Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring form of cancer in pregnancy. Among women aged between 25 and 29 years, one in five cases of breast cancer will occur in pregnancy or during the first postnatal year. The prevalence is increasing, presumably because of the increase in maternal age at pregnancy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of this study is to measure young adolescent boys' and girls' attitudes toward uncommitted sexual behaviors and gain insight into their perception of peers' sexual exploration interest in committed versus non-committed opposite-gender relations. We constructed a new 5-item measurement of young adolescents' attitudes toward uncommitted sexual behavior (sociosexuality) and report on the reliability and construct validity of the scale. Analyses were performed on a sample of 425 secondary school students (187 boys, 238 girls, Mean age = 14.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: We investigated time to pregnancy, efficacy and safety of fertility preservation, and assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs) in women with early hormone receptor-positive breast cancer (BC) desiring future pregnancy.
Patients And Methods: POSITIVE is an international, single-arm, prospective trial, in which 518 women temporarily interrupted adjuvant endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy. We evaluated menstruation recovery and factors associated with time to pregnancy and investigated if ART use was associated with achieving pregnancy.
Background: Prospective data on the risk of recurrence among women with hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer who temporarily discontinue endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy are lacking.
Methods: We conducted a single-group trial in which we evaluated the temporary interruption of adjuvant endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy in young women with previous breast cancer. Eligible women were 42 years of age or younger; had had stage I, II, or III disease; had received adjuvant endocrine therapy for 18 to 30 months; and desired pregnancy.
Background: Premenopausal women with early hormone-receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer receive 5-10 years of adjuvant endocrine therapy (ET) during which pregnancy is contraindicated and fertility may wane. The POSITIVE study investigates the impact of temporary ET interruption to allow pregnancy.
Methods: POSITIVE enrolled women with stage I-III HR + early breast cancer, ≤42 years, who had received 18-30 months of adjuvant ET and wished to interrupt ET for pregnancy.
Low steady-state levels of active tamoxifen metabolites have been associated with inferior treatment outcomes. In this retrospective analysis of 406 estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (BC) patients receiving adjuvant tamoxifen as initial treatment, we have associated our previously reported thresholds for the two active metabolites, Z-endoxifen and Z-4-hydroxy-tamoxifen (Z-4OHtam), with treatment outcomes in an independent cohort of BC patients. Among all patients, metabolite levels did not affect survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTargeted therapy for patients with HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer has improved overall survival, but many patients still suffer relapse and death from the disease. Intratumor heterogeneity of both estrogen receptor (ER) and HER2 expression has been proposed to play a key role in treatment failure, but little work has been done to comprehensively study this heterogeneity at the single-cell level. In this study, we explored the clinical impact of intratumor heterogeneity of ER protein expression, HER2 protein expression, and HER2 gene copy number alterations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The presence of disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in bone marrow (BM) predicts survival in early breast cancer. This study explores the use of DTCs for identification of patients insufficiently treated with adjuvant therapy so they can be offered secondary adjuvant treatment and the subsequent surrogate marker potential of DTCs for outcome determination.
Patients And Methods: Patients with early breast cancer who had completed six cycles of adjuvant fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) chemotherapy underwent BM aspiration 2 to 3 months (BM1) and 8 to 9 months (BM2) after FEC.
Radiotherapy (RT) is a central treatment modality for breast cancer patients. The purpose of our study was to investigate the DNA methylation changes in tumors following RT, and to identify epigenetic markers predicting treatment outcome. Paired biopsies from patients with inoperable breast cancer were collected both before irradiation (n = 20) and after receiving 10-24 Gray (Gy) (n = 19).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGefitinib, an epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, has shown both anti-proliferative and anti-tumoral activity in breast cancer. This study was designed to determine the effect of adding gefitinib to neoadjuvant epirubicin and cyclophosphamide (EC) on tumor response rates. Women with unilateral, primary operable, estrogen receptor negative invasive breast cancer ≥ 2 cm were eligible for inclusion.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Breast cancer is diagnosed worldwide in approximately one million women annually and radiation therapy is an integral part of treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the molecular basis underlying response to radiotherapy in breast cancer tissue.
Material And Methods: Tumour biopsies were sampled before radiation and after 10 treatments (of 2 Gray (Gy) each) from 19 patients with breast cancer receiving radiation therapy.
Five hundred and thirty seven women at risk for breast carcinoma were identified. Family history was detailed and each woman given genetic counselling. Diagnostic examination for breast carcinoma was performed at the major hospitals of Norway, and included physical examination by expert surgeon, mammography and/or ultrasonography, and fine needle aspiration cytology when appropriate.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring a six-year period, 17 patients younger than 20 years of age, with a final diagnosis of subacute osteomyelitis, were admitted to the Norwegian Radium Hospital because of an initial suspicion of primary malignant bone tumour. The most common localizations were the metaphyses of long bones (eight patients) and the clavicle (four patients). Pain was the dominating symptom.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF