The Relationship between the Distribution of Home Medical Clinics and Home Care Service Offices in Japan.

The increasing number of older people in Japan has led to a need for cooperation between home medical and care services. The collaboration between medical and care provisions in home settings is thus a matter for concern. The present study examines the distribution of and relationship between the number of home medical clinics (HMCs) and home care service offices (HCOs) in Japan. We used national data, detailing the total population, percentage of older adults, and number of HMCs and HCOs. Overall, 23,428 HMCs and 35,612 HCOs were identified nationwide. While the southwestern region of Japan had a high number of HMCs relative to the northeastern region, there was not such a clear difference in the regional distribution of number of HCOs. A linear regression analyses, adjusted for the percentage of older people, revealed a significant positive correlation between the number of HMCs per 10,000 older people and HCOs per 10,000 older people (ß = 0.58, p < 0.001). These findings may allow us to understand advances in cooperation between home medical and care services in Japan.

Risk Factors for Ipsilateral Breast Tumor Recurrence in Triple-Negative or HER2-Positive Breast Cancer Patients Who Achieve a Pathologic Complete Response After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Attention has been focused on attempts to eliminate breast surgery for breast cancer patients who achieve a pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). However, there are few data on ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) among patients with triple-negative or epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive (HER2+) tumors who achieve a pathologic complete response after NAC and breast-conserving treatment. METHODS: Using a multi-institutional retrospective database, this study evaluated the risk factors for IBTR among patients with newly diagnosed stages 1 to 3 breast cancer involving triple-negative or HER2+ tumors who achieved ypT0 after NAC and breast-conserving treatment. RESULTS: During a median follow-up period of 4.8 years (range, 0.1-15.5 years), the 5-year IBTR-free survival rate was 95.5%. The breast cancer subtype was not associated with IBTR-free survival. Patients younger than 40 years at diagnosis had significantly worse IBTR-free survival than those who were 40 years of age or older (5-year IBTR-free survival, 87.7 vs 96.9%; p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: This retrospective study demonstrated that age at diagnosis was independently associated with IBTR-free survival. Special caution is needed when clinical trials analyzing omission of breast surgery after NAC are enrolling younger patients (UMIN-CTR No. UMIN000037067).

COVID-19: clinical issues from the Japan Surgical Society.

In this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, several key issues must be addressed to ensure safe treatment and prevent rapid spread of the virus and a consequential medical crisis. Careful evaluation of a patient's condition is crucial for deciding the triage plan, based on the status of the disease and comorbidities. As functionality of the medical care system is greatly affected by the environmental situation, the treatment may differ according to the medical and infectious disease circumstances of the institution. Importantly, all medical staff must prevent nosocomial COVID-19 by minimizing the effects of aerosol spread and developing diagnostic and surgical procedures. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screening for COVID-19 infection, particularly in asymptomatic patients, should be encouraged as these patients are prone to postoperative respiratory failure. In this article, the Japan Surgical Society addresses the general principles of surgical treatment in relation to COVID-19 infection and advocates preventive measures against viral transmission during this unimaginable COVID-19 pandemic.

Relationship Between Clinics Offering Telemedicine and Population Density in Japan: An Ecological Study.

Background: The number of clinics offering telemedicine in Japan has been increasing. Regional characteristics such as population density and the number of physicians may be associated with the provision of telemedicine. This study investigated the relationship between clinics offering telemedicine and such regional characteristics for each prefecture in Japan. Methods: Data were collected from publicly available information that included the percentage of clinics offering telemedicine (real-time synchronous type) among all clinics (in 2022), population density, and the number of physicians for each of Japan's 47 prefectures. An ecological study was carried out to determine the correlation between the percentage of clinics offering telemedicine and regional characteristics for each prefecture, and Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis adjusted for regional characteristics were performed. Results: The min-max and mean levels were, respectively, 3.4-39.2% and 15.6% of clinics offering telemedicine, 66.6-6402.6 and 657.1 people per square kilometer of population density, and 185.2-356.7 and 274.0 physicians per 100,000 people. Geographically, the northeastern regions appeared to show a high percentage of clinics offering telemedicine relative to the southwestern regions. There was a significant negative correlation between the percentage of clinics offering telemedicine and population density (r = -0.31, p < 0.05; ß = -0.31, p < 0.05). Discussion: The negative relationship of the provision of telemedicine in clinics with population density throughout Japan might be a reflection to ensure residents' access to clinics in less populated areas. Although further detailed studies are needed to confirm this, population density might be a useful measure for considering whether to offer telemedicine in clinics in Japan.

