[Is there still a place for progesterone receptor modulators in chronic use ?].

Selective progesterone receptor modulators (SPRMs) are synthetic steroid compounds that interact with the progesterone receptor, inducing various agonist, antagonist or mixed responses. First identified with mifepristone, they are now represented by ulipristal acetate (UPA), used for emergency contraception and uterine fibroids. Despite a few rare cases of severe hepatic insufficiency, SPRMs offer advantages in the treatment of uterine fibroids, reducing their volume without the hypoestrogenic side-effects of GnRH agonists, thus preserving patients' bone capital and quality of life.

Higher relative survival in breast cancer patients treated in certified and high-volume breast cancer centres - A population-based study in Belgium.

Objectives: The study was undertaken to assess the association between certification and volume of breast centres on the one hand and survival on the other in patients with invasive breast cancer (IBC).

Methods: The study comprises a cohort of 46,035 patients diagnosed with IBC between 2014 and 2018, selected from the nation-wide Belgian Cancer Registry (BCR) database, which was linked with health insurance, hospital discharge and vital status data. Overall and relative survival probabilities were obtained with Kaplan-Meier method and an actuarial approach based on Ederer II, respectively.

[When a metastasis hides another].

Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women. There are many different entities, both morphologically and immuno-histochemically or genomically. Intra-tumour heterogeneity can be defined in time (temporal heterogeneity) and in space (spatial heterogeneity) and is influenced by both internal and external factors, such as genetics, epigenetics, host response, possible treatments or the tumour microenvironment.

Breast cancer screening in young women.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death by cancer in women aged less than 40. However, organized screening of young healthy women has been recognized as inefficient and even deleterious by most experts [1], and should not been offered. Individualized screening, targeting only some young high-risk women, may be beneficial although no randomized trial has proven an impact on breast cancer mortality.

EMAS position statement: individualized breast cancer screening versus population-based mammography screening programmes.

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in women, with slightly more than ten percent developing the disease in Western countries. Mammography screening is a well established method to detect breast cancer.

Aims: The aim of the position statement is to review critically the advantages and shortcomings of population based mammography screening.

Progestagens use before menopause and breast cancer risk according to histology and hormone receptors.

In a previous study, we found a positive association between premenopausal use of progestagens and breast cancer risk. We conducted the present study to assess the risk of breast cancers defined by their histology and hormone receptors status. We evaluated the association between progestagen-only intake (except for mini pills) before menopause and after the age of 40 years and invasive breast cancer risk in 67,057 women participating in the French E3N cohort study.

Effects of tibolone on sulfatase pathway of estrogens metabolism and on growth of MCF-7 human breast tumors implanted in ovariectomized nude mice.

Background: The benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy post-menopausal women remain uncertain. Tibolone, with its in vitro documented inhibitory effects on estrogens metabolism and its selective action on breast, may be an alternative that could favorably influence the health benefit of hormone replacement therapy.

Methods: We studied the effect of tibolone on the tumor growth of MCF-7 cells implanted in 40 ovariectomized nude mice, receiving subcutaneous pellets of 17beta-estradiol, estrone, estrone-sulfate or vehicle, and daily gavages of tibolone or placebo.

Restricted expression of membrane type 1-matrix metalloproteinase by myofibroblasts adjacent to human breast cancer cells.

The membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), a protease originally identified in breast carcinoma, is characterized by its capacity to activate other MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-13) and to degrade extracellular matrix. Our study was undertaken to localize and identify the MT1-MMP expressing cells in human breast adenocarcinomas. A textural analysis of images obtained by immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization showed precisely the co-expression of alpha smooth muscle actin (alphaSM actin) and MT1-MMP in myofibroblasts.