Metaplastic breast carcinoma (MBC) is a rare, heterogeneous breast cancer characterized by admixture of adenocarcinoma with metaplastic elements, low hormone receptor expression, and poor outcomes. The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 47 MBC patients and 1,346 invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) patients. Two hundred eighteen of the IDC patients were triple-negative (TN-IDC) for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (ER-/PR-/HER2-). Patients were surgically treated at the Samsung Medical Center between 2005 and 2009. The MBC patients presented with a larger tumor size, lower lymph node involvement, higher histological and nuclear grades, higher triple negativity (ER-/PR-/HER2-) and higher p53, CK5/6, and EGFR expressions compared with those of the IDC group. However, there were no significant differences in clinicopathological characteristics between MBC and TN-IDC. During the follow-up period (median duration of 30.3 months, range 2.6-56.3 months), seven (14.9%) MBC patients, and 98 (7.1%) IDC patients had disease recurrence. The three-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate was 78.1% in the MBC group and 91.1% in IDC group (P < 0.001). The three-year DFS rate was not significantly different between the MBC and TN-IDC groups (78.1 vs. 84.9%, P = 0.114). However, in patients with lymph node metastasis who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy, the three-year DFS rate was 44.4% in the MBC group and 72.5% in the TN-IDC group (P = 0.025). The authors found that MBC had a poorer clinical outcome than did IDC. In breast cancer patients with nodal metastasis, MBC had a poorer prognosis than did TN-IDC, despite adjuvant chemotherapy.

The solar-driven photo(electro)catalytic process is a key technology for utilization of solar energy. It is being intensively investigated for application to environmental remediation and solar fuel production. Although both environmental and energy applications operate on the basis of the same principle of photoinduced interfacial charge transfer, most previous studies have focused on either the environmental or energy process only since these two processes require very different catalyst properties and reaction conditions. This Perspective describes a dualfunctional photo(electro)catalytic process that enables water treatment along with the simultaneous recovery of energy (e.g., H 2 and H 2 O 2 ) or resources (e.g., metal ions) and discusses the status and perspectives of this emerging technology. The essential feature of the process is to utilize the hole oxidation power for the degradation of water pollutants and the electron reduction power for the recovery of energy and resources from wastewaters at the same time. Various PC, PEC, and photovoltaic-driven electrochemical (PV-EC) processes with different dual-functional purposes (e.g., pollutant removal combined with H 2 or H 2 O 2 production, heavy-metal recovery, denitrification, fuel cell) are introduced and discussed. The reviewed technology should offer chances for the development of next-generation water treatment processes based on the water−solar energy nexus.

We investigated a sequential photocatalysis-dark reaction, wherein organic pollutants were degraded on Ag/TiO under UV irradiation and the dark reduction of hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) was subsequently followed. The photocatalytic oxidation of 4-chlorophenol (4-CP), a test organic substrate, induced the generation of degradation intermediates and the storage of electrons in Ag/TiO which were then utilized for reducing Cr(VI) in the postirradiation period. The dark reduction efficiency of Cr(VI) was much higher with Ag/TiO (87%), compared with bare TiO (27%) and Pt/TiO (22%). The Cr(VI) removal by Ag/TiO (87%) was contributed by adsorption (31%), chemical reduction by intermediates of 4-CP degradation (26%), and reduction by electrons stored in Ag (30%). When formic acid, humic acid or ethanol was used as an alternative organic substrate, the electron storage effect was also observed. The postirradiation removal of Cr(VI) on Ag/TiO continued for hours, which is consistent with the observation that a residual potential persisted on the Ag/TiO electrode in the dark whereas little residual potential was observed on bare TiO and Pt/TiO electrodes. The stored electrons in Ag/TiO and their transfer to Cr(VI) were also indicated by the UV-visible absorption spectral change. Moreover, the electrons stored in the preirradiated Ag/TiO reacted with O with showing a sign of low-level OH radical generation in the dark period.

Vertically aligned TiO nanotube arrays (TNTs) were prepared by electrochemical anodization, and then cathodically polarized with dark blue coloration for the dual-functional photoelectrochemical water treatment of organic substrates degradation and accompanying H generation. The resulting Blue-TNTs (inner diameter: ∼40 nm; length: ∼9 μm) showed negligible shift in X-ray diffraction pattern compared with the intact TNTs, but the X-ray photoelectron spectra indicated a partial reduction of Ti to Ti on the surface. The electrochemical analyses of Blue-TNTs revealed a marked enhancement in donor density and electrical conductivity by orders of magnitude. Degradations of test organic substrates on Blue-TNTs were compared with the intact TNTs in electrochemical (EC), photocatalytic (PC), and photoelectrochemical (PEC) conditions (potential bias: 1.64 V; λ > 320 nm). The degradation of 4-chlorophenol was greatly enhanced on Blue-TNTs particularly in PEC condition, whereas the PC activities of the Blue- and intact TNTs were similar. The potential bias of 1.64 V did not induce any noticeable activity in EC condition. Similar trends were observed for the degradation of humic acid and fulvic acid, where main working oxidants were found to be the surface hydroxyl radical as confirmed by hydroxyl radical probe and scavenger tests. H generation coupled with the organic degradation was observed only in PEC condition, where the H generation rate with Blue-TNTs was more than doubled from that of intact TNTs. Such superior PEC activity was not observed when a common TiO nanoparticle film was used as a photoanode. The enhanced electric conductivity of Blue-TNTs coupled with a proper band bending in PEC configuration seemed to induce a highly synergic enhancement.