Feasibility of accelerated partial breast irradiation with strut-adjusted volume implant brachytherapy in Japan focusing on dosimetry and acute toxicity: a Japanese multi-institutional prospective study.

BACKGROUND: A Japanese multi-institutional prospective study was initiated to investigate the effectiveness and safety of accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) using strut-adjusted volume implant (SAVI) brachytherapy, with subjects registered between 2016 and 2021. Herein, we report the preliminary results on the feasibility of this treatment modality in Japan, focusing on the registration process, dosimetry, and acute toxicities. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Primary registration was conducted before breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and the eligibility criteria included the following: age ≥ 40 years, tumor unifocal and unicentric, ≤ 3 cm in diameter, cN0M0, proven ductal, mucinous, tubular, medullary, or lobular carcinoma by needle biopsy. Secondary registration was conducted after BCS had been performed leaving a cavity for device implantation and pathological evaluations, and the eligibility criteria were as follows: negative surgical margin, tumor ≤ 3 cm in diameter on gross pathological examination, histologically confirmed ductal, mucinous, tubular medullary, colloid, or lobular carcinoma, pN0, L0V0, no extensive ductal component, no initiation of chemotherapy within 2 weeks of the brachytherapy APBI planning with SAVI was performed for the patients successfully entered in the study by the secondary registration process, and the treatment was administered at the dose of 34 Gy in 10 fractions administered twice daily. RESULTS: Between 2016 and 2021, 64 women were enrolled in the study through primary registration, of which 19 were excluded from the secondary registration process, and in one, it was deemed impossible to comply with the dose constraints established during treatment planning. After the exclusion of these latter 20 patients, we treated the remaining 44 patients by APBI with SAVI. The dose constraints could be adhered to in all the patients, but re-planning was necessitated in 3 patients because of applicator movement during the treatment period. Grade 2 acute toxicities were observed in 18% of all patients, but more severe acute toxicities than Grade 2 were not observed in any of the patients. CONCLUSION: APBI with SAVI brachytherapy is feasible in Japan from the aspects of compliance with dose constraints and frequency of acute toxicities.

Copy number alteration is an independent prognostic biomarker in triple-negative breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Next-generation sequencing (NGS) has enabled comprehensive genomic profiling to identify gene alterations that play important roles in cancer biology. However, the clinical significance of these genomic alterations in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients has not yet been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to clarify the clinical significance of genomic profiling data, including copy number alterations (CNA) and tumor mutation burden (TMB), in TNBC patients. METHODS: A total of 47 patients with Stage I-III TNBC with genomic profiling of 435 known cancer genes by NGS were enrolled in this study. Disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated for their association to gene profiling data. RESULTS: CNA-high patients showed significantly worse DFS and OS than CNA-low patients (p = 0.0009, p = 0.0041, respectively). TMB was not associated with DFS or OS in TNBC patients. Patients with TP53 alterations showed a tendency of worse DFS (p = 0.0953) and significantly worse OS (p = 0.0338) compared with patients without TP53 alterations. Multivariable analysis including CNA and other clinicopathological parameters revealed that CNA was an independent prognostic factor for DFS (p = 0.0104) and OS (p = 0.0306). Finally, multivariable analysis also revealed the combination of CNA-high and TP53 alterations is an independent prognostic factor for DFS (p = 0.0005) and OS (p = 0.0023). CONCLUSIONS: We revealed that CNA, but not TMB, is significantly associated with DFS and OS in TNBC patients. The combination of CNA-high and TP53 alterations may be a promising biomarker that can inform beyond standard clinicopathologic factors to identify a subgroup of TNBC patients with significantly worse prognosis.

