• Journal of the Optical Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.157-161
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• 2005

Medical infrared imaging is obtained by measuring the self-emitted infrared radiance from the human body. Infrared emission is related to surface temperature and temperature is one of the most important physiological parameters related to health. Though recent applications such as security identification and oriental medicine have provided new fields of biomedical applications, infrared thermography has had ups and downs in its usages in cancer detection. Some of the main difficulties include finding proper applications and efficient diagnostic algorithms. In this study, infrared thermal imaging was used to detect regional metastasis of breast cancer. Our measurements were done for 110 women. From 63 individuals of a Healthy Group and a Benign Breast Disease Group, we developed algorithms for differentiating malignant regional metastasis based on temperature difference and asymmetry of temperature distribution. Testing with 47 cancer patients, we achieved a positive predictive value of $87.5\%$ and a negative predictive value of $95.6\%$. The results were better than for mammogram examination. A proper analysis of infrared imaging proved to be a highly informative and sensitive method for differentiating regional cancer metastasis from normal regions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10791-10795
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• 2015

Background: Phyllodes tumors of the breast are rare fibroepithelial lesions, so relatively little is known about this disease entity. The present study was designed to identify differences in clinical features between benign borderline and malignant phyllodes tumors. Materials and Methods: Data from 246 women with phyllodes tumors of the breast treated in Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences between 2002 and 2012 were collected and analyzed, including age at presentation, age at treatment, course, size of primary tumor, location, histological type, type of surgery and treatment, local recurrence, distant metastasis, fibroadenoma history, disease-free survival and number of mitosis per 10hpf. There are 125 (55%) benign, 55 (24%) borderline and 47 (21%) malignant tumors. Results: In univariate analysis, average age at presentation, average age at treatment, size of primary tumor, ulceration or not, type of primary surgery, distant metastasis and number of mitosis per 10 hpf turned out to be statistically different among the three PT types (p=0.014, 0.018, <0.000, 0.003, <0.000, 0.001 and <0.000, respectively), while recurrence and disease-free survival (DFS) demonstrated trends for statistical significance (P =0.055 and 0.060, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed distant metastasis and excision were significantly different in benign, borderline and malignant phyllodes tumors of the breast (p=0.041 and 0.018, OR=0.061 and 0.051). At the same time, size of primary tumor with p=0.052 tended to be different between groups (OR=1.127). However, age at treatment, ulceration and DFS showed no statistically significant variation (p=0.400, 0.286 and 0.413, respectively). Conclusions: Benign borderline and malignant phyllode tumors have different distant metastasis risk, different primary tumor size and different surgical procedures, and malignant PTs are more likely to be bigger and to metastasize.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.391-396
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• 2014

Although interleukin-11 (IL-11) has been reported to be elevated in hypoxic tumors and has been associated with a poor prognosis in various cancers, little is known about its precise role in promoting metastasis in hypoxic tumors. In the present study, the molecular mechanism underlying the effects of IL-11 on MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells migration and invasion in relation to metastasis under hypoxic conditions has been defined. Inhibition of IL-11 expression or function using small interfering RNA (siRNA) or a neutralizing antibody attenuated hypoxic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell migration and invasion through down-regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and activation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related gene expression. In addition, hypoxia-induced IL-11 increased STAT3 phosphorylation and STAT3 knockdown suppressed hypoxic MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cell invasion due to reduced MMP levels and reprogrammed EMT-related gene expression. These results suggest that one of the hypoxic metastasis pathways and the regulation of this pathway could be a potential target for novel cancer therapeutics.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.5019-5023
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• 2016

Background: In Mexico, breast cancer (BCa) is in first place regarding cancer mortality and has been established as a priority health issue. The incidence of metastasis from BCa is very high and presents as the principal mortality factor among women younger than 40 years of age. OBJECTIVE. To determine any associations between clinicopathological characteristics and metastasis in Mexican women under 40 years of age. Methods: During the 2010-2015 period, a total of 180 female BCa cases seen at the Navy General High Specialty Hospital, SEMAR, in Mexico City; we collected information on 20 patients with BCa younger than 40 years of age. Statistical analyses were conducted using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Students t, Fisher, Chi square, and Mantel-Haenszel tests. Results: The prevalence of women with BCa younger than the age of 40 years during the 2010-2015 period was 13.3%. We found a high frequency of obesity in of these cases (>75%); 100% of obese patients with a history of smoking presented with metastasis (p <0.05). In addition, the hormone phenotype was important; HER2-positive cases were 12 times more likely tto exhibit metastasis (p <0.05), while expression of estrogen and progesterone receptors appeared to be protective. Diabetes mellitus in combination with smoking was also a risk factor for development of metastasis (p <0.05). Conclusion: In this study, we obtained essential data regarding risk of metastasis in young breast cancer cases which could be useful for predicting disease evolution and treatment response.

• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.433-4341
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• 2018

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) on recurrence and survival after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer patients with cytology-proven axillary node metastasis. Methods: We selected patients who were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and axillary lymph node metastasis and were treated with NAC followed by curative surgery between January 2007 and December 2014. We classified patients into three groups: group A, negative sentinel lymph node (SLN) status and no further dissection; group B, negative SLN status with backup axillary lymph node dissection (ALND); and group C, no residual axillary metastasis on pathology with standard ALND. Results: The median follow-up time was 51 months (range, 3-122 months) and the median number of retrieved SLNs was 5 (range, 2-9). The SLN identification rate was 98.3% (234/238 patients), and the false negative rate of SLNB after NAC was 7.5%. There was no significant difference in axillary recurrence-free survival (p=0.118), disease-free survival (DFS; p=0.578) or overall survival (OS; p=0.149) among groups A, B, and C. In the subgroup analysis of breast pathologic complete response (pCR) status, there was no significant difference in DFS (p=0.271, p=0.892) or OS (p=0.207, p=0.300) in the breast pCR and non-pCR patients. Conclusion: These results suggest that SLNB can be feasible and oncologically safe after NAC for cytology-determined axillary node metastasis patients and could help reduce arm morbidity and lymphedema by avoiding ALND in SLN-negative patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1431-1434
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among women worldwide and the HER2 receptor plays an important role in its development and progression. This systematic review aimed to summarize the role of HER2 in brain metastasis in patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: We conducted a literature search by advanced search in title field using the Scopus, Pubmed, and Google scholar databases until the end of June 2014. With metastasis, metastatic, HER2, brain, and breast cancer, as terms of search we selected 31 articles, which were reviewed by two independent and blinded expert reviewers. The studies were first selected according to their titles and abstracts. Quality of the studies were then assessed using the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) protocol for observational studies and CONSORT(Consolidation of Standards for Reporting Trials) protocol for clinical trials. For statistical analyses, we used STATA, version 11.0 software. Forest and funnel diagrams were drawn and for heterogeneity, index was also considered. Also we used meta regression analysis. Results: Finally, we reviewed 10 studies. The prevalence of brain metastasis in HER2-positive breast cancer patients was 24.9%. There was publication bias in the reviewed studies. Meta regression analysis showed that follow up time had no significant effect (p=0.396) on the prevalence of brain metastasis. Conclusions: The results showed a high prevalence of brain metastasis in HER2 positive breast cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.251-254
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• 2012

Purpose: To explore the relationship between auxiliary lymph node metastasis and clinical features, and to identify the factors that affect metastasis occurrence. Methods: A total of 164 cases of primary breast cancer were selected to investigate features such as age, concomitant chronic disease and pathologic diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER) and CerbB-2. Logistic regression was employed to analyze the factors that affect the incidence of lymph node metastases. Results: The incidence of lymph node metastases was 46.3% among elderly patients with breast cancer. Based on logistic regression, chronic disease, scale of tumor, age, and ER expression affected the occurrence of lymph node metastases; the ORs were 3.05, 2.18, 0.34, and 3.83, respectively. Between different pathologic diagnoses and the risk factors, the OR scores were 12.7 and 8.02, respectively, for aggressive ductal carcinoma and aggressive lobular carcinoma auxiliary lymph node metastases. Conclusion: The incidence of lymph node metastases is affected by chronic disease, scale of tumor, age, ER expression and pathologic diagnosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8483-8488
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer-induced mortalities in Iranian women, following gastric carcinoma. The survival of these patients depends on several factors, which are very important to identify in order to understand the natural history of the disease. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, 313 consecutive women with pathologically-proven diagnosis of breast cancer who had been treated during a seven-year period (January 2006 until March 2014) at Towhid hospital, Sanandaj city, Kurdistan province of Iran, were recruited. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for data analysis, and finally those factors that showed significant association on univariate analysis were entered in a Cox regression model. Results: the mean age of patients was $46.10{\pm}10.81$ years. Based on Kaplan-Meier method median of survival time was 81 months and 5 year survival rate was $75%{\pm}0.43$. Tumor metastasis (HR=9.06, p=0.0001), relapse (HR=3.20, p=0.001), clinical stage of cancer (HR=2.30, p=0.03) and place of metastasis (p=0.0001) had significant associations with the survival rate variation. Patients with tumor metastasis had the lowest five-year survival rate (37%)and among them patients who had brain metastasis were in the worst condition (5 year survival rate= $11%{\pm}0.10$). Conclusions: Our findings support the observation that those women with higher stages of breast malignancies (especially with metastatic cancer) have less chance of surviving the disease. Furthermore, screening programs and early detection of breast cancer may help to increase the survival of those women who are at risk of breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Oncology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.135-141
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• 2018

Purpose: Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) and sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) are important for staging of patients with node-positive breast cancer. However, these can be avoided in select micrometastatic diseases, preventing postoperative complications. The present study evaluated the ability of axillary lymph node maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) on positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) to predict axillary metastasis of breast cancer. Methods: The records of invasive breast cancer patients who underwent pretreatment (surgery and/or chemotherapy) PET-CT between January 2006 and December 2014 were reviewed. ALNs were preoperatively evaluated by PET-CT. Lymph nodes were dissected by SLNB or ALND. SUVmax was measured in both the axillary lymph node and primary tumor. Student t-test and chi-square test were used to analyze sensitivity and specificity. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) and area under the ROC curve (AUC) analyses were performed. Results: SUV-tumor (SUV-T) and SUV-lymph node (SUV-LN) were significantly higher in the triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) group than in other groups (SUV-T: 5.99, P<0.01; SUV-LN: 1.29, P=0.014). The sensitivity (0.881) and accuracy (0.804) for initial ALN staging were higher in fine needle aspiration+PET-CT than in other methods. For PET-CT alone, the subtype with the highest sensitivity (0.870) and negative predictive value (0.917) was TNBC. The AUC for SUV-LN was greatest in TNBC (0.797). Conclusion: The characteristics of SUV-T and SUV-LN differed according to immunohistochemistry subtype. Compared to other subtypes, the true positivity of axillary metastasis on PET-CT was highest in TNBC. These findings could help tailor management for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes.

• 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.