Estrogen receptor-negative/progesterone receptor-positive breast cancer has distinct characteristics and pathologic complete response rate after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

PURPOSE: The status of hormone receptors (HR) is an independent factor affecting survival and chemotherapy sensitivity in breast cancer (BC) patients, with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) having the most significant effects. The ER-/PR + phenotype has been controversial in BC, and experts will face many challenges in determining treatment strategies. Herein, we systematically analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics of the ER-/PR + phenotype in BC patients and the response to chemotherapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We included two cohorts. The first cohort counted the relationship between clinicopathologic data and survival outcomes for 72,666 female patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. The second cohort analyzed the relationship between clinicopathological data and pathologic complete response (pCR) rate in 879 patients at the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital. The classification data were compared by the chi-square test and Fister's exact test of the Logistic regression model, and predictor variables with P < 0.05 in the univariate analysis were included in the multivariate regression analysis. The Kaplan-Meier method evaluated breast cancer-specific survival (BCSS) and overall survival (OS) to investigate the relationship between different HR typing and survival and pCR. RESULTS: In the two cohorts, 704 (0.9%) and 11 (1.3%) patients had the ER-/PR + phenotype, respectively. The clinicopathologic features of patients with the ER-/PR + phenotype are more similar to those of the ER-/PR- phenotype. The ER-/PR + phenotype is more common in younger and premenopausal women, and most ER-/PR + phenotypes exhibit higher histological grades. Survival analysis showed that there were significant differences in OS and BCSS among patients with different HR states (P < 0.001). The survival results of patients with the ER + /PR + phenotype were the best. The prognosis of the ER-/PR + phenotype was similar to that of the ER-/PR- phenotype. On the other hand, we found that HR status was also an independent predictor of post-NAC pCR rate in BC patients. The ER + /PR- and ER-/PR- phenotypes were more sensitive to chemotherapy than the ER + /PR + phenotypes. CONCLUSION: HR status is the main factor affecting BC's survival outcome and pCR rate. Patients with the ER-/PR + phenotype possess more aggressive biological factors and can benefit significantly from chemotherapy. We need to pay more attention to this group and achieve individualized treatment, which will help us treat BC better and provide new targets and blueprints for our clinical treatment.

Clinical characteristics and pathologic complete response (pCR) rate after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in postpartum women with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer (BC) is currently the leading cause of death in women worldwide. Studies have confirmed that pregnancy is an independent factor affecting the survival of BC patients. BC found during pregnancy, lactation, or shortly after delivery is what we used to think of as pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC). The current expert definition of this concept is not uniform; however, there is growing evidence that postpartum breast cancer (PPBC) differs from other types of BC in terms of both biological features and prognosis, with a slightly different focus on diagnosis and treatment. With the increase of female reproductive age population and changes in fertility policies in China, patients with PPBC are receiving increasing attention. Here, we systematically analyzed the clinicopathological characteristics and chemotherapeutic response of patients with PPBC. We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological data, molecular subtypes, chemotherapy regimens, and pathological complete remission (pCR) rates of 1343 patients with non-metastatic BC at Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital from January 1, 2012 to May 31, 2023. The categorical data were compared by chi-square test and Fisher exact test using logistic regression model. Predictor variables with P < 0.05 in the univariate analysis were included in the multivariate regression analysis to investigate the relationship between different age groups and pCR. RESULTS: A total of 714 patients were eligible for analysis in this study, and 667 patients had a history of pregnancy, 40 (5.6%) of whom were PPBC patients. When diagnosed with BC, patients with PPBC were younger, more likely to undergo breast-conserving surgery (BCS), and more likely to achieve pCR (P < 0.05). In molecular typing, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2)-positive and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) were more frequent. In the entire cohort, HER-2 expression and delivery status were independent predictors of pCR rates in BC patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that postpartum status is an independent predictor of pCR attainment in BC patients. PPBC is more sensitive to chemotherapy than other patients.We need to pay more attention to this group and achieve individualized treatment, which will help us treat BC better and provide new targets and blueprints for our clinical therapy.

Assessing heavy metal concentrations in earth-cumulic-orthic-anthrosols soils using Vis-NIR spectroscopy transform coupled with chemometrics.

Soil visible and near infrared (Vis-NIR) has become an applicable and interesting technique to predict soil properties because it is a fast, cost-effective, and non-destruction technique. This study presents an application of diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) and chemometric techniques for evaluating concentrations of heavy metals in earth-cumulic-orthic-anthrosols soils. 44 soil samples of 0-30 cm were collected from three representative agriculture areas (Fufeng, Yangling, and Wugong transects with 16, 10, and 18 samples, respectively) and analyzed for Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb by Vis-NIR spectroscopy (350-2500 nm). Average levels of Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb were 17.95, 274, 12.77, 7.29, 15.81, 7.51, 0.40, 12.58, and 21.05 mg kg-1, respectively. Twenty-four preprocessing methods were extracted sensitive bands. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) used to obtain effective bands and predict soil heavy metals concentrations. The accuracy of the predictive models were assessed in terms of coefficient of determination (R2), the root mean squared error (RMSE), standard error (SE) and the ratio of performance to deviation (RPD). The results revealed that excellent predictions for Hg(Rv2 = 0.99, RPD = 8.59, RMSEP = 0.12, SEP = 0.13), Cr (Rv2 = 0.97, RPD = 5.96, RMSEP = 0.10, SEP = 0.10), Ni (Rv2 = 0.93, RPD = 3.74, RMSEP = 0.13, SEP = 0.13), Pb (Rv2 = 0.97, RPD = 5.57, RMSEP = 0.10, SEP = 0.01), and Cu (Rv2 = 0.92, RPD = 3.38, RMSEP = 0.08, SEP = 0.08). Models for As (Rv2 = 0.87, RPD = 2.58), Mn (Rv2 = 0.80, RPD = 2.09), and Cd (RPD = 2.77) had Rv2 < 0.9 and RPD<3.0, not excellent predictions. For the element of Zn, although Rv2 = 0.91, RPD = 3.13, the offset had too much deviation, and it cannot be considered an excellent model. Therefore, a combination of spectroscopic and chemometric techniques can be applied as a practical, rapid, low-cost and quantitative approach for evaluating soil physical and chemical properties in Shaanxi, China.

Application of Vis-NIR spectroscopy for determination the content of organic matter in saline-alkali soils.

Visible and near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (Vis-NIR) has been recognized as a fast method to evaluate the content of soil organic matter (SOM) in various types of soil. The accuracy of Vis-NIR is comparable to conventional laboratory methods for estimating SOM. However, very few studies have applied Vis-NIR to estimate SOM in saline-alkali soil. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of spectral data for evaluating SOM in saline-alkali soil. Soil samples (n = 291) were collected from the five major saline-alkali soil regions in Shaanxi. SOM was measured using standard methods and the samples were scanned using ASD Fieldspec4 at wavelength of 350-2500 nm to obtain spectral data. Twenty-six pre-processing methods were tested and partial least squares regression (PLSR) was used to estimate SOM. The best preprocessing was R + SG + SNV + FD. The calibration results were Pc = 15, Rc2 = 0.92, RMSEC = 1.11, SEC = 1.12, Slope = 0.92, Offset = 0.45; the validation results were Rv2 = 0.97, RPD = 5.21, RMSEP = 0.38, SEP = 0.38, Slope = 0.97, Offset = 0.17. Therefore, this main objective of the study was to propose an effective approach based on Vis-NIR spectroscopy and Chemometrics for predicting saline-alkali SOM contents in the center of Shaanxi, China.