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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.

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.

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.

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.