Association of PTPN1 polymorphisms with breast cancer risk: A case-control study in Chinese females.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) risk, development, and prognosis were closely related to obesity, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome. Protein tyrosine phosphatase, non-receptor type 1 (PTPN1) located on chromosome 20q13, could negatively regulate insulin and leptin signaling. In this study, we determined the association of PTPN1 polymorphisms with BC risk. METHODS: We analyzed the distribution of 11 selected PTPN1 single nucleotide polymorphisms in Chinese female patients with BC (n = 953) and healthy controls (n = 963) based on a multicenter case-control study. The association of PTPN1 genotypes and haplotypes frequencies with BC risk were determined by logistic regression analysis. Analyses were further stratified by body mass index (BMI), waist-hip rate (WHR), diabetes mellitus history, and fasting plasma glucose level. The eQTL (expression Quantitative Trait Loci) analysis for PTPN1 was conducted by GTEx database. RESULTS: There were significant differences between BC cases and control groups in menopausal status, number of births, and BMI. Four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs3215684, rs3787345, rs718049, and rs718050) decreased overall BC risk, and other seven SNPs showed no significant association with BC risk. In multivariate analysis, BMI and rs3215684 DT + DD genotype were identified as independent risk factors for BC, and mutated genotypes of rs3215684 were correlated with increased PTPN1 expression. There are no haplotypes showed different frequencies between cases and controls. In the stratified analysis, rs2206656 showed a significant association with decreased BC risk in the subgroup of BMI ≤ 24 kg/m 2 , while rs3215684 and rs718049 showed lower BC risk in the subgroup of WHR > 0.85. Seven SNPs showed lower BC risk in the subgroup with diabetes mellitus history and/or fasting plasma glucose level ≥ 7 mM, while rs754118 decreased BC risk in the subgroup of fasting plasma glucose level < 7 mM. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that PTPN1 SNPs associated with BC susceptibility in Chinese females, which also suggested a novel mechanism between obesity, diabetes mellitus, and BC risk.

Distinct Effects of Body Mass Index and Waist/Hip Ratio on Risk of Breast Cancer by Joint Estrogen and Progestogen Receptor Status: Results from a Case-Control Study in Northern and Eastern China and Implications for Chemoprevention.

BACKGROUND: Obesity is a consideration in the pharmacologic intervention for estrogen receptor (ER) positive (ER+) breast cancer risk. Body mass index (BMI) and waist/hip ratio (WHR) have demonstrated different effects on breast cancer risk in relation to estrogen receptor (ER) status, but the results have been inconsistent. Furthermore, the situation in Chinese women remains unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a case-control study including 1,439 breast cancer cases in Northern and Eastern China. Both ER and progesterone receptor (PR) statuses were available for 1,316 cases. Associations between body size-related factors and breast cancer risk defined by receptor status were assessed by multiple polytomous unconditional logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: Body mass index and WHR were positively associated with overall breast cancer risk. Body mass index was positively associated with both ER+/PR positive (PR+) and ER negative (ER-)/PR negative(PR-) subtype risks, although only significantly for ER+/PR+ subtype. Waist-hip ratio was only positively correlated with ER-/PR- subtype risk, although independent of BMI. Body mass index was positively associated with risk of ER+/PR+ and ER-/PR- subtypes in premenopausal women, whereas WHR was inversely correlated with ER+/PR- and positively with ER-/PR- subtype risks. Among postmenopausal women, WHR >0.85 was associated with increased risk of ER-/PR- subtype. CONCLUSION: Both general and central obesity contribute to breast cancer risk, with different effects on specific subtypes. General obesity, indicated by BMI, is more strongly associated with ER+/PR+ subtype, especially among premenopausal women, whereas central obesity, indicated by WHR, is more specific for ER-/PR- subtype, independent of menopausal status. These results suggest that different chemoprevention strategies may be appropriate in selected individuals. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results of this study suggest that general and central obesity may play different roles in different breast cancer subtypes, supporting the hypothesis that obesity affects breast carcinogenesis via complex molecular interconnections, beyond the impact of estrogens. The results also imply that different chemoprevention strategies may be appropriate for selected individuals, highlighting the need to be particularly aware of women with a high waist/hip ratio but normal body mass index. Given the lack of any proven pharmacologic intervention for estrogen receptor negative breast cancer, stricter weight-control measures may be advised in these individuals.

