Staged Prosthetic Reconstruction with Fat Grafting for Severe Depressive Breast Deformation after Breast-conserving Therapy.

Breast-conserving therapy, where radiotherapy is performed after partial mastectomy, is a widely used surgical method that can preserve most of the breast tissue without increasing the recurrence rate of breast cancer. However, without reconstruction, asymmetry of the breast occurs due to the tissue defect and radiation fibrosis, producing in poor cosmetic results. In this case study, we performed staged prosthetic breast reconstruction combined with fat grafting for severe depressive deformation of the breast after breast-conserving therapy.

Vertical breast measurement in East Asian women: A guide for mastopexy and reduction to form nonptotic breasts in unilateral prosthetic breast reconstruction.

Background: Following unilateral breast cancer surgery, mastopexy and reduction of the unaffected breast are often performed to obtain symmetrical breasts. The use of implants in breast reconstruction results in a nonptotic breast. To achieve symmetry following the procedure, the unaffected side should be nonptotic too.

[A patient of the acute phase with severe ischemic enteritis accompanied by portal venous gas who survived conservative treatment].

A 90-year-old man had chest pain. Portal venous gas and ileal edema were noted on abdominal CT, and severe ischemic enteritis was diagnosed. Conservative treatment was performed because of circulatory failure.

Good response to paclitaxel predicts high rates of pathologic complete response for breast cancer patients treated preoperatively with paclitaxel followed by 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide.

Objective: Predictors of pathologic complete response (pCR) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancers have been studied extensively. Here, we focused on reduction rate after paclitaxel administration for prediction of pCR to paclitaxel followed by 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC).

Methods: This study included 115 patients with tumors > or =3.

Long-term follow-up results of breast cancer patients with sentinel lymph node biopsy using periareolar injection.

Background: Areolar injection for sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) in breast cancer surgery has been adopted by many institutions. However, only one study has reported the follow-up results for patients whose SLNB was performed with this injection method alone.

Methods: Three hundred eighty patients with breast cancer underwent SLNB with periareolar injection of both blue dye and radiotracer.

Association of breast cancer stem cells identified by aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 expression with resistance to sequential Paclitaxel and epirubicin-based chemotherapy for breast cancers.

Purpose: Breast cancer stem cells have been shown to be associated with resistance to chemotherapy in vitro, but their clinical significance remains to be clarified. The aim of this study was to investigate whether cancer stem cells were clinically significant for resistance to chemotherapy in human breast cancers.

Experimental Design: Primary breast cancer patients (n = 108) treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of sequential paclitaxel and epirubicin-based chemotherapy were included in the study.

Stem cell marker aldehyde dehydrogenase 1-positive breast cancers are characterized by negative estrogen receptor, positive human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2, and high Ki67 expression.

Recently, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) 1 has been identified as a reliable marker for breast cancer stem cells. The aim of our study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancers with ALDH1+ cancer stem cells. In addition, the distribution of ALDH1+ tumor cells was compared on a cell-by-cell basis with that of estrogen receptor (ER)+, Ki67+, or human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2)+ tumor cells by means of double immunohistochemical staining.

Incidence of joint symptoms and bone fractures in Japanese postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant anastrozole.

Purpose: Incidence of joint symptoms and bone fractures as well as changes in bone mineral density (BMD) in Japanese postmenopausal breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant anastrozole were investigated to determine whether there is an ethnic difference from Caucasian patients in the incidence of these adverse events of anastrozole.

Methods: Adjuvant anastrozole was used to treat 348 postmenopausal breast cancer patients for a median period of 22 months. Adverse events of anastrozole including joint symptoms, loss of BMD, and bone fracture were investigated by means of chart review.

Potential of reduction in total tumor volume measured with 3D-MRI as a prognostic factor for locally-advanced breast cancer patients treated with primary chemotherapy.

For accurate assessment of the response to primary chemotherapy (PCT) for locally advanced breast cancer, we measured reduction in total tumor volume (TTV) by using three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (3D MRI), and examined the relationship between this reduction and patient prognosis. Fifty-one patients with locally advanced breast cancer were treated with four cycles of docetaxel (60 mg/m(2)) before surgery. Tumor size was measured with calipers, ultrasonography (US) and conventional two-dimensional (2D) MRI before and after chemotherapy.

