Background: Ki67 is an immunohistochemical proliferation marker in many types of cancer and has been widely studied among breast cancer patients mostly through retrospective studies. Methods: The MEDLINE/PubMed database was searched for publications with the medical subject heading ‘Ki 67’ and the key words ‘breast’, ‘cancer’, and ‘prognosis’. We restricted our search to articles published until 2012. Results: In this review, we included 78 articles and abstracts that were accessible and available in English. An effort to further explain the role of Ki67 in the prognosis of breast cancer has been made. Conclusions: The debate on the prognostic role of Ki67 in breast cancer is still open, although most of the studies have established a relation between Ki67 and overall and disease-free survival. Further research should be made in order to establish Ki67 as a standard prognostic marker in breast cancer.

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The objective of our study was to establish whether there is an association between rheumatoid arthritis with extra-articular manifestations (exRA) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide 2 (anti-CCP2) antibodies in Greeks. A retrospective study of 220 Greek patients with RA, 95 with exRA and 125 without extra-articular manifestations (cRA). Serum anti-CCP2 antibodies and IgM rheumatoid factor (RF) were measured. CCP2(+) were 65.3% of exRA and 58.4% of cRA patients. RF(+) were 69.5% of exRA and 60.0% of cRA patients. Among exRA patients, 37.9% had high serum anti-CCP2 antibody levels (>100 IU/ml) compared to 21.6% cRA patients (p = 0.008). Serositis and pulmonary fibrosis were found to be associated with high levels of anti-CCP2 antibodies (52.9 vs 26.6%, p = 0.02 and 63.6 vs 26.8%, p = 0.008, respectively). Serum RF levels were 265.0 +/- 52.0 IU/ml (mean +/- SEM) in exRA and 205.1 +/- 40.6 (mean +/- SEM) in cRA (NS). High serum RF levels (>268 IU/ml) were more likely to have sicca syndrome. In Greek patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), high serum anti-CCP2 antibodies are associated with serositis and pulmonary fibrosis. Therefore, anti-CCP2 antibodies have prognostic significance in patients with RA.

BackgroundRheumatic diseases are a major health and financial burden for societies. The prevalence of rheumatic diseases may change over time, and therefore, we sought to estimate the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in an adult population of central Greece.MethodsIn this prospective cross-sectional population survey, a random sample of adult population was drawn from poll catalogues of a region in central Greece. A postal questionnaire was sent to 3,528 people for the presence of any rheumatic disease. All positive cases were further confirmed by clinical examination using the American College of Rheumatoloy criteria. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess risk factors for rheumatic diseases.ResultsThe response rate was 48.3% (1,705 answers). Four hundred and twenty individuals (24.6%) had a rheumatic disease. The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis was 0.58% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.32-0.87), of psoriatic arthritis was 0.35% (95% CI, 0.33-1.13), of ankylosing spondylitis was 0.29% (95% CI, 0.28-0.94), of primary Sjögren's syndrome was 0.23% (95% CI, 0.22-0.75) and of systemic lupus erythematosus was 0.11% (95% CI, 0.11-0.37). One individual had systemic sclerosis (prevalence, 0.058%), 1 individual had dermatomyositis (prevalence, 0.058%; 95% CI, 0.05-0.18), 2 individuals had vasculitis (prevalence 0.11%; 95% CI, 0.11-0.37), 81 individuals had gout (prevalence, 4.75%; 95% CI, 4.41-5.13), and 304 individuals had osteoarthritis (OA) (prevalence 17.82%; 95% CI, 16.50-19.34). Gout was associated with male gender, diabetes mellitus, and hypertension, and OA was associated with age, female gender, and hypertension.ConclusionsRheumatic diseases are common in central Greece, affecting nearly a quarter of adult population. OA and gout are the most common joint disorders.

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