Clinical and pathological portraits of axillary presentation breast cancer and effects of preoperative systemic therapy.

There is a lack of investigation into the biological characteristics and preoperative systemic therapy (PST) for occult breast cancer (OBC). For this study, departmental records in Breast Disease Center of Peking University First Hospital from January 2008 to December 2015 were retrospectively reviewed to identify cases of OBC. Eleven cases were included, and all patients were female, with a median age of 56 (range: 29-75) years. The sensitivity of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was 100%, and the false positive rate was 33.3%. Based on histologic analysis of the axillary node, 9 (81.8%) cases were grade 3, and 2 (18.2%) cases were grade 2; 4 (36.4%) cases were ≥10% estrogen receptor (ER) positive and 6 (54.5%) human epidermal growth receptor 2 (HER2) positive. Nine cases (81.8%) exhibited over 30% Ki67 expression. PST was performed in 5 of the 11 cases. The lymph node response rate was 100% (5/5), but no complete remission was achieved. In conclusion, aggressive subtypes were predominant among the included cases, and PST should be considered for OBC treatment options.

A retrospective prognostic evaluation analysis using the 8th edition of American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) cancer staging system for luminal A breast cancer.

OBJECTIVE: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical prognostic value of the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system for luminal A breast cancer. METHODS: Using both the anatomic and prognostic staging in the 8th edition of AJCC cancer staging system, we restaged patients with luminal A breast cancer treated at the Breast Disease Center, Peking University First Hospital from 2008 to 2014. Follow-up data including 5-year disease free survival (DFS), overall survival (OS) and other clinic-pathological data were collected to analyze the differences between the two staging subgroups. RESULTS: This study included 421 patients with luminal A breast cancer (median follow-up, 61 months). The 5-year DFS and OS rates were 98.3% and 99.3%, respectively. Significant differences in 5-year DFS but not OS were observed between different anatomic disease stages. Significant differences were observed in both 5-year DFS and OS between different prognostic stages. Application of the prognostic staging system resulted in assignment of 175 of 421 patients (41.6%) to a different group compared to their original anatomic stages. In total, 102 of 103 patients with anatomic stage IIA changed to prognostic stage IB, and 24 of 52 patients with anatomic stage IIB changed to prognostic stage IB, while 1 changed to prognostic stage IIIB. Twenty-two of 33 patients with anatomic stage IIIA were down-staged to IIA when staged by prognostic staging system, and the other 11 patients were down-staged to IIB. Two patients with anatomic stage IIIB were down-staged to IIIA. Among seven patients with anatomic stage IIIC cancer, two were down-staged to IIIA and four were down-staged to stage IIIB. CONCLUSIONS: The 8th edition of AJCC prognostic staging system is an important supplement to the breast cancer staging system. More clinical trials are needed to prove its ability to guide selection of proper systemic therapy and predict prognosis of breast cancer.

Nuclear Gli1 expression is associated with pathological complete response and event-free survival in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant therapy.

Aberrant activation of the hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway has shown predictive significance for treatment response and prognostic effect for survival in human tumors. However, the associations of the Hh signaling pathway with response to neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) and survival after NAT in breast cancer are unknown. Therefore, we investigated the correlation of pretherapeutic nuclear expression of glioma-associated oncogene homolog 1 (Gli1), a key transcriptional factor of the Hh signaling pathway, with pathological complete response (pCR) and event-free survival (EFS) in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based NAT. High nuclear Gli1 expression (OR 0.19; 95 % CI 0.07-0.54; P = 0.002) and positive hormone receptor (HR) status (OR 0.36; 95 % CI 0.14-0.90; P = 0.028) were independent and negative predictors of pCR in multivariate analysis. High nuclear Gli1 expression was significantly associated with lower pCR rates in both HR-positive and HR-negative tumors (P = 0.014 and 0.024, respectively). For survival analyses, multivariate analysis indicated that high nuclear Gli1 expression was the only independent predictor of poorer EFS in both the entire population (hazard ratio 2.97; 95 % CI 1.18-7.44; P = 0.020) and patients with non-pCR (hazard ratio 3.98; 95 % CI 1.35-11.68; P = 0.012). Our study is the first to demonstrate the associations of high nuclear Gli1 expression with resistance to trastuzumab-based NAT and subsequent worse prognosis in HER2-positive disease. These findings suggest that the nuclear Gli1 protein may be a novel target of NAT for HER2-positive breast cancer.

