Effect of lycopene supplementation to bovine oocytes exposed to heat shock during in vitro maturation.

We investigated the effect of the antioxidant lycopene supplemented into the in vitro maturation medium (TCM-199 with 20 ng/mL epidermal growth factor and 50 mg/mL gentamycin) in a heat shock (HS) model to mimic in vivo heat stress conditions. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes were supplemented with 0.2 µM lycopene (or not supplemented; control) under HS (40.5 °C) and non-HS (NHS; 38.5 °C) during maturation. After 22 h of maturation, we evaluated the nuclear status of the oocytes, the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and the respective blastocyst development and quality (via differential staining). Data were fitted in logistic and linear regression models, and the replicates were set as a random effect. The nuclear maturation was higher in NHS (84.0 ± 3.2%; least square mean ± standard error) than HS control (60.4 ± 4.3%; P < 0.001). Remarkably, the nuclear maturation in HS lycopene (71.7 ± 4.1%) was similar to NHS control (P = 0.7). Under HS conditions lycopene reduced ROS production (27.4 ± 4.8; relative fluorescence units (RFU)) in comparison to HS control (33.8 ± 1.8 RFU; P = 0.009). However, the ROS production in NHS lycopene (18.9 ± 2.0 RFU) was similar to NHS control (18.7 ± 1.8 RFU; P = 0.9). The cleavage rate in HS lycopene (76.1 ± 3.3%) was not lower than NHS lycopene (83.3 ± 2.5%; P > 0.1). On the day 8 of embryo development, the blastocyst rate was higher for NHS lycopene (55.2 ± 4.7%) versus NHS control (44.5 ± 4.7%; P = 0.04), but under HS the day 8 blastocyst rate was similar between control (29.9 ± 4.2%) and lycopene (32.3 ± 4.2%; P = 0.9). Lycopene supplementation increased the cell number of the embryos (total cell, trophectoderm, and inner cell mass numbers) under NHS conditions (P > 0.03). The apoptotic cell ratio was lower in lycopene (NHS and HS) versus control (NHS and HS) (P > 0.04). Lycopene has the ability to scavenge oocyte ROS and improved the cleavage rate of embryos under HS conditions. However, this could not be translated to a higher blastocyst development, which remained lower under HS. Results of our study indicate that antioxidant supplementation like lycopene during the maturation of bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes may be routinely used to improve blastocyst rate and quality under standard maturation conditions.

Hormonal receptors in mammary carcinoma: comparison between quantitative and qualitative methods.

Alternatives to the traditional hormone receptor dosages for prognostic evaluation and clinical approach to breast cancer have been proposed for immunohistochemical determinations. For correlation purposes, such procedures were compared in 37 patients presenting 5 to 15 years of survival. Considering 30 fm/mg as the positivity index, the disagreement between both methods reached 35.1% with estrogen and 48.5% with progesterone receptors. When the positiveness level was changed to 20 fm/mg, the discrepancies were reduced to 32% with ER and increased to 57% with PgR. This study leads us to not recommend the immunohistochemical method applied to paraffin sections as an alternative procedure to the dextran-charcoal dosage for prognosis and therapeutic management of mammary carcinoma.

[Occult cancer as a special form of breast carcinoma]. / Câncer oculto como forma especial dos carcinomas mamários.

Occult carcinoma of the breast is characterized as a diagnosis made when the finding of axillary metastasis precedes the identification of the primary mammary lesion. This concept must be distinguished from subclinical breast cancer, in which a non-palpable tumor is discovered through radiological image. In 1975, a 56 years old patient presented an axillary metastatic lesion not detected by a conventional mammogram, but revealed by specialized equipment. After a modified radical mastectomy performed at that time, she has remained asymptomatic for 14 years. In 1985, a 51 years old patient, had an axillary clearance after a diagnosis of a malignant lymph node without the identification of the primary lesion on her homolateral breast, in spite of several tests. After 40 months, during her frequent follow-up, a small lump was identified by mammography. The patient underwent a quadrantectomy followed by radiotherapy and is asymptomatic after 2 years. These 2 cases, added to others mentioned in international literature, allow us to consider occult breast carcinoma as a particular type belonging to the special category of Unknown Primary Tumors (UPT), in which the biologic aspects and prognostic index authorize a less aggressive management than is usually accepted for the UPTs.

Cancer minimo de mama e seu tratamento. / Minimal breast cancer and its treatment

Apos a introducao da mamografia como exame de rotina em 1974, 21 pacientes foram diagnosticadas como portadoras de cancer minimo de mama, representando 4,5% do numero total de carcinomas mamarios atendidos no mesmo periodo. Cinco (1%) eram lobular in situ, sete (1,5%) intraductais e nove (2,0%) infiltrantes, iguais ou menores que 5 mm de diametro. O quadro clinico que encaminhou o diagnostico definitivo incluiu nodulo de mama, derrame papilar e eczema de Paget em quatro oportunidades cada um. Em nove pacientes, a lesao neoplasica foi localizada atraves de estudo radiologico da peca operatoria, em areas de microcalcificacoes identificadas na mamografia. O tratamento cirurgico dado a tais pacientes constou de mastectomia simples a uma portadora de Ca in situ; de mastectomia subcutanea bilateral em cinco casos, dos quais dois com linfadenectomia axilar homolateral; em sete vezes foi executada a mastectomia sub-radical, e nos demais oito casos a tecnica empregada foi a radical modificada de Patey. Em 17 das 21 pacientes, nao foi constatada extensao axilar da molestia. Todo o grupo de pacientes esta vivo e assintomatico