Ecologic correlation Study on Nutrients/Foods Intake and Mortal ity for Female Breast Cancer in Korea

In order to investigate the possible role of dieta-ry factors on the recent increase in mortality for female breast cancer in Korea, an ecologic correlation study between per capita intakes of nutrients and foods and the mortality for female breast cancer during the last 10 years was conducted. In spite of the possibility of an ecologic fallacy, the age-adjusted mortality rates for female breast cancer were positively correlated with protein from animal source, total lipid, total animal foods, animal foods to total intake, fresh fish and shellfish, milk and milk products, and meat and meat products. The rates were inversely associated with energy from cereal, total carbohydrate, vegetable foods to total intake, total vegetable foods, daily intake of cereals and grain products, and starch and starch roots. These results suggest that an increased intake of protein- and fat-rich foods rather than carbohydrate-rich foods or vegetables might be associated with the increase in mortality for breast cancer during the last 10 years in Korea

Prognostic Significance of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Ant igen Exp ress ion in Soft Tissue Sarcomas of the Extremities

We analysed 40 patients with soft tissue sarcomas (STS) of the extremities to investigate the prognostic significance of the growth fraction of the tumor. The patients consisted of 27 males and 13 females, and the ages ranged from 18 to 70 years (median 46.9 years). Tumors were located in the thigh (47. 5%), forearm (15%), buttock (10%), shoulder (10%), axilla (5%), arm (5%), lower leg (5%), and foot (2.5%) in a descending order of frequency. Histologically, malignant fibrous histiocytoma (25%) and liposarcoma (25%) were the most common types, followed by synovial sarcoma (17.5%), malignant schwannoma (10%), and rhabdomyosarcoma (5%). Local recurrence ranging from 1 to 4 times (average 1.7 times) was noted in 18 cases (45%). Distant metastasis was found in 5 out of 30 patients (16.7%), and the lung, liver, and abdominal wall were the predilection sites. Cumulative survival rates of all STS studied were 76% and 58% in 2 years and 5 years, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that patient's age, surgical stage, histologic grade, differentiation of tumor cells, mitotic count, and proliferative index were related to survival. Among known parameters of histologic grading, only mitotic count was correlated with proliferative index. Multivariate analysis showed that patient's age, surgical stage and proliferative index were significant prognostic factors. This study indicates that the proliferative index using the antibody against proliferating cell nuclear antigen is useful to assess the prognosis of STS

Evaluation of the Satisfaction and Usefulness of a Web-Based Educational Program for Breast Cancer Patients

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based breast cancer educational program which consists of special features such as flash animations and online counseling as well as 7 different categories of information on breast cancer. The effectiveness of the program was analyzed in terms of its function and content. A total of 147 women with breast cancer who visited the website for at least 30 minutes and a minimum of 3 visits, participated in the survey

An Evaluation of the Weibull and the Logistic Models for Cox's Proportional Hazards Model

Cox's proportional hazards model has been widely used in medical researches to evaluate the relationship between prognostic factors of a disease and the occurrence of outcome event. On a theoretical basis, regression coefficient estimated from Cox's proportional hazards model could be approximated by using the Weibull and the logistic model. Breast cancer cases (n=86) diagnosed at the Seoul National University Hospital were selected to evaluate the possibility of some accelerated models as an approximate model to Cox's proportional hazards model. Age at operation, tumor size and lymph node metastasis were the variables concerned in this study. Parameter estimates of two variables from the Weibull model, which seemed not to violate the proportionality assumption of Cox's model, showed almost identical values to those from Cox's proportional hazards model. However, there was a substantial degree of discrepancy in the parameter estimate of another variable, which showed an apparent unproportionality. This study confirmed that both the Weibull and the logistic models could be used as approximate methods to the estimates from Cox's proportional hazards model. Particularly noteworthy was the fact that the PC-SAS system could be successfully applied to survival analysis when the parameters were going to be estimated using Cox's model

Fibrin Glue Reduces the Duration of Lymphatic Drainage after Lumpectomy and Level II or III Axillary Lymph Node Dissection for Breast Cancer: A Prospective Randomized Trial

This randomized prospective study investigated the effect of fibrin glue use on drainage duration and overall drain output after lumpectomy and axillary dissection in breast cancer patients. A total of 100 patients undergoing breast lumpectomy and axillary dissection were randomized to a fibrin glue group (N=50; glue sprayed onto the axillary dissection site) or a control group (N=50). Outcome measures were drainage duration, overall drain output, and incidence of seroma. Overall, the fibrin glue and control groups were similar in terms of drainage duration, overall drain output, and incidence of seroma. However, subgroup analysis showed that fibrin glue use resulted in a shorter drainage duration (3.5 vs. 4.7 days; p=0.0006) and overall drain output (196 vs. 278 mL; p=0.0255) in patients undergoing level II or III axillary dissection. Fibrin glue use reduced drainage duration and overall drain output in breast cancer patients undergoing a lumpectomy and level II or III axillary dissection

Differential profiling of breast cancer plasma proteome by isotope-coded affinity tagging method reveals biotinidase as a breast cancer biomarker

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of women's death worldwide. It is important to discover a reliable biomarker for the detection of breast cancer. Plasma is the most ideal source for cancer biomarker discovery since many cells cross-communicate through the secretion of soluble proteins into blood.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Plasma proteomes obtained from 6 breast cancer patients and 6 normal healthy women were analyzed by using the isotope-coded affinity tag (ICAT) labeling approach and tandem mass spectrometry. All the plasma samples used were depleted of highly abundant 6 plasma proteins by immune-affinity column chromatography before ICAT labeling. Several proteins showing differential abundance level were selected based on literature searches and their specificity to the commercially available antibodies, and then verified by immunoblot assays.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 155 proteins were identified and quantified by ICAT method. Among them, 33 proteins showed abundance changes by more than 1.5-fold between the plasmas of breast cancer patients and healthy women. We chose 5 proteins for the follow-up confirmation in the individual plasma samples using immunoblot assay. Four proteins, α1-acid glycoprotein 2, monocyte differentiation antigen CD14, biotinidase (BTD), and glutathione peroxidase 3, showed similar abundance ratio to ICAT result. Using a blind set of plasmas obtained from 21 breast cancer patients and 21 normal healthy controls, we confirmed that BTD was significantly down-regulated in breast cancer plasma (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, <it>p </it>= 0.002). BTD levels were lowered in all cancer grades (I-IV) except cancer grade zero. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of BTD was 0.78. Estrogen receptor status (<it>p </it>= 0.940) and progesterone receptor status (<it>p </it>= 0.440) were not associated with the plasma BTD levels.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study suggests that BTD is a potential serological biomarker for the detection of breast cancer.</p

G-protein-coupled receptor 81 promotes a malignant phenotype in breast cancer through angiogenic factor secretion

G-protein-coupled receptor 81 (GPR81) functions as a receptor for lactate and plays an important role in the regulation of anti-lipolytic effects in adipocytes. However, to data, a role for GPR81 in the tumor microenvironment has not been clearly defined. Here, GPR81 expression in breast cancer patients and several breast cancer cell lines was significantly increased compared with normal mammary tissues and cells. GPR81 knockdown resulted in impaired breast cancer growth and led to apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, the inhibition of GPR81 signaling suppressed angiogenesis through a phosphoinositide 3-OH kinase (PI3K)/Akt-cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) pathway, which led to decreased production of the pro-angiogenic mediator amphiregulin (AREG). Overall, these findings identify GPR81 as a tumor-promoting receptor in breast cancer progression and suggest a novel mechanism that regulates GPR81-dependent activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling axis in tumor microenvironment.open