Breast cancer research and treatment
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Breast Cancer Res. Treat. · Sep 2005
Comparative StudyDetermination of HER2 gene amplification by fluorescence in situ hybridization and concordance with the clinical trials immunohistochemical assay in women with metastatic breast cancer evaluated for treatment with trastuzumab.
To evaluate the concordance between HER2 gene amplification, determined by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and HER2 protein overexpression assessed by an immunohistochemical (IHC) assay. The IHC protocol used was a research assay, known as the Clinical Trial Assay (CTA), developed to select women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) for three pivotal clinical trials of trastuzumab therapy. ⋯ HER2 status determined by CTA-IHC and FISH are significantly correlated; however, differences between these two assays can a ect patient selection for trastuzumab therapy.
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Breast Cancer Res. Treat. · Sep 2005
Adjuvant ovarian suppression versus chemotherapy for premenopausal, hormone-responsive breast cancer: quality of life and efficacy tradeoffs.
Recent clinical trials suggest that adjuvant ovarian suppression may be an equally effective and less toxic alternative to systemic chemotherapy in premenopausal women with hormone-responsive breast cancer. We used a decision-analytic framework to evaluate tradeoffs between efficacy and quality of life in the choice between these treatments. ⋯ If adjuvant chemotherapy and ovarian suppression have similar efficacy, then there may be a subgroup of women for whom quality-of-life considerations dominate the choice of treatment. However, small differences in the relative efficacy of these therapies have a substantial impact on treatment choice, regardless of side effects and menopausal transitions.
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Breast Cancer Res. Treat. · Sep 2005
Systemic effects of surgery: quantitative analysis of circulating basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) in patients with breast cancer who underwent limited or extended surgery.
To assess if feature, extent and duration of surgery could influence levels of systemic proangiogenic cytokines vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta). ⋯ Angiogenic cytokines perioperative levels could be increased on 5th day (D(+5)) by extent of surgery and should induce perioperative stimulation of residual cancer cells. A better understanding of the time interval during which the sequelae of events in wound healing occur may be the basis for defining new therapeutic strategies that can interfere with tumor outgrowth sparing wound healing processes.