Differences and clinical significance of receptor expression between primary and locally recurrent breast tumor tissues / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the difference of receptor expression between primary and locally recurrent breast tumor tissues, and analyze their impact on survival of the patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER-2) of primary and locally recurrent breast tumor tissues of 70 breast cancer patients were analyzed by immunohistochemistry or fluorescence in situ hybridization. The impact of the differences on overall survival (OS) and post-recurrence survival (PRS) of the patients was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The effective discrepancy rates between primary and locally recurrent breast cancer tissues were 26.1% (18/69) for ER, 50.0% (34/68) for PR, and 10.3%(4/39) for HER-2 expressions. In the 60 cases who had complete follow-up data, 23 patients (38.3%) died and the median overall survival was 107 months (11-288 months). The 3-, 5- and 10-year overall survival rates were 84.3%, 71.6% and 45.7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the changes of ER expression had significant impact on the OS (P = 0.001) and PRS (P < 0.001), but PR had no significant effect on OS (P = 0.416) and PRS (P = 0.056). However, the OS and PRS for patients with PR⁺ locally recurrent tumors were better than that of PR⁻ patients regardless of the primary tumor PR status. The expression of HER-2 had no significant effect on the OS (P = 0.840) and PRS (P = 0.544) of the patients.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>An expression discrepancy of ER, PR and HER-2 exists between primary and locally recurrent breast cancer tissues, it significantly affects the survival of the patients. Re-evaluation of the expressions of ER, PR and HER-2 receptor in locally recurrent breast tumor tissue is beneficial for their therapy and prognosis.</p>

Mammographic and pathological features of triple-negative breast cancer / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To retrospectively evaluate the mammographic imaging findings and pathologic changes of the so-called "triple-negative" breast cancer (ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(-) breast cancer), and to compare them with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) breast cancer patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Five hundred cases of breast cancer treated in Cancer Institute and Hospital of Tianjin University from January to June of 2010 were included in this study. There were 112 cases of triple-negative breast cancer, 310 cases of ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) breast cancer, and 78 cases of ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) breast cancer. Their pathological and mammographic data were reviewed and analyzed. The pathological and mammographic features of the three groups were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) breast cancer group, the triple-negative group had a higher histological grade (P < 0.001). Compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) groups, the triple-negative group was more likely to have a tumor mass (simple mass accounted for 58.0%, and tumor mass with calcification accounted for 19.6%). Moreover, compared with the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) group (47.1% vs. 9.8%, P = 0.032)and the ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) group (47.1% vs. 0, P = 0.028), the tumor mass of triple-negative cancer was more likely to have a smooth margin. Triple-negative breast cancer seldom represented as calcification (simple calcification only accounted for 13.4%, and a mass with calcification accounted for 19.6%), and most of them were benign calcification (70.3%), significantly higher than that in the ER(+)/PR(+)/HER-2(-) group (23.1%, P = 0.002) and ER(-)/PR(-)/HER-2(+) group (10.2%, P < 0.001).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Different types of breast cancer have different biological characteristics and mammographic features. Analysis of the mammographic features may help us to predict the type of breast cancer and its prognosis, and to select an optimal treatment plan for patients with different types of breast cancer.</p>