Polo-like kinase 1 as a biomarker predicts the prognosis and immunotherapy of breast invasive carcinoma patients

Invasive breast carcinoma(BRCA)is associated with poor prognosis and high risk of mortality.Therefore,it is critical to identify novel biomarkers for the prognostic assessment of BRCA.Methods:The expression data of polo-like kinase 1(PLK1)in BRCA and the corresponding clinical information were extracted from TCGA and GEO databases.PLK1 expression was validated in diverse breast cancer cell lines by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(qRT-PCR)and western blotting.Single sample gene set enrichment analysis(ssGSEA)was performed to evaluate immune infiltration in the BRCA microenvironment,and the random forest(RF)and support vector machine(SVM)algorithms were used to screen for the hub infiltrating cells and calculate the immunophenoscore(IPS).The RF algorithm and COX regression model were applied to calculate survival risk scores based on the PLK1 expression and immune cell infiltration.Finally,a prognostic nomogram was constructed with the risk score and pathological stage,and its clinical potential was evaluated by plotting calibration charts and DCA curves.The application of the nomogram was further validated in an immunotherapy cohort.Results:PLK1 expression was significantly higher in the tumor samples in TCGA-BRCA cohort.Furthermore,PLK1 expression level,age and stage were identified as independent prognostic factors of BRCA.While the IPS was unaffected by PLK1 expression,the TMB and MATH scores were higher in the PLK1-high group,and the TIDE scores were higher for the PLK1-low patients.We also identified 6 immune cell types with high infiltration,along with 11 immune cell types with low infiltration in the PLK1-high tumors.A risk score was devised using PLK1 expression and hub immune cells,which predicted the prognosis of BRCA patients.In addition,a nomogram was constructed based on the risk score and pathological staging,and showed good predictive performance.Conclusions:PLK1 expression and immune cell infiltration can predict post-immunotherapy prognosis of BRCA patients.

Bladder preservation in complicated invasive urothelial carcinoma following treatment with cisplatin/gemcitabine plus tislelizumab:A case report

BACKGROUND Invasive urothelial carcinoma(UC)with squamous and glandular differentiation is a highly malignant and complicated pathological subtype,and the standard care is radical cystectomy(RC).However,urinary diversion after RC significantly reduces patient quality of life,thus bladder-sparing therapy has become a research hotspot in this field.Recently,five immune checkpoint inhibitors have been approved for systemic therapy of locally advanced or metastatic bladder cancer by the Food and Drug Administration,but the efficacy of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy for invasive UC is still unknown,especially for pathological subtypes with squamous and glandular differentiation.CASE SUMMARY We report the case of a 60-year-old male who complained of repetitive painless gross hematuria and was diagnosed with muscle-invasive bladder cancer with squamous and glandular differentiation,defined as cT3N1M0 according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer,who had a strong desire to preserve the bladder.Immunohistochemical staining revealed that programmed cell deathligand 1(PD-L1)expression in the tumor was positive.Thus,a transurethral resection to maximize removal of the bladder tumor was performed under cystoscopy,and the patient subsequently received a combination of chemotherapy(cisplatin/gemcitabine)and immunotherapy(tislelizumab)treatment.No tumor recurrence in the bladder was observed following pathological and imaging examination after 2 cycles and 4 cycles of treatment,respectively.The patient achieved bladder preservation and has been tumor-free for more than two years.CONCLUSION This case shows that the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy might be an effective and safe treatment strategy for PD-L1 expression positive UC with divergent histologic differentiation.

Large-duct pattern invasive adenocarcinoma of the pancreas–a variant mimicking pancreatic cystic neoplasms: A minireview

Pancreatic cancer currently has no subtypes that inform clinical decisions;hence,there exists an opportunity to rearrange the morphological and molecular taxonomy that guides a better understanding of tumor characteristics.Nonetheless,accumulating studies to date have revealed the large-duct type variant,a unique subtype of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma(PDA)with cystic features.This subtype often radiographically mimics intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms(IPMNs)and involves multiple small cysts occasionally associated with solid masses.The“bunch-of-grapes”sign,an imaging characteristic of IPMNs,is absent in large-duct PDA.Large-duct PDA defines the mucin profile,and genetic alterations are useful in distinguishing large-duct PDA from IPMNs.Histologically,neoplastic ducts measure over 0.5 mm,forming large ductal elements.Similar to classic PDAs,this subtype is frequently accompanied by perineural invasion and abundant desmoplastic reactions,and KRAS mutations in codon 12 are nearly ubiquitous.Despite such morphological similarities with IPMNs,the prognosis of large-duct PDA is equivalent to that of classic PDA.Differential diagnosis is therefore essential.

