels showed normal pituitary hormone and adrenal hormone levels. However, the patient's blood testosterone level was remarkably high and was suspected of having caused the virilization.

Concepts, rationale, and current outcomes of less invasive surgical strategies for early gastric cancer: data from a quarter-century of experience in a single institution.

Previously proposed criteria of less invasive surgery for early gastric cancer (EGC) were based mainly on the pathological analyses of the resected specimens; however, preoperative and intraoperative information are also obviously essential for decision making on stage-dependent patient management. Furthermore, most indications and treatment options have not been systematically integrated or evaluated by treatment outcomes. We investigate in this report the rationality of less invasive surgery employed for EGC.

Accuracy of linear-array EUS for preoperative staging of gastric cardia cancer.

Background: The feasibility of a less invasive operation for early stage cancer of the gastric cardia with a low frequency of lymph node involvement has been previously demonstrated by us. Precise discrimination among mucosal, submucosal, and advanced cancers, as well as accurate evaluation of the proximal tumor margin are prerequisites for such stage-specific treatment. EUS is considered the most reliable staging modality.

Diabetic mastopathy in an advanced elderly woman with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Diabetic mastopathy is an unusual stromal fibrotic lesion, but typically occurs in long-standing insulin dependent and younger diabetic patients. We report a case of diabetic mastopathy in an older diabetic patient. The patient was a 76-year-old woman with a history of type 2 diabetes mellitus for 13 years and 3 years of insulin treatment.

Indications of a minimized scope of lymphadenectomy for submucosal gastric cancer.

Background: A recent trend for less invasive surgery has increased consideration for a minimized scope of lymphadenectomy for submucosal cancer; however, feasibility criteria have not been precisely established.

Methods: Patterns and sites of nodal involvement were retrospectively investigated in 294 patients with solitary submucosal gastric cancer in association with other clinicopathologic characteristics, including pre- and intraoperative evaluations of cancer depth (cT) and nodal involvement (cN).

Results: Among the early (cT1) and node-negative (cN0) cancer, intestinal (< or =1.