• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.442-446
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• 2018

Purpose: The definition of nodal pathologic complete response (pCR) after a neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) just included the evaluation of axillary lymph node (ALN) without internal mammary lymph node. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of internal mammary-sentinel lymph node biopsy (IM-SLNB) in patients with breast cancer who underwent NAC. Methods: From November 2011 to 2017, 179 patients with primary breast cancer who underwent operation after NAC were included in this study. All patients received radiotracer injection with modified injection technology. IM-SLNB would be performed on patients with internal mammary sentinel lymph node (IMSLN) visualization. Results: Among the 158 patients with cN+ disease, the rate of nodal pCR was 36.1% (57/158). Among the 179 patients, the visualization rate of IMSLN was 31.8% (57/179) and was 12.3% (7/57) and 87.7% (50/57) among those with $cN_0$ and cN+ disease, respectively. Furthermore, the detection rate of IMSLN was 31.3% (56/179). The success rate of IM-SLNB was 98.2% (56/57). The IMSLN metastasis rate was 7.1% (4/56), and all of them were accompanied by ALN metastasis. The number of positive ALNs in patients with IMSLN metastasis was 3, 6, 8, and 9. The pathology nodal stage had been changed from $pN_1/pN_2$ to $pN_{3b}$. The pathology stage had been changed from IIA/IIIA to IIIC. Conclusion: Patients with visualization of IMSLN should perform IM-SLNB after NAC, especially for patients with cN+ disease, in order to complete lymph nodal staging. IM-SLNB could further improve the definition of nodal pCR and guide the internal mammary node irradiation.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.237-242
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• 2007

The purpose of this study was to compare food intakes between Korean breast cancer patients and a healthy control group. We compared the intake of nutrients of 117 food items between Korean breast cancer patients (n=97) and age matched healthy controls (n=97). Nutrient intake was estimated using a quantitative food frequency questionnaire. The mean caloric intake of breast cancer patients and healthy controls was not significantly different. Breast cancer patients consumed significantly less fat and antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin A, retinol, ${\beta}-carotene$, vitamin C and vitamin E when compared to the control subjects. Among the food items, the intake of eggs (p<0.01), legumes (p<0.05), vegetables (p<0.05), seasonings (p<0.001), and oils and fats (p<0.01) in breast cancer patients was significantly lower than that in the controls. These results suggest that Korean breast cancer patients consumed less amount of soy and vegetables, which are rich source of antioxidant nutrients and phytosterols. Thus, dietary guidance to increase intake of these foods may be beneficial in the prevention of breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.149-152
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• 2013

Objective: To compare the influence of breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and modified radical mastectomy (MRM) on the psychological state of breast cancer patients. Methods: Patients receiving MRM or BCS, and fulfilling the study criteria, were recruited. Patients were required to complete a self-reporting inventory (SCL-90) on admission and 6 months after surgery and a self-rating depression scale (SDS) when discharged from hospital and 6 months after surgery. Results: A total of 70 patients received MRM and 50 BCS. Compared with the national standard, patients suffered to some extent psychological problems on admission, at discharge from hospital and at 6 months after surgery. Patients received BCS had a higher score of SDS compared with those with MRM when discharged from hospital. However, 6 months after surgery, SDS score increased in MRM and decreased in the BCS group, so the difference was significant. Conclusion: The short-term psychological state of patients receiving BCS is worse than that with MRM but superior to MRM 6 months postoperatively. BCS imposed less influence on long term psychological state of breast cancer patients compared with MRM.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6411-6414
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• 2014

Background: A dense breast not only reduces the sensitivity of mammography but also is a moderate independent risk factor for breast cancer. The percentage of Western women with fat breast tissue is higher aged 40 years or older. To a certain extent, mammography as a first choice of screening imaging method for Western women of this group is reasonable. Hitherto, the frequency and age distribution of mammographic breast density patterns among Chinese women had not been characterized. The purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency and age distribution of mammographic breast density patterns among a group of Chinese screening women and breast cancer patients in order to provide useful information for age-specific guidelines for breast cancer screening in Chinese women. Methods: A retrospective review of a total of 3,394 screening women between August and December 2009 and 2,527 breast cancer patients between July 2011 and June 2012 was conducted. Descriptive analyses were used to examine the association between age and breast density. The significance of differences of breast density between the screening women and the breast cancer patients was examined using nonparametric tests. Results: There was a significant inverse relationship between age and breast density overall (r=-0.37, p< 0.01). Breast density of the breast cancer patients in the subgroups of 40-49 years old was greater compared with that of the screening women, the same in those aged 50-54 years and in those 55 years old or older, less than in the screening group. Conclusions: With regard to the Chinese women younger than 55 years old, the diagnostic efficiency of breast cancer screening imaging examinations may be potentially improved by combining screening mammography with ultrasound.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.39-42
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• 2013

Background: Breast cancer is the most frequently occurring cancer among Iranian women; however limited studies have been conducted to address survival rates. Objective: The objective was to examine survival rates in Tabriz (Northwest of Iran) and comparing with those of data reported from other cities and countries. Methods: Survival rates were calculated for one, three, five, seven and ten years for 271 breast cancer patients referred to one university clinic during 1997-2008. Results: Survival analysis demonstrated a lower survival rate compared to western countries. Conclusions: Survival rates for our patients are similar/better than other cities in Iran, but lower than certain European countries and the US. Further studies with a higher number of patients are now required.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.175-177
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• 2016

