Background: Depression and anxiety are common psychiatric morbidity among breast cancer patient. There is a lack of study examining the correlation between depression, anxiety and quality of life (QoL) with perceived social support (PSS) among breast cancer patients. This study aims to study the level of depression, anxiety, QoL and PSS among Malaysian breast cancer women over a period of 12 months and their associations at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Methods: It is a 12 months prospective cohort study. Two hundred and twenty one female patients were included in the study. They were assessed at the time of diagnosis, 6 months and 12 month using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (QLQ-C30), Version 3.0 of the EORTC Study Group and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). The information of age, ethnicity, types of treatment, and staging of cancer were collected. Results: The HADS anxiety and depression subscales scores of the subjects were relatively low. The level of anxiety reduced significantly at 6 and 12 months (Baseline -6 months, p = 0.002; Baseline -12 months, p < 0.001). There were no changes in the level of depression over the study period. The global status of QoL and MSPSS scores were relatively high. Correlation between the global status of QoL and MSPSS for the study subjects was positive (Spearman's rho = 0.31-0.36). Global status of QoL and MSPSS scores were negatively correlated with anxiety and depression. Conclusion: Malaysian breast cancer women had relatively better QoL with lower level of anxiety and depression. Perceived social support was an important factor for better QoL and low level of psychological distress. It reflects the importance of attention on activities that enhance and maintain the social support system for breast cancer patients.

Breast cancer (BC) is the commonest cancer in Malaysia. Delayed diagnosis is a significant cause of BC mortality in the country. Early diagnosis and screening are vital strategies in mortality reduction. This study assessed the level of utilisation and barriers for breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE) and mammogram in a semi-rural population in Malaysia and compared these across the different ethnic groups. This cross-sectional study was conducted among women aged 40 years and above, embedded within a health and demographic surveillance site (HDSS) in Segamat, Malaysia. Trained data collectors collected data on screening and barriers during home visits. Study participants (n = 250) were aged 59.4 ± 10.9 years and represented Malaysia’s three major ethnic groups. Practice of regular BSE, CBE uptake (ever) and mammogram (ever) was 23.2%, 36% and 22.4%, respectively. Regular BSE practice was highest in the Malay ethnic group and least among the Chinese. Regular CBE was very low in all ethnic groups (<5%). Mammogram uptake was highest among Chinese (34.4%), followed by Indians (30.4%) and Malays (16.6%). After adjusting for other socio-demographic variables, Malay ethnicity was positively associated with regular BSE (adjusted OR = 5.26, 95% CI 2.05, 13.50) and negatively associated with having had a mammogram (adjusted OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.15, 0.57). Lower education was negatively associated (adjusted OR = 0.36, 95% CI 0.17, 0.74) with mammogram attendance (ever). Emotional and financial barriers were the most reported types of barriers, specifically, fear of diagnosis (74.8%), cost of diagnosis (69.6%) and fear of losing a breast (66.4%). Malay women more commonly reported most barriers compared to other ethnic groups. Screening uptake was low among semi-rural women in Malaysia. Implementing culturally appropriate interventions that consider ethnic differences is crucial to empowering women to engage in BC screening initiatives in these communities.

Background: The incidence of breast cancer has increased in South East Asian (SEA) women. Malaysia has the highest obesity rates in SEA. Malaysian Breast Cancer Survivorship Cohort (MyBCC) study is a hospital-based prospective cohort study that aims to study the association between lifestyle factors and overall survival and quality of life of Malaysian breast cancer patients. Metabolic syndrome (MS) is associated with increasing levels of inflammatory cytokines and leptin that can stimulate cell proliferation through various mechanisms, hence indicating both an increased risk of developing breast cancer and a poorer prognosis. However, there is very scarce information available on the presence of MS among the newly diagnosed breast cancer patients. This is an early report of the presence of MS in the MyBCC study. Aim: We aim to evaluate the presence of MS among newly diagnosed breast cancer patients and to determine the association of MS and sociodemographic factors. Methods: 370 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients were interviewed at baseline. The anthropometric data (waist circumference, hip circumference, body weight, body height and body fat percentage) and also blood for lipid profile and glucose profile were collected. The MS status of the patients was defined using a modified International Diabetes Federation worldwide definition; presence of central obesity (waist circumference ≥ 80 cm) and any of two or more of the following criteria: (i) raised triglyceride with ≥ 1.7 mmol/L, (ii) reduced HDL-cholesterol that < 1.3 mmol/L, (iii) diagnosed with hypertension and (iv) diagnosed with diabetes. Results: Among the 370 breast cancer patients, most were aged 51 years and above (258, 69.7%), were Chinese (180, 48.6%), had secondary school education level (168, 45.4%), had less than RM3500 household income (193, 52.2%) and were postmenopausal (250, 67.6%). Most of the patients were obese or overweight (268, 72.4%) and around half of the patients (190, 51.4%) had high body fat percentage. 140 patients had MS (37.8%). MS was significantly higher among patients aged 61 years and above (59, 42.1%) and 51 to 60 years (50, 35.7%) compared with 20 to 50 years of age group (31, 22.1%) ( P < 0.05). The patients with MS were significantly higher among Chinese ethnicity (57, 40.7%), unemployed (95, 70.4%), and postmenopausal (108, 77.1%) ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of MS is high in newly diagnosed Malaysian breast cancer patients. With longer follow-up, further analysis will be done to look at association with outcomes.

Introduction: The gene expression profiles of cancer cells are closely related to their aggressiveness and metastatic potential. Antibody-based immunohistochemistry (IHC) of tissue specimens is a common method of identifying expressed proteins in cancer cells and increasingly inform treatment decisions. Molecular imaging is a potential method of performing similar IHC studies in vivo without the requirement for biopsy or tumor excision. To date, antibody-based imaging has been limited by high background levels related to slow clearance, making such imaging practical. However, optically activatable imaging agents, which are only fluorescent when bound to their cognate receptor, open the possibility of doing in vivo multi-color IHC.

Soy intake is associated with lower breast cancer risk in observational studies concerning Asian women, however, no randomized controlled trials (RCT) have been conducted among Asian women living in Asia. This three-armed RCT assessed the effects of one-year soy isoflavone (ISF) intervention on mammographic density (MD) change among healthy peri- and postmenopausal Malaysian women. This study was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03686098). Participants were randomized into the 100 mg/day ISF Supplement, 50 mg/day ISF Diet, or control arm, and assessed for change in absolute and relative dense area from digital mammograms conducted at enrolment and after 12 months, compared over time across study arms using Kruskal-Wallis tests. Out of 118 women enrolled, 91 women completed the intervention, while 27 women (23%) were lost in follow up. The ISF supplement arm participants observed a larger decline in dense area (−1.3 cm2), compared to the ISF diet (−0.5 cm2) and control arm (−0.8 cm2), though it was not statistically significant (p = 0.48). Notably, among women enrolled within 5 years of menopause; dense area declined by 6 cm2 in the ISF supplement arm, compared to <1.0 cm2 in the control arm (p = 0.13). This RCT demonstrates a possible causal association between soy ISF intake and MD, a biomarker of breast cancer risk, among Asian women around the time of menopause, but these findings require confirmation in a larger trial.