Adenomyoepithelial adenosis associated with breast cancer: a case report and review of the literature

Adenomyoepithelial adenosis of the breast is an extremely rare type of adenosis. We herein present the case of a 35-year-old woman, who presented with a small painless hard lump and elastic soft induration of 5 cm in diameter in her left breast. Clinical examination and diagnostic workup were suggestive of a breast carcinoma, and a modified radical mastectomy and sentinel node biopsy were performed. Histopathological examination revealed adenomyoepithelial adenosis along with fibrocystic change and small invasive ductal carcinoma, slightly away from the adenosis. The presented case was thought to be initial-stage adenomyoepithelial adenosis and independently developing breast cancer. From a review of five reported cases of adenomyoepithelial adenosis, complete resection of the tumor and coexisting malignant disease may be recommended, owing to the tendency to develop breast cancer or malignant adenomyoepithelioma, or recurrence. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/2193-1801-2-50) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Monitoring Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Progression According to Reactive Oxygen Metabolite Derivative Levels

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the development, proliferation, and metastasis of colorectal cancer, but few studies have considered how oxidative stress changes in relation to treatment response. In this study, we investigated whether the rate of change in reactive oxygen metabolite derivatives (d-ROM)—serum markers of oxidative stress—could predict treatment response in metastatic colorectal cancer. We enrolled 53 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who were treated with 3 months of chemotherapy. We measured d-ROM levels and performed computed tomography before and after chemotherapy, and we examined the change in d-ROM levels for each anticancer treatment. Factors influencing the d-ROM ratio (post-treatment: pre-treatment levels) were examined using linear regression analysis. d-ROM levels decreased in patients showing a partial response (p p = 0.042). An increasing d-ROM ratio was associated with disease progression (regression coefficient: 0.416, 95% confidence interval: 0.279–0.555, p < 0.001). Our study indicates that d-ROM levels are useful markers of tumor progression and that the d-ROM ratio is useful for predicting treatment response in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

Presence of CD44v9-Expressing Cancer Stem Cells in Circulating Tumor Cells and Effects of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Levels on the Prognosis of Colorectal Cancer

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are cancer cells released from the primary tumor into the bloodstream, and contain cancer stem cells that influence tumor survival, recurrence, and metastasis. Here, we investigated CD44v9 expression in CTCs and impact of preoperative carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels on colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis. We analyzed the expression of CD44v9 mRNA in CTCs using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and preoperative CEA levels in blood samples obtained from 300 patients with CRC. Subsequently, we evaluated the association of CD44v9 expression and CEA levels with clinicopathological factors. CD44v9 mRNA was expressed in 31.3% of the patients, and was significantly associated with liver metastasis. Patients with positive CD44v9 expression had a lower 5-year survival rate (62.3%) than those with negative CD44v9 expression (82.8%, p p = 0.006). These results suggest that a combination of CD44v9 mRNA expression in CTCs and serum CEA levels could serve as a valuable prognostic marker for CRC, potentially enhancing the accuracy of prognosis predictions

Fructan Improves Survival and Function of Cryopreserved Rat Islets

Cryopreservation of pancreatic islets enables their long-term storage and subsequent transplantation; however, post-cryopreservation, islets viability, and functions are reduced to a significant extent. Islet is composed of five cells (α cell, β cell, δ cell, ε cell, and PP cell), and blood vessels that carry the nutrition. Freezing technology of the organization has not developed a good method. This paper is studied using a fructan which has been found to effectively freeze protect a material of the cell. Islet transplantation has been established as an effective means of treating patients with type 1 diabetes. In this study, we demonstrated the effectiveness of using a fructan on the cryopreserved islets by showing valid results for diabetes. Isolated rat islets were cryopreserved using phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) supplemented with different concentrations of fructan and/or dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) in FBS. The survival rates of the islets were estimated at different time intervals, and insulin secretion function was tested in vitro. Furthermore, the in vivo function was tested by syngeneic transplantation into streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, and the grafts were analyzed histologically and immunohistochemically. Fructan significantly increased islet survival; 30% fructan led to survival rates of more than 90% on day 3, which was significantly higher than those of the DMSO groups (p &lt; 0.05). For both fructan and DMSO, the survival showed dose dependence, with the highest rates observed for 30% fructan and 10% DMSO, respectively (p &lt; 0.05). The fructan groups showed a significantly increased insulin secretion volume in comparison to the DMSO groups (p &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, cell clusters of pancreatic islets were well maintained in the fructan group, whereas margin collapse and vacuolation were observed in the DMSO group. Three days after transplantation of pancreatic islets preserved with 30% fructan, the blood glucose levels of diabetic rats were restored to the normal range, and removal of transplanted pancreatic islets from the kidney led to a profound increase in blood glucose levels. Together, these results show that a fructan is effective at cryopreserving rat pancreatic islets for subsequent transplantation