Identifying ductal carcinoma in situ cases not requiring surgery to exclude postoperative upgrade to invasive ductal carcinoma.

BACKGROUND: Prospective cohort studies are being conducted worldwide to identify a low-grade group of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) that does not require surgery. However, to do this, it is necessary to predict which cases, diagnosed with preoperative DCIS, will be upgraded to invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) after surgery. METHODS: In this study, we evaluated the frequency of IDC upgrades in patients who were preoperatively diagnosed with DCIS at Showa University using the criteria of ongoing clinical trials. We divided our cases into those that could be enrolled in the ongoing trial and those that could not. Moreover, we evaluated whether CNB, which is allowed only in Japanese clinical trials, is related to the IDC mixture. RESULTS: There were 211 (52.1%) cases that matched the criteria of the U.K. and Netherlands trials, of which 62 (29.4%) were upgraded to IDC. A total of 113 (27.9%) cases met the criteria for clinical trials in Japan and the U.S., 25 (22.1%) of which were upgraded to IDC and 47 (34.6%) which matched when considering biopsy methods. The number of cases upgraded to IDC decreased to four (8.5%). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that there were a certain number of mixed IDC. We will pay attention to the results of ongoing clinical trials regarding how the presence of this mixed IDC affects the prognosis in non-surgery cases. Careful follow-up is recommended for non-surgical treatment.

Diagnostic performance of dedicated breast positron emission tomography.

BACKGROUND: Dedicated breast positron emission tomography (dbPET) has been developed for detecting smaller breast cancer. We investigated the diagnostic performance of dbPET in patients with known breast cancer. METHODS: Eighty-two preoperative patients with breast cancer were included in the study (84 tumours: 11 ductal carcinomas in situ [DCIS], 73 invasive cancers). They underwent mammography (MMG), ultrasonography (US), and contrast-enhanced breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before whole-body PET/MRI (WBPET/MRI) and dbPET. We evaluated the sensitivity of all modalities, and the association between the maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax) level and histopathological features. RESULTS: The sensitivities of MMG, US, MRI, WBPET/MRI and dbPET for all tumours were 81.2% (65/80), 98.8% (83/84), 98.6% (73/74), 86.9% (73/84), and 89.2% (75/84), respectively. For 11 DCIS and 22 small invasive cancers (≤ 2 cm), the sensitivity of dbPET (84.9%) tended to be higher than that of WBPET/MRI (69.7%) (p = 0.095). Seven tumours were detected by dbPET only, but not by WBPET/MRI. Five tumours were detected by only WBPET/MRI because of the blind area of dbPET detector, requiring a wider field of view. After making the mat of dbPET detector thinner, all 22 scanned tumours were depicted. The higher SUVmax of dbPET was significantly related to the negative oestrogen receptor status, higher nuclear grade, and higher Ki67 (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity of dbPET for early breast cancer was higher than that of WBPET/MRI. High SUVmax was related to aggressive features of tumours. Moreover, dbPET can be used for the diagnosis and oncological evaluation of breast cancer.

[A case of scalp metastases from breast cancer successfully treated with letrozole].

A 62-years-old woman visited a dermatology clinic for hard mass at her scalp. Clinicallly, the mass was hard and alopecic. The diameter was 3 cm. A skin biopsy was done and histpathological examination showed adenocarcinoma. Immunehistchemically, estrogen receptor was positive. It was suspected that breast cancer could be metastasized to the scalp, but mammography, ultrasound, and positron emission tomography showed no particular metastases in her breast and other organs. Magnetic resonance imaging showed enhanced lesions in her birateral breast. Needle biopsy was done and pathological findings showed bilateral breast carcinoma and metastases to the scalp. So we started endocrine therapy using letrozole, the mass was shrunk to 1 cm after 6-month. It is rare that breast cancer was metastasized to the scalp. But Conner et al. reported that 84% of metastatic scalp carcinoma was from the breast, so we should examine the breast more carefully.

