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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Breast cancer is now recognized as a clinically heterogeneous disease with a wide spectrum of epidemiological and clinicopathologic features. We aimed to evaluate whether epidemiological and clinicopathologic features are associated with the histological tumor grade of breast carcinomas in Western China. METHODS: We retrospectively collected data from the Western China Clinical Cooperation Group and assessed associations between clinicopathologic factors and histological tumor grade in 8619 female breast cancer patients. Patients were divided into two groups: Group I (tumor grade I/II) and Group II (tumor grade III). Univariable analysis and multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between clinicopathologic factors and tumor grade. RESULTS: Patients presenting with positive axillary lymph nodes, large tumor size (>2 cm), lymphovascular invasion, hormone receptor negativity, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) positivity, and triple negativity tended to have an increased risk of a high tumor grade. However, the number of pregnancies or births was inversely correlated with the risk of a high tumor grade. In addition, patients presenting with grade III tumors were more likely to receive aggressive treatment, such as adjuvant chemotherapy, anti–HER-2 therapy, and level III axillary lymph node dissection. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggested that several clinicopathologic factors were associated with high tumor grade of breast cancer patients in Western China.

Limited information is available regarding the correlations between mammographic calcifications and the epidemiological features of patients with breast cancer living different lifestyles in Western China. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between mammographic calcifications and the epidemiological characteristics of female patients with breast cancer in Western China. This was a hospital-based, retrospective, multi-center epidemiological study of patients with breast cancer. Using the Western China Clinical Cooperation Group (WCCCG) database, we obtained the records of 7317 patients (with mammographic data) diagnosed with breast cancer between March 2011 and June 2016. These patients were divided into Groups I (mass alone) and II (mass combined with calcification), and their clinical and pathological data were compared. A total of 4211 patients were enrolled in Group I, and 3106 patients were enrolled in Group II. The tumors in Group II were more likely to be larger (P

Successful treatment of breast cancer greatly depends on the early detection of its metastasis, therefore a sensitive and specific biomarker for detecting dissemination of the cancer cells will help to achieve this goal. This study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of human small breast epithelial mucin (hSBEM) and CD44V6 in breast cancer. The expressions of hSBEM mRNA and CD44V6 mRNA were detected with nested reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR) in 67 samples of breast cancer and adjacent normal breast tissue, 16 samples of breast benign lesions tissue, and 67 specimens of peripheral blood from patients with breast cancer, 16 specimens of benign breast lesions, 20 specimens of healthy volunteers, and 25 (each five cases) other carcinomas tissue samples, including those of gastric carcinoma, colorectal carcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, lung carcinoma, and ovary carcinoma, were analyzed for hSBEM mRNA expression by nested RT-PCR. hSBEM mRNA expression was observed in 62/67 (92.54%) of breast cancer, 14/16 (87.50%) of breast benign lesions and 59/67 (88.05%) of normal breast tissue, with no significant differences between them (P > 0.05). None of the samples from other cancer tissues were positive. In peripheral blood the expression of hSBEM mRNA was detected in 34/67 (50.75%) from patients with breast cancer, with significant increasing (P 0.05) in the patients with breast cancer (82.09%), benign breast lesion (75.00%), or healthy volunteers (70.00%). The expressions of hSBEM mRNA and CD44V6 mRNA had no correlation with the age of the patients, size of primary tumor, histological type and estrogen or progestin receptor status (P > 0.05). hSBEM mRNA, as assessed by nested RT-PCR, shows a mammary-specific and mammary-sensitive expression, and is a sensitive indicator of hematogeneous spread of breast cancer cell, while CD44V6 shows low sensitivity and specificity in detecting dissemination of breast cancer cell in peripheral blood. hSBEM mRNA is a promising molecular biomarker for detecting breast cancer micrometastases.

Objective The aim of the present study is to explore the expression of a specific marker of breast cancer, small breast epithelial mucin (SBEM) mRNA, in peripheral blood and to investigate its significance.

