Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with trastuzumab, docetaxel, and carboplatin administered every 3 weeks for Japanese women with HER2-positive primary breast cancer: efficacy and safety.

Background: This phase II neoadjuvant study evaluated the efficacy and safety of a triweekly regimen of docetaxel and carboplatin in combination with trastuzumab (TCbH) in Japanese women with human epidermal growth factor receptor type2 (HER2)-positive primary breast cancer.

Methods: Patients with HER2-positive, stage I-III invasive breast cancer received six courses of trastuzumab (8 mg/kg loading dose, then 6 mg/kg, day 1), docetaxel (75 mg/m, day 1), and carboplatin (area under the curve: 6, day 1) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR) of both breast and axillary lymph node disease.

[Choice of Adjuvant Chemotherapy Based on Breast Cancer Subtype].

Adjuvant chemotherapy targets micrometastases. If micrometastases are destroyed, patients with breast cancer will be cured. Currently, in Japan, standard breast cancer therapy is decided based on subtypes that are defined according to ER, PgR, HER2, and Ki-67 expression.

[Successful treatment of trastuzumab-resistant HER2-positive breast cancer with extensive liver metastases using the combination of trastuzumab and capecitabine - a case report].

We report a case of a trastuzumab-resistant human epidermal growth factor receptor-2(HER2)-positive breast cancer patient with extensive liver metastases and associated impaired liver function, who showed an excellent response to the combination of trastuzumab and capecitabine. The patient was a 59-year-old postmenopausal woman with multiple liver metastases at first examination. She first received anthracycline-based chemotherapy, and after progression was followed up with a combination of trastuzumab and paclitaxel.

Axillary ultrasound examination is useful for selecting patients optimally suited for sentinel lymph node biopsy after primary systemic chemotherapy.

Background: Controversy surrounds the reliability of sentinel lymph node biopsy after primary systemic chemotherapy. In this study, we assessed axillary ultrasound for selecting patients most likely to optimally benefit from biopsy.

Methods: The study included 87 patients who received primary systemic chemotherapy and underwent a sentinel lymph node biopsy followed by axillary lymph node dissection.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography optimizes neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary breast cancer to achieve pathological complete response.

Background: To assess the usefulness of positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography using (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG PET/CT) for optimizing chemotherapy during neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary breast cancer.

Methods: One hundred and eight patients (110 tumors) with breast cancer (≥2 cm, stages II and III) received neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of an anthracycline-based regimen and taxane. The maximal value of the baseline standardized uptake value (SUV) and the change in SUV after four cycles of an anthracycline-based regimen relative to baseline SUV were assessed for predicting pathological complete response (pCR) after sequential taxane.

BiClamp forceps significantly shorten the operation time for breast surgery.

Purpose: A novel approach was introduced for breast surgery using the BiClamp, a new bipolar thermal energy device, to avoid complications and to shorten the time required for the dissection of the axillary lymph nodes.

Methods: Thirty-six patients with early breast cancer were assessed. The surgical parameters were compared between the procedures performed using the BiClamp technique (n = 14) and conventional surgery with suture ligation (n = 22).

A false positive for metastatic lymph nodes in the axillary region of a breast cancer patient following mastectomy.

Recent advanced imaging modalities such as positron emission tomography (PET) detect malignancies using 2-[18F]-fluoro-2-deoxy-D: -glucose (18-FDG) with high accuracy, and they contribute to decisions regarding diagnosis, staging, recurrence, and treatment response. Here, we report a case of false-positive metastatic lymph nodes that were diagnosed by PET/CT and ultrasonography in a 48-year-old breast cancer patient who had undergone mastectomy. The tumors, which were oval shaped and resembled lymph nodes, were detected by ultrasonography.

Successful treatment of leptomeningeal metastases from breast cancer using the combination of trastuzumab and capecitabine: a case report.

We report a case of metastatic breast cancer with leptomeninges and multiple bone metastases that showed an excellent response to the combination of trastuzumab and capecitabine; therapeutic effect was evaluated by MRI at follow-up. A 44-year-old woman underwent modified radical mastectomy in February 1997. In April 2003, a tumor at the right basis cerebri and multiple bone metastases were noted, and in October 2003, she underwent enucleation of the tumor.

Loss of p53-regulatory protein IFI16 induces NBS1 leading to activation of p53-mediated checkpoint by phosphorylation of p53 SER37.

Our previous results that IFI16 is involved in p53 transcription activity under conditions of ionizing radiation (IR), and that the protein is frequently lost in human breast cancer cell lines and breast adenocarcinoma tissues suggesting that IFI16 plays a crucial role in controlling cell growth. Here, we show that loss of IFI16 by RNA interference in cell culture causes elevated phosphorylation of p53 Ser37 and accumulated NBS1 (nibrin) and p21WAF1, leading to growth retardation. Consistent with these observations, doxycyclin-induced NBS1 caused accumulation of p21WAF1 and increased phosphorylation of p53 Ser37, leading to cell cycle arrest in G1 phase.

[The incidence and management of bone metastasis from breast cancer].

Mammary cancer is one of the solid malignancies, which easily metastasizes to bone. The frequency of bone metastases of breast cancer has been reported to be 65-75% of all breast cancer patients, and, in autopsy example at Shikoku Cancer Center, metastasis was recognized to be 74.7%.

[Current status of adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer].

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies among Japanese women. Approximately 40,000 new patients are diagnosed annually. In the USA, however,the mortality from breast cancer has recently been declining.

[Recent perspectives second-line chemotherapy for breast cancer].

The recent development of chemotherapeutic agents for breast cancer will be reviewed. The paradigm shift from CMF to anthracycline containg regimens +/- taxanes in an adjuvant setting may be considered to decide the sequence of recommended chemotherapy for metastatic breast cancer. Recurrent breast cancer patients who never have undergone anthracycline-containing regimens should be treated with anthracycline regimens.

Requirement of IFI16 for the maximal activation of p53 induced by ionizing radiation.

IFI16 is a member of the PYRIN superfamily that has been implicated in BRCA1-mediated apoptosis and inflammation signaling pathways. Here we report that most breast cancer cell lines examined expressed decreased mRNA and protein levels of IFI16, although IFI16 is expressed in human primary normal mammary epithelial cells. Significantly, immunohistochemical analysis of tissues from 25 breast cancer patients demonstrated that carcinoma cells showed negative or weaker staining of IFI16 compared with positive nuclear staining in normal mammary duct epithelium.

BRCA1 phosphorylation by Aurora-A in the regulation of G2 to M transition.

Aurora-A/BTAK/STK15 localizes to the centrosome in the G(2)-M phase, and its kinase activity regulates the G(2) to M transition of the cell cycle. Previous studies have shown that the BRCA1 breast cancer tumor suppressor also localizes to the centrosome and that BRCA1 inactivation results in loss of the G(2)-M checkpoint. We demonstrate here that Aurora-A physically binds to and phosphorylates BRCA1.

A member of the Pyrin family, IFI16, is a novel BRCA1-associated protein involved in the p53-mediated apoptosis pathway.

We identified IFI16 as a BRCA1-associated protein involved in p53-mediated apoptosis. IFI16 contains the Pyrin/PAAD/DAPIN domain, commonly found in cell death-associated proteins. BRCA1 (aa 502-802) interacted with the IFI16 Pyrin domain (aa 1-130).