ObjectiveTo analyze the clinicopathologic features and prognosis of breast cancer patients with low human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) expression. MethodsThe breast cancer patients underwent initially surgical resection in the First Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from October 2015 to October 2017 and met the criterion of this study were retrospectively gathered. Based on the immunohistochemical / in situ hybridization detection results, the patients were divided into three subtypes of HER2 zero, low, and positive expressions, and the differences in the clinicopathologic characteristics, overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of the three subtypes of breast cancer patients were compared. At the same time, the risk factors affecting the OS and DFS of breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression were analyzed. ResultsA total of 315 eligible patients were gathered in this study, including 68 patients with HER2 zero expression, 121 patients with low HER2 expression, and 126 patients with positive HER2 expression. There were no statistic differences in the menstrual status, T stage, and histological classification between the breast cancer patients with low HER2 and positive HER2 expressions (P>0.05), but the proportions of the patients with lymph node metastasis, histological grade Ⅲ, negative hormone receptor (HR) and high Ki67 expression in the low HER2 expression patients were lower than those in the positive HER2 expression patients. And compared with HER2 zero expression breast cancer patients, the proportions of premenopausal / perimenopausal, T2–4, N1–3, histological grade Ⅱ, ductal carcinoma, negative HR, and low Ki67 expression patients in the breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression were higher (P<0.05). While the survival curves of OS and DFS by Kaplan-Meier method had no statistic differences among the three subtypes of the breast cancer patients (χ2=0.070, P=0.966; χ2=0.362, P=0.835). The multivariate analysis results by Cox proportional hazards regression found that the low HER2 expression breast cancer patients with histological grade Ⅲ and negative HR had the higher risks of OS and DFS shortening (P<0.05). In addition, the risk of DFS shortening in the patients with T stage 2–4 and N stage 1–3 was increased (P<0.05). ConclusionsFrom the results of this study, breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression is different from the other two subtypes of breast cancer in terms of clinicopathologic characteristics. However, there are no statistical significances in comparing the OS and DFS of three types of breast cancer patients, but it is found that histological grading and HR are related to the OS and DFS of breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression, and it is also found that T stage and N stage are related to the DFS of breast cancer patients with low HER2 expression, so more attentions should be paid to the treatment plans.
ObjectiveTo summarize the mechanism of action of programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) inhibitors, the application in breast cancer in recent years and the advances in the study of their bio-markers of effects. MethodRelevant literatures on PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors and the study in the field of breast cancer were reviewed and summarized.ResultsIn recent years, the monotherapy of immune checkpoint inhibitors represented by PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors or in combination with other therapies had brought new hope for patients with breast cancer especially triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, only a small number of patients could benefit from breast cancer immunotherapy. The current researchers think that the efficacy of these drugs is related to PD-L1 expression in tumor tissue, tumor mutation burden (TMB), high level of microsatellite instability (MSI-H) and deficient mismatch repair (dMMR).ConclusionBreast cancer can benefit from the immunotherapy of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, but formulating personalized medicine model, finding biomarkers that can predict efficacy and selecting patients with breast cancer who can benefit from it for targeted therapy are the new requirements in the new era of breast cancer immunotherapy.
ObjectiveTo investigate effectiveness of the combination of serratus anterior muscle flap and breast implants for breast reconstruction after modified radical mastectomy.MethodsBetween January 2015 and December 2015, 25 female patients with breast cancer were enrolled, aged 24-62 years (mean, 40.6 years). The tumor located at left side in 9 cases and right side in 16 cases; 14 cases were in the left upper quadrant, 4 cases were in the left lower quadrant, 7 cases were on the top of the breast. All cases were invasive ductal carcinoma. According to TNM staging, 14 cases were at stageⅠand 11 cases were at stageⅡA. The diameter of lumps were all less than 3 cm. All those lumps were solitary and without distant metastasis. The sentinel nodes were all negative. After modified radical mastectomy, the breasts were reconstructed by serratus anterior muscle flap and breast implants. The nipples were spared in 22 cases.ResultsThe operation time was 113-148 minutes (mean, 136 minutes). All breasts survived and incisions healed at stageⅠ. There was no complication such as hematoma, infection, etc. All patients were followed up 6-18 months (mean, 15 months). Except 1 case, the others were evaluated according to the criteria of the reconstructed breast at 12 months after operation. Among them, 23 cases were evaluated as good and 1 case as fair. There was no tumor recurrence during the follow-up period.ConclusionThe combination of serratus anterior muscle flap and breast implants after the modified radical mastectomy is a handy approach of breast reconstruction which is less harmful with few postoperative complications. It also gains a high degree of satisfaction from patients for good breast shape.