[Predictive factors of pathological complete response in primary human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive factors of pathological complete response (pCR) in primary human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). METHODS: Totally 101 patients of primary HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based NAC and subsequent curative surgical therapy in the Breast Disease Center of Peking University First Hospital from September 2007 to December 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. All patients were female with a median age of 53 (range 23 to 70) years.All patients received a taxanes- and carboplatin-containing chemotherapy, and trastuzumab was administered concurrently.A pCR, defined as the absence of invasive tumor cells in the breast and axillary lymph nodes, was achieved in 37.6% of patients (38/101). For analysis of the associations between clinicopathological factors and pCR, the χ(2) test or Fisher's exact test was used for univariate analysis, and multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate OR and 95% CI. RESULTS: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (χ(2)=14.981, P=0.000), hormone receptor (HR) status (χ(2)=9.513, P=0.002), and tumor grade (χ(2)=4.005, P=0.045) were significantly associated with pCR in univariate analysis. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes positive (OR=4.74, 95% CI: 1.87 to 12.01, P=0.001) and HR-negative (OR=3.28, 95% CI: 1.31 to 8.20, P=0.011) were independent predictive factors of pCR in multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes-positive and HR-negative were independent predictive factors of pCR in primary HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based NAC.

Optimal threshold for stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes: its predictive and prognostic value in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the optimal threshold for stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and investigate its predictive and prognostic value in HER2-positive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab-based neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). Levels of stromal TILs were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections of core biopsies from 116 patients. We investigated the correlation between stromal TILs and pathological response to identify its optimal threshold. Using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, a 30 % threshold best discriminated pathological complete response (pCR) from non-pCR subgroups (P < 0.001). Lymphocyte-rich breast cancer (LRBC) was defined as having ≥30 % stromal TILs level, and was used for analysis. For analyses of predictive factors, multivariate analysis indicated that LRBC was a strong predictor of pCR with an odds ratio of 5.23 (P < 0.001). Negative hormone receptor (HR) status was also significantly associated with pCR (P = 0.028). LRBC significantly predicted pCR in both HR-positive and HR-negative tumors (P = 0.016 and 0.006, respectively). For survival analyses, LRBC was the only independent predictor of improved event-free survival (EFS) among baseline clinicopathological factors in multivariate analysis (P = 0.012). When pathological response was included, both LRBC and pCR were independent predictors of better EFS (P = 0.040 and 0.045, respectively). LRBC significantly predicted longer EFS in the non-pCR subgroup (P = 0.018), whereas LRBC was not significantly associated with EFS in the pCR subgroup (P = 0.825). A 30 % threshold for stromal TILs optimally identified response to trastuzumab-based NAC in HER2-positive breast cancer; its predictive and prognostic value was also validated in our study.

[Clinicopathological features of Luminal B-like breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To explored the clinicopathological features of Luminal B-like breast cancer and analyze the value of St. Gallen consensus in its treatment. METHODS: The patients with invasive breast cancer treated at our hospital between January 2010 and December 2012 were recruited and divided into five subtypes according to the criteria of St. Gallen International Expert Consensus report 2013. And their TNM stages, pathological characteristics and Ki-67 status were analyzed for Luminal B-like subtype. RESULTS: The Luminal B-like subtype was found in 390 patients (52.8%), human epidermalgrowth factor receptor 2(HER-2) positive in 89 patients (22.8%) and negative in 301 patients (77.2%).Only 7.3% required chemotherapy based upon the result of gene detection. CONCLUSION: Only those patients for whom the need of chemotherapy is to be determined shall really benefit from gene detection.

