In recent years, circulating miRNAs have attracted a great deal of attention as promising novel markers for various diseases. Here, we investigated their potential to serve as minimally invasive, early detection markers for breast cancer in blood plasma. We profiled miRNAs extracted from the plasma of early stage breast cancer patients (taken at the time-point of diagnosis) and healthy control individuals using TaqMan low-density arrays (TLDA). Selected candidates identified in the initial screen were further validated in an extended study cohort of 207 individuals including 127 sporadic breast cancer cases and 80 healthy controls via RT-qPCR. Four miRNAs (miR-148b, miR-376c, miR-409-3p and miR-801) were shown to be significantly upregulated in the plasma of breast cancer patients. ROC curve analysis showed that the combination of only three miRNAs (miR-148b, miR-409-3p and miR-801) had an equal discriminatory power between breast cancer cases and healthy controls as all four miRNAs together (AUC 5 0.69). In conclusion, the identified miRNAs might be of potential use in the development of a multimarker blood-based test to complement and improve early detection of breast cancer. Such a multimarker blood test might for instance provide a prescreening tool, especially for younger women, to facilitate decisions about which individuals to recommend for further diagnostic tests.Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and cause of cancer-related death among women in industrialized countries. Worldwide $ 1.3 million women develop breast cancer each year.1 Mortality rates have continued to decrease over the years due to the advances made in early diagnosis and treatment.1 Nevertheless, thousands of women die from this disease each year. In the United States, the overall 5-year survival is 98% when diagnosed at an early stage as opposed to 23% when the disease has already spread to distant organs.

Combat exposure may be unavoidable in military service members, but other vulnerability and protective factors also predict PTSD and could be targets for prevention strategies.

We used an anonymous self-reported questionnaire to assess posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, relationship concerns, and treatment preferences including interest in family-focused interventions among 100 National Guard Soldiers who were recently redeployed from Iraq or Afghanistan. We found that the majority of married or partnered soldiers were concerned about getting along with their partners, while the majority of parents were concerned about their child-rearing practices. Posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms were significantly associated with the degree of relationship concerns. Soldiers showed a striking preference for family-based interventions over individual treatment, highlighting the importance of developing family-based interventions tailored to address post-deployment mental health and co-occurring family problems.

Background Breast cancer is the most common tumor in women with Li Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), an inherited cancer syndrome associated with germline mutations in the TP53 tumor suppressor gene. Their lifetime breast cancer risk is 49% by age 60. Breast cancers in TP53 carriers have recently been reported to more often be hormone receptor and HER-2 positive by immunohistochemistry and FISH in small series. We seek to expand this small literature with this report of a histopathologic analysis of breast cancers from women with documented LFS. Methods Unstained slides and paraffin-embedded tumor blocks from breast cancers from 39 germline TP53 mutations carriers were assembled from investigators in the LFS consortium. Central histology review was performed on 93% of the specimens by a single breast pathologist from a major university hospital. Histology, grade and hormone receptor status was assessed by immunohistochemistry; HER-2 status was defined by immunohistochemistry and/or FISH. Results The 43 tumors from 39 women comprise 32 invasive ductal carcinomas and 11 ductal carcinomas in situ (DCIS). No other histologies were observed. The median age at diagnosis was 32 years (range 22–46). Of the invasive cancers, 84% were positive for ER and/or PR; 81% were high grade. Sixty three percent of invasive and 73% of in situ carcinomas were positive for Her2/neu (IHC 3+ or FISH amplified). Of the invasive tumors, 53% were positive for both ER, and HER2+; other ER/PR/HER2 combinations were observed. The DCIS were positive for ER and HER2 in 27% of the cases. Conclusions This report of the phenotype of breast cancers from women with Li Fraumeni syndrome nearly doubles the literature on this topic. Most DCIS and invasive ductal carcinomas in Li Fraumeni syndrome are hormone receptor positive and/or HER-2 positive. These findings suggest that modern treatments may improve outcomes for women with LFS-associated breast cancer.