BACKGROUND. Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is the most aggressive manifestation of primary breast cancer. The authors compared the prognostic features of IBC and non‐IBC locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) to gain insight into the biology of this disease entity. METHODS. This retrospective analysis consisted of 1071 patients, comprising 240 patients with IBC and 831 patients with non‐IBC LABC who were enrolled in 10 consecutive clinical trials (5 from each disease group). All patients received similar multidisciplinary treatment. The authors measured time to disease recurrence for each individual site from the start of treatment to the date of disease recurrence or last follow‐up (recurrence‐free survival) and overall survival rates to the date of last follow‐up or death. RESULTS. The median follow‐up period was 69 months (range, 1–367 months). Pathologically complete response rates were 13.9% and 11.7% in the IBC and non‐IBC LABC groups, respectively (P = .42). The 5‐year estimates of cumulative incidence of recurrence were 64.8 % and 43.4% (P < .0001), respectively, for IBC and non‐IBC LABC. IBC had significantly higher cumulative incidence of locoregional recurrence and distant soft‐tissue and bone disease. The 5‐year overall survival (OS) rate was 40.5% for the IBC group (95% CI, 34.5%–47.4%) and 63.2% for the non‐IBC LABC group (95% CI, 60.0%–66.6%; P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS. IBC was associated with a worse prognosis and a distinctive pattern of early recurrence compared with LABC. These data suggested that investigating factors affecting “homing” of cancer cells may provide novel treatment strategies for IBC. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.

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ObjectivesMental health problems significantly increased worldwide during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. At the early stage of the outbreak, the government of Bangladesh imposed lockdown and quarantine approaches to prevent the spread of the virus, which impacted people’s daily life and health. The COVID-19 pandemic has also affected people’s economic status, healthcare facilities and other lifestyle factors in Bangladesh. We aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health among the Bangladeshi population.MethodsWe conducted an online cross-sectional survey among 672 Bangladeshi people aged between 15 and 65 years all over the country from 15 April to 10 May 2020. After obtaining electronic consent, we conducted a survey assessing people’s sociodemographic profiles and psychometric measures. We used The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale-8, Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index to assess loneliness, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance, respectively.ResultsThe prevalence of loneliness, depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance was estimated at 71% (mild: 32%, moderate: 29%, severe: 10%), 38% (mild: 24%, moderate: 11%, severe: 3%), 64% (mild: 30%, moderate: 17%, severe: 17%) and 73% (mild: 50%, moderate: 18%, severe: 5%), respectively. In Bangladesh, the key factors associated with poor mental health during COVID-19 were female sex, unemployment, being a student, obesity and living without a family. The present study also identified statistically significant interrelationships among the measured mental health issues.ConclusionsA large portion of respondents reported mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. The present study suggests longitudinal assessments of mental health among Bangladeshi people to determine the gravity of this issue during and after the pandemic. Appropriate supportive programmes and interventional approaches would address mental health problems in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine the association and prognostic value of body mass index (BMI) at the time of initialdiagnosis inpatients withlocallyadvancedbreast cancer (LABC). The analysis includes the subsets of inflammatory (IBC) and noninflammatory (non-IBCLABC) breast cancer. Experimental Design: We identified 602 patients who had LABC treated on prospective clinical trials. BMI was divided into three groups: (a) V24.9 (normal/underweight), (b) 25.0 to 29.9 (overweight), and (c) z30 (obese). Kaplan-Meier product limit method was used to estimate survival outcomes. Cox proportional hazards were used to determine associations between survival and BMI and to test for an interaction between BMI and breast cancer type. Results: Eighty-two percent hadnon-IBCLABC and18% had IBC. Obese patients tended tohave a higher incidence of IBC compared with overweight and normal/underweight groups (P = 0.01). Median follow up was 6 years for all patients. Median overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were 8.8 and 5.9 years, respectively. Patients with LABC who were obese or overweight had a significantly worse OS and RFS (P = 0.001) and a higher incidence of visceral recurrence compared with normal/underweight patients. In a multivariable model, BMI remained significantly associated with both OS and RFS for the entire cohort.The interactions between BMI and LABC subsets and between BMI and menopausal status were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Patients with LABC andhigh BMI have aworseprognosis. Evaluationof the biological factors associated with this observation can provide tools for additional therapeutic interventions.

Cancer is a serious health problem and the second leading cause of death around the globe. Present review is an attempt to provide utmost information based on ethno-pharmacological and toxicological aspects of anti-cancer plants of the world. A total of 276 articles published in English journals and containing maximum ethnomedicinal information were reviewed using several data sources such as; Google scholar, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and floras of different countries. A total of 199 anti-cancer plants were recorded in present review and results indicated that traditional medicines are mostly being use in developing countries for cancer treatment. Traditionally and scientifically skin and breast cancer types gained more focus. Seventy plants were reportedly analyzed for in-vitro activities while 32 plants were having in-vivo reports. Twenty nine pure compounds (mostly phenolic) were reportedly isolated from anti-cancer plants and tested against different cancer cell lines. Inspite having better efficiency of ethnomedicines as compared to synthetic drugs, several plants have also shown toxic effects on living system. Therefore, we invite researchers attention to carry out detailed ethno-pharmacological and toxicological studies on un-explored anti-cancer plants in order to provide reliable knowledge to the patients and develop novel anti-cancer drugs.

Inequality's effect on growth remains elusive, largely due to endogeneity, complex interactions, and lead-lag relationships. We revisit this issue by examining the four main channels through which inequality transmits to growth: savings, investment, education, and knowledge production. We construct new panel data for 21 OECD countries spanning 142 years. External communist influence is used as a new time-varying instrument for inequality and the effects of inequality on the outcome variables are made conditional on the stage of financial development. Our results show that inequality hampers growth at low to moderate levels of financial development but promotes growth at advanced levels.

Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant has created panic among the people across the world: What should we do right now? South Africa reported the heavily mutated coronavirus variant B.1.1.529 on November 24, 2021. The first confirmed COVID-19 of the B.1.1.529 variant was found in a sample collected on November 9, 2021. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated this variant as Variant of Concern (VOC) and named as "Omicron." It is the fifth VOC after Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. 1 The Omicron variant has been mutated 50 times and obtained more than 30 variations to the spike protein. 2-4 Most viruses use this spike protein to enter the body's cells, and most vaccines are made to target the spike protein.According to researchers, this new variant Omicron has a "very unusual constellation of mutations." Human antibodies produced by the immune system targets mainly the spike protein to fight a coronavirus infection. Therefore, WHO described Omicron as a "worrying type" of coronavirus due to its heavy mutation and changes in spike protein. 1 Besides, WHO said that we need more time to con-1