EVA-Scalp: Evaluation of Patient Satisfaction with a Scalp Cooling Device to Prevent Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia in Breast Cancer Patients.

Purpose: Scalp cooling (SC) offers a chance to reduce hair loss (HL), but patient satisfaction, the effect on well-being, as well as patient selection criteria have not been sufficiently assessed yet.

Methods: In the EVAScalp trial, SC was offered to 70 breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy between November 2015 and September 2018. For SC, the Paxman-Orbis-II System was used.

Staging of primary breast cancer is not indicated in asymptomatic patients with early tumor stages.

Background: The routinely practiced staging for distant metastasis in patients with primary breast cancer has been increasingly questioned.

Patients And Methods: Data from 742 patients with breast cancer who had completed staging (chest x-ray, liver ultrasound, and bone scan) were retrospectively analyzed. Present findings were transferred to a dataset of a voluntarily monitored benchmarking project by the West German Breast Center that included patient data of 179 breast cancer centers.

Targeting cancer with a bi-functional peptide: in vitro and in vivo results.

Background: Current therapies to treat cancer, although successful for some patients, have significant side-effects and a high number of patients have disease that is either non-responsive or which develops resistance. Our goal was to design a small peptide that possesses similar functions to an antibody drug conjugate with regard to targeting and killing cancer cells, but that overcomes size restrictions.

Materials And Methods: We designed a novel cancer-specific killer peptide created by fusion of the toxic peptide (KLAKLAK)2 with the cancer recognition peptide LTVSPWY.

Interval debulking surgery in patients with Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIC and IV ovarian cancer.

Background: The feasibility of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and the outcome in patients with Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) IIIC and IV ovarian cancer were assessed.

Patients And Methods: 67 patients undergoing interval debulking surgery (IDS) and ≥ 4 courses of platinum-based NAC were analyzed for survival, perioperative morbidity and mortality.

Results: The median follow-up was 30 months.

Evaluation of E-cadherin, Ki-67 and lymphatic vessel invasion in abdominal metastases of human breast cancer.

Background: Abdominal metastasis is a rare finding in human breast cancer and is associated with a poor prognosis. Previous data suggest that mainly invasive lobular carcinomas tend to metastasize to the abdomen. The aim of the present study was to offer deeper insight into the biology of this rare kind of tumor spread.

Matched-pair analysis of patients with female and male breast cancer: a comparative analysis.

Background: Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease accounting for approximately 1% of all breast carcinomas. Presently treatment recommendations are derived from the standards for female breast cancer. However, those approaches might be inadequate because of distinct gender specific differences in tumor biology of breast cancer.

Identification of specific nuclear structural protein alterations in human breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer and a major cause of death in women. Reliable biomarkers are urgently needed to improve early detection or to provide evidence of the prognosis for each individual patient through expression levels in tumor tissue or body fluids. This proteomic analysis focused on the nuclear structure of human breast cancer tissue, which has been shown to be a promising tool for cancer biomarker development.

Potential impact of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging of the breast on patient selection for accelerated partial breast irradiation.

Purpose: Accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) after breast-conserving therapy is currently under investigation in prospective randomized studies. Multifocality and multicentricity are exclusion criteria for APBI. Preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect ipsilateral and contralateral invasive tumor foci or ductal carcinoma in situ in addition to conventional diagnostic methods (clinical examination, mammography, and ultrasonography).

Prediction and prognosis: impact of gene expression profiling in personalized treatment of breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer is a complex disease, whose heterogeneity is increasingly recognized. Despite considerable improvement in breast cancer treatment and survival, a significant proportion of patients seems to be over- or undertreated. To date, single clinicopathological parameters show limited success in predicting the likelihood of survival or response to endocrine therapy and chemotherapy.

Non-invasive proteomics-thinking about personalized breast cancer screening and treatment.

The early diagnosis of breast cancer in potentially curable stages improves prognosis and consecutively reduces mortality of breast cancer patients. Established screening programs have an unfavorable connotation due to significant rates of false negative as well as false positive results leading to overdiagnosis and overtherapy. The combination of a non-invasive breast-cancer-suspectability-biomarker with established clinical diagnostics could help to increase the acceptance of population based breast cancer screening programs by creating an individual risk profile, which is irrespective of mammography quality and interpretation.

Impact of the menstrual cycle on circulating cell-free DNA.

Background: To determine serum levels of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA) throughout the stages of endometrial proliferation and apoptosis during the menstrual cycle.

Materials And Methods: cfDNA was measured in 176 blood samples from 17 healthy volunteers taken at three different time points (menstruation, follicular and secretory phase). Additionally, blood samples from 20 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were analysed.

Sorafenib in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel as neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

Purpose: Sorafenib is a novel oral anticancer agent targeting signal transduction and angiogenic pathways through inhibitory effects against MAP kinases and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2. The objectives of this neoadjuvant phase II-trial in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer were to assess the activity and tolerability of the combination therapy of carboplatin/paclitaxel with multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor sorafenib.

Materials And Methods: Patients with histologically proven stage IIIC or IV disease and large volume ascites were eligible.

Increased detection of lymphatic vessel invasion by D2-40 (podoplanin) in early breast cancer: possible influence on patient selection for accelerated partial breast irradiation.

Purpose: Several international trials are currently investigating accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) for patients with early-stage breast cancer. According to existing guidelines, patients with lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) do not qualify for APBI. D2-40 (podoplanin) significantly increases the frequency of LVI detection compared with conventional hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining in early-stage breast cancer.

Detection of lymphovascular invasion in vulvar cancer by D2-40 (podoplanin) as a predictor for inguinal lymph node metastases.

Background: Lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) plays a major role in the spread of vulvar cancer and predicts regional lymph node metastasis. D2-40, a monoclonal immunohistochemical marker might be able to increase the detection rate of LVI compared to conventional hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining. The aim of the study was to evaluate the suitability of D2-40 for the prediction of regional lymph node metastases.

Detection of lymphovascular invasion in early breast cancer by D2-40 (podoplanin): a clinically useful predictor for axillary lymph node metastases.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the use of D2-40 for the detection of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in node positive and negative early breast cancer. LVI is associated with axillary lymph node metastases (ALNM) and a long-term prognostic factor. A precise identification of LVI would have a strong clinical impact for breast cancer patients.