Epidemiology of young breast cancer patients at Gujranwala: A single institution based study.

The objective of this study was to illustrate the statistical and medical characteristics of females younger than 40 years presenting with breast cancer at GINUM. A descriptive case series in which 235 patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. The majority of the patients had advanced disease at presentation. Family history was positive in 59 (25.11%) patients. Patients having grade III and II disease were 142(60.42%) and 89 (37.87%) respectively. Thirteen (5.5%) patients had Right-sided breast cancers in our series. No significant association of null parity with breast cancer was found. Receptor status studies revealed only 2.55% increased oestrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) positive patients as compared to oestrogen receptor/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) negative patients. Our population shares slightly different features as compared to Western population because there were slightly increased right-sided tumours and majority of our patients were parous.

Primary Mammary Small Cell Carcinoma.

Neuroendocrine breast cancer was defined in 2003 by WHO as a separate and unique breast cancer subtype. Primary small cell carcinoma of the breast, an exceptionally uncommon and aggressive tumor, is frequently characterised by early progression and worse outcome. Moreover, it is essential to distinguish between small cell carcinoma arising primarily in the breast and the metastatic disease to the breast. We had a patient of primary small cell carcinoma of breast. As her initial metastatic workup was negative for disease elsewhere, so she was started on neoadjuvant chemotherapy to which she responded well. Her modified radical mastectomy (MRM) was done followed by completion of chemotherapy up to 6 cycles and local radiotherapy of chest wall. However, the disease behaved aggressively afterwards as she developed recurrence twice at 9 and 19 months interval, respectively, for which she was considered for second and third line chemotherapy. An accurate management of the primary small cell carcinoma of the breast still lacks a consensus. Relevant studies were also reviewed to enhance knowledge and expertise in diagnosis, clinicopathologic features, management, and outcome of this tumor.

Preperation of (99m)Tc labeled 5-fluorouracil as a potential diagnostic agent in advanced breast cancer: first clinical trial.

The chemotherapeutic drug 5-fluorouracil (5FU) is used for treatment of various types of cancers. The present study was conducted to evaluate the potential of this drug as a diagnostic radiopharmaceutical in advanced breast cancer. We have labeled 5FU by using the stannous chloride reduction method with 555MBq of technetium-99m ((99m)Tc). The (99m)Tc-5FU was injected intravenously in 4 patients having advanced breast cancer. Dynamic and static images were taken at various time intervals till 2h. Whole body images were used to calculate the percentage of the injected dose, in each organ. Target to non target ratio was calculated to find out the optimum time for imaging. In conclusion, our study showed that (99m)Tc-5FU was a promising agent for diagnosing advanced breast cancer with optimum visualization at 1h.