Breast Cancer 

About: Breast Cancer is an academic journal published by Springer Science+Business Media. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Breast cancer & Cancer. It has an ISSN identifier of 1340-6868. Over the lifetime, 2310 publications have been published receiving 40471 citations. The journal is also known as: Journal of the Japanese Breast Cancer Society.

New guidelines to evaluate the response to treatment in solid tumors

Abstract: Anticancer cytotoxic agents go through a process by which their antitumor activity-on the basis of the amount of tumor shrinkage they could generate-has been investigated. In the late 1970s, the International Union Against Cancer and the World Health Organization introduced specific criteria for the codification of tumor response evaluation. In 1994, several organizations involved in clinical research combined forces to tackle the review of these criteria on the basis of the experience and knowledge acquired since then. After several years of intensive discussions, a new set of guidelines is ready that will supersede the former criteria. In parallel to this initiative, one of the participating groups developed a model by which response rates could be derived from unidimensional measurement of tumor lesions instead of the usual bidimensional approach. This new concept has been largely validated by the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors Group and integrated into the present guidelines. This special article also provides some philosophic background to clarify the various purposes of response evaluation. It proposes a model by which a combined assessment of all existing lesions, characterized by target lesions (to be measured) and nontarget lesions, is used to extrapolate an overall response to treatment. Methods of assessing tumor lesions are better codified, briefly within the guidelines and in more detail in Appendix I. All other aspects of response evaluation have been discussed, reviewed, and amended whenever appropriate.

Fluorescence navigation with indocyanine green for detecting sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer.

Abstract: Background Sentinel lymph node biopsy using a vital dye is a convenient and safe method to assess lymph node status in breast cancer However, intensive training is necessary to obtain a satisfactory detection rate and to avoid false-negative results This paper presents a novel method using indocyanine green fluorescence imaging to detect sentinel lymph nodes

CircRNA: a novel type of biomarker for cancer

Abstract: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of long, non-coding RNAs molecules that shape a covalently closed continuous loop which have no 5'-3' polarity and contain no polyA tail. CircRNAs also possess relatively jarless framework and are highly tissue-specific expressed in the eukaryotic transcriptome. Emerging evidences have discovered that thousands of endogenous circRNAs are present in mammalian cells and they mediate gene expression at the transcriptional or post-transcriptional level by binding to microRNAs or other molecules and then inhibit their function. Similarly, increasing evidence indicates that circRNAs may play a role in the development of several types of diseases, including atherosclerotic vascular disease risk, neurological disorders, prion diseases, osteoarthritis and diabetes. Furthermore, circRNAs exhibit aberrant expression in multiform types of cancer, including colorectal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. And based on the function of circRNAs in cancer, we believe that circRNAs may serve as diagnostic or tumor promising biomarkers. Moreover, it will provide a new therapeutic target for the treatment of cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer: treatment challenges and solutions

Abstract: Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are defined by the absence of estrogen and progesterone receptors and the absence of HER2 overexpression. These cancers represent a heterogeneous breast cancer subtype with a poor prognosis. Few systemic treatment options exist besides the use of chemotherapy (CT). The heterogeneity of the disease has limited the successful development of targeted therapy in unselected patient populations. Currently, there are no approved targeted therapies for TNBC. However, intense research is ongoing to identify specific targets and develop additional and better systemic treatment options. Standard adjuvant and neoadjuvant regimens include anthracyclines, cyclophosphamide, and taxanes. Platinum-based CT has been proposed as another CT option of interest in TNBC. We review the role of this therapy in general, and particularly in patients carrying BRCA germ-line mutations. Available data concerning the role of platinum-based CT in TNBC were acquired primarily in the neoadjuvant setting. The routine use of platinum-based CT is not yet recommended by available guidelines. Many studies have reported the molecular characterization of TNBCs. Several actionable targets have been identified. Novel therapeutic strategies are currently being tested in clinical trials based on promising results observed in preclinical studies. These targets include androgen receptor, EGFR, PARP, FGFR, and the angiogenic pathway. We review the recent data on experimental drugs in this field. We also discuss the recent data concerning immunologic checkpoint inhibitors.

Activation of PI3K/Akt signaling and hormone resistance in breast cancer.

Abstract: Akt is a serine/threonine kinase that has been demonstrated to play an important role in survival when cells are exposed to different apoptotic stimuli. Recent studies show that aberrant activation of Akt in breast carcinoma is associated with a poor prognosis and resistance to endocrine therapy and chemotherapy. The Akt signaling pathway is currently attracting considerable attention as a new target for effective therapeutic strategies. We investigated the incidence of Akt activation in 252 primary breast carcinomas and relationships among the activation of Akt, HER2 overexpression, hormone receptor expression, and alteration of the PTEN gene. Eighty-four cases (33.3%) were positive for pAkt expression. pAkt was significantly associated with HER2 overexpression (p<0.0001) and LOH at the PTEN gene locus (p<0.01). There was an inverse correlation between pAkt and PR (p<0.05). We also retrospectively examined the relationship between Akt activation and the efficacy of endocrine therapy for metastatic breast cancer. Of these 36 metastatic breast cancer cases, 12 cases (33.4%) were considered to show positive pAkt expression. In the pAkt-positive patients, endocrine therapy demonstrated worse efficacy than in pAkt-negative patients (p<0.01). In addition, the clinical benefit was the smallest in the patients positive both for HER2 and pAkt (p<0.01). The clinical benefit rate of estrogen deprivation therapy with AI or LH-RH agonist was significantly lower in the pAkt-positive patients than that in the pAkt-negative ones (p<0.05), and there was a tendency for the clinical benefit of SERM to be smaller in the pAkt-positive patients (p=0.09). These findings therefore suggest that Akt activation induces endocrine resistance in metastatic breast cancer, irrespective of the kind of endocrine agents that were administered. Our findings indicate that the activation of Akt in the downstream pathway of HER2 plays an important role in resistance to endocrine therapy for breast cancer. Our findings suggest that pAkt may be a useful predictor of resistance to endocrine therapy for breast cancer, while also suggesting that the inhibition of Akt may increase the efficacy of endocrine therapy.