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among the population as a whole and among females, yet it is highly curable if diagnosed at an early stage. Different methods are used to diagnose breast cancer. One of these methods features immunological tests using flow cytometry to determine T-lymphocyte (CD4/CD8) ratios in peripheral blood. One hundred patients with breast cancer (50 from Basra, Iraq, and 50 from Baku, Azerbaijan) confirmed to have breast cancer by histopathology were studied. Blood samples were collected from all patients before initiation of treatment and were used for analysis. The mean age of women from Basra was $51.2{\pm}10.7years$ and that of women from Baku was slightly higher at $54.8{\pm}12.2$. The mean CD4/CD8 ratio in Basra was 1.4 and in Baku was 1.8 with P value < 0.05. The percentage of Basra patients who have CD4/CD8 value less than 1 was 50%, while the percentage for Baku patients was 24 % (p < 0.05). While the CD4/CD8 T-lymphocyte ratio might be useful for early diagnosis in patients with breast cancer parallel with other confirmed tests factors involved in explaining variation between countries such as that observed here need to be taken into account.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2989-2993
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• 2016

The commonest cancer in Egyptian females occurs in the breast cfDNA is a non-invasive marker for tumor detetion and prognostic assessment in many types of cancer including breast cancer. This study aimed to assess the role of cfDNA and its fragmentation pattern in breast cancer prognosis and treatment response. Forty female patients with malignant breast tumors and a comparable group of healthy blood donors were enrolled prospectively. cfDNA levels and fragmentation patterns were investigated after cfDNA extraction, gel electrophoresis and gel analysis. The percentage of breast cancer patients positive for cfDNA (92.5%) was significantly higher than that of controls (55%). Also, mean concentration of cfDNA was significantly higher than in the control group (P<0.05). Most Her-2 positive patients had long cfDNA fragments, this being significant as compared to Her-2 negative patients (P<0.05). Metastasis was also positively linked to significantly higher cfDNA (P<0.05) and the mean cfDNA integrity index was significantly higher in non-responders compared to treatment responders (P<0.05). In conclusion, both qualitative and quantitative aspects of cfDNA and its different fragments in breast cancer patients could be related to prognosis, metastasis and treatment response. Long cfDNA fragments could be particularly useful for prediction purposes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6287-6293
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• 2014

Background: Invasion of breast cancer cells into blood and lymphatic vessels is one of the most important steps for metastasis. In this study the prognostic relevance of lymphangiogenesis and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in breast cancer patients was evaluated in terms of survival. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study concerned 518 breast cancer patients who were treated at Department of Surgical Oncology, Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute, Kolkata-700063, West Bengal, India, a reputed cancer centre and research institute of eastern India between January 2006 and December 2007. Results: The median overall survival and disease free survival of the patients were 60 months and 54 months respectively. As per Log-rank test, poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for LVI positive patients as compared with LVI negative patients (p<0.01). Also poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for perineural invasion (PNI) positive patients as compared to PNI negative patients (p<0.01). Conclusions: From this study it is evident that LVI and PNI are strongly associated with outcome in terms of disease free as well as overall survival in breast cancer patients. Thus LVI and PNI constitute potential targets for treatment of breast cancer patients. We advocate incorporating their status into breast cancer staging systems.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3747-3750
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• 2013

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of conservative surgery plus chemo-, radio-therapy in treating patients with early stage breast cancer. Patients and Methods: Eligible patients were treated by postoperative chemotherapy as well as whole-breast irradiation with tumor bed boost. Postoperative radiotherapy consisted of 6 MV whole breast linear accelerator irradiation with two tangential half fields to a total dose of 45~50 Gy, followed by $10{\sim}15MeV{\beta}$ boost irradiation to tumor bed for 10~20Gy, total dose 56~66Gy. Results: Fifty-two patients were enrolled. Overall 1-, 2- and 3 year survival rates were 98.1%, 92.3%, and 90.4%, respectively, with a local recurrence rate of 5.77%. Cosmetic results were evaluated as good by doctors in 90.4% of patients. Conclusions: Breast conservative surgery combined with chemo- radio-therapy could be a treatment option for Chinese patients with early stage breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2195-2198
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• 2016

Background: Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignancy among women with wide differences in clinical profile from region to region. The present study aimed to describe the profile of breast cancer patients attending a tertiary care hospital in Marathwada region of Western India. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive retrospective study, we reviewed records of pathologically diagnosed patients of breast cancer managed at our center from years 2009 to 2015. Data with respect to demographic status, detailed past, medical, familial and personal history, findings of clinical examination and histological features were obtained. Patients were staged according to the Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) system. Results: Among 260 cases, mean age of presentation was 52.6, with average age of menarche of 11.3 and menopause of 52.6 years. The majority of patients were from urban regions and were postmenopausal (64.3%). Main clinical features presentation were breast lumps. Most patients were in stage II and had infiltrating duct carcinomas. Conclusions: Most common risk factors for breast cancer observed are increasing age, low parity and obesity. Breast cancer was more prevalent among postmenopausal women presenting in stage II with infiltating duct carcinoma in our region of India.