sLe^(x) expression in invasive micropapillary breast carcinoma is associated with poor prognosis and can be combined with MUC1/EMA as a supplementary diagnostic indicator

Objective: Mucin 1(MUC1/EMA) and sialyl Lewis X(sLe^(x)) indicate polarity reversal in invasive micropapillary carcinoma(IMPC). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the expression of MUC1/EMA and sLe^(x) and to assess their diagnostic and prognostic value in patients with IMPC.Methods: The expression of sLe^(x) and MUC1/EMA in 100 patients with IMPC and a control group of 89 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified(IDC-NOS) were analyzed with IHC. Fresh tumor tissues were collected from patients with IMPC or IDC-NOS for primary culture and immunofluorescence analysis.Results: The rate of nodal metastasis was higher in patients with IMPC than those with IDC-NOS, and IMPC cells tended to express more sLe^(x) and MUC1/EMA in the cytomembranes(the stroma-facing surfaces of the micropapillary clusters) than IDC-NOS cells. In IMPC, high cytomembrane expression of sLe^(x), but not MUC1/EMA, indicated poor prognosis. In addition, among the 100 patients with IMPC, 10 patients had sLe^(x)+/EMA-expression patterns, and 8 patients had sLe^(x)-/EMA+ expression patterns. The primary IMPC cells were suspended, non-adherent tumor cell clusters, whereas the primary IDC cells were adherent tumor cells. Immunofluorescence analysis showed that MUC1/EMA and sLe^(x) were co-expressed on the cytomembranes in IMPC cell clusters and in the cytoplasm in IDC-NOS cells.Conclusions: sLe^(x) can be used as a prognostic indicator and can be combined with MUC1/EMA as a complementary diagnostic indicator to avoid missed IMPC diagnosis.

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma:A distinct type of adenocarcinomas in the gastrointestinal tract

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) is a rare histological type of tumor, first described in invasive ductal breast cancer, than in malignancies in other organs such as lungs, urinary bladder, ovaries or salivary glands. Recent literature data shows that this histological lesion has also been found in cancers of the gastrointestinal system. The micropapillary components are clusters of neoplastic cells that closely adhere to each other and are located in distinct empty spaces. Moreover, clusters of neoplastic cells do not have a fibrous-vascular core. The IMPC cells show reverse polarity resulting in typical ‘’inside-out’’ structures that determines secretary properties, disturbs adhesion and conditions grade of malignancy in gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Invasive micropapillary carcinoma in this location is associated with metastases to local lymph nodes and lymphovascular invasion. IMPC can be a prognostic factor for patients with cancers of the stomach, pancreas and with colorectal cancer since it is related with disease-free and overall survival. The purpose of this review is to present the characterization of invasive micropapillary carcinoma in colon, rectum, stomach and others site of GI tract, and to determine the immunohistological indentification of IMPC in those localization.

Clinical and pathological characteristics of intraductal proliferative lesions and coexist with invasive ductal carcinomas