Objective: To study the role of telomerase activity and c-myc in pathogenesis and progression of colorectal carcinoma, and to investigate the possible regulatory mechanism of telomerase activation. Methods: A modified telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP) and immunohistochemical staining was used to detect telomerase activity and the expression of c-myc in tissue samples from colorectal carcinoma, paracarcinomatousl tissues, normal mucosa, and adenomatoid polyp. Results: The positive rates of telomerase activity and c-myc expression were 83.33% and 80.00% in colorectal carcinoma, 13.33% and 23.33% in paracarcinomatousl tissues, 13.33% and 20.00% in normal mucosa, and 10.00% and 45.00% in adenomatoid polyp respectively, they were significantly higher in colorectal carcinoma than in paracarcinomatousl tissues, normal mucosa, and adenomatoid polyp (P

To construct a breast cancer cell line MD-MB-231 stably overexpressing RSK4 gene and study its in vivo effects on tumor tumorigenesis.The MD-MB-231 cells were transfected with pcDNA3.1/Neo and pcDNA3.1/Neo-RSK4 by lipofectamin transfection respectively. The stable expression of RSK4 (MR11 and MR12) and control vector (MN10 and MN11) were inoculated into severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) mice subcutis to establish a model of human breast cancer in SCID mice. The xenograft tumor growth, invasion and metastasis were observed after 6 - 10 weeks.The stable cell lines MR11, MR12 and MN10, MN11 were screened successfully. We constructed the human breast cancer transplanted model and dissected SCID mice. After 6 weeks, SCID mice subcutis of the MN10/MN11 group yielded 10/10 metastatic tumors versus 6/10 and 7/10 in the MR11/MR12 group respectively. MR11 and MR12 showed much smaller tumor sizes and significantly reduced tumor volume and weight versus MN10 and MN11 (P0.001). In the control group, visceral metastasis developed in 80% (8/10) of mice while in metastasis developed in 40% (4/10) of mice injected with RSK4-overexpressing MDA-MB-231 cells. Histological examination of hematoxylin and eosin-stained paraffin sections of lungs revealed numerous metastases in mice injected with vector control cells whereas RSK4-overexpressing cells showed markedly decreased metastatic lesions.Transplanted human breast cancer in SCID mice closely correlates with the disease course of clinical tumor patients. Overexpression of RSK4 can inhibit tumor growth of transplanted human breast cancer in SCID mice.

To study the expression and clinical significance of ribosomal S6 kinase-4 (RSK-4) in breast cancer and explore the role of RSK-4 in the genesis and development of breast cancer.The expression levels of RSK-4 mRNA and protein were detected in 56 cases of breast cancer and the normal breast tissues, as well as in 20 cases of breast benign lesions, by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry.The expression rates of RSK-4 mRNA in breast cancer, the normal breast tissues and breast benign lesions were 48.2%, 76.8% and 75.0%, respectively. The expression level of RSK-4 mRNA in breast cancer was significantly lower than those in normal breast tissues and breast benign lesions tissues (P0.05). The expression level of RSK-4 significantly correlated with tumor size and clinical stage (P0.05).The expression rate of RSK-4 protein was 39.3% in breast cancer tissues, which was significantly lower than that of normal breast tissues (71.4%) and breast benign lesions (75.0%, P0.01). The expression level of RSK-4 protein was lower in breast cancer with large tumor, high clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. In 56 cases of breast cancer samples, the consistency rate of RSK-4 mRNA and protein was 73.2%. A significant correlation was found between RSK-4 mRNA and protein (χ² = 10.254, P0.05).The down-regulation of RSK-4 expression in breast caner suggests that it is a breast cancer suppressor gene, and the lack or down-regulation of RSK-4 expression is involved in the genesis and progression of breast cancer.

