No increase in breast cancer risk in Japanese women taking oral contraceptives: a case-control study investigating reproductive, menstrual and familial risk factors for breast cancer.

Background: Low-dose oral contraceptives (OC) were approved by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 1999, yet despite their contraceptive and non-contraceptive health benefits, only 5% of the target population use them. Fear of increased cancer risk, particularly breast cancer, is one reason for this. Due to low OC uptake and low screening participation, a paucity of data is available on the risk of OC use and breast cancer in Japanese women.

[Long-term complete response in a patient with breast cancer and bone and pleura metastases after treatment with a combination of S-1 and zoledronic acid].

We report a long-term complete response (CR) in a patient with postoperative recurrent breast cancer and bone and pleura metastases after treatment with a combination of S-1 and zoledronic acid. We administered 4 courses of tri-weekly CE (epirubicin 75 mg/m2, cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2) and 12 courses of weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) as adjuvant chemotherapy. However, combination therapy with S-1 and zoledronic acid was started because of the development of bone and pleura metastases.

Clinical outcomes of video-assisted skin-sparing partial mastectomy for breast cancer and immediate reconstruction with latissimus dorsi muscle flap as breast-conserving therapy.

Background: Skin-sparing partial mastectomy (SSPM) has yet to be investigated as a breast-conserving therapy for early-stage breast cancer. We report the clinical outcomes for video-assisted SSPM (VA-SSPM) with immediate breast reconstruction using autogenous tissue.

Methods: VA-SSPM is indicated for early-stage breast cancer arising in the upper-outer or lower-outer quadrant without skin involvement.