Breastfeeding: a reproductive factor able to reduce the risk of luminal B breast cancer in premenopausal White women

In the medical literature, the role of breastfeeding and reproductive factors in the risk of breast carcinoma is still an open debate in premenopausal women. We highlight the role of breastfeeding and reproductive factors in luminal A and luminal B, the most frequent breast cancers. This case-control study analyzes a White premenopausal population of 286 breast cancer patients, divided into molecular subtypes, and 578 controls matched by age. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to assess the relationships of breastfeeding and other reproductive factors (age at menarche, parity, age at first pregnancy, number of children) with the risk of breast cancers. Among the variables examined, reproductive factors did not alter the risk of cancer, whereas breastfeeding up to 12 months was a significant protective factor against luminal B breast cancer (multivariate odds ratio: 0.22, 95% confidence interval: 0.09-0.59, P=0.002). In contrast, luminal A cases did not significantly correlate with breastfeeding or other reproductive factors. Breastfeeding up to 12 months is strongly protective against the more aggressive luminal B, but not against the less aggressive luminal A breast cancer in premenopausal White women

Comparison between male and female breast cancer survival using propensity score matching analysis

Male breast cancer (MBC) is a rare disease. The few studies on MBC reported conflicting data regarding survival outcomes compared to women. This study has two objectives: to describe the characteristics of a single-cohort of MBC and to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) between men and women using the propensity score matching (PSM) analysis. We considered MBC patients (n = 40) diagnosed between January 2004 and May 2019. Clinical, pathological, oncological and follow-up data were analyzed. Univariate analysis was performed to determine the prognostic factors on OS and DFS for MBC. We selected female patients with BC (n = 2678). To minimize the effect of the imbalance of the prognostic factors between the two cohorts, the PSM method (1:3 ratio) was applied and differences in survival between the two groups were assessed. The average age of MBC patients was 73 years. The 5-year OS and DFS rates were 76.7% and 72.2% respectively. The prognostic factors that significantly influenced OS and DFS were tumor size and lymph node status. After the PSM, 5 year-OS was similar between MBC and FBC (72.9% vs 72.3%, p = 0.70) while we found a worse DFS for MBC (72.2% vs 91.4%, p = 0.03). Our data confirmed previous reported MBC characteristics: we found a higher risk of recurrence in MBC compared to FMC but similar OS. MBC and FMC are different entities and studies are needed to understand its epidemiology and guide its management

Clinical study in phase- contrast mammography: image-quality analysis

The first clinical study of phase-contrast mammography (PCM) with synchrotron radiation was carried out at the Synchrotron Radiation for Medical Physics beamline of the Elettra synchrotron radiation facility in Trieste (Italy) in 2006–2009. The study involved 71 patients with unresolved breast abnormalities after conventional digital mammography and ultrasonography exams carried out at the Radiology Department of Trieste University Hospital. These cases were referred for mammography at the synchrotron radiation facility, with images acquired using a propagation-based phase-contrast imaging technique. To investigate the contribution of phase-contrast effects to the image quality, two experienced radiologists specialized in mammography assessed the visibility of breast abnormalities and of breast glandular structures. The images acquired at the hospital and at the synchrotron radiation facility were compared and graded according to a relative seven-grade visual scoring system. The statistical analysis highlighted that PCM with synchrotron radiation depicts normal structures and abnormal findings with higher image quality with respect to conventional digital mammography

Interval Breast Cancer Versus Screen-Detected Cancer: Comparison of Clinicopathologic Characteristics in a Single-Center Analysis

Interval breast cancers (IBC) have been of great concern since breast mammogram screening programs were introduced. We compared IBC to screen-detected cancers (SDC). IBC accounted for one-fifth of all breast cancers diagnosed in women who followed the regional screening program. IBC appeared to be more aggressive than SDC in terms of tumor invasiveness, size, and St Gallen molecular subtype, leading to worse overall and disease-free survival. Background: The introduction of breast screening programs has raised the problem of interval breast cancers (IBC). The aims of this study were to analyze the impact of IBC on the screening program, to compare IBC and screendetected cancers (SDC), and to identify possible predictors of mortality. Patients and Methods: Patients with breast cancer diagnosed during the regional breast screening program between January 2008 and December 2013 at a single center in Italy were included. Demographic, preoperative, and postoperative data were prospectively collected and retrospectively analyzed. Results: Five hundred thirty-four patients were enrolled; 106 women (19.9%) had IBC and 428 women (80.1%) SDC. IBC presented more aggressive features compared to SDC, such as tumor invasiveness (95% vs. 85%; P \ubc .005), tumor size ( pT2 37% vs. 21%; P \ubc .001), grade (G3 39% vs. 17%; P < .001), and St Gallen molecular subtype (triple negative 22% vs. 7%; P < .001), resulting in higher distant recurrence rate (8% vs. 2%; P \ubc .009) and worse overall and disease-free survival (P \ubc .03 and P \ubc .001, respectively). Cox multivariate regression analysis identified St Gallen molecular subtype as the only predictor of mortality in patients with breast cancer (P \ubc .03). Conclusion: IBC accounted for one-fifth of all breast cancers diagnosed in women who followed the regional screening program. Furthermore, IBC appeared to have more aggressive features compared to SDC, leading to worse survival. These worse survivals depended on St Gallen molecular subtype