[Re-evaluation of HER2 status in 1 501 invasive breast cancers according to the 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathology guidelines].

OBJECTIVE: To retrospectively evaluate the HER2 status of 1 501 invasive breast cancer (IBC) by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescent in situ hybridizaion (FISH), and to compare and analyze the changes and their effects, using the 2007 and 2013 American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologist(ASCO/CAP) HER2 testing guidelines. METHODS: Tissue handling and HER2 testing were performed according the 2007 ASCO/CAP guideline recommendations. The HER2 status of all newly diagnosed IBC were routinely assessed by IHC, and reflex FISH assay was done on all the IHC equivocal (IHC 2+) cases. The HER2 status of 1 501 cases of IBC was re-evaluated according to these two criteria. RESULTS: Using the 2007 and 2013 ASCO/CAP criteria, the overall positive, equivocal and negative rates of HER2 over-expression and/or amplification in the 1 501 IBCs were 23.05% and 23.52%, 11.59% and 12.52%, and 65.36% and 63.96%, respectively. The positive and equivocal rates increased by 0.47% and 0.93% respectively, but the negative rate decreased by 1.40% when using the new criteria. For HER2 IHC staining using the 2007 and 2013 guidelines, the positive, equivocal and negative rates were 17.99% and 18.13% (+0.13%), 32.51% and 32.91% (+0.40%) and 49.50% and 48, 97% (-0.53%), respectively. FISH for HER2 amplification was done in 348 of the 1 501 IBCs, and using the 2007 and 2013 guidelines, the positive, equivocal and negative rates were 27.59% and 29.02% (+1.43%), 1.15% and 3.74% (+2.59%) and 71.26% and 67.24% (-4.02%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The application of 2013 ASCO/CAP guideline could lead to an increase in positive and equivocal rates, and a decrease in negative rate. The influence could be more prominent for the evaluation of FISH result, and would raise the positive and equivocal rates since a mean HER2 copy number is used in the new criteria. Our re-estimation of IHC result was concordant with the prediction of the guideline.

[Neoadjuvant treatment in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive breast cancer].

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy among females worldwide. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer represents a subtype with aggressive behavior, poor response to treatment and unfavorable prognosis. Anti-HER2-based neoadjuvant treatment has improved clinical outcomes of patients with HER2-positive disease. Pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant treatment indicates a favorable prognosis. With the development of HER2-targeted therapy and neoadjuvant treatment, numerous studies focus on the predictive factors of pCR or therapeutic resistance of anti-HER2 therapy. Identification of novel predictive factors in HER2-positive breast cancer, such as tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, will be helpful for clinical decision.

[Analysis on clinical and pathological characteristics of 66 patients with stage IV breast cancer].

OBJECTIVES: To explore the clinical and pathological characteristics of stage IV breast cancer and to analyze their relationship with the morbidity and prognosis. METHODS: The records of 66 patients presenting from January 2008 to December 2014 with stage IV breast cancer were reviewed. All of the patients were women and the median age was 57.5 (31 to 80) years, accounted for 3.01% (66/2 189) among the breast cancer patients treated in the same period. Statistical methods were used to analyze the correlation between clinical and pathological characteristics such as T-stage, N-stage, immuno-histo-chemistry and the morbidity and prognosis of stage IV breast cancer. The influence of patients characteristics to metastasis were compared by χ(2) test. Kaplan-Meier curves were reported for overall survival (OS), and the Log-rank test was used to compare the difference in groups. Cox proportional models were fitted for multivariate analysis. RESULTS: The median survival time of stage IV breast cancer was 56.0 months and the 5-year survival rate was 40%. To metastasis, the effects of age, subtypes, histological grade, hormone receptor (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)had no significant statistics differences. It was concluded that the expression of HER2 (P=0.003) and HR (P=0.001) as well as single metastasis (P=0.029) were the influencing factors of the survival by multivariate Cox regression analysis. Primary tumor R0 surgery group and no surgery group had no significant statistics differences of overall survival and the 5-year survival rate (P=0.102). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical and pathological characteristics have no effect on metastasis. The expression of HER2 and HR as well as single metastasis play important roles in survival.

