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Background: Histologic grade in breast cancer provides clinically important prognostic information. However, 30%-60% of tumors are classified as histologic grade 2. This grade is associated with an intermediate risk of recurrence and is thus not informative for clinical decision making. We examined whether histologic grade was associated with gene expression profiles of breast cancers and whether such profiles could be used to improve histologic grading. Methods: We analyzed microarray data from 189 invasive breast carcinomas and from three published gene expression datasets from breast carcinomas. We identified differentially expressed genes in a training set of 64 estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumor samples by comparing expression profiles between histologic grade 3 tumors and histologic grade 1 tumors and used the expression of these genes to define the gene expression grade index. Data from 597 independent tumors were used to evaluate the association between relapse-free survival and the gene expression grade index in a Kaplan-Meier analysis. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: We identified 97 genes in our training set that were associated with histologic grade; most of these genes were involved in cell cycle regulation and proliferation. In validation datasets, the gene expression grade index was strongly associated with histologic grade 1 and 3 status; however, among histologic grade 2 tumors, the index spanned the values for histologic grade 1-3 tumors. Among patients with histologic grade 2 tumors, a high gene expression grade index was associated with a higher risk of recurrence than a low gene expression grade index (hazard ratio = 3.61, 95% confidence interval = 2.25 to 5.78; P

After the trustees of the Presbyterian Health Foundation of Oklahoma City decided to sell their hospital to HCA in 1985, their next goal was to build a world-class research facility […]

We're all adults here. We've all upgraded our operating systems before. Remember Windows 3.0 to 3.1? Or DOS 3.2 to DOS 5? Forget 'em. Upgrading to Windows 95 -- due […]

Behind the Interface--Mobile Communications, Info Center, Internet, Multimedia, and DOS Enhancements Back in August, we took our first look at Chicago, now renamed Windows 95. Thinking it would be unleashed […]

Angionenesis is a major new prognostic factor in breast cancer. Small vessels quantitatively assessed by staining with anti-CD31 antibodies correlate with lymph node involvement and are a better independent predictor of survival. There are many vascular growth factors, but predominant in primary tumors assessed by nuclease protection assays are vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor. Acidic and basic fibroblast growth factor are also detectable. A common feature of these angiogenic factors is heparin binding, so novel analogues of suramin that can compete for heparin binding have been developed. These are more potent in vitro against endothelial cells and are less toxic in vivo, thereby giving a much better therapeutic ratio. Protein kinase C is also important in endothelial growth, as it is in carcinoma growth. Thus, a novel agent inhibiting this pathway, and inducing transforming growth factor-[beta] production has been assessed in a Phase I trial; this agent is bryostatin. It does not cause marrow suppression and has stimulatory effects of tumor necrosis factor-[alpha] and interleukin (IL)-6 production. High expression of epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and erbB-2 has been related to poor prognosis. EGF receptors are mainly regulated by transcription, as are some cases of high erbB-2 expression. Thus, a novel approach to gene therapy is being developed using direct tumor injection of cDNA, with a tumor specific promoter ligated to the IL-2 gene. This avoids many problems associated with targeting. Because IL-2 stimulation of cytotoxic T-cells will depend on appropriate antigen presentation, human lymphocyte antigen Class I expression was studied, as was the peptide transporter system RING4 (TAP1). Losses were found in 50% of cases, and in some cases only in lymph nodes but not primary cancers, thereby providing evidence for a role in suppressing metastasis. Thus, many new approaches to therapy are possible as a result of understanding growth factors and intracellular signaling pathways. Cancer 1994; 74:1021-5. Key words: gene therapy, angiogenesis, growth factors, breast cancer.

A show of hands, please. What irks you most about Windows 3.1? Its confusing interface? The frequent crashes? Being forced to scurry off to Program Manager, File Manager, or Print […]

Forty-four adult patients with acute asthma were treated with albuterol at a rate of 15 mg/h over 2 h. Analysis of covariance showed a significantly higher baseline adjusted mean for [...]