ObjectiveTo investigate the anatomical characteristics of breast lymphatic drainage in patients with breast cancer after injecting methylene blue and indocyanine green (ICG) into the intradermis of the areola.MethodsOne hundred and eighty-six patients with stage 0–Ⅱ breast cancer were collected. The sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy was performed by injecting methylene blue and ICG. At the same time, the number of sentinel lymphatic channel (SLC), origin angle, direction, and consistency were also studied.ResultsA total of 308 SLCs were successfully showed in the 186 patients and 679 SLNs were detected. The 95.8% (295/308) of SLCs and 93.1% (632/679) of SLNs were showed by combination in the methylene blue and ICG. The 46.8% (87/186) of patients had 1 SLC, the 40.9% (76/186) of patients had 2 SLCs, the 12.4% (23/186) of patients had 3 SLCs. The 82.8% (255/308) of SLCs flowed from the outer upper edge of the areola, the 3.2% (10/308) of SLCs flowed from the outer lower edge of the areola, the 14.0% (43/308) of SLCs flowed from the inner upper edge of the areola. The 89.9% (277/308) of the SLCs flowed mainly through the 0°—60° interval in the outer upper quadrant, 10.1% (31/308) of the SLCs flowed through the 61°—90° interval in the outer upper quadrant.ConclusionsThe consistency of SLC and SLN stained by the two tracers is good. The number of SLC is 1–3. The SLCs flow mainly through the 0°—60° interval in the outer upper quadrant of the breast, then flow into in the axilla and don’t flow into the internal mammary lymph nodes. The deep superficial lymphatic channels under the skin and the penetrating lymphatic channels can not be showed by ICG, but the SLN can be showed by it.
ObjectiveTo evaluate whether soluble carcinogenesis inhibitor 2 (ST-2) level can be used as indicators for predicting left ventricular dysfunction by detecting sST-2 and other cardiac function indexes in patients with breast cancer who receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy.MethodsA retrospective study of 90 breast cancer patients who received doxorubicin (pyrubicin) chemotherapy in the Department of Breast Surgery, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2016 to June 2018 was performed. Peripheral venous blood samples were collected before chemotherapy and one year after receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy, to detect sST-2 level and cardiac function indexes, and echocardiography was performed at the same time.ResultsCompared with pre-chemotherapy, sST-2, left ventricular end-systolic volume (LVESV), left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV), left ventricular systolic diameter (LVESD), left ventricular diastolic internal diameter (LVEDD), and E/e' value increased at one year after chemotherapy, while left ventricular eject fraction (LVEF) decreased, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). There was a negative correlation between the level of sST-2 and LVEF (r=–0.618, P<0.05). The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) showed that the 11.9 ng/mL of sST-2 concentration was the best threshold to predict left ventricular dysfunction, and the sensitivity and specificity were 90.6% and 69.2%, respectively, the area under the ROC curve was 0.836 (P<0.05).ConclusionsST-2 has a certain diagnostic value for predicting left ventricular function and structural changes in breast cancer patients who receiving doxorubicin chemotherapy.
Objective To investigate the differences in clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic survival of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) high expression, HER2 low expression and HER2 negative breast cancer. MethodWe retrospectively collected 1 560 female breast cancer patients who underwent surgical treatment at the Department of Breast and Thyroid Surgery in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between January 8, 2010 and December 31, 2015, and divided them into high expression group, low expression group and negative group according to HER2 expression, to compare the differences in clinicopathological characteristics among the three groups of breast cancer patients and to explore the factors influencing prognosis. Results The proportions of histological grade Ⅲ, tumor diameter >2 cm, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage Ⅲ, Ki67 high expression, and hormone receptor negative expression were higher in the high expression group than those in the low expression group and negative group (P<0.050); the proportions of histological grade Ⅲ, tumor diameter >2 cm, lymph node metastasis, and TNM stage Ⅲ were higher in the low expression group than those in the negative group (P<0.050). However, the proportions of Ki67 high expression and hormone receptor negative expression were lower than those of the negative group (P<0.050). The 5-year disease-free survival rate were 85.6%, 80.3% and 74.5% for the high expression, low expression and negative group, respectively, and the 5-year overall survival rate were 90.4%, 86.0% and 80.7%, respectively. The results of multivariate Cox proportional hazard model showed that patients with high histological grade, late TNM stage, Ki67 high expression and weaker HER2 expression intensity had worse 5-year disease-free survival (P<0.050); patients with older age, high histological grade, lymph node metastasis, late TNM stage, Ki67 high expression and weaker HER2 expression intensity had worse 5-year overall survival (P<0.050). Conclusions The intensity of HER2 expression affects the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival of breast cancer patients, and the higher the intensity of HER2 expression, the better the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival, while the weaker the HER2 expression, the worse the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival.
