Predictive value of PET-CT for pathological response in stages II and III breast cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemotherapy with docetaxel.

Purpose: To prospectively study the value of PET-CT with fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) to predict neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response of locoregional disease of stages II and III breast cancer patients.

Material And Methods: A written informed consent and approval were obtained from the Ethics Committee. PET-CT accuracy in the prediction of pathologic complete response (pCR) after NAC was studied in primary tumors and lymph node metastasis in 43 women (mean age: 50 years: range: 27-71 years) with histologically proven breast cancer between December 2009 and January 2011.

Perianal metastases from lobular breast carcinoma.

Breast cancer gastrointestinal and soft tissue metastases are extremely rare. We present the case of a woman with perianal metastases from a primary lobular breast carcinoma 11 years after mastectomy and local radiotherapy.

Breast metastases as the first sign of recurrence of a cutaneous melanoma.

Malignant melanoma is the most rapidly increasing cancer in the world. Metastatic disease occurs in 20% of patients, and prognosis in these cases is poor. We report the case of a woman who presented breast metastasis as the first sign of recurrence of a melanoma.

CCND1- and ERBB2-gene deregulation and PTEN mutation analyses in invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast.

Because of the relatively low incidence of lobular breast carcinoma, there are very few studies on the molecular characteristics of this breast cancer. In an attempt to improve its characterization, we investigated in a large collection of invasive lobular carcinomas (ILCs) the status of markers known to be involved in the better-studied invasive ductal carcinomas (IDC). In the current study we disposed of 80 well-characterized ILC cases.

A comparison of epithelial membrane antigen overexpression in benign and malignant endometrium.

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the value of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) overexpression in benign and malignant endometrium and its prognostic significance.

Methods: EMA immunostaining was performed in 178 paraffin-embedded specimens including 105 endometrial cancers, 40 endometrial hyperplasias, and 33 benign endometriums. EMA immunostaining was correlated with traditional prognostic factors and progression-free survival in endometrial cancer specimens.