Product Information ManagePro 2.0 for Windows Combines savvy management philosophy and tracking tools to enable managers to actively oversee people and goals. Avantos Performance Systems, Inc., 510/654-4600. List price: $395; […]

The Monterey peninsula is considered by some to be one of the California coastline's finest areas. Within it lies the Santa Lucia Highlands, home to the Hahn family's vineyard estate. [...]

Tired of DOS-with or without Windows? Considering an upgrade to Windows NT or OS/2 2.1? We ran two users through a series of real-life tests to see how the two […]

Looking for the fastest route to a local hot spot? Or a quick idea of your company's sales nationwide? Today's hot- selling travel and mapping analysis programs provide a bird's-eye […]

Can mere human beings set up a shadow network for their work groups, change their work styles, and avoid infuriating the LAN administrator in the process? Yes, yes, and no. […]

For all the snappy features of Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0, there are still times when they make you want to drop your PC down the nearest elevator shaft. Sluggish […]

Chances are you've been working with Windows 3.0 for a while or are in the process of upgrading to Windows 3.1. It's also possible that you've been doing more work […]

You need to set up a meeting, and the client wants to know now when you and your team can be there. There's no time for phone tag or the […]

Tennis, perhaps more than any other individual competition sport, has always enjoyed an international field of superstars originating from a multitude of countries. It is no wonder that hundreds of […]

Satellite technology delivers tennis to a global audience Tennis, perhaps more than any other individual competition sport, has always enjoyed an international field of superstars originating from a multitude of […]

Baseball's Greatest Hits Voyager Company, $49.95, 800/446-2001 Sure, it's got statistics. But Baseball's Greatest Hits' true talent is its ability to evoke the sounds and texture of the game. Featuring […]

Who wouldn't rather work at home? No boss breathing down your neck, no time clock, no dress code, no commute. It sounds like paradise. But down here on planet Earth, […]

One door closes; another opens. With this issue, InfoWorld pulls the plug on its print magazine. Starting today, all our news, reviews, columns, analyses, and first-person commentary -- everything you've […]

It happens every year. Tom Yager writes another column about Apple, and I get e-mails like this one from reader Gary Olson: 'I find it a bit unfair for a […]

Some stories are a labor of love. 'Open Source VoIP Makes the Business Connection' is one of them. The love, in this case, originates with Senior Contributing Editor Paul Venezia. […]

Usually daylight-saving time is no big deal. We 'spring ahead,' grumble briefly about an hour of lost sleep, and get on with life. This year could be different. The Energy […]

Off the Record, the real-world slice of life that graces the last page of InfoWorld, is one of our most popular columns. I know this from reader surveys and from […]

Ever have this experience? One day, you read about something, then suddenly you start noticing references to it everywhere. This happened to me recently with energy-efficient IT, aka the green […]

I know a little something about crackpot technology. See, back in the '80s, I worked at Omni, the now-defunct science/science fiction magazine that delighted in all manifestations of crackpottery. We […]

It's virtualization week here at InfoWorld Central -- and there's virtually no escape. We kick off with 'Virtualization under the hood,' a multipart primer to server, storage, app, and desktop […]

The U.S. workplace is the new dysfunctional family. I've reached that conclusion after stumbling on a string of statistics that make me wonder how American companies ever get anything done, […]

You don't need a degree in statistics to recognize that IT is a men's club. Just walk the floor of any tech conference or, in all likelihood, your own office […]

Reporters just love EMC. After all, there's always something new to write about, given that the company has spent the past three years on a punch-drunk buying spree, acquiring shiny […]

We tried. We really tried. We had every intention of sticking to our knitting -- reporting on a slate of enterprise computing topics, from blade servers to SOA deployment strategies. […]

No matter how carefully you plan and manage your slice of the IT budget, you're going to mess up somewhere. Invariably, you'll spend more than you should in some technologies, […]