Impact of serum vitamin D on the response and prognosis in breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have recently reported that the relationships between serum vitamin D and the prognosis or the pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer. However, there are no data regarding the clinical impacts of the vitamin D in Japanese breast cancer patients so far. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In the present study, a total of 250 patients with clinical Stage I-III primary breast cancer who were treated with NAC and subsequently underwent definitive surgery were included. Serum 25-hydroxvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels were evaluated using blood samples obtained before NAC. RESULTS: The serum 25(OH)D was positively associated with age, and the serum 25(OH)D was significantly higher in postmenopausal women than that in pre/peri-menopausal women. Serum 25(OH)D level was not associated with the achievement of pathological complete response (pCR) in this cohort. The low 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with shorter time to distant recurrence (TTDR). According to the univariate analysis, high clinical stage before NAC (cStage III) and low serum 25(OH)D level were significantly associated with the shorter TTDR, and pCR was significantly associated with the longer TTDR. According to a multivariate analysis, low serum 25(OH)D level were independent poor prognostic factors for TTDR. CONCLUSIONS: The low 25(OH)D levels were significantly associated with poorer prognosis in Japanese women with operable breast cancer patients treated with NAC.

Chemosensitivity and survival in gastric cancer patients with microsatellite instability.

INTRODUCTION: Conflicting data exist regarding the relevance of high-frequency microsatellite instability (MSI-H) for predicting the prognosis and benefits of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-based chemotherapy. This study investigated the usefulness of MSI as either a prognostic indicator or predictor of distinct clinical attributes regarding the use of adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-FU and its analogues in gastric cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data and tumor specimens were collected from 240 gastric cancer patients from 1993 to 2002. Five microsatellite loci were analyzed using a high-intensity microsatellite analysis reported previously. A Cox proportional hazard model was used to compare the clinical data and survival as well as any associations between MSI and 5-FU treatment status of patients with MSI or microsatellite stability (MSS) gastric cancers. A 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl) -2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was conducted in 168 cases to investigate chemosensitivity to 5-FU. RESULTS: This analysis identified 22 MSI-H (9.4%), 25 MSI-L (10.7%), and 193 MSS (79.9%) tumors. Gastric cancer with MSI-H tended to have increased likelihood to show higher age, antral location of the tumor, and lymph vessel involvement (P < 0.05). Univariate analyses failed to show any difference between the MSI-H and MSS/MSI-L groups with respect to overall survival. Furthermore, survival after the administration of 5-FU did not correlate with MSI status, and MSI was not associated with 5-FU sensitivity by MTT assay. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that MSI status has no clear influence on overall survival or response to 5-FU in gastric cancer.