Programmed cell death-ligand 1 expression in stromal immune cells is a marker of breast cancer outcome.

Purpose: The programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis plays an important role in antitumor immune responses. However, there is considerable inconsistency regarding the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression status in breast cancer. We sought to evaluate the differential prognostic impacts of tumoral versus stromal immune cell PD-L1 expression in primary breast cancer. Materials & Methods: Both tumoral and stromal immune PD-L1 expression in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 233 breast cancer patients without initial stage IV metastases were evaluated by immunohistochemistry using a mouse monoclonal anti-PDL1 antibody. Clinicopathological variables were also documented. A Cox regression model was used to assess the association of tumoral/stromal immune PD-L1 expression with clinical outcome using disease-free survival (DFS) as the primary end point. Results: Both tumoral and stromal immune PD-L1 expression were associated with aggressive tumor characteristics, including higher histologic grade, as well as negative estrogen receptor, negative progesterone receptor, and positive human epithelial growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status Multivariate analyses further demonstrated that stromal immune cell, but not tumoral, PD-L1 expression was a favorable prognostic factor for survival. Conclusions: Despite its association with aggressive tumor features, PD-L1 expression on stromal immune cells emerged as a positive prognostic biomarker in breast cancer. This pro-survival effect might reflect the presence of a strong antitumor immune response that leads to PD-L1 expression.

Inflammatory breast cancer: imaging findings.

To assess the imaging findings of inflammatory breast cancer, we retrospectively analyzed the mammography, ultrasonography, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of nine patients with inflammatory breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer showed skin thickening and nipple-areolar swelling on mammography, ultrasonography, and MRI. Tumor with lymphatic dilatation on ultrasonography and enhancement of thickened skin and parenchyma on MRI can be useful findings in the diagnosis of inflammatory breast cancer.

Associations of the BRAF (V600E) mutation and p53 protein expression with clinicopathological features of papillary thyroid carcinomas patients.

The BRAF (V600E) mutation is the most prevalent type of genetic alteration that has been identified in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC); in addition, previous immunohistochemical studies have revealed the overexpression of p53 protein in PTC. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of the BRAF (V600E) mutation and the expression of p53 in PTC, as well as to determine any associations between these two factors and the clinicopathological features of PTC. The study was performed on 66 PTC patients who underwent surgical tumor resection between January and December 2012. Polymerase chain reaction-based DNA amplification was used to analyze extracted DNA from the tumor specimens in order to determine the prevalence of the BRAF (V600E) mutation. In addition, immunohistochemical analysis was employed in order to evaluate the protein expression of p53 in sections of tumor tissue. Furthermore, statistical analysis was performed in order to determine any associations among the BRAF (V600E) mutation prevalence, p53 overexpression and the clinicopathological features of PTC patients, including age, gender, tumor size, multiplicity, lymph node metastasis and extrathyroidal extension. The results revealed that the BRAF (V600E) mutation was observed in 50 (75.8%) of the 66 PTC patients and overexpression of p53 was found in 52 (78.8%) of 66 cases. No significant correlations were observed between the BRAF (V600E) mutation or p53 protein overexpression and the clinicopathological features of patients. However, the BRAF (V600E) mutation demonstrated noteworthy, but non-significant, correlations with the overexpression of p53 (P=0.0854) and extrathyroidal extension (P=0.0661). In addition, a significant correlation was observed between lymph node metastasis and bilaterality (P=0.0280). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that the BRAF (V600E) mutation and overexpression of p53 were not significantly correlated with clinicopathological features of PTC, although notable associations were identified between BRAF (V600E) mutation and overexpression of p53 as well as extrathyroidal extension. In addition, lymph node metastasis was significantly associated with bilaterality.

Independence of cytotoxic drug sensitivity profiles and receptor subtype of invasive ductal breast carcinoma demonstrated by the histoculture drug response assay (HDRA).

AIM: Breast cancer can be divided into four subtypes: luminal-A, luminal-B, HER-2 enriched and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) by the presence or absence of receptors. Each subtype has a typical clinical behavior and prognosis. Many chemotherapeutic agents are used clinically for breast cancer. The histoculture drug response assay (HDRA) is used for selection of effective chemotherapeutic agents for individual patients Materials and Methods: In the present study, the HDRA was used for eleven frequently-used single-agent or combinations on the four subtypes of breast cancer in order to determine the correlation of drug sensitivity profile and breast-cancer subtype. Fifty invasive ductal breast carcinoma patients who underwent cancer surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy between January 2012 and January 2013 had their tumors analyzed in the HDRA. Age, gender, height and weight, tumor-nodes-metastasis (TNM) stage, immunohistochemical (IHC profiles, breast-cancer subtypes and HDRA results were recorded. RESULTS: The inhibition rate (IR) of each agent or combination for each breast-cancer subtype was determined. Drug to drug IRs were statistically distinct in all subtypes (p<0.05) but no correlation between response to chemotherapeutic agents and breast-cancer subtype was found (p=0.851 by two-way ANOVA test). CONCLUSION: The clear difference between average sensitivity of the chemotherapeutic agents tested and lack of correlation with breast-cancer subtype suggest the importance of individualized treatment for breast-cancer patients.