Obstructive Jaundice as an Uncommon Manifestation of Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Invasive ductal carcinoma is the most common type of breast cancer and accounts for about 70-85% of all invasive breast carcinomas. It primarily metastasizes to the bone, lungs, regional lymph nodes, liver and brain. Most of breast cancer recurrence occurs within the first 5 years of diagnosis, particularly for ER negative disease. Gastrointestinal tract involvement is very rare and is detected in only 10% of all the cases, and it usually derives from lobular breast cancer rather than the much more common cell type of ductal breast cancer. Early diagnosis is very important because it enables prompt and adequate choice of treatment and improves patient's long-term prognosis. In this report we describe an unusual case of obstructive jaundice caused by metastases from invasive ductal breast cancer to the lymph nodes of the hepatoduodenal ligament with extramural compression of the distal common bile duct and tumor invasion to the lumen of the duct. Our goal is to emphasize possible diagnostic pitfalls and increase the clinical awareness and the importance of intensive follow-up in patients with breast cancer, even years after the initial diagnosis.

Expression of growth hormone receptor, plakoglobin and NEDD9 protein in association with tumour progression and metastasis in human breast cancer.

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among female population worldwide. Metastases are the common cause of morbidity and mortality in breast cancer and can remain latent for several years after surgical removal of the primary tumour. Thus, the identification and functional characterisation of molecular factors that promote oncogenic signalling in mammary tumour development and progression could provide new entry points for designing targeted therapeutic strategies for metastatic breast cancer. In the present study, we investigated the expression of proteins involved in cell signalling (growth hormone receptor (GHR) and NEDD9) and cell-cell adhesion (plakoglobin) in epithelial and stromal compartments of primary ductal invasive breast carcinomas and their axillary lymph node metastases versus non-metastatic tumours. Obtained data revealed remarkable increase in the expression levels of GHR and NEDD9 proteins in both epithelial and stromal components of axillary lymph node metastases in comparison with those of non-metastatic tumours, suggesting that the expression of these two proteins may provide biomarkers for tumour aggressiveness.

Expression of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor in fibroadenomas of the breast.

Fibroadenoma is the most prevalent benign breast tumor. It consists of epithelial and stromal components. In general, breast tumors are highly hormonally dependent and growth hormone by its physiology may have a possible oncogenic potential. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the expression of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor in epithelial and stromal components of fibroadenomas. Study group included 30 randomly chosen fibroadenomas from female patients aged between 18 and 69 years. The expression of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor was defined in both histologic components of fibroadenomas. Growth hormone was expressed in 96.7% of both epithelial and stromal components of fibroadenomas, with stronger expression in the stromal component. The same percentage of positive reaction (96.7%) was obtained in the epithelial component of fibroadenomas for growth hormone receptor expression. Only 6.7% of stromal components tested for growth hormone receptor were positive. The high expression of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor in fibroadenoma tissue indicates their possible role in the pathogenesis of this tumor. Follow up of patients with high expression of growth hormone and growth hormone receptor may be suggested.

[Carcinosarcoma of the sigmoid colon with micropapillary pattern: a case report]. / Karcinosarkom sigmoidnoga debelog crijeva s mikropapilarnom slikom: prikaz bolesnice.

Carcinosarcomas are very rare malignant tumors showing both mesenchymal and epithelial differentiation. They most commonly occur in the head and neck region. Few cases were described in the colon associated with very aggressive course. Micropapillary variant is also very rare in the colon and associated with poor prognosis. We report an unusual case of carcinosarcoma of the colon with micropapillary features and psammomatous calcification in an 83-year-old female patient. Tumor was located in the sygmoid colon and measured up to 3.8 cm in the largest diameter. Microscopically it was composed of glandular structures and micropapillary formations with psammomatous calcifications and solid areas built up of spindle cells with focal areas of cartilaginous differentiation. Glandular and micropapillary components immunohistochemically showed positive staining for cytokeratin and EMA while mesenchymal areas were positive for vimentin. The tumor was spreading through the whole thickness of the wall into adjacent fat tissue. Metastases in regional lymph nodes were composed entirely of glandular component. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of carcinosarcoma of the colon showing micropapillary features and psammomatous calcification.

Integrated gene networks in breast cancer development.

Breast cancer is a complex and heterogenous disease. Classical molecular medical approaches cannot fully understand and comprehend its pathogenesis. In this review, the development of new biological markers for the early detection and creation of guided and specific therapy of breast cancer are discussed in light of the rapid advances in the "omics". Results of cancer research in combination with large-scale methods that examine the expression status of genes and proteins have identified a large number of new biomarkers as well as confirmed the human growth hormone as an important player in the pathogenesis of this disease through its autocrine regulation where it influences the activation of Pax5 and HOXA1 gene networks.