Breast cancer is a disease of unknown etiology; however, the major risk factors are genetic alterations. Studies have demonstrated an association between insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) gene polymorphism and cell proliferation and reduced apoptosis, in addition to its role in breast cancer growth and aggressiveness. Two polymorphic variants of the IGF-1 gene are highlighted in association with breast cancer, rs6220 and rs7136446, although controversy exists as to this relationship. The current study included 137 women (68 breast cancer cases and 69 controls without breast cancer) who had 3 ml of peripheral blood drawn for the study of genomic DNA extracted from leukocytes using the genotyping technique by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The CC genotype (rs7136446) was present in 4 women (5.9%) from the case group and in 2 (3.0%) women from the control group (p = 0.67), while the GG genotype (rs6220) occurred in 8 (11.5%) women from the case group and in 5 (7.2%) women from the control group (p = 0.75). No statistically significant difference was observed between the CC genotype of variant rs7136446 in premenopausal case and control women (p = 0.31), thus as there was also no significant difference between case and control postmenopausal women (p = 1.00). Concerning the GG genotype of rs6220, it occurred in 6 (14.2%) premenopausal case and 4 (8%) control women (p = 0.71) and no difference was found in postmenopausal women (p = 1.00). In the current study, IGF-1 gene polymorphism of SNP variants rs6220 and rs7136446 had no statistically significant association with breast cancer, both in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Polymorphism of the calcium-sensing receptor gene (CaSR or CaR) has been associated with an increased risk for breast cancer. This receptor plays an important role in calcium homeostasis, and has also been detected in several tissues that are unrelated to calcium metabolism, such as the skin, brain, and breast. The calcium-sensing receptor on cellular level, it regulates cell differentiation, proliferation, cell death, and gene expression. In breast cancer cells, CaSR seems to stimulate secretion of the parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), which stimulates cellular proliferation. Likewise, some studies have supported not only an association between calcium receptor gene polymorphism and breast cancer risk, but also a higher aggressiveness and unfavorable outcomes in breast cancer, which led us to make a survey in Pubmed on the subject in the last 10 years. Thus, in the literature there is a paucity of studies on the subject and the aim of this review was to show the role of calcium-sensing receptor and its association with breast cancer risk.

Breast cancer is a disease of unknown etiology, whose major risk factors are genetic alterations. Polymorphism of the calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) has been a focus of some recent studies, due to a probable association with breast cancer risk and tumor aggressiveness. A relationship between polymorphic rs17251221 variant of the CaSR gene, and allele G (considered a gain-of-function mutation) and breast cancer risk has been stressed, despite the paucity of studies found in the literature. The present study involved 137 women (69 women with breast cancer-case; and 68 controls without breast cancer) who had 3 ml of peripheral blood drawn for DNA study. Genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes by genotyping technique with real-time polymerase chain reaction. The AG genotype (rs17251221) was present in 13 women (18.84%) from the case group and in 8 (11.76%) women from the control group (p = 0.3434), while the GG genotype (rs17251221) did not occur in any group. In contrast, no statistically significant difference was observed between the AG genotype of variant rs17251221 in premenopausal case and control women (p = 0.71). There was also no statistically significant difference between postmenopausal case and control patients (p = 0.6851). In the current study, CaSR gene polymorphism of SNP variant rs17251221 did not show any statistically significant association with breast cancer, in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

Biomarkers for the prognosis of breast cancer have been routinely used in clinical practice, including the expression of hormone receptors, Ki-67 and HER-2. More recently, Bcl-2 has been recognized as an important prognostic factor in breast cancer, although controversies persist with respect to the significance of its expression. The aim of the present study was to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancer. Sixty women with invasive ductal carcinoma were included in the study and divided into two groups: Group A (luminal A) and Group B (triple-negative), with 30 cases in each group. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue sections to evaluate Bcl-2 antigen expression. Fisher's exact test was used to compare the proportions of cases with cells expressing Bcl-2 between the two subtype cancer groups, with statistical significance being established at p < 0.05. The number of cases with cells expressing Bcl-2 in Groups A and B was 26 (86.7%) and 12 (40.0%), respectively (p < 0.0003). In the present study, the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was greater in luminal A breast cancer tissue samples compared to triple-negative breast cancer.

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare estrogen receptor expression between low and high-grade astrocytomas. METHOD: A study using paraffin blocks of glial tumors from the Anatomy Pathology archives of São Marcos Hospital was carried out and began after approval by the Review Board of the Federal University of Piaui. Specimens were histochemically marked with an anti-ER alpha antibody. Brown-stained nuclei were considered positive, regardless of reaction intensity. Data were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and Spearman's correlation. Statistical significance was established at p<0.05. RESULTS: The mean percentage of nuclei stained with anti-ER alpha in low-and high-grade astrocytomas was 0.04 and zero, respectively, while Spearman's correlation showed a strong negative association between low and high-grade tumors (p<0.001) and (r= −0.67), respectively. CONCLUSION: In the current study, estrogen receptor expression was positive only in low-grade astrocytomas and nil in high-grade astrocytomas, showing that ER expression declines with the grade of tumor malignancy.

O objetivo deste artigo é avaliar a percepção da população sobre o papel do farmacêutico no contexto da pandemia do novo coronavírus. Trata-se de um estudo descritivo exploratório de abordagem quantitativa realizado, via plataforma Google Formulários. Foram incluídas pessoas de ambos os sexos, maiores de 18 anos, residentes no Brasil. O link do questionário foi enviado pelo WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook e e-mail. Dos 1.748 questionários respondidos, 64,5% eram de mulheres, a média de idade dos participantes foi de 25,3±7,9 anos e a maioria se declarou parda (56,8%). Do total de participantes, 96,5% consideraram o farmacêutico profissional da saúde, no entanto 53,4% não foram atendidos por ele durante a pandemia e 68,6% não buscaram orientação deste. Constatou-se que a população deste estudo reconheceu o farmacêutico como profissional de saúde na linha de frente contra o coronavírus, porém não sabia identificar seu papel diante da pandemia.

Tumor biomarkers such as hormone receptors, HER-2 and Ki-67 are used routinely in clinical practice for classification of molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Cell proliferation evaluated by Ki-67 antigen expression is important to determine tumor aggressiveness. However, there is a paucity of studies comparing Ki-67 expression in an expressive number of cells among molecular subtypes of breast cancer, particularly among less and more aggressive tumors, such as luminal A and triple-negative, which have led us to the present study. The current study included invasive ductal carcinoma samples of 59 patients, which were divided into two groups: luminal A (n = 29) and triple-negative (n = 30). For immunohistochemical reaction, the samples were incubated with monoclonal anti-Ki-67 antibody (clone MIB1) and cells expressing Ki-67 protein were identified by dark brown staining of the nuclei, counting at least 600 cells per slide. The mean percentages of stained nuclei were analyzed by Student's t test (p < 0.05). The mean percentage of nuclei stained with anti-ki-67 was 10.14 and 77.22 in luminal A and triple-negative breast cancers, respectively (p < 0.0001). Our study showed a high cell proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer in comparison with luminal A, justifying its aggressiveness and poor clinical outcome.

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