[Local control of advanced breast cancer with mohs'paste].

We report two cases of primary advanced breast cancer that was locally controlled by using Mohs'paste. CASE 1: A 70- year-old woman was suffering massive exudates and offensive smell from her right giant breast tumor. Histopathological examination showed an invasive ductal carcinoma.

[Developments in diagnostic imaging of breast cancer].

Recent developments in diagnostic imaging of breast cancer are briefly reviewed. Innovations of the imaging equipment and progress in treatment strategy against breast cancer have both achieved remarkable developments in diagnosis.

[Long-term survivors with liver metastasis from breast cancer who were received intra-arterial chemotherapy].

Fourteen patients who had liver metastases from breast cancer were treated with trans-arterial chemo-embolization (TACE) or intra-arterial chemotherapy via percutaneously inserted catheters. The patients were divided into two groups: Group A: Long-term survivors who lived longer than three years; and Group B: Short-term survivors who died within three years. Then we compared them based on the background factors, efficacy of intra-arterial chemotherapy, and so on.

[Efficacy and safety of weekly taxol (TXL) for advanced recurrent breast cancer evaluated in a multi-center cooperative clinical trial].

A multi-center cooperative clinical trial was undertaken to evaluate the safety and efficacy of weekly taxol (TXL) therapy combined with short-premedication as a pretreatment in an effort to determine if TXL can be used in ambulatory treatment. TXL was administered at 60 mg/m2 to patients with advanced recurrent breast cancer once a week without a rest or with a rest for 1 week after treatment for 3 weeks. A total of 36 patients were finally enrolled.

[Early phase II dose-finding study of exemestane in postmenopausal patients with advanced/recurrent breast cancer].

Exemestane was administered orally to postmenopausal women with advanced/recurrent breast cancer at a dose of 10 mg/day or 25 mg/day once daily for more than 8 weeks in order to evaluate the drug's anti-tumor effects and safety in a dose-finding study. The response rate (CR + PR) in the 10 mg and 25 mg group was 25.0% (8/32) and 31.

[A case of locally advanced breast cancer treated with hyperthermia in combination with radiotherapy].

A 59-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of massive bleeding from a right breast tumor. The breast tumor had existed for ten years occupied the entire right breast (23 x 20 cm), its central part forming an ulcer 17 x 15 cm in size. Radiotherapy to the right breast and medication with tamoxifen were started, after which five courses of CMF chemotherapy were given.

A case of leiomyoma of the breast.

Leiomyomas are common in the genitourinary and gastrointestinal tracts and less frequent in skin and soft tissue. It is quite uncommon for them to develop in the breast, especially in the breast parenchyma. Only 12 cases of leiomyoma in the breast parenchyma proper apart from the areola have been reported.

[A case of intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for liver metastases of breast cancer].

A 55-year-old woman was seen in our clinic for liver metastases of breast cancer. She underwent a standard radical mastectomy in June, 1987. Five years and 3 months after the operation, multiple bone metastases were found on bone scintigram and 10 years after the operation multiple liver metastases on CT.

[Results of clinical study with epirubicin hydrochloride injectable solution in hepatoma].

A 10-center cooperative clinical study with a new formulation of epirubicin hydrochloride injectable solution (Epirubicin-RTU) was conducted in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Epirubicin-RTU 60 mg/m2 was injected into the hepatic artery and a three-week drug-free interval followed. Of 15 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma registered in this study, 14 patients were eligible, and they all completed the entire course.

[Liver metastases from breast cancer--clinical features and treatment].

Between 1986 and 1997, we treated 55 patients with liver metastases of breast cancer. In this study, the clinical features and effects of systemic or intra-arterial chemo-endocrine therapy for these patients were reviewed to clarify the characteristics of liver metastases and establish the optimum therapy. One of the 55 patients underwent hepatectomy, 25 were treated with systemic chemo-endocrine therapy [A] and 10 were treated with one-shot intra-arterial chemoembolization through hepatic artery [B] while the other 19 were given hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy [C].

[Analysis of 18 breast cancer patients with hypercalcemia].

A total of 91 breast cancer patients died of advanced and recurrent breast cancer at the Osaka Teishin Hospital from 1986 to 1996. There were 18 cases (19.8%) among them showing hypercalcemia (serum corrected Ca > or = 11.

Prognostic impact of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (PA), PA inhibitor type-1, and tissue-type PA antigen levels in node-negative breast cancer: a prospective study on multicenter basis.

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) is a key protease in cancer invasion and metastasis. Recent studies demonstrated that u-PA, plasminogen activator inhibitor type-1 (PAI-1), and tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) are prognostic factors in breast cancer. However, there have been no prospective studies of node-negative breast cancer on a multicenter basis.

Infrequent mutations in the PTEN/MMAC1 gene among primary breast cancers.

Recently PTEN/MMAC1, a candidate tumor suppressor gene, was isolated from chromosome 10q23-24 and somatic mutations of this gene were detected in several malignancies including brain, prostate, and breast tumors. To investigate further the potential role of this gene in mammary carcinogenesis, we examined 69 primary breast cancers for mutations in PTEN/MMAC1 by means of polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism and sequencing analysis. We detected only one somatic missense mutation, a change from T to C at codon 59 (TCA to CCA) resulting in substitution of Pro for Ser in the predicted protein.

