ER, PgR, Ki67, p27Kip1, and histological grade as predictors of pathological complete response in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy using taxanes followed by fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide concomitant with trastuzumab

Patient and tumor characteristics at baseline. (PDF 6 kb

Calcium-dependent in vitro interaction between bovine adrenal medullary cell membranes and chromaffin granules as a model for exocytosis

The new batch of Working Documents based on studies undertaken for CTA include an analysis of functional literacy (see Spore 88), and a set of two case studies on small-scale food processing of cassava and maize in Congo and Cameroon respectively. For those keen to sharpen their skills in evaluating the impact of agricultural information, a new Working Document provides a selective review of the issues and the relevant literature. Its illustrative case studies include the Caribbean and Botswana. Study on functional literacy programmes for agricultural and rural development in Ethiopia CTA, 2000. 106 pp. CTA number 8020. 5 credit points Approaches to impact evaluation (assessment) in agricultural information management CTA, 2000. 33 pp. CTA number 8021. 5 credit points Savoir-faire et réseaux de petites entreprises agroalimentaires en Afrique CTA, 2000. 68 pp. CTA number 8022. 5 credit pointsStudy on functional literacy programmes for agricultural and rural development in Ethiopi

Anti-HER2 antibody enhances the growth inhibitory effect of anti-oestrogen on breast cancer cells expressing both oestrogen receptors and HER2

Anti-oestrogen is effective for the treatment of oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast carcinomas, butmost of these tumours become resistant to anti-oestrogen. It has been suggested that anti-oestrogen therapy may induce a HER2signalling pathway in breast cancer cells and this may cause resistance to anti-oestrogen. Thus, it is conceivable that combinedtherapy with anti-oestrogen and anti-HER2 antibody might be more effective. In the present study, we investigated the effect ofcombined treatment with a humanized anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, rhumAbHER2 (trastuzumab), and an anti-oestrogen, ICI 182,780, onthe cell growth of three human breast cancer cell lines which respectively express different levels of ER and HER2. The combinedtreatment enhanced the growth inhibitory effect on ML-20 cells, which express a high level of ER and a moderate level of HER2, butshowed no additive effect on either KPL-4 cells, which express no ER and a moderate level of HER2, or MDA-MB-231 cells, whichexpress no ER and a low level of HER2. It is also suggested that both the antibody and anti-oestrogen induce a G1–S blockadeand apoptosis. These findings indicate that combined treatment with anti-HER2 antibody and anti-oestrogen may be useful for thetreatment of patients with breast cancer expressing both ER and HER2. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaig

Cavernous lymphangioma of the breast

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cavernous lymphangioma is a rare lesion in the breast of adults. Only a few cases have been documented in literature.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We describe a 38-year-old woman who presented with a palpable breast lump, which measured 5 × 4 cm. A local excision of the lump was performed and a diagnosis of cavernous lymphangioma was made. The patient is alive and well, after five years of follow-up, with no complaints or recurrence.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case to be documented in a black African woman. Complete surgical excision seems to be the best modality of treatment of this lesion.</p

Development of automated brightfield double In Situ hybridization (BDISH) application for HER2 gene and chromosome 17 centromere (CEN 17) for breast carcinomas and an assay performance comparison to manual dual color HER2 fluorescence In Situ hybridization (FISH)

BACKGROUND: Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) is a quantitative assay for selecting breast cancer patients for trastuzumab therapy. However, current HER2 FISH procedures are labor intensive, manual methods that require skilled technologists and specialized fluorescence microscopy. Furthermore, FISH slides cannot be archived for long term storage and review. Our objective was to develop an automated brightfield double in situ hybridization (BDISH) application for HER2 gene and chromosome 17 centromere (CEN 17) and test the assay performance with dual color HER2 FISH evaluated breast carcinomas. METHODS: The BDISH assay was developed with the nick translated dinitrophenyl (DNP)-labeled HER2 DNA probe and DNP-labeled CEN 17 oligoprobe on the Ventana BenchMark(® )XT slide processing system. Detection of HER2 and CEN 17 signals was accomplished with the silver acetate, hydroquinone, and H(2)O(2 )reaction with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and the fast red and naphthol phosphate reaction with alkaline phosphatise (AP), respectively. The BDISH specificity was optimized with formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded xenograft tumors, MCF7 (non-amplified HER2 gene) and BT-474 (amplified HER2 gene). Then, the BDISH performance was evaluated with 94 routinely processed breast cancer tissues. Interpretation of HER2 and CEN 17 BDISH slides was conducted by 4 observers using a conventional brightfield microscope without oil immersion objectives. RESULTS: Sequential hybridization and signal detection for HER2 and CEN 17 ISH demonstrated both DNA targets in the same cells. HER2 signals were visualized as discrete black metallic silver dots while CEN 17 signals were detected as slightly larger red dots. Our study demonstrated a high consensus concordance between HER2 FISH and BDISH results of clinical breast carcinoma cases based on the historical scoring method (98.9%, Simple Kappa = 0.9736, 95% CI = 0.9222 – 1.0000) and the ASCO/CAP scoring method with the FISH equivocal cases (95.7%, Simple Kappa = 0.8993%, 95% CI = 0.8068 – 0.9919) and without the FISH equivocal cases (100%, Simple Kappa = 1.0000%, 95% CI = 1.0000 – 1.0000). CONCLUSION: Automated BDISH applications for HER2 and CEN 17 targets were successfully developed and it might be able to replace manual two-color HER2 FISH methods. The application also has the potential to be used for other gene targets. The use of BDISH technology allows the simultaneous analyses of two DNA targets within the context of tissue morphological observation