Localization Techniques for Non-Palpable Breast Lesions : Current Status, Knowledge Gaps, and Rationale for the MELODY Study (EUBREAST-4/iBRA-NET, NCT 05559411)

Funding: The MELODY study will be financially supported by: Hologic, Merit Medical, Endomag and Sirius Medical.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Generalized polarization measurement and its connection with information energy

We generalize the polarization measurement to the projective measurements of mutually unbiased bases (MUBs). Based on this result, we reveal a direct connection between polarization measurement and information energy function. We also express the polarization measurement by means of symmetric informationally complete positive operator-valued measures (SIC-POVMs). We present an argument suggesting that polarization measurement by means of SIC-POVMs requires fewer resources than the projective measurements of MUBs

Association of biochemical and clinical parameters with parathyroid adenoma weight. Turkish-Bulgarian endocrine and breast surgery study group, hyperparathyroidism registry study

Background: Primary hyperparathyroidism (pHPT) caused by a single benign parathyroid adenoma is a common endocrine disorder that is affected by regional differences. Living in different geographical regions reveals differences in the laboratory results and pathological findings, but studies on this subject are not sufficient. The Article focuses on biochemical and pathological effects of geographical differences in parathyroid adenoma. In addition, the present study seeks to elaborate on treatment methods and effectiveness of screening in geographical area of Bulgaria and Turkey. Method: In this prospective study, 159 patients were included from 16 centres. Demographic characteristics, symptoms, biochemical markers and pathologic characteristics were analysed and compared between 8 different regions. Results: Patients from Turkish Black Sea had the highest median serum calcium (Ca) level, whereas patients from Eastern Turkey had the lowest median serum phosphorus (P) level. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between Ca, parathormone (PTH) and P levels according to regions. Patients from Eastern Turkey had the highest adenoma weight, while patients from Bulgaria had the lowest adenoma weight. The weight of adenoma showed statistically significant differences between regions (p 0.001). There was a correlation between adenoma weight and serum PTH level (p = 0.05) and Ca level (p = 0.035). Conclusion: This study has provided a deeper insight into the effect of the regional differences upon clinicopathological changing and biochemical values of pHTP patients with adenoma. Awareness of regional differences will assist in biochemical screening and treatment of this patient group. (c) 2021 Asian Surgical Association and Taiwan Robotic Surgery Association. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access Article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

The immune microenvironment characterisation and dynamics in hormone receptor–positive breast cancer before and after neoadjuvant endocrine therapy

Abstract Background Oestrogen receptor positive (ER+)/HER‐2 negative breast cancer (BC) is considered to be an immunologically cold tumour compared to triple negative breast cancer. Therefore, the tumour microenvironment (TME) of ER+/HER‐2 negative BC is understudied. The aim of this project is to investigate the TME and the immune response during neoadjuvant endocrine therapy (NET) and to correlate this with the treatment response in a real life setting. Methods Expression of immune checkpoint receptors and immune cells was examined immunohistochemically, pre‐ and post‐NET in a cohort of 56 ER+/HER‐2 negative BC patients. They were treated with tamoxifen (n = 16), an aromatase inhibitor (n = 40) or a combination of an aromatase inhibitor with a PI3K inhibitor (n = 11) for a median duration of 6 months (range 1–32 months). Immunohistochemical staining with monoclonal antibodies for PDL‐1, PD‐1, TIM‐3, LAG‐3, CTLA‐4, CD4, CD68 and FOXP3 were performed. All staining procedures were done according to validated protocols, and scoring was done by a pathologist specialized in breast cancer. Positivity was defined as staining >1% on TILs. Response to NET was evaluated according to tumour size change on imaging and Ki‐67 change. Results The median age was 61.02 (37–90) years. Diameter of tumour size decreased with a mean of 8.1 mm (−16 mm to 45 mm) (p < 0.001) during NET and the value of Ki‐67 value decreased with a median of 9 after NET (p < 0.001). An increase in PD‐L1 expression after NET showed a trend towards significant (p = 0.088) and CD‐4+ T cells significantly increased after NET (p = 0.03). A good response to NET defined as a decrease in tumour size and/or decrease of Ki‐67 was found to be associated with a longer duration of NET, a change of CD4+ T‐cells and a higher number of CD68+ tumour‐associated macrophages before the start of NET. Conclusion The immune microenvironment plays an important role in ER+/HER‐2 negative BC. NET influences the composition and functional state of the infiltrating immune cells. Furthermore, changes in the immune microenvironment are also associated with treatment response