[A case of breast cancer liver metastases responding to lapatinib and capecitabine therapy].

We report a 55-year-old female with liver metastases from breast cancer who responded to lapatinib and capecitabine combination therapy as third-line. She was diagnosed as invasive ductal carcinoma (T1cN1M0, stage IIA). Biomarker of breast cancer was negative hormone receptor (ER-, PgR-) and overexpression of HER2(HercepTest 3+). We started preoperative chemotherapy with weekly paclitaxel followed by FEC100. Then mastectomy with axillary dissection was performed. Histopathology of the breast and lymph nodes showed complete disappear of invasive cancer cells( pCR, grade 3). We performed her adjuvant therapy with trastuzumab after surgery. The liver metastases developed 5 months after surgery. We treated her in trasutumab combined with vinorelbine, and followed by docetaxel during one year and four months. Because liver metastases re-grew during the combination therapy with trastuzumab, we switched to lapatinib and capecitabine combination therapy. After four months of administration, abdominal CT revealed liver metastases were remarkably reduced in size. The efficacy of chemotherapy lasted for eight months.

A Retrospective Analysis of the Relationship Between the Result of BRCA1/2 Genetic Testing and Surgical Method Selection in Japan.

BACKGROUND: We studied the extent of BRCA1/2 genetic testing to help select the surgical approach for patients with breast cancer in Japan remains unclear. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study subjects were female patients with primary unilateral invasive breast cancer considered as candidates for breast-conserving surgery who underwent preoperative BRCA1/2 genetic testing. A retrospective analysis was performed on the results of BRCA1/2 genetic testing and surgical method selection using national registration data from the Japanese Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome Consortium. RESULTS: Our study included 318 female patients. Among these patients, 23.7% of patients with BRCA1/2 mutations and 61.8% of patients without these variants underwent breast-conserving surgery (P < .01). Among the patients with BRCA1/2 mutations, those who chose breast-conserving surgery tended not to undergo risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (P < .05). Among the patients with BRCA1/2 mutations who underwent mastectomy for the affected side, 31.8% received contralateral risk-reducing mastectomy. Patients diagnosed with breast cancer under the age of 50 years were more likely to have contralateral risk-reducing mastectomy than patients over the age 50 years (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with BRCA1/2 mutations tend to choose mastectomy. However, it is speculated that the final surgical method selection is made in consideration of not only the test results but also with careful consideration of the patient, taking into account other factors including individual values for risk-reducing surgeries and the age of breast cancer onset.

Magnetically Guided Localization Using a Guiding-Marker System® and a Handheld Magnetic Probe for Nonpalpable Breast Lesions: A Multicenter Feasibility Study in Japan.

Accurate pre-operative localization of nonpalpable lesions plays a pivotal role in guiding breast-conserving surgery (BCS). In this multicenter feasibility study, nonpalpable breast lesions were localized using a handheld magnetic probe (TAKUMI) and a magnetic marker (Guiding-Marker System®). The magnetic marker was preoperatively placed within the target lesion under ultrasound or stereo-guidance. Additionally, a dye was injected subcutaneously to indicate the extent of the tumor excision. Surgeons checked for the marker within the lesion using a magnetic probe. The magnetic probe could detect the guiding marker and accurately localize the target lesion intraoperatively. All patients with breast cancer underwent wide excision with a safety margin of ≥5 mm. The presence of the guiding-marker within the resected specimen was the primary outcome and the pathological margin status and re-excision rate were the secondary outcomes. Eighty-seven patients with nonpalpable lesions who underwent BCS, from January to March of 2019 and from January to July of 2020, were recruited. The magnetic marker was detected in all resected specimens. The surgical margin was positive only in 5/82 (6.1%) patients; these patients underwent re-excision. This feasibility study demonstrated that the magnetic guiding localization system is useful for the detection and excision of nonpalpable breast lesions.