[Role of magnetic resonance imaging for response evaluation and predictive value of tumor biomarkers in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer:a multi-center prospective study].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) in monitoring therapy responses and analyze the predictive value of tumor biomarkers in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. METHODS: From August 2010 to August 2013, the patients diagnosed as primary invasive breast cancer were admitted into this multi-center study. All of them received 6 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and DCE-MRI during the procedure and underwent surgery. The associations between clinical therapy response and pathologic response as well as predictive factors were analyzed. RESULTS: As for evaluating neoadjuvant treatment response, DCE-MRI had statistically significant correlations with histopathology. PR negativity, HER-2 over-expression and high Ki-67 index were statistically correlated with pathologic complete response (pCR) (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: DCE-MRI is a reliable method of assessing the response of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer. And the immunohistochemistry status of PR, HER-2 and Ki-67 were related with pCR.

[Study on clinicopathological classification and clinical and pathological characteristics in breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To explored the relationship of clinicopathological classification and clinical and pathological characteristics of breast cancer and analyze the value in treatment. METHODS: The patients with invasive breast carcinoma had been treated between January 2011 and December 2012. The breast cancer have been divided into luminal A, luminal B, HER2-positive and triple-negative subtypes according to criteria of St. Gallen International Expert Consensus report 2011. The Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test were used to analyze the relationships between four subtypes and TNM staging, histopathological grading. RESULTS: The 530 cases of invasive breast cancer patients were included in this study. The luminal A was 94 cases (17.7%), the luminal B was of 285 cases (53.8%), the HER2-positive was 59 cases (11.1%), and the triple-negative subtype was 92 cases (17.4%). In luminal B subtype, the HER2-positive was 56 (19.6%) and negative was 229 (80.4%). Most of luminal B was later in grade (71.7% of cases were more than II grade) and stage (66.7% were more than stage II). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical pathological classification is important in the individualized treatments of breast cancer, and the Luminal types (A+B) are more than 71.5% of all breast cancer patients, and they should be paid more attention to the endocrine therapy; Luminal B type accounted for 53.8% of all breast cancer and it needs further study to improve the precision of the diagnosis and treatment.

[Analysis of detecting value of ultrasound and the clinic-pathological features of axillary metastasis in breast cancer].

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the value of ultrasound (US) in predicting axilla status and to investigate the clinic pathologic characters in the axillary node metastasis. METHODS: From June 2012 to June 2013, 323 female primary breast cancer patients who received both axilla ultrasound and pathology examinations were reviewed retrospectively. The features of axillary nodes including diameter, longitudinal-transverse axis ratio, cortical thickness and blood flow grade were used to evaluate axillary status. US accuracy of axillary node metastasis was analyzed correlated with the final pathology results. The clinical and histological features associated with axillary node metastasis was analyzed by χ² test. RESULTS: The proportions of Luminal A-like, Luminal B-like, human epidermalgrowth factor receptor-2 positive and triple negative breast cancer were 11.1% (36/323), 58.5% (189/323), 13.3% (43/323) and 17.0% (55/323) . The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of axilla US in the diagnosis of nodal metastasis were 35.6% (46/129), 98.9% (181/183), 95.8% (46/48) and 68.6% (181/264). Axillary lymph node metastasis had statistically significant correlation with menopausal status and clinical tumor size (χ² = 4.337, 11.100; P = 0.037, 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Standardized ultrasound is the basic way to evaluate axilla status. Sentinel lymph node biopsy should be done to acquire accurate preoperative staging of axilla when US shows no signs of metastasis. Axillary lymph node metastasis is significantly related to menopausal status and clinical tumor size, but not significantly related to subtype classification of primary breast cancer.