[A comparative study between low-dose and high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) in the treatment of advanced and recurrent breast cancer--in relation to dose, serum concentration and response. Osaka Breast Cancer Research Group].

A prospective randomized study was carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of MPA in the treatment of breast cancer by comparing low dose (600 mg/day) with high dose (1,200 mg/day) of MPA. In 35 evaluable cases, the response rate to treatment was 40.0% (8/20) with low dose MPA and 26.

Appraisal of combination treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma: long-term follow-up and lipiodol-percutaneous ethanol injection therapy.

Since 1988, 124 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were treated in our departments. Among them, 31 cases treated by surgical resection and 30 cases administered a combination therapy (Lipiodol [Laboratoire Guerbet, Villepinte, France]-transcatheter arterial embolization [L-TAE] and lipiodol-percutaneous ethanol injection therapy [L-PEIT]) were analyzed retrospectively. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were, respectively, 89.

A prospective study on the prognostic significance of urokinase-type plasminogen activator levels in breast cancer tissue.

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), which cleaves plasminogen to yield plasmin, is a serine protease of fibrinolysis and is presumed to play a key role in extracellular proteolysis and facilitate the migration of cancer cells. This study was conducted prospectively to evaluate the prognostic significance of u-PA antigen level in breast cancer tissues. u-PA concentrations in the cytosol of 226 breast cancer tissues were determined prospectively by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using cytosol fractions prepared for steroid hormone assay.

[Intra-arterial infusion chemotherapy for liver metastases from breast cancer].

Twelve patients with liver metastases of breast cancer were treated with hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy using 20-30 mg/body of epi-adriamycin (epi-ADM) every 2 weeks and continuous infusion of 250 mg/body/day of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). All patients were followed by systemic chemo-endocrine therapy with oral administration of 600-1,200 mg/day of me droxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) alone or with 600-800 mg/day of 5'-deoxy-5-flurouridine (5'-DFUR). The response rate was 41.

Ca²+;-Dependent Neutral Protease (Calpain) Activity in Breast Cancer Tissue and Estrogen Receptor Status.

Cancer invasion and metastasis require action of tumor-associated proteases, which degrade the extracellular matrix. It has been reported that calpain, a calcium-activated neutral protease and a thiol protease regulated by Ca²+;, proteolyzes estrogen recepor (ER) and that calpain may play an important role in the regulation of ER function. In the present study, the activities of calpain were measured in human normal breast tissues and breast cancer tissues stratified by estrogen receptor levels.

[A comparison of intra-arterial chemoembolization and infusion chemotherapy for liver metastases of breast cancer].

Seventeen patients with liver metastases of breast cancer were treated with a combination of intra-arterial chemotherapy and endocrine therapy at our hospital from 1986 to 1994. Of 17 patients, 9 were treated with transarterial chemoembolization through hepatic artery using 40-50 mg/body of 4'epi-adriamycin (epi-ADM) and lipiodol, and the other 8 were treated with hepatic infusion chemotherapy using 20-30 mg/body of epi-ADM every 2 weeks. All patients were followed by endocrine therapy with oral administration of 800-1,200 mg/day of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA).

Comparison of response to 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine therapy alone and in combination with tamoxifen or medroxyprogesterone acetate in advanced and recurrent breast-cancer.

We studied the therapeutic usefulness of low dose 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR) alone and in combination with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) or tamoxifen (TAM). As first line therapy, 58 patients with advanced and recurrent breast cancer were assigned to receive Regimen A (5'-DFUR 600 mg/body/day daily + TAM 30 mg/body/day daily), Regimen B (5'-DFUR 600 mg/body/day daily + MPA 600 mg/body/day daily), or Regimen C (5'-DFUR 600 mg/body/day daily). In 48 evaluable patients, the response rates to treatment were 22.

[Early detection of non-palpable (T0) breast cancer: the diagnostic procedure for pathological discharge from the nipple].

Detection of non-palpable (T0) breast cancer by pathological nipple discharge is possible 3 years or more earlier than tumorous breast cancer. However, the definite diagnosis of T0 breast cancer has been considered to be very difficult because the standard diagnostic method such as exfoliative cytology and ductography were not totally reliable. In 1985 we first demonstrated the significance of CEA measurement in nipple discharge for diagnosis of T0 breast cancer.

Neoadjuvant intra-arterial chemotherapy in locally advanced breast cancer: a prospective randomized study. Osaka Breast Cancer Study Group.

A prospective randomized study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was carried out on 73 patients with locally advanced breast cancer. Group A (n 26) received no neoadjuvant therapy, group B (n22) received intra-arterial infusions of epirubicin and group C (n25) received intravenous epirubicin. The regression of the primary tumor was significantly higher in group B than in group C (68.

Follow-up study of combination treatment (TAE and PEIT) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

The subjects were 35 patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma. The patients were divided into a transcatheter arterial embolization group (TAE group, 18 cases) and a combination therapy group receiving both TAE and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy (TAE+PEIT group, 17 cases). The 50% survival period was 21.

[Studies on combination therapy with TAE and percutaneous ethanol injection therapy for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma].

We studied and analysed the effects of combination therapy with TAE and PEIT for unresectable HCC. The subjects were 28 patients (21 males, 7 females) with 31 tumors treated in the Department of Surgery, Osaka Teishin Hospital. The patients were divided into four groups on the basis of the tumor size (< 3 cm, 3-5 cm, 5-8 cm, > 8 cm).