Meta-analysis of nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel used as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer based on individual patient data (JBCRG-S01 study).

BACKGROUND: Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX), a novel taxane formulation, was developed to avoid cremophor/ethanol-associated toxicities including peripheral neuropathy and hypersensitivity. At least 35 phase II studies using combined nab-PTX and anthracycline in neoadjuvant settings are registered in Japan. We analyzed the efficacy and safety of nab-PTX based on patient characteristics in these studies. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis using individual patient data (IPD) to investigate the average efficacy of nab-PTX-containing regimens as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for operable breast cancer. IPD were provided by principal investigators who agreed to participate. The primary endpoint was pathological complete response (pCR) rate of each breast cancer subtype. RESULTS: We analyzed the data of 16 studies involving 753 patients. The overall crude frequencies of pCR (ypT0 ypN0, ypT0/is ypN0, and ypT0/is ypNX) were 18.1, 26.0, and 28.6%, respectively. Specifically, the frequencies were 6.7, 10.2, and 13.4% for luminal (n = 343); 40.5, 63.5, and 68.9% for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-rich, (n = 74); 21.9, 40.6, and 42.7% for luminal/HER2 (n = 96); and 26.3, 31.5, and 32.3% for triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) (n = 232). The multivariate analyses indicated that HER2 positivity, TNBC, high Ki-67, high nuclear grade, and weekly nab-PTX administration were significantly associated with the pCR. The proportion of hematological toxicities (neutropenia (39.7%) and leukopenia (22.5%)), peripheral sensory neuropathy (9.7%), myalgia (5.7%), and arthralgia (4.7%) was higher than grade 3 adverse events, but most patients recovered. CONCLUSIONS: Nab-PTX is a safe and acceptable chemotherapeutic agent in neoadjuvant settings, particularly for aggressive cancers. UMIN-CTR#: UMIN000028774.

[Pilot study of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy in patients with early breast cancer].

A recent breast cancer operation appears to have become more simplified, and we may cure an early stage breast cancer without a surgery in the future. This study was approved by our institutional review board and all patients received the study information. We started a radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in April 2008 for breast cancer patients without extensive ductal spreads and the tumor size of 2 cm or less measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). At first, we performed five patients from a clinical viewpoint of technique and safety. All cases were performed safely. There was no complication such as burns. At the mid observation period of 22 months in average (range 21-24), no local recurrence and distant metastases were occurred after RFA. Cosmetic after RFA was excellent in all cases.

[A case of stage IV breast cancer with bone metastases that responded well for long-term to hormonal therapy].

A case was a 48 years old woman. She was aware of a lump in her left breast and visited our hospital. We diagnosed it as an invasive ductal carcinoma. Immunostaining for both ER and PgR was strongly positive. CT of the initial consultation showed multiple bone metastases (thoracic vertebrae, lumbar vertebrae, and iliac bone). After AC followed by docetaxel and tamoxifen, LH-RH analogue was started. We used anastrozole after menopause. The bisphosphonate has been used from the beginning of the treatment. After the chemotherapy, the clinical response of primary tumor was judged as partial response. For six years, the size of primary tumor has not been changed, and PET-CT has not showed another metastasis. Anastrozole was superior to tamoxifen with respect to TTP (median values of 10.7 and 6.4 months for anastrozole and tamoxifen, respectively) in postmenopausal women with ER and/or PgR receptor positive tumors. Our study indicated that many patients responding to hormonal therapy appear to have been increasing from now on.

BRCAness as a prognostic indicator in patients with early breast cancer.

