Stable Photoelectrochemical Reactions at Solid/Solid Interfaces toward Solar Energy Conversion and Storage.

Electrochemistry has extended from reactions at solid/liquid interfaces to those at solid/solid interfaces. However, photoelectrochemistry at solid/solid interfaces has been hardly reported. In this study, we achieve a stable photoelectrochemical reaction at the semiconductor-electrode/solid-electrolyte interface in a Nb-doped anatase-TiO (a-TiO:Nb)/LiPO (LPO)/Li all-solid-state cell.

The prediction models for postoperative overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with breast cancer.

The goal of this study is to establish a method for predicting overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in breast cancer patients after surgical operation. The gene expression profiles of cancer tissues from the patients, who underwent complete surgical resection of breast cancer and were subsequently monitored for postoperative survival, were analyzed using cDNA microarrays. We detected seven and three probes/genes associated with the postoperative OS and DFS, respectively, from our discovery cohort data.

Metronomic oral combination chemotherapy with capecitabine and cyclophosphamide: a phase II study in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: Metronomic combination chemotherapy with the oral fluoropyrimidine doxifluridine/5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5 -DFUR) and oral cyclophosphamide (C) showed promising efficacy in a single-arm study. The oral fluoropyrimidine capecitabine was designed to deliver 5-fluorouracil preferentially to tumors, potentially improving efficacy over doxifluridine. We conducted a phase II multicenter study to evaluate an all-oral XC combination in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Prospective randomized phase II study determines the clinical usefulness of genetic biomarkers for sensitivity to primary chemotherapy with paclitaxel in breast cancer.

In patients with breast cancer, taxane as well as anthracycline play central roles in systemic chemotherapy. By evaluating the pathological response, we can gauge sensitivity to primary chemotherapy. However, biomarkers that would predict a response to taxane have not yet been established.

Post-operative breast cancer patients diagnosed with skeletal metastasis without bone pain had fewer skeletal-related events and deaths than those with bone pain.

Background: Skeletal metastases are often accompanied by bone pain. To investigate the clinical meaning of bone pain associated with skeletal metastasis in breast cancer patients after surgery, we explored whether the presence of bone pain was due to skeletal-related events (SREs) or survival (cause specific death, CSD), retrospectively.

Methods: Consecutive breast cancer patients undergoing surgery between 1988 and 1998 were examined for signs of skeletal metastasis until December 2006.

An open cohort study of bone metastasis incidence following surgery in breast cancer patients.

Background: To help design clinical trials of adjuvant bisphosphonate therapy for breast cancer, the temporal incidence of bone metastasis was investigated in a cohort of patients. We have tried to draw the criteria to use adjuvant bisphosphonate.

Methods: Consecutive breast cancer patients undergoing surgery between 1988 and 1998 (5459 patients) were followed up regarding bone metastasis until December 2006.

Phase II study of 4-weekly capecitabine monotherapy in advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

Background: A multicenter, phase II study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Japanese intermittent 4-week regimen of capecitabine in patients with advanced/metastatic breast cancer.

Methods: Fifty patients who had received no more than one prior chemotherapy regimen for advanced/metastatic disease were enrolled from 23 centers and received at least two 4-weekly cycles of capecitabine (828 mg/m² orally twice daily for 3 weeks followed by a 1-week rest period).

Results: The overall response rate assessed by the Independent Review Committee (standard population, n = 46) was 28.

Feasibility of AC/EC followed by weekly paclitaxel in node-positive breast cancer in Japan.

Unlabelled: The feasibility and efficacy of adriamycin or epirubicin in combination with cyclophosphamide followed by weekly paclitaxel (AC/EC-weekly PAC) as adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer was investigated.

Patients And Methods: Node-positive breast cancer was treated with AC/ EC-weekly PAC, namely AC at 60/600 mg/m(2) or EC at 90/600 mg/m(2) x4 at three-week intervals, followed by weekly PAC (80 mg/m(2)) x 12, namely four cycles of single weekly administration for three weeks followed by a one-week rest (3 x 4 PAC) or single weekly administration for 12 consecutive weeks (12 PAC).