Clinical application of low-dose phase contrast breast CT: methods for the optimization of the reconstruction workflow

Results are presented of a feasibility study of three-dimensional X-ray tomographic mammography utilising in-line phase contrast. Experiments were performed at SYRMEP beamline of Elettra synchrotron. A specially designed plastic phantom and a mastectomy sample containing a malignant lesion were used to study the reconstructed image quality as a function of different image processing operations. Detailed evaluation and optimization of image reconstruction workflows have been carried out using combinations of several advanced computed tomography algorithms with different pre-processing and post-processing steps. Special attention was paid to the effect of phase retrieval on the diagnostic value of the reconstructed images. A number of objective image quality indices have been applied for quantitative evaluation of the results, and these were compared with subjective assessments of the same images by three experienced radiologists and one pathologist. The outcomes of this study provide practical guidelines for the optimization of image processing workflows in synchrotron-based phase-contrast mammo-tomography

Transcriptome profiling of ripening nectarine (Prunus persica L. Batsch) fruit treated with 1-MCP

A large-scale transcriptome analysis has been conducted using μPEACH1.0 microarray on nectarine (Prunus persica L. Batsch) fruit treated with 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). 1-MCP maintained flesh firmness but did not block ethylene biosynthesis. Compared with samples at harvest, only nine genes appeared to be differentially expressed when fruit were sampled immediately after treatment, while a total of 90 targets were up- or down-regulated in untreated fruit. The effect of 1-MCP was confirmed by a direct comparison of transcript profiles in treated and untreated fruit after 24 h of incubation with 106 targets differentially expressed. About 30% of these targets correspond to genes involved in primary metabolism and response processes related to ethylene, auxin, and other hormones. In treated fruit, altered transcript accumulation was detected for some genes with a role in ripening-related events such as softening, colour development, and sugar metabolism. A rapid decrease in flesh firmness and an increase in ethylene production were observed in treated fruit maintained for 48 h in air at 20 °C after the end of the incubation period. Microarray comparison of this sample with untreated fruit 24 h after harvest revealed that about 45% of the genes affected by 1-MCP at the end of the incubation period changed their expression during the following 48 h in air. Among these genes, an ethylene receptor (ETR2) and three ethylene-responsive factors (ERF) were present, together with other transcription factors and ethylene-dependent genes involved in quality parameter changes

Studio pilota sul ruolo dell\u2019allattamento e dei fattori riproduttivi nel rischio dei carcinomi mammari Luminali nelle donne in premenopausa

Il ruolo dei fattori riproduttivi nel rischio di sviluppare un carcinoma alla mammella \ue8 ancora controverso e poco si sa su come questi influiscano sul rischio dei differenti sottotipi molecolari . La maggior parte degli studi pubblicati riguardano coorti di donne in pre e postmenopausa o solo donne in postmenopausa. Scopo del nostro studio \ue8 stato analizzare il ruolo dell\u2019allattamento e dei fattori riproduttivi nei tumori Luminali, il 75% di tutti i carcinomi della mammella, in un campione di donne giovani residenti nella provincia di Trieste, situata in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, una tra le regioni con i pi\uf9 alti tassi d\u2019incidenza di carcinoma mammario

Gestione delle pazienti con tumore fillode della mammella: esperienza triestina nel periodo 2006-2014

La diagnosi e la gestione dei tumori fillodi della mammella \ue8 complessa a causa del basso tasso di incidenza e dell\u2019imprevedibilit\ue0 del comportamento di questo tipo di neoplasie (meno dell\u20191% tra tutti i tumori della mammella [1]). L\u2019obiettivo di questo studio \ue8 analizzare i casi di tumori filloidi diagnosticati a Trieste nel periodo 2006-2014 al fine di contestualizzare il comportamento particolarmente aggressivo di un tumore fillode maligno insorto in una paziente con pregressi fillodi benigni

Different postharvest conditions modulate ripening and ethylene biosynthetic and signal transduction pathways in Stony Hard peaches

Stony hard (SH) peaches are characterized, at ripening, by the maintenance of flesh firmness and the lack of ethylene production due to a reduced expression of Pp-ACS1. In a trial comparing melting flesh (MF, cv. ‘Summer Rich’) and SH (‘IFF331’ selection) fruit at two different postharvest temperatures (10 and 20 °C), unexpected behaviour was observed in SH peaches that displayed an increase in ethylene production and a decrease in flesh firmness when stored at 10 °C, a temperature regime basically ineffective in delaying ripening in MF fruit. This appeared to be the result of an induction of Pp-ACS1 transcription, making this genotype of particular interest for studying temperature stress physiology and ethylene-related ripening processes in peaches. Comparative expression analyses of genes involved in cell wall metabolism pointed out the presence of a negative (Pp-EG4), positive (Pp-endoPG) or no (one member of the PL family) relationship with ethylene at ripening. Results clearly showed that the last stage of firmness decrease (melting) only occurs in fruit producing ethylene and is associated with Pp-endoPG transcript accumulation. The expression of genes involved in ethylene biosynthesis and signalling pathways was evaluated using QRT-PCR. Pp-ACO1 appeared to be induced in SH kept at 10 °C but not at 20 °C. Transient increases in Pp-CTR1 and Pp-EIN2like gene expression have only been detected at the early stages of ripening in samples producing ethylene, indicating that a causal relationship might exist between ethylene and elements of its transduction pathway during peach fruit ripening