Micrometastases in sentinel lymph node in a multicentric study: predictive factors of nonsentinel lymph node involvement--Groupe des Chirurgiens de la Federation des Centres de Lutte Contre le Cancer.

Purpose: To determine the rate of nonsentinel lymph node (NSN) involvement at axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and predictive factors of this involvement following detection of micrometastasis in sentinel nodes (SN).

Methods: We analyzed 700 observations of SN micrometastases with additional ALND with the characteristics of the patients, tumors, and SN.

Results: Involvement of SN was diagnosed 388 times by serial sections (55.

Clinical outcome in patients with locally advanced bladder carcinoma treated with conservative multimodality therapy.

Objectives: To describe the outcome of patients with muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma treated with multimodality therapy in our institution from 1993 to 2002.

Methods: The charts of 60 patients with Stage T2-T4N0-N1M0 treated with transurethral resection of bladder tumor followed by a chemoradiotherapy combination were retrospectively reviewed. Of the 60 patients, 22 had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (methotrexate, cisplatin, and vinblastine or methotrexate, adriamycin, cisplatin, and vinblastine) followed by concomitant chemoradiotherapy (weekly cisplatin/carboplatin or a cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil combination), and 38 had received concomitant chemoradiotherapy alone.

Infiltrating lobular carcinoma of the breast: tumor characteristics and clinical outcome.

Introduction: Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) comprises approximately 10% of breast cancers and appears to have a distinct biology. Because it is less common than infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC), few data have been reported that address the biologic features of ILC in the context of their clinical outcome. In the present study we undertook an extensive comparison of ILC and IDC using a large database to provide a more complete and reliable assessment of their biologic phenotypes and clinical behaviors.

Reduced-intensity preparative regimen and allogeneic stem cell transplantation for advanced solid tumors.

In this prospective multicenter program, we investigated allogeneic stem cell transplantation (ASCT) from HLA-identical siblings following reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) regimen for patients with refractory metastatic solid tumors (STs). Fifty-seven patients, of whom 39 had a progressive disease (PD) at time of ASCT, received an RIC ASCT combining fludarabine, antithymocyte globulin (ATG), and busulfan. Patients were analyzed in terms of engraftment, transplant-related mortality (TRM), disease response, and outcome.

[Risk of stage underestimation of breast cancer by sentinel lymph node biopsy method].

Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is fast becoming the standard for testing lymph node involvement in many institutions. However questions remain as to stage underestimation. The aim of this study was to analyse this specific risk in a retrospective study.

Neoadjuvant preoperative chemoradiation in patients with pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: To assess the toxicity and efficacy of preoperative chemoradiation in pancreatic cancer.

Methods And Materials: Between November 1996 and December 2001, 32 patients with biopsy-proven pancreatic adenocarcinoma (28 head; 4 body) were treated by chemoradiation consisting of either split-course therapy (two courses of 15 Gy separated by a 2-week break, n = 10) or standard-fractionation therapy (45 Gy during 5 weeks, n = 22). Concurrent chemotherapy included continuous infusion of 5-fluorouracil and a cisplatin bolus.

Role of the estrogen receptor coactivator AIB1 (SRC-3) and HER-2/neu in tamoxifen resistance in breast cancer.

Background: AIB1 (SRC-3) is an estrogen receptor (ER) coactivator that, when overexpressed in cultured cells, can reduce the antagonist activity of tamoxifen-bound ERs. Signaling through the HER-2 receptor pathway activates AIB1 by phosphorylation. To determine whether high AIB1 expression alone or together with HER-2 reduces the effectiveness of tamoxifen in breast cancer patients, we quantified expression of AIB1 and HER-2 in tumors from breast cancer patients with long-term clinical follow-up who received either no adjuvant therapy or adjuvant tamoxifen therapy after breast cancer surgery.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the breast: molecular markers, treatment, and clinical outcome.

Background: The objective of this study was to comprehensively characterize the clinical and biologic features of adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) and to assess the implications for management in a large cohort of patients.

Methods: From a database of 50,000 patients, 28 were identified with ACC for which clinical follow-up and biologic information was available. The biologic features examined included estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor status, DNA ploidy, and S-phase fraction.