[Dual effects of androgens on mammary gland].

Androgens have a dual effect on mammary cells. Indeed, they have an influence on mammary cells proliferation thanks to several possible mechanisms, including their transformation into dihydrotestosterone (5alpha-reductase pathway) or into estradiol (aromatase pathway) or their binding to the androgen receptor (AR) and/or to the estrogen receptor (ER). Androgen signaling, using 5alpha-reductase pathway, enables the control of cell proliferation, mediated by AR.

[Premature ovarian failure after chemotherapy for breast cancer].

About a quarter of breast cancers occur before menopause. Most breast cancer types occurring in young women require adjuvant treatments that can partially or definitively affect the reproductive function. Risk factors of chemotherapy-induced ovarian failure (CIOF) include woman's age, type, dose and schedule of chemotherapy.

[A follow-up study about 52 cases of atypical lobular hyperplasia and lobular carcinoma in situ of the breast].

Objective: To evaluate the biological behavior and treatment method for the breast atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH) and breast lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS).

Methods: Seventeen cases of ALH and thirty-five cases of LCIS were reviewed from July 1982 to January 1996. All cases were followed by physical examination, mammography and B-ultrasound for an average of 146.

Endometrial brush cytology in the surveillance of post-menopausal patients under tamoxifen: a prospective longitudinal study.

Objective: To evaluate cytological sampling of endometrium using Endobrush (Lab CCD, Paris, France) in the surveillance of tamoxifen-treated patients.

Study Design: Between February 1995 and October 1997, 687 tamoxifen-treated patients had serial ultrasound screening for endometrial pathology. In case of endometrial double layer thickness of more than 8mm, a cytological examination of endometrium was attempted followed by hysteroscopy and curettage.

Infiltrative breast cancer during pregnancy and conservative surgery.

Mastectomy is considered as the standard therapy for gestational breast cancer. Since radiation therapy is harmful for the fetus, conservative surgery is rarely used during pregnancy. Among 16 patients with gestational breast cancer, 10 and 6 were treated with conservative surgery and mastectomy, respectively.

Improvement in intramammary sentinel lymph node removal using a novel prototype hand held probe during breast conservative surgery.

Intramammary sentinel lymph node excision during breast conservative surgery was performed, in this case report, using a prototype intraoperative gamma probe. In contrast to the four axillary sentinel lymph nodes that were subnormal, the excised intramammary sentinel lymph node was massively invaded by cancer cells. Therefore this finding had profound implication for the staging of the tumor and for treatment selection.

Randomized multicentric study of perioperative chemotherapy with mitoxantrone in early breast cancer.

Background: To confirm the hypothesis that reducing the interval between surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy could improve prognosis, a randomized multicentric study of adjuvant perioperative chemotherapy (POC) in breast cancer was initiated.

Methods: A total of 552 patients were randomized to evaluate whether the addition of POC to standard adjuvant treatment significantly improved outcome. Patients were stratified according to menopausal status, with 362 patients in the postmenopausal group and 192 patients in the premenopausal group.