BRCAness is defined as a phenotypic copy of germline BRCA mutations, which describes presence of homologous recombination defects in sporadic cancers. We detected BRCAness by multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and explored whether BRCAness can be used as a predictor of prognosis. BRCAness status was classified for total 121 breast cancer patients. Forty-eight patients (39.7%) were identified as BRCAness positive. Tumors of BRCAness were more likely to be hormone receptors negative (95.8% vs. 50.7%, P < 0.001), nuclear grade III (76.1% vs. 48.4%, P = 0.001) and triple-negative breast cancer subtype (91.6% vs. 42.5%, P < 0.001). Five-year disease free survival (DFS) (54.0% vs. 88.0%, P < 0.001) and overall survival (OS) (76.3% vs. 93.1%, P = 0.002) were significantly lower in BRCAness patients. In neoadjuvant chemotherapy subgroup analysis, clinical response rate for taxane-based regimen was significantly lower in BRCAness patients (58.3% vs. 77.8%, P = 0.041). Cox regression multivariate analysis showed that BRCAness was the independent prognostic factor for DFS (HR 2.962, 95%CI 1.184-7.412, P = 0.020), but not for OS (HR 2.681, 95%CI 0.618-11.630, P = 0.188). BRCAness is associated with specific characteristics and may suggest resistance to taxane-based chemotherapy. BRCAness can be used as a negative prognostic indicator for breast cancer.

[A case of inflammatory breast cancer responding to anastrozole].

A case is 61 years old woman. In February 2008, she was aware of swelling, skin redness and edema in her left breast and visited our hospital. We diagnosed it as inflammatory breast cancer with positive hormone receptor (ER+, PgR+) and unexpression of HER2 (HercepTest 1 +). We started preoperative chemotherapy with weekly paclitaxel followed by FEC100, but we canceled chemotherapy because she developed cerebral infarction when we administered paclitaxel twice. Then, hormonotherapy using anastrozole (Arimidex) was therefore attempted. Three months later, treatment with anastrozole alone reduced the swelling, skin redness and edema in her left breast. After eight months of administration, the breast swelling, skin redness and edema were completely disappeared. MRI revealed the disappearance of the enhanced area. Then mastectomy with auxiliary dissection was performed.

BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations in Japanese women with ductal carcinoma in situ.

BACKGROUND: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is considered a component of the clinical spectrum of breast cancer even in those with BRCA1/2 mutation. The aim of this study was to report the feature of DCIS raised in Japanese women with BRCA1/2 mutations. METHODS: A total of 325 Japanese women with breast cancer (BC) (with or without invasive cancer) were referred for genetic counseling and underwent genetic testing for mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in Showa University Hospital between December 2011 and August 2016. And 49 of them who were pathologically diagnosed as DCIS were included in this study. Logistic regression models were fit to determine the associations between potential predictive factors and BRCA status. A Cox proportional hazards model is used to predictive value of parameters for Ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) and contralateral breast tumor recurrence (CBTR). RESULTS: (a) Of 325 patients (with or without invasive cancer), 19.1% (62/325) tested positive for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations. And 18.4% (9/49) was positive for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutations in DCIS, compared with 19.2% (53/276) in IDC (p = 1.000). Among BRCA mutations, 14.5% (9/62) had DCIS compared with nonmutations (15.2%, 40/263). Incidence of DCIS was 3.0% (1/33) of BRCA1 mutations and 27.5% (8/29) of BRCA2 mutation (p = 0.009). (b) Median age of diagnosis in BRCA mutation carriers was 39 years, compared with 46 years in noncarriers. Age, Family history (FH) of BC, FH of first or second BC and total number of relatives with BC diagnosis (DX) has significant difference between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers in univariate analysis. In a multivariate logistic model, total relatives with BC DX ≥ 2 (odds ratio [OR], 5.128; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.266-20.763; p = 0.022), age at diagnosis ≤35 years (OR 0.149, 95% CI 0.023-0.954, p = 0.045) and ER+/HER2+ status (OR 5.034, 95% CI 1.092-23.210, p = 0.038) remained as independent significant predictors for BRCA mutation. Ki67 index (cut off by 14% or 30%) did not differ between BRCA mutation carriers and noncarriers (p = 0.459 and p = 0.651). (c) There was a significant difference in ER-positive tumors among BRCA2 carriers and noncarriers (p = 0.042). Subgroup analysis showed BRCA2 carriers tend to be of higher grade (Grade 2 and 3), more frequently ER+/PR+ (p = 0.041) and lower proliferation (Ki67 index) than noncarriers, whereas differences in nuclear grade and ki67 index were not found significantly in our study. (d) BRCA mutation was not associated with an increased risk of IBTR and CBTR. CONCLUSION: DCIS is equally as prevalent in patients who were BRCA mutation carriers as in high familial-risk women who were noncarriers, but occurs at earlier age. BRCA2 carriers have higher incidence in DCIS than that of BRCA1 carriers, and tend to be higher grade and more frequently ER positive and lower proliferation. Total relatives with BC DX ≥2, age at diagnosis ≤35 years and ER+/HER2+ might be independent predictors for BRCA mutation in Japanese women with DCIS and patients of these risk factors should be recommended to receive genetic counseling and BRCA testing.

