Treatment of bilateral granulomatous lobular mastitis during lactation with traditional Chinese medicine: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Granulomatous lobular mastitis (GLM) is a type of benign chronic inflammatory disease that poses therapeutic challenges to healthcare providers. The diagnosis of GLM relies on tissue biopsy, and incorrect treatment may lead to delayed diagnosis, considerable aesthetic damage, and even mastectomy. CASE SUMMARY: We report the case of a 37-year-old Chinese woman who was lactating and had GLM in both breasts. At the time of treatment, the right breast had a mass of approximately 15 cm × 11 cm, which was hard and had poor mobility. Multiple skin ulcerations and pus spills were also observed on the surface of the breast. The left breast had a mass of about 13 cm × 9 cm, which was hard and had poor mobility. CONCLUSION: Herein, we report a case of bilateral GLM in a lactating woman that was successfully treated with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), without the requirement for surgery or other treatments. Therefore, TCM may have advantages in the nonsurgical treatment of GLM.

Multi-targeting chemoprevention of Chinese herb formula Yanghe Huayan decoction on experimentally induced mammary tumorigenesis.

BACKGROUND: Development of safe and effective chemopreventive agents is a winning strategy in reducing the morbidity and mortality of breast cancer. The current study was to investigate the mechanism-based chemopreventive potential of a Chinese herb formula Yanghe Huayan (YHHY) Decoction on the classical 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA) induced rat mammary carcinogenesis model. METHODS: Female Sprague-Dawley rats at 42 days of age were orally administered with a human equivalent dose of YHHY Decoction at 0.02 ml/g (10 mg/ml) once daily, starting 1 wk. before and 4 wks following DMBA treatment. Mammary tumor occurrence was monitored every day. The length of time before palpable tumor is examined is defined as tumor-free survival time. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analyses were adopted to identify major chemical compositions of the decoction. Following bioinformatics data mining and experimental analyses were performed to demonstrate the underlying mechanism of action. RESULTS: DMBA animals receiving YHHY Decoction exhibited a significant delay (P = 0.014) and in some animals prevention (P = 0.046) of tumor occurrence without obvious toxicity. Oncogenic myc activation was significantly suppressed in the DMBA-induced rats by the YHHY treatment. Eight major chemical compositions of the decoction were identified and were shown to interfere with multiple tumorigenic pathways simultaneously in the mammary tumors, including inducing tumor apoptosis and up-regulating pro-apoptotic protein Bax and down-regulating anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2; suppressing abnormal cell proliferation and the MAPK/ERK, PI3K/AKT signalings; blocking neo-angiogenesis and the VEGF/KDR signaling, and inhibiting oxidative stress in the mammary tumors. CONCLUSION: The multi-components and multi-targeting properties of the YHHY Decoction support its use as a potent chemopreventive drug in breast cancer.

[Effect of yanghe huayan decoction on precancerosis of breast cancer, protein and mRNA expression of ki67: an experimental research].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of Yanghe Huayan Decoction (YHD, a representative recipe for warming yang mass dissipating) in inhibiting precancerosis of breast cancer (PBC) and on the protein and mRNA expression of ki67. METHODS: The PBC rat model was established by dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA), and 9 weeks later rats were randomly divided into the blank control group, the model group, the YHD group, the Sanjie Huatan Decoction group (SHD), the Pingxiao Tablet group (PT), and the tamoxifen group. Rats in the model group were administered with water by gastrogavage. Rats in the YHD group received YHD (deglued antler powder 12 g, prepared rhizome of rehmannia 9 g, cassia bark 6 g, white mustard seed 3 g, zedoary root 12 g, appendiculate cremastra pseudobulb 15 g, chekiang fritillary bulb 9 g, licorice root 6 g) at the daily dose of 7.2 g/kg by gastrogavage. Rats in the SHD group received SHD (oldenlandia diffusa 15 g, Scutellaria Barbata 15 g, Trichosanthes Kirilowii 15 g, pinellia 9 g) at the daily dose of 5.4 g/kg by gastrogavage. Rats in the PT group received PT at the daily dose of 144 mg/kg by gastrogavage. Those in the tamoxifen group received tamoxifen at the daily dose of 4 mg/kg by gastrogavage. Pathomorphological changes of the breast tissue were observed by HE staining. The positive rate and the gray value of ki67 expression were detected by immunohistochemical assay. And the expression of ki67 mRNA was detected by q-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with the model group, the general hyperplasia and the occurrence rate of precancerous lesion were higher and the occurrence rate of invasive carcinoma was lower in each treatment group (P < 0.05). Except the SHD group, the intensity of ki67 grey value increased in each treatment group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Except the PT group, the positive rate of ki67 and mRNA expression of ki67 increased in the rest treatment groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Compared with the YHD group, there was no statistical difference in the occurrence rate of infiltration or the occurrence rate of precancerous lesion (P > 0.05). The positive rate of ki67 expression and mRNA expression of ki67 increased in the PT group, showing statistical difference (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: YHD could partially inhibit and reverse canceration of breast cancer. It also could inhibit ki67 protein and mRNA expression. Its effect was similar to tamoxifen and superior to PT. So it was suitable for prevention and treatment of precancerous lesion of breast cancer.