Objective To explore the feasibility and safety of endoscopic thyroidectomy via chest-breast approachand summarize the operation skill. Method The clinical data of 40 cases performed endoscopic thyroidectomy via chest-breast approach from August 2010 to August 2012 in this hospital were analyzed retrospectively. Results The endoscopic thyroidectomies via chest-breast approach were successfully performed in all 40 patients without conversion to open surgery， massive haemorrhage， hypercapnia， severe subcutaneous emphysema， cutaneous necrosis on chest，permanent impairment of recurrent laryngeal nerve， and permanent hypoparathyroidism. One case of hoarseness was found on 2d after operation， who returned to normal after symptomatic treatment. One case of numbness in the extremitieshappened on day 2 after operation and the symptom was relieved through intravenous and oral administration of calcium treatment in 3d. One case of cutaneous tightness on chest happened， and it was spontaneous remission in a month. The operation time was （102±28.4） min （55-182 min）， intraoperative bleeding was （46±16.6） mL （30-106 mL）， and the drainage tube was removed postoperative 2-7d with an average （4±2.2） d， the postoperative hospitalization was 3-8 d with an average （4±1.1） d. All of the cases were followed-up after operation without low calcium， low parathyroid hormone， hoarseness， and local goiter recurrence. Two cases of hypoparathyroidism returned to normal after oral thyroxine dose adjustment. All the patients were satisfied with the cosmetic results. Conclusions The endoscopic thyroidectomy via chest-breast approach is safe and feasible with good cosmetic results. The subcutaneous Y tunnel， the “upper yellow middle white lower red” appearance on the chest， and the landmark of inverse trapezium on the neck are the key points for creation of operation compartment. Sufficient exposure， stepwise procedure， blunt dissection combined with sharp dissection in the precise gap are the surgical skills for endoscopic thyroidectomy.
ObjectiveTo summarize the research progress of Hippo signaling pathway in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). MethodLiteratures about studies the role of Hippo signaling pathway in cancer stem cells, epithelial-mesenchymal transformation, tumorigenesis and development, distant metastasis, treatment resistance, and treatment strategies were retrieved. ResultsIn TNBC, overexpression of Yes-associated protein and PDZ-binding motif could promote the development of tumor stem cells, induce epithelial-mesenchymal transformation of TNBC cells, and promote tumor development, distant metastasis, and chemotherapy resistance. ConclusionHippo/Yes-associated protein axis plays an important role in carcinogenesis and progression of TNBC, and targeting Hippo signaling pathway might be a potential therapeutic target for TNBC.
ObjectiveTo explore the correlation between lipid profile and molecular typing of invasive breast cancer.MethodsThree hundreds and seventy-five patients with primary invasive breast cancer diagnosed from Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2018 to June 2019. The total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein A (ApoA), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) concentrations were detected. Molecular classification based on the results of postoperative immunohistochemistry of breast cancer patients, compared the measured values of each subtype.ResultsThere were no significant difference in serum TG, HDL-C and ApoA among the four subtypes (P>0.05). Differences serum levels of TC, LDL-C, and ApoB among breast cancer patients of various subtypes were statistically significant (P<0.05). Serum TC concentration in the HER2 overexpression type [(5.08±1.00) mmol/L] and the triple negative type [(5.12±0.91) mmol/L] were significantly higher than the Luminal A type [(4.68±1.01) mmol/L] and the Luminal B type [(4.79± 0.93) mmol/L], P<0.05. Serum LDL-C concentration in the triple negative type [(3.14±0.88) mmol/L] was significantly higher than the LuminalA type [(2.77±0.84) mmol/L] and the LuminalB type [(2.87±0.81) mmol/L], P<0.05. Serum ApoB concentration in the Luminal B type [(0.94±0.23) g/L] was significantly lower than the triple negative type [(1.03±0.23) g/L].ConclusionThere are differences in serum TC, LDL-C and apoB concentrations among different subtypes of breast cancer, but TG, HDL-C and ApoA are not related to molecular typing of breast cancer.
ObjectiveTo summarize the current research progress in the prediction of the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer based on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) and radiomics. MethodThe researches on the application of AI and radiomics in neoadjuvant therapy of breast cancer in recent 5 years at home and abroad were searched in CNKI, Google Scholar, Wanfang database and PubMed database, and the related research progress was reviewed. ResultsAI had developed rapidly in the field of medical imaging, and molybdenum target, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging combined with AI had been deepened and expanded in different degrees in the application research of breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. In the research of molybdenum target combined with AI, the high sensitivity of molybdenum target to microcalcification was mostly used to improve the accuracy of early detection and diagnosis of breast cancer, so as to achieve the clinical purpose of early detection and diagnosis. However, in terms of prediction of neoadjuvant efficacy research of breast cancer, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging combined with AI were more prevalent, and their popularity remained unabated. ConclusionIn the monitoring of neoadjuvant therapy for breast cancer, the use of properly designed AI and radiomics models can give full play to its role in the predicting the curative effect of neoadjuvant therapy, and help to guide doctors in clinical diagnosis and treatment and evaluate the prognosis of breast cancer patients.