Research on Home Care Nursing in Japan Using Geographic Information Systems: A Literature Review.

Given Japan's super-ageing society and its need for developing community-based integrated care system, the role of home care nursing is becoming increasingly important. A central concern in home care nursing is regional/spatial placement of home nursing stations and accessibility for patients. Analysis based on geographic information systems (GIS) may be useful in home care nursing research. We conducted a literature review of home care nursing research based on GIS in Japan. A total of 4 articles were selected following a search of medical literature databases. The first report was published in 2014. Most subjects in the identified studies were older people. Most studies were implemented at a municipal level. Key themes in the identified studies were "placement of specialists and home nursing stations" and "placement of home nursing stations and target patients." Despite the paucity of research, as all identified studies examined the community areas with an aged population, it may point to the need to consider community-based integrated care systems, including home care nursing, in Japan. More GIS-based research on home care nursing is called for.

QOL Evaluation of Nab-Paclitaxel and Docetaxel for Early Breast Cancer.

OBJECTIVE: A previous randomized phase II study showed that neoadjuvant nab-paclitaxel (nab-PTX) 100 mg/m2) was effective and well-tolerated in patients with HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer, compared with docetaxel (DTX). We evaluated patient outcomes in terms of the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), as a measure of health-related quality of life (HRQoL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stage I-III HER2-negative breast cancer patients from the previous study were included. They received either four cycles of nab-PTX (100 mg/m2 days 1/8/15) every 4 weeks, or DTX (75 mg/m2 day 1) every 3 weeks, both followed by four cycles of 5-fluorouracil/epirubicin/cyclophosphamide (FEC). Patients completed a health-related quality-of-life questionnaire at baseline, after one and four cycles of taxanes, before administration of FEC, and after administration of one and four cycles of FEC. RESULTS: Thirty-six eligible patients were enrolled. The baseline characteristics of the two groups were well balanced. FACT-B scores at baseline and after four cycles of taxanes were 115/108 (DTX/nab-PTX) and 99/92, respectively. There were no significant differences between DTX and nab-PTX for FACT-B, FACT-B-Trial Outcome Index (FACT-B-TOI) and FACT-General. FACT-B and FACT-B TOI scores tended to decrease after one cycle and after four cycles of chemotherapy which did not recover to the baseline scores through the end of chemotherapy in each group. CONCLUSION: There were no significant safety differences between nab-PTX and DTX. HRQoL tended to decrease during taxane-based anticancer treatment, with no significant differences between the treatments. We suggest that the HRQoL questionnaire has limited ability to evaluate different chemotherapy schedules. Trial registration UMIN000009855. Nov 20, 2012 registered.