Background Fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) of the breast is a minimally invasive yet maximally diagnostic method. However, the clinical use of FNAB has been questioned. The purpose of our study was to establish the overall value of FNAC in the diagnosis of breast lesions. Methods After a review and quality assessment of 46 studies, sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of FNAB for evaluating breast lesions were pooled using random-effects models. Summary receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarize overall accuracy. The sensitivity and specificity for the studies data (included unsatisfactory samples) and underestimation rate of unsatisfactory samples were also calculated. Results The summary estimates for FNAB in diagnosis of breast carcinoma were as follows (unsatisfactory samples was temporarily exluded): sensitivity, 0.927 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.921 to 0.933); specificity, 0.948 (95% CI, 0.943 to 0.952); positive likelihood ratio, 25.72 (95% CI, 17.35 to 28.13); negative likelihood ratio, 0.08 (95% CI, 0.06 to 0.11); diagnostic odds ratio, 429.73 (95% CI, 241.75 to 763.87); The pooled sensitivity and specificity for 11 studies, which reported unsatisfactory samples (unsatisfactory samples was considered to be positive in this classification) were 0.920 (95% CI, 0.906 to 0.933) and 0.768 (95% CI, 0.751 to 0.784) respectively. The pooled proportion of unsatisfactory samples that were subsequently upgraded to various grade cancers was 27.5% (95% CI, 0.221 to 0.296). Conclusions FNAB is an accurate biopsy for evaluating breast malignancy if rigorous criteria are used. With regard to unsatisfactory samples, futher invasive procedures are required in order to minimize the chance of a missed diagnosis of breast cancer.

The major cause of death in breast cancer patients is distant metastasis. This study was to explore the expression and significance of small breast epithelial mucin (SBEM) mRNA, the specific marker of breast cancer, in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients.Expression of SBEM mRNA in peripheral blood samples from 67 breast cancer patients, 16 benign breast disease patients, and 20 healthy volunteers was detected by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR).SBEM mRNA was not detected in healthy volunteers and benign breast disease patients. Positive rate of SBEM mRNA was 50.7% (34/67) in breast cancer patients. Positive rate of SBEM mRNA was 25.0% (2/8) in stage I patients, 45.8% (11/24) in stage II patients, 43.8% (7/16) in stage III patients, and 73.7% (14/19) in stage IV patients, respectively. Positive rate of SBEM mRNA was significantly higher in stage IV patients than in stages I, II, and III patients (P0.05). The expression of SBEM mRNA in peripheral blood was not correlated with patient's age, primary tumor size, pathologic type, and estrogen or progestin receptor status (P0.05).SBEM mRNA is specifically expressed in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients, and may be a marker of micrometastasis of breast cancer.

AIM: To study the activity of telomerase and the expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in colorectal carcinoma and its adjacent tissues, normal mucosa and adenomatoid polyp, and to evaluate their relation with carcinogenesis and progression of colorectal carcinoma. METHODS: Telomerase activity and hTERT expression were determined in 30 samples of colorectal carcinoma and its adjacent tissues, normal mucosa and 20 samples of adenomatoid polyp by modified telomeric repeat amplification protocol (TRAP), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemical method. RESULTS: Telomerase activity and hTERT expression were 83.33% (25/30) and 76.67% (23/30) respectively in colorectal carcinoma, which were obviously higher than those in paracancerous tissues (13.33%, 16.67%), normal mucosa (3.33%, 3.33%) and adenomatoid polyp (10%, 10%). There was a significant difference between colorectal carcinoma and other tissues (P=0.027). The telomerase activity and hTERT expression were higher in colorectal carcinoma with lymphatic metastasis than in that without lymphatic metastasis (P=0.034). When the histological classification and clinical stage were greater, the telomerase activity and hTERT expression increased, but there was no significant difference between them. In colorectal carcinoma, the telomerase activity was correlated with hTERT expression (positive vs negative expression of telomerase activity and hTERT, P=0.021). CONCLUSION: Telomerase activity is closely correlated with the occurrence, development and metastasis of colorectal carcinoma. Overexpression of hTERT may play a critical role in the regulation of telomerase activity.