Results: One hundred and three of 109 consecutive patients enrolled were analyzed, of whom 96 (93.

Oral uracil and tegafur compared with classic cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, fluorouracil as postoperative chemotherapy in patients with node-negative, high-risk breast cancer: National Surgical Adjuvant Study for Breast Cancer 01 Trial.

Purpose: The primary aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of oral uracil-tegafur (UFT) with that of classical cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) given as postoperative adjuvant treatment to women with node-negative, high-risk breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Women with node-negative, high-risk breast cancer were randomly assigned to receive either 2 years of UFT or six cycles of CMF after surgery. The primary end point was relapse-free survival (RFS).

Predicting response to docetaxel neoadjuvant chemotherapy for advanced breast cancers through genome-wide gene expression profiling.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel for advanced breast cancer can improve the radicality for a subset of patients, but some patients suffer from severe adverse drug reactions without any benefit. To establish a method for predicting responses to docetaxel, we analyzed gene expression profiles of biopsy materials from 29 advanced breast cancers using a cDNA microarray consisting of 36,864 genes or ESTs, after enrichment of cancer cell population by laser microbeam microdissection. Analyzing eight PR (partial response) patients and twelve patients with SD (stable disease) or PD (progressive disease) response, we identified dozens of genes that were expressed differently between the 'responder (PR)' and 'non-responder (SD or PD)' groups.

Prognostic utility of fluorescence in situ hybridization for determining HER2 gene amplification in breast cancer.

An accurate investigation of the HER2 proto-oncogene is extremely important for the therapy and prognostication of breast cancer. Currently, immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) are standard methods for this purpose. The aim of this study was to detect the expression and amplification of HER2 in paraffin-embedded samples of breast cancer tissue and to investigate the relationship between HER2 amplification and various clinicopathological parameters in advanced breast cancers.

Favourable long-term results after surgical removal of lung metastases of breast cancer.

We retrospectively evaluated whether a surgical strategy benefits patients with operable lung metastasis of breast cancer. Between 1960 and 2000, 90 patients (mean age 55.1; range 32-77) with lung metastasis (79 solitary, 11 multiple) underwent surgery as follows: wedge resection (n = 10), segmental resection (n = 11), lobectomy (n = 68) and pneumonectomy (n = 1).

Common peak approach using mass spectrometry data sets for predicting the effects of anticancer drugs on breast cancer.

We propose a method for biomarker discovery from mass spectrometry data, improving the common peak approach developed by Fushiki et al. (BMC Bioinformatics, 7:358, 2006). The common peak method is a simple way to select the sensible peaks that are shared with many subjects among all detected peaks by combining a standard spectrum alignment and kernel density estimates.

Tolerability and safety of classic cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil treatment in Japanese patients with early breast cancer.

Background: Few reports have addressed the feasibility and safety of classic Cyclophosphamide, Methotrexate, and Fluorouracil (CMF) therapy in Japanese female breast cancer patients.

Methods: Twenty-four Japanese patients who received classic CMF, identical to the originally described treatment regimen were studied in terms of treatment dose, treatment delay, and toxicity.

Results: Classic CMF was not discontinued in any of the cases.

Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after breast-conserving treatment for early breast cancer: risk factors and impact on distant metastases.

Background: The clinical features of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) after breast conserving therapy (BCT) for early stage breast cancer were analyzed from long-term follow-up of BCT in Japan. The purpose of this study was to clarify risk factors of IBTR and the impact of IBTR on development of distant metastases in this ethnic group.

Methods: Patients (N = 1901)with unilateral breast cancer < or = 3 cm in diameter who underwent BCT at 18 Japanese major breast cancer treatment institutes from 1986 to 1993 were registered in this study.

Classification of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after breast-conserving therapy: new primary cancer allows a good prognosis.

Purpose: To classify and assess ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences (IBTR) after breast-conserving therapy.