[Effects of vinorelbine plus cisplatin as second-line neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen in the treatment of breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To study the value of a combination of vinorelbine and cisplatin (NP) as second-line neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen for primary breast cancer. METHODS: Primary breast cancer patients on neoadjuvant chemotherapy and non-responsive to anthracyclines plus taxanes received the NP regimen. The clinical objective response was evaluated with dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) according to RECIST 1.1 before operation. The pathological response was evaluated by the Miller-Payne grading system. And the toxicities were observed and evaluated according to National Cancer Institute-Common Terminology Criteria Version 3.0 (NCI-CTC v3.0). RESULTS: A total of 33 breast cancer patients were examined. The outcomes were complete remission (CR, n = 0, 0%), partial remission (PR, n = 16, 48.5%), stable disease (n = 17, 51.5%) and progressive disease (n = 0, 0%). The clinical responsive rate (CR + PR) rate was 48.5%. The pathological response rates were G1 (n = 6, 18.2%), G2 (n = 6, 18.2%), G3 (n = 10, 30.3%), G4 (n = 9, 27.2%) and G5 (n = 2, 6.1%). And the pathological response (G3+G4+G5) was found in 21 cases (63.6%). The most common toxicities included neutropenia and nausea/vomiting. No serious toxicities were observed. CONCLUSION: As a well-tolerated and effective regimen, NP regimen may be recommended as an option of second-line neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen for primary breast cancer.

[Analysis of intraoperative molecular assessment of sentinel lymph nodes in breast carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the reliability and application of GeneSearch(TM) breast lymph node assay (Genesearch), a real-time fluorescence quatitative PCR method, in intraoperative assay of metastasis in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) from breast cancer patients. METHODS: Totally 140 SLNs from 80 patients with breast carcinoma were prospectively studied from May 2010 to August 2010. The 80 patients included 78 women and 2 men who ranged in age from 29 to 85 years, and the median age is 49 years. The expression of CK19 and mammaglobulin in all 140 SLNs were detected by Genesearch, and the results were compared with that of histological evaluation of both frozen and paraffin-embedded sections. RESULTS: Among SLNs, by histological analyses, there were 121 without metastasis, 17 with macrometastasis, 2 with micrometastasis, and none of isolated tumor cell. By Genesearch, there were 119 without metastasis and 21 with metastasis. Genesearch showed sensitivity of 89.4%, positive predictive value of 81.0%, negative predictive value of 98.3% and specificity of 96.7% by comparing to histological analyses. The concordance between Genesearch and histological analysis was 95.7%. The sensitivity of Genesearch was 15/17 for macrometastasis and 2/2 for micrometastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Genesearch detection presents high sensitivity and specificity in evaluating metastasis of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer, but strict performance technically is necessary to avoid false positive and false negative results. Inability of further subtyping for the positive cases might be the key limitations for wide application of this method.

[Factors related with pathological complete response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in primary breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the factors related with pathological complete response (pCR) of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. METHODS: The data of 159 primary breast cancer patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and operation with complete MRI data and histopathology evaluation in this center from January 2009 to December 2011 was analyzed. All the patients were female, aging from 28 to 70 years with a median of 50 years. The neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens were based on anthracyclines or taxanes, and trastuzumab was used in almost half of the human epidermalgrowth factor receptor 2 positive patients. The response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was comprehensively evaluated based on RECIST 1.1 and Miller-Payne grading system. SPSS 18.0 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Among the 159 patients, 10.1% patients had achieved complete response according to the MRI evaluation, and the rate of partial response, stable disease, and progressive disease was 65.4%, 24.5%, and 0 respectively. According to the Miller-Payne grading system, 27.7% patients had pathological response evaluated as G5 (pCR), and the response evaluated as G4, G3, G2, and G1 were 28.3%, 18.9%, 12.6%, and 12.6% respectively. The higher histological grade were correlated with pCR statistically (Z = -2.820, P = 0.005). Meanwhile strong expression of Ki67 (Z = -1.989, P = 0.047) and p53 (Z = -2.457, P = 0.014) were related to pCR in a significant statistically way. CONCLUSIONS: The response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy can be predicted. The histological grade and the immunohistochemistry results of Ki67 and p53 are related to pCR of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for primary breast cancer. Basal-like breast cancer had a higher pCR statistically.