Cosmetic outcome and patient satisfaction after skin-sparing mastectomy for breast cancer with immediate reconstruction of the breast.

Purpose: We conducted a retrospective study to assess the safety, cosmetic outcome, and patients' satisfaction after skin-sparing (SSM) and nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) for breast cancer with immediate reconstruction of the breast (SMIBR).

Methods: The subjects were patients, who underwent SMIBR, breast-conserving surgery (BCS), and total mastectomy (MST) between 2000 and 2004 at Osaka University Hospital. Cosmetic outcome was estimated by 4 reviewers by scoring postoperative photographs of the patients.

Quantitative assessment of mammographic density and breast cancer risk for Japanese women.

We conducted a case-control study to examine the relationship between breast density (BD) on mammography and breast cancer risk for postmenopausal Japanese women. The mammograms (205 cases and 223 controls) were classified by two doctors employing Wolfe's classification and used to measure BD with original computer software. A weak relationship between breast cancer risk and the parenchymal pattern of Wolfe's classification was found.

Preoperative evaluation of residual tumor extent by three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (3D MRI) for the preoperative assessment of residual tumor extent in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Thirty-eight breast cancer patients treated with NAC containing taxane and/or anthracycline for 3-6 months were enrolled in this study. Tumor size was measured by means of calipers, ultrasonography, and dynamic MRI before and after NAC.

[The feasibility of FEC (75) as adjuvant chemotherapy for Japanese breast cancer patients].

Recently, high-dose FEC (fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide) has been increasingly used in adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer in Japan. However, the safety and tolerability of high-dose FEC are not well evaluated in Japanese breast cancer patients. We studied the feasibility of FEC (75) (fluorouracil: 500 mg/m(2), epirubicin: 75 mg/m(2), and cyclophosphamide:500 mg/m(2), q 3 w, 6 cycles) as adjuvant chemotherapy for 59 primary breast cancer patients.

Three-dimensional ultrasound imaging of breast cancer by a real-time intraoperative navigation system.

Background: In order to achieve a good cosmetic result without increasing the risk of ipsilateral breast cancer recurrence after breast conserving surgery, it is very important to minimize the resection volume of the breast without compromising the negativity of the surgical margin. For this purpose, it is necessary to obtain precise information on tumor extension. We therefore developed a three-dimensional (3-D) ultrasound navigation system for breast cancer surgery, which can be performed in the operating room just before surgery.

Usefulness of three-dimensional multidetector-row CT images for preoperative evaluation of tumor extension in primary breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Usefulness of three dimensional (3D) multidetector-row CT (MDCT) images for preoperative evaluation of tumor extension was studied in primary breast cancer patients.

Methods: 3D-MDCT tumor images of 143 tumors in 143 patients with primary breast cancer were created with the volume rendering method. The transverse tumor size (TS) and vertical tumor size (VS) were then measured in an anterior-posterior view of the 3D-MDCT images.

Association of serum estrone levels with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer risk in postmenopausal Japanese women.

Purpose: Several reports have demonstrated the association between high serum estrogens levels and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. It is hypothesized that breast cancers arising in postmenopausal women with high serum estrogens levels are more likely to be estrogen receptor (ER)-positive. Thus, we have investigated whether or not high serum estrone (E(1)) levels are associated with ER-positive breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women.

Aromatase inhibitors for treatment of postmenopausal patients with breast cancer.

The third generation of aromatase inhibitors and inactivators, such as anastrozole (Arimidex), letrozole (Femara) and exemestane (Aromasin), have become available for treatment of postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Several clinical trials have demonstrated that these new drugs can achieve better treatment results than megestrol acetate (Megace) and may replace tamoxifen for the first-line hormonal therapy for metastatic breast cancer patients. In fact, these drugs are now used in many hospitals and clinics for patients with metastatic breast cancer who were previously given tamoxifen as adjuvant treatment.

Influence of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in postmenopausal breast cancer patients in Japan.

The effect of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover markers was studied in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. The relationship of tamoxifen's effect with the genetic polymorphisms of estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha and ER-beta gene was also studied. Twenty-one postmenopausal breast cancer patients were given tamoxifen (20 mg/day) as the adjuvant treatment after the surgery.

uPA receptor expression in benign and malignant thyroid tumors.

Background: Urokinase type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) plays an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis. However, the uPAR expression has been rarely investigated in thyroid carcinomas. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of uPAR in thyroid tumors.