Methods: Between 1986 and 2001, 2,137 patients who had breast cancer underwent breast-conserving surgery with or without radiotherapy at the Cancer Institute Hospital of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research. Of these patients, 83 (3.

Analysis of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences after breast-conserving treatment based on the classification of true recurrences and new primary tumors.

Background: Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrences (IBTR) after breast-conserving treatment include two different entities: true recurrence (TR) thought to occur when residual cancer cells grow gradually to detectable size and new primary (NP) thought to be de novo cancer independently arising in the preserved breast. The patients with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) are potentially at high risk for subsequent distant metastasis, but many studies do not distinguish between these types of recurrence. The aim of this study is to clarify the biological difference between TR and NP, and to show the clinical significance of classifying IBTR into these two types of recurrence.

Hepatic resection for metastatic breast cancer: prognostic analysis of 34 patients.

Liver metastasis of breast cancer is considered a generalized disease, and surgical treatment is rarely discussed. Thirty-four patients who underwent 35 hepatectomies for liver metastases of breast cancer between 1985 and 2003 were analyzed. The median interval between the breast surgery and relapse in the liver was 1.

Improved detection of axillary hot nodes in lymphoscintigraphy in breast cancer located in the upper lateral quadrant with additional projection imaging.

Background: Sentinel node (SN) biopsy has been becoming a standard method for early stage breast cancer. Scintigraphic image of SN helps the biopsy procedure. It is reported that the scintigraphic detection rate is not 100%.

Radioguided sentinel node detection in breast cancer patients: comparison of 99mTc phytate and 99mTc rhenium colloid efficacy.

Background: Radioguided sentinel node biopsy (SNB) of breast cancer patients has become a standard method for detecting early stage breast cancer. However, no standard radiopharmaceutical exists.

Methods: 99mTc rhenium colloid or 99mTc phytate SNB was used to aid detection in breast cancer patients.

Genome-wide gene-expression profiles of breast-cancer cells purified with laser microbeam microdissection: identification of genes associated with progression and metastasis.

Breast carcinoma is a complex disease characterized by accumulation of multiple genetic alterations, and the understanding of the molecular basis of mammary tumorigenesis is still incomplete. In this study we analyzed gene-expression profiles of 81 surgical specimens of 12 ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and 69 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). After applying laser-microbeam micro-dissection to all samples we achieved 98-99% pure populations of breast cancer cells, and of normal breast epithelial cells used as controls.

Improvement in the prognosis of Japanese breast cancer patients from 1946 to 2001--an institutional review.

Background: Breast cancer has emerged as one of the most frequent malignancies among Japanese women; however, the long-term survival of Japanese breast cancer patients is uncertain.

Methods: We analyzed the chronological changes in the clinical and pathological characteristics, treatment procedures and the long-term prognosis of 15 416 Japanese women with 16 217 primary breast cancers treated in the Cancer Institute Hospital in Tokyo between 1946 and 2001.

Results: Our analysis revealed a chronological increase in the mean patient age, postmenopausal patients and non-invasive carcinomas.

Clinical study on the metastasis to the eyes from breast cancer.

In our hospital, 24 patients who underwent surgery for breast cancer during 1980 to 2001 were diagnosed with metastasis to the eye. Metastasis to the choroid was found most frequently, making the choroid the most common site of metastasis. A few patients had metastasis to the orbit.

What is the predictor for invasion in non-palpable breast cancer with microcalcifications?

Purpose: To assess the presence of invasion in non-palpable breast cancer with microcalcifications.

Material And Methods: We investigated 157 patients with non-palpable breast cancer with microcalcifications, who had undergone stereotactic core biopsy or vacuum-assisted breast biopsy and operation at the Cancer Institute Hospital between 1995 and 2001. We investigated the correlation between the area of calcification (maximum range of microcalcifications measured in mm by direct mammography), morphology of calcification on mammography, histological subtype of intraductal carcinoma (comedo or non-comedo) and frequency of invasion, and lymph node metastasis.