[A study on the predictive and evaluational value of molecular subtypes and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the predictive value of molecular subtypes and the evaluational value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. METHODS: From January 2010 to December 2011, the 79 patients diagnosed as primary invasive breast cancer, having received 6 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and finished the mastectomy or the breast conserving surgery entered this study. A total of 79 patients participated in this prospective study. There were 6 (7.6%) luminal A cases, 42 (53.2%) luminal B cases, 14 HER-2 (17.7%) positive cases and 17 (21.5%) triple negative cases. The associations between molecular subtypes and clinical response as well as the pathological response were analyzed. The predictive value of molecular subtypes for the neoadjuvant chemotherapy was studied. RESULTS: Clinical effective rate was 85.3% (66/79). There was no statistical correlation between molecular subtypes and clinical effective rate. Pathologic effective rate was 79.7% (63/79). There was no statistical correlation between molecular subtypes and pathologic effective rate. Twenty-seven case achieved pathologic complete remission (pCR) in all the patients. No case achieved pCR in the patients classified as Luminal A. Twelve cases (28.6%, 12/42) achieved pCR in the luminal B patients.Five cases (5/14) achieved pCR in the HER-2 overexpression patients. Ten cases (10/17) achieved pCR in the triple-negative patients. There was a statistical correlation between the molecular subtypes and the pCR rate (P = 0.039), and between clinical evaluation by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and evaluation of pathological response (r = 0.432, P = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: Molecular subtypes and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI have a good value of predicting and evaluating the response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Awareness and Association with Frequency of Screening Among Women - China, 2020.

What is already known about this topic?: Breast cancer awareness plays a crucial role in promoting screening attendance, enabling early detection, and improving survival rates associated with breast cancer. Nevertheless, a persistent issue is the low public awareness of breast cancer warning signs and risk factors. What is added by this report?: Breast cancer awareness rate was 10.2%, with particularly low rates among never-screened and inadequately screened women. Factors associated with low awareness levels included low income, agricultural occupation, limited educational attainment, smoking, and the absence of professional recommendations. What are the implications for public health practice?: Consideration should be given to effective health education and delivery strategies aimed at women who have never been screened or have received inadequate screening.

A multicenter study of the clinicopathological characteristics and a risk prediction model of early-stage breast cancer with hormone receptor-positive/human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-low expression.

BACKGROUND: In light of the significant clinical benefits of antibody-drug conjugates in clinical trials, the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-low category in breast cancers has gained increasing attention. Therefore, we studied the clinicopathological characteristics of Chinese patients with hormone receptor (HR)-positive/HER2-low early-stage breast cancer and developed a recurrence risk prediction model. METHODS: Female patients with HR-positive/HER2-low early-stage breast cancer treated in 29 hospitals of the Chinese Society of Breast Surgery (CSBrS) from Jan 2015 to Dec 2016 were enrolled. Their clinicopathological data and prognostic information were collected, and machine learning methods were used to analyze the prognostic factors. RESULTS: In total, 25,096 patients were diagnosed with breast cancer in 29 hospitals of CSBrS from Jan 2015 to Dec 2016, and clinicopathological data for 6486 patients with HER2-low early-stage breast cancer were collected. Among them, 5629 patients (86.79%) were HR-positive. The median follow-up time was 57 months (4, 76 months); the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 92.7%, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate was 97.7%. In total, 412 cases (7.31%) of metastasis were observed, and 124 (2.20%) patients died. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that T stage, N stage, lymphovascular thrombosis, Ki-67 index, and prognostic stage were associated with recurrence and metastasis ( P <0.05). A recurrence risk prediction model was established using the random forest method and exhibited a sensitivity of 81.1%, specificity of 71.7%, positive predictive value of 74.1%, and negative predictive value of 79.2%. CONCLUSION: Most of patients with HER2-low early-stage breast cancer were HR-positive, and patients had favorable outcome; tumor N stage, lymphovascular thrombosis, Ki-67 index, and tumor prognostic stage were prognostic factors. The HR-positive/HER2-low early-stage breast cancer recurrence prediction model established based on the random forest method has a good reference value for predicting 5-year recurrence events. REGISTRITATION: ChiCTR.org.cn, ChiCTR2100046766.