Pilot Study of Irinotecan and S-1 (IRIS) for Advanced and Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Background/aim: Irinotecan is rarely used on the metastatic breast cancer (MBC) setting. S-1 is an oral mixture of tegafur, gimeracil and oteracil. We conducted this pilot study to assess efficacy and safty of chemotherapy with combined irinotecan and S-1 (IRIS).

Can the use of intraoperative intact parathyroid hormone monitoring be abandoned in patients with hyperparathyroidism?

Background: Ultrasound (US) and technetium-99m sestamibi scintigraphy (MIBI) are used to determine the localization of abnormal glands in cases of primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT). Intraoperative intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) monitoring is a reliable examination used to cure PHPT. The aim was to assess the necessity of intraoperative iPTH monitoring.

Cyclin E low-molecular-weight isoform as a predictor of breast cancer in Japanese women.

Overexpression of low-molecular-weight isoforms (LMWI) of cyclin E in breast cancer cells is associated with poor prognosis and could serve a novel role in breast cancer progression. LMWI originate from proteolytic processing of cyclin E, which is deregulated and hyperactive. In this study, levels of full-form/LMWI cyclin E were determined with the use of Western blot analysis in 69 Japanese breast cancer patients.

A case of mixed medullary and follicular cell carcinoma of the thyroid.

A medullary thyroid carcinoma is a malignant tumor derived from the C-cells of the thyroid. Despite their distinct embryological origin, medullary thyroid carcinomas are exceptionally accompanied by a tumor derived from the follicular cells; this is defined as mixed medullary and follicular cell carcinoma. There have been controversies regarding the origin of this rare mixed thyroid carcinoma questioning whether or not a mixed carcinoma originates from a common cancer stem cell.

Dedifferentiation of human primary thyrocytes into multilineage progenitor cells without gene introduction.

While identification and isolation of adult stem cells have potentially important implications, recent reports regarding dedifferentiation/reprogramming from differentiated cells have provided another clue to gain insight into source of tissue stem/progenitor cells. In this study, we developed a novel culture system to obtain dedifferentiated progenitor cells from normal human thyroid tissues. After enzymatic digestion, primary thyrocytes, expressing thyroglobulin, vimentin and cytokeratin-18, were cultured in a serum-free medium called SAGM.

Parenchymal leiomyoma of the breast: a case report with special reference to magnetic resonance imaging findings and an update review of literature.

Parenchymal leiomyomas of the breast are extremely rare, with only 25 cases reported in the literature. We report the 26th case of parenchymal leiomyoma of the breast in a 63-year-old woman who presented to us with a right breast tumor detected on her screening mammography. This tumor was evaluated by mammography, ultrasonography, and MR imaging.

Incomplete inside-out growth pattern in invasive breast carcinoma: association with lymph vessel invasion and recurrence-free survival.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) is a rare subtype of epithelial tumor of the breast listed in the 2003 World Health Organization histologic classification of tumors of the breast. It is characterized by inside-out micropapillary morphology, frequent lymph vessel invasion (LVI), and lymph node metastasis; however, its etiology remains unknown. This study investigated the incomplete inside-out growth pattern (IGP) in invasive ductal carcinoma, not otherwise specified (NOS), and examined the association between incomplete IGP and clinicopathologic features, including the presence of intratumoral lymph vessels (ILV), LVI, nodal metastasis, and prognosis.

Diagnostic performance of ADC for Non-mass-like breast lesions on MR imaging.

We assessed the usefulness and limitations of utilizing apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant non-mass-like breast lesions. We retrospectively reviewed 27 such lesions (16 malignant, 11 benign) detected on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and analyzed the enhancing patterns of dynamic contrast-enhanced DCE-MRI (distribution and internal enhancement), kinetic curve patterns, and ADC values. All images were obtained with a 1.

Clinical significance of categorisation of mammographic density for breast cancer prognosis.

Mammographic density reflects comprehensive changes in the mammary gland. The condition of the tumour microenvironment is a possible factor affecting tumour progression, as well as a tumour risk factor. This study aimed to determine whether mammographic density correlates with tumour clinicopathological features and prognosis in breast cancer patients.