Publications by authors named "Vlayka Liotcheva"

Purpose: The prognosis for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) patients continues to be poor, with an estimated five-year survival of only 50-60%. Preclinical data demonstrates enhanced therapeutic efficacy with liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin combined with hyperthermia (HT). Therefore this phase I/II study was designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel neoadjuvant combination treatment of paclitaxel, liposomal doxorubicin, and hyperthermia.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The decision aid called ''Adjuvant Online'' (Adjuvant! for short) helps breast cancer patients make treatment decisions by providing numerical estimates of treatment efficacy (e.g., 10-y relapse or survival).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Unlabelled: Combined therapies represent a staple of modern medicine. For women treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NA ChT) for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC), early determination of whether the patient will fail to respond can enable the use of alternative, more beneficial therapies. This is even more desirable when the combined therapy includes hyperthermia (HT), an efficient way to improve drug delivery, however, more costly and time consuming.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease, and markers for disease subtypes and therapy response remain poorly defined. For that reason, we employed a prospective neoadjuvant study in locally advanced breast cancer to identify molecular signatures of gene expression correlating with known prognostic clinical phenotypes, such as inflammatory breast cancer or the presence of hypoxia. In addition, we defined molecular signatures that correlate with response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: This study investigated the connection among HER-2 gene amplification, HER-2 protein expression, and markers of tumor angiogenesis and oxygenation in patients with operable, invasive breast tumors.

Experimental Design: From 1988 to 1995, 425 patients with metastatic breast cancer were enrolled in a study of high-dose chemotherapy with autologous transplant. Primary tumor blocks were obtained and evaluated using immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of vessels with von Willebrand factor antibody.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF