VEGF-A Is Associated With the Degree of TILs and PD-L1 Expression in Primary Breast Cancer.

Background/aim: Vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), an important angiogenic factor, has been reported to effect cancer growth and development. Recent reports indicated that anti-VEGF therapy has an important effect of enhancing anti-tumor immunity in various cancers. In the current study, we investigated the relationship between VEGF-A expression and immunological factors, including programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and the degrees of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in breast cancer.

FDG uptake reflects breast cancer immunological features: the PD-L1 expression and degree of TILs in primary breast cancer.

Background: High F18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake has been reported to be a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. We investigated the relationship between FDG uptake and immunological factors, including the data of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), CD8, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs).

Methods: Breast cancer tissues of 97 patients who underwent surgery without preoperative therapy were examined.

β-Adrenergic receptor expression is associated with biomarkers of tumor immunity and predicts poor prognosis in estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer.

Purpose: Antitumor immunity plays an important role in the progression of breast cancer. β-adrenergic receptor (βAR) was found to regulate the antitumor immune response and breast cancer progression in preclinical studies. To understand the clinical role of βAR in cancer progression, we investigated the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of βAR expression in invasive breast cancer.

Relationship Between FDG Uptake and Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio in Patients with Invasive Ductal Breast Cancer.

Background: F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron-emission tomography (FDG-PET) is used to evaluate the glucose metabolic rates of tumors. Several studies have reported that high FDG uptake is predictive of poor prognosis and aggressive features in patients with breast cancer. FDG uptake is influenced by many factors, including inflammation.

Clinicopathological Features of Ductal Carcinoma from F-FDG-PET Findings.

Aim: The presence of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) can increase the risk of developing an invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), but it is difficult to predict what will occur if a DCIS is left untreated. We reported the usefulness of F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for DCIS, and that the presence of FDG uptake in the tumor could be considered a predictor of invasive potential in patients with DCIS. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated the clinicopathological features of DCIS by using FDG-PET findings, and we evaluated the possibility of using FDG-PET in DCIS cases as a biomarker of which lesions will go on to become invasive.

Impact of vascular invasion of a primary tumor as a strong risk factor for disease recurrence in patients with node-positive breast cancer.

The presence of lymph node metastasis is considered to be the most significant indicator of prognosis. However, in some cases with node-positive breast cancer, cancer cell dissemination is localized to the lymphatic systems. It is, therefore, important to develop selection criteria for strong adjuvant therapy in patients with node-positive breast cancer.

Prognostic value of extracapsular invasion of axillary lymph nodes combined with peritumoral vascular invasion in patients with breast cancer.

Background: Extracapsular invasion (ECI) of metastatic axillary lymph nodes has been associated with aggressive nodal disease but its prognostic role in breast cancer is unclear. The present study evaluated nodal ECI as a predictor of breast cancer recurrence.

Methods: We evaluated 154 women with histologically proven node-positive breast cancer who were diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, and investigated the relationships between ECI and recurrences and other clinicopathological factors, particularly vascular invasion and the number of lymph node metastases.

Single-incision laparoscopic surgery for a small-intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor: report of a case.

Our report concerns a 64-year-old man with a small-intestinal gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), which was successfully treated with single-incision laparoscopic surgery (SILS). Small-bowel endoscopy detected a submucosal tumor located approximately 10 cm from the ligament of Treitz in the wall of the proximal jejunum. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed a tumor (diameter, 4 cm) containing high- and low-density areas in the proximal jejunum.

Extracapsular invasion of sentinel lymph nodes is not associated with disease recurrence in breast cancer.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of extracapsular invasion (ECI) in positive sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) as a predictor of disease recurrence in breast cancer. SLN biopsy was performed on 318 breasts of 316 breast cancer patients, of which 50 (15.7%) had positive SLNs.

Impact of the prognostic value of vascular invasion, but not lymphatic invasion, of the primary tumor in patients with breast cancer.

Background: The prognostic value of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in patients with breast cancer is unclear. Lymphatic invasion may mainly represent the selective affinity of breast cancer cells for lymph nodes. This study was undertaken to evaluate the presence of vascular invasion that may reflect systemic disease as a predictor of disease recurrence in breast cancer, separate from lymphatic invasion of the primary tumor.

Early predictive value of non-response to docetaxel in neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer using 18F-FDG-PET.

Background: The aim of this prospective study of patients with breast cancer was to identify non-responders to docetaxel in neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) using fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron-emission tomography ((18)F-FDG-PET).

Patients And Methods: We analyzed the maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of (18)F-FDG-PET before and after the first course and the reduction rate in tumor size shown by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before the first and after the fourth course of docetaxel.

Results: None of the eight patients (0%) whose SUVmax decrease was less than 18% revealed a clinical partial response or clinical complete response; Seven out of the sixteen patients (44%) with an SUVmax decrease over 45% achieved a complete response.

Clinicopathological significance of decreased galectin-3 expression and the long-term prognosis in patients with breast cancer.

Purpose: Galectin-3 expression is modulated in cancer cells, and that finding has led to the recognition of galectin-3 as a diagnostic or prognostic marker for various cancers, including breast cancer. This study investigated the correlation between galectin-3 expression and the clinicopathological features in patients with breast cancer, in order to determine the relevance and role of galectin-3 in breast cancer progression.

Methods: Galectin-3 expression was investigated immunohistochemically in 116 patients with breast cancer, and a statistical analysis was performed.

The detection of pCR after PST by contrast-enhanced ultrasonography for breast cancer.

Background: Primary systemic therapy (PST; such as chemotherapy) has been approved as the standard therapy. Breast-conserving surgery is involved in 60-70% of breast cancer operations, and cancer can spread in the period between the initial treatment and preoperative chemotherapy. To reduce the residual tumor in persistent disease of breast tissue, determining the margin including normal tissue when removing the tumor is very difficult.

Accuracy of intraoperative macroscopic diagnosis of sentinel node metastases in breast cancer: is accurate prediction possible?

Background: Accurate intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases enables the selection of patients who require axillary lymph node dissection, thus avoiding an additional operation. In this study we investigated the accuracy of intraoperative macroscopic diagnosis of SLN metastases in patients with breast cancer.

Methods: SLNs from 276 breast cancer patients with clinically negative nodes were analyzed by macroscopic examination.

Implication of extracapsular invasion of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer: prediction of nonsentinel lymph node metastasis.

Background: Accurate intraoperative diagnosis of sentinel lymph node (SLN) metastases enables the selection of patients who require axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). However, many patients with positive SLN do not show metastasis to other axillary lymph nodes. In this study, we investigated the factors that may determine the likelihood of additional positive nodes in the axilla when metastasis is found in the SLN.