Ochratoxin A detoxification potentials of basil, chan, and chia seeds.

The most toxic of the ochratoxins is ochratoxin A (OTA), which is primarily produced by species of Aspergillus and Penicillium that can be found in maize, wheat, coffee, red wine, and various grains. OTA induces immunotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, teratogenicity, and carcinogenicity in both animals and humans. Thus, there is a need to identify mycotoxin detoxification agents that can effectively decontaminate OTA.

Aloe-Emodin Enhances Tamoxifen Cytotoxicity by Suppressing Ras/ERK and PI3K/mTOR in Breast Cancer Cells.

Aloe-emodin (AE) is derived from Aloe vera and rhubarb (Rheum palmatum) and exhibits anticancer activities via multiple regulatory mechanisms in various cancers. AE can also enhance the anticancer efficacy of cisplatin, doxorubicin, docetaxel, and 5-fluorouracil; however, its effects remain poorly characterized. MCF-7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, BT-474, and HCC-1954 breast cancer cell lines were treated with the indicated conditions of AE, and cell viability assays were performed.

Tumor characteristics of breast cancer in predicting axillary lymph node metastasis.

Background: Tumor characteristics was sought to be related to axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM), the paramount prognostic factor in patients with invasive breast cancer. This study was aimed to identify the ALNM-associated tumor characteristics and to determine the predictive clinical pathway.

Material And Methods: Data from 1325 patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between January 2004 and January 2010 were retrospectively reviewed.

Prediction of axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer patients based on pathologic information of the primary tumor.

Background: Axillary lymph nodes (ALN) are the most commonly involved site of disease in breast cancer that has spread outside the primary lesion. Although sentinel node biopsy is a reliable way to manage ALN, there are still no good methods of predicting ALN status before surgery. Since morbidity in breast cancer surgery is predominantly related to ALN dissection, predictive models for lymph node involvement may provide a way to alert the surgeon in subgroups of patients.

Cancer risk of incremental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in electrocautery smoke for mastectomy personnel.

Background: Electrocautery applications in surgical operations produce evasive odorous smoke in the cleanest operation rooms. Because of the incomplete combustion of electrical current in the tissues and blood vessels during electrocautery applications, electrocautery smoke (ES) containing significant unknown chemicals and biological forms is released. The potential hazards and cancer risk should be further investigated from the perspective of the occupational health of surgical staff.

Pure mucinous carcinoma of the breast: clinicopathologic characteristics and long-term outcome among Taiwanese women.

Background: Pure mucinous carcinoma (MC) is found in about 3.5% of all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in Taiwan. MC is a relatively rare malignancy of breast cancer, and its nature, behaviors, treatment pattern and long-term follow-up are not well understood.

Differences in accuracy and underestimation rates for 14- versus 16-gauge core needle biopsies in ultrasound-detectable breast lesions.

Background/objective: Core needle biopsy (CNB) was widely used in the diagnosis of ultrasound-detectable breast lesions. We aimed at assessing the diagnostic performance differences between 14- and 16-gauge ultrasound-guided core biopsies.

Methods: This retrospective study enrolled patients receiving CNB from January 2001 to December 2007.

Survival benefit of tamoxifen in estrogen receptor-negative and progesterone receptor-positive low grade breast cancer patients.

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the efficacy and prognostic significance of adjuvant tamoxifen in breast cancer patients with various hormone receptor statuses.

Methods: Typically, 1,260 female breast cancer patients were recruited in this study. The correlation between estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR) phenotypes and clinical characteristics was investigated, and the survival rate was assessed after 5-year follow-up.

Vascular morphologic information of three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound is valuable in the classification of breast lesions.

Doppler ultrasound imaging provides vascular information that could characterize benign and malignant breast masses in many previous publications. In this study, we applied vascular quantification and morphology features derived from three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound as classifiers based on support vector machine. An Az value under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to measure the significance of each vascularization feature.

Acupuncture-related rapid dermal spread of breast cancer: a rare case.

Many ethnic Chinese patients seek second or adjuvant alternative therapies after breast cancer is diagnosed. Chinese herbs and acupuncture are the most popular methods in East Asia. We present a case of acupuncture manipulation-related cutaneous spread that no literature reported before.

Speckle reduction imaging of breast ultrasound does not improve the diagnostic performance of morphology-based CAD System.

Purpose: Speckle reduction imaging (SRI) is a newly developed technique in ultrasound examination. This study aimed to compare the diagnostic performance of SRI and non-SRI breast ultrasound examinations by using a morphology-based computer-aided diagnostic system.

Methods: One hundred ten patients with pathologically proven breast lesions were enrolled consecutively from April 2008 to October 2008.

Correlation of histologic grade with other clinicopathological parameters, intrinsic subtype, and patients' clinical outcome in Taiwanese women.

Objective: This study aimed to reveal the relationships between histologic grade and other clinicopathologic parameters including intrinsic subtype in Taiwanese women with breast cancer.

Methods: There were 1302 women diagnosed with breast cancer recruited for this study. Histologic grade was scored according to the Nottingham-modified Bloom-Richardson grading system.

Glutathione S-Transferase P1 (GSTP1) gene polymorphism increases age-related susceptibility to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent malignant neoplasms in the world. Genetic polymorphism has been reported to be a factor increasing the risk of HCC. Phase II enzymes such as glutathione s-transferases (GSTP1, GSTA1) play important roles in protecting cells against damage induced by carcinogens.

Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Breast: Case Report and Literature Review.

Background: Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast is a rare disease.

Case Report: We present a 65-yearold female patient with an enlarged breast mass within 2 months. Solid neuroendocrine carcinoma of the breast was diagnosed by excision biopsy and histopathological analysis.

Comparative analysis of logistic regression, support vector machine and artificial neural network for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant solid breast tumors by the use of three-dimensional power Doppler imaging.

Objective: Logistic regression analysis (LRA), Support Vector Machine (SVM) and a neural network (NN) are commonly used statistical models in computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) systems for breast ultrasonography (US). The aim of this study was to clarify the diagnostic ability of the use of these statistical models for future applications of CAD systems, such as three-dimensional (3D) power Doppler imaging, vascularity evaluation and the differentiation of a solid mass.

Materials And Methods: A database that contained 3D power Doppler imaging pairs of non-harmonic and tissue harmonic images for 97 benign and 86 malignant solid tumors was utilized.

Computer-aided diagnosis for breast tumors by using vascularization of 3-D power Doppler ultrasound.

This study assessed the accuracy of three-dimensional (3-D) power Doppler ultrasound in differentiating between benign and malignant breast tumors by using a support vector machine (SVM). A 3-D power Doppler ultrasonography was performed on 164 patients with 86 benign and 78 malignant breast tumors. The volume-of-interest (VOI) in 3-D ultrasound images was automatically generated from three rectangular regions-of-interest (ROI).

Expression of glucose transporter-1 in Taiwanese patients with breast carcinoma--a preliminary report.

Malignant cells show increased glucose uptake in vitro and in vivo. High expression of the glucose transporter-1 gene (GLUT1) has been found in many human tumor tissues. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between GLUT1 expression in breast carcinomas of Taiwanese patients and clinical prognostic parameters.