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Background Still, there is no clinically reliable marker to detect micrometastasis or breast cancer relapse. This study aimed to evaluate the role of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) as a biomarker in patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer. Patients and methods CTC quantification was carried out using flow cytometry for 50 patients with breast cancer postoperatively: before starting, after three cycles, and at the end of adjuvant chemotherapy. The relationship between CTCs and other tumor characteristics and outcomes were studied. Results The median follow-up duration was 35 months. Before starting adjuvant chemotherapy, CTCs were positive (cutoff point ≥5/7.5 ml) in 36% of the patients and decreased to 20% after finishing chemotherapy (P = 0.04). CTCs were detected in 88.9% (n = 16 of 18) of node-positive patients and in 11.1% of node-negative patients (n = 2 of 18, P = 0.04). No significant association was found with tumor size, grading, or hormone receptor status. Distant metastasis was detected in 20% (n = 10 of 50) of patients and was significantly associated with CTCs more than or equal to 5 in 80% of them (n = 8 of 10) (P = 0.01). The presence of more than or equal to 5 CTCs at baseline was associated with a reduction in both the disease-free survival and overall survival (P Conclusions The current work suggested that the presence of more than or equal to 5 CTCs/7.5 ml at baseline would predict early disease recurrence and reduce the overall survival in patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer receiving adjuvant chemotherapy.

The composition dependence of optical and electrical of amorphous unirradiated and γ-irradiated thin films of Pb x Ge 42-x Se 48 Te 10 (5 ≤ x ≤ 16) deposited by thermal evaporation was measured as a function of wavelength (0.3 μm ≤ λ ≤ 2.5 μm). The optical transition was found to be indirect. The optical energy gap (E opt ) decreases with increasing concentration of Pb at.wt.% and exhibits a minimum value for the composition with 9 at.wt.% Pb and the results have been interpreted in terms of the average bond energy. The band tail (E c ) obeys Ubarch's empirical relation. The d.c. electrical resistance was measured in a temperature range of (300–455 K). The activation energy for electrical conduction decreased with increasing Pb concentration. The electronic conduction in the temperature range has been attributed to band transport mechanism. The effect of γ-radiation on the optical constants (n, k), band tail (E c ) and E elect energies as a function of composition has been determined. The results show that, the radiation causes increase in optical and electrical energies as γ-doses increase.