The prognoses for patients with brain metastases from breast cancer were generally poor, although selected patients may survive longer with intensive brain tumor treatment, such as surgical resection and/or systemic chemotherapy in addition to brain radiotherapy. For patients with unfavorable prognoses, palliative radiotherapy was effective in improving the quality of the remaining lifetime.
To determine the incidence of microsatellite instability (MSI) and its relationship with both clinicopathologic parameters and patient survival, 101 cases of breast cancer were investigated. In addition, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) receptor type II (RII) gene mutation was also examined to clarify the relation to MSI in breast cancer development. MSI and RII gene mutation were screened by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). The mutations of the RII gene were confirmed by a direct sequence. An association between the MSI status and the clinicopathological features was examined to assess the potential of the MSI status as a prognostic indicator in sporadic breast cancer cases. MSI was detected in 12 of 101 (11.9%) breast cancer cases. The positive MSI breast cancer cases showed relatively more advanced disease than negative MSI cases, and also exhibited relatively poorer prognoses. No RII gene mutations were observed in any of the breast cancer cases. Our data suggest that the MSI status may thus be a useful indicator for the prognosis of sporadic breast cancer cases. However, the breast seems to be an infrequent target organ for cancer development through RII gene mutations. As a result, tumor progression through this pathway appears to be related to organ specificity. For positive MSI breast cancers, other target genes therefore still need to be identified.
We present here in the case of a 75-year-old man who developed synchronous double cancers of the remnant stomach and pancreas 12 years after undergoing distal gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma. The patient was referred to our hospital in March, 1993, with a provisional diagnosis of carcinoma of the remnant stomach. Laboratory data on admission showed an abnormal level of CA19-9 (116.1 U/ml) and positive occult blood in the stools. An upper gastrointestinal series and gastroendoscopy demonstrated an ulcerative polypoid tumor in the gastric stump proximal to the gastroduo-denostomy anastomosis, and a biopsy confirmed the findings of mucinous adenocarcinoma. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a low-density nodule anterior to the abdominal aorta, suggestive of a nodal metastasis. A laparotomy was performed which also disclosed a low-density mass located within the head of the pancreas. The patient was subsequently diagnosed as having double carcinomas of the remnant stomach and pancreas, and total gastrectomy and pancreatoduodenectomy were carried out. The histologic sections from the remnant stomach showed mucinous adenocarcinoma, whereas those from the pancreas showed tubular adenocarcinoma. Double carcinomas in this association are extremely rare and this case may in fact be the first observation of synchronous double cancers of the remnant stomach and pancreas.
Breast cancer mortality is gradually increasing in Okinawa. The 1st Okinawa Breast Oncology Meeting was held on 6 July 2012 and discussions on how to curb the rising trend were focused on breast cancer screening, adjuvant treatment, socioeconomic and geographic issues, and the problem of complementary and alternative medicine. The consensus of the 1st Okinawa Breast Oncology Meeting was that ultrasonography screening is an acceptable screening system for Okinawan women because of the geographic disadvantage of having many small islands and rural areas. Educational and economic support is needed for women in rural areas to get correct information, for access to urban areas and to be treated by evidence-based optimal therapy for breast cancer. In addition, new approaches are needed for Okinawan people to successfully educate patients to correctly interpret evidence-based information.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.