Objective： The purpose of this study was to study the clinical and pathological characteristics of breast intraductal proliferative lesions （IDPLs） and associated with invasive breast cancer. Methods： We reviewed 327 cases of breast intra- ductal proliferative lesions including 53 cases of usual ductal hyperplasia, 57 cases of atypical ductal hyperplasia, 89 cases of ductal carcinoma in situ, and 128 cases coexist with invasive ductal carcinomas. Cases of pure invasive cancer without intraductal proliferative lesions were excluded. The mult IDPLs biological parameters including the express of ER, PR, HER2, HIF-lo and Ki-67 detected by immunohistochemistry S-P method （n = 327） and the levels of CA153, TSGF, CA125 and CEA both in nipple discharge and serum （n = 179） measured with Electrochemiluminescence method and their relationship were studied, and 30 cases of normal pregnant women were compared with. Results： A single histologic subtype was present in 49.85% （163/327） of the cases, two subtypes in 33.03% （108/327）, and three in 17.13% （56/327）. The most common subtypes present were cribriform （43.12%, 141/327） and solid （38.53%, 126/327）, while the comedo （16.35%, 54/327）, and micropapillary （12.84%, 42/327） subtypes were less common. Comedo and solid were frequently found together for coexpres- sion as were micropapillary and papillary subtypes. However, Comedo subtype was much less likely to be found with papillary, cribriform or micropapillary subtypes. Additionally, comedo subtypes tend to be hormone receptor negative, Her2 positive and high-grade while the cribriform and solid subtype tends to be hormone receptor positive, Her2 negative and low grade. Papil- lary subtype was least likely to be associated with an invasive cancer. Furthermore, the nipple discharge and serum levels of CA153, TSGF, CA125 and CEA in coexist with invasive ductal carcinomas patients were significantly higher than those in the benign breast disease （pure intraductal proliferative lesions） and normal pregnant women （P 〈 0.01）. Additionally, the levels of CA153, TSGF, CA125 and CEA in nipple discharge were significantly higher than in the serum （P 〈 0.01）, and had a positive correlation with the Ki-67, grade, clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and tumor recurrence （P 〈 0.05）, and negative correla- tion with the level of ER and PR （P 〈 0.05）. The sensitivity of the four serum tumor markers in combination was only 69.77%, in contrast, the combined detection both in discharge and serum was 97.67%, and the negative predictive value was 99.03%. The sensitivity of combined detection both in nipple discharge and serum were significantly higher than other detection （P 〈 0.05）. Conclusion： IDPLs often present more than one histologic subtype and the most common subtypes are cribriform and solid, while comedo and micropapillary subtypes are less common. Our results suggest that the levels of CA153, TSGF, CA125 and CEA in nipple discharge were significantly higher than those in the serum, and is associated with HIF-le. The aberration of HIF-la may play a key role during oncogenesis and promote breast cellular transformation into malignancy, a finding useful for further understanding of tumorigenesis. Nipple discharge can be the earliest presenting symptom of breast cancer. The dynamic combined detection of the four tumor markers both in nipple discharge and serum are helpful to the stratification of preoperative patients and benefit to better prewarning markers for monitoring their recurrence and metastasis and clinical staging of tumors in clinic, but cannot increase the sensitivity of judging the patients with early breast cancer.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Expression in Invasive Ductal Carcinoma of Breast

Objective： To detect the expression of VEGF and MVD count in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast to clarify the association of VEGF expression and MVD count with the clinicopathologic features. Methods： The expressions of VEGF, ER, PR, C-erbB-2 and MVD count in 88 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of breast were examined by immunohistochemistry staining （SP-method）. Results： Sixty-two out of the eighty-eight specimens of breast carcinoma （70.45%） showed positive expression of VEGF. The positive rate of VEGF in cases with lymph node metastasis was higher than that without lymph node metastasis （P〈0.05）. The positive rate of VEGF in stage IIb-Ⅲ was higher than that in stage Ⅰ-Ⅱa （P〈0.05）. The positive rate of VEGF in C-erbB-2 positive group was higher than that in C-erbB-2 negative group （P〈0.05）. Higher expression of VEGF was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree （P〈0.05）. Also, significant higher MVD count was observed in cases with higher tissue differentiation degree （P〈0.01）. The MVD count increased significantly with the increase of the expression of VEGF （P〈0.01）. Conclusion： The result of this study suggested that in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast, angiogenesis and metastasis were mediated mainly by VEGF. The expression of VEGF and MVD might be reference predictors for the biological behavior of breast carcinoma. The antiangiogenic therapy which used VEGF as a target would become a new method to treat patients who were C-erbB-2 positive in the future.

Shear Wave Elastography of Invasive Ductal Carcinoma:Correlations between Shear Wave Velocity and Histological Prognostic Factors

The correlations between shear wave velocity(SWV)calculated from virtual touch tissue imaging quantification(VTIQ)technique and histological prognostic factors of invasive ductal carcinoma was investigated.A total of 76 breast tumors histologically confirmed as invasive ductal carcinomas were included in this study.SWV values were measured by VTIQ for each lesion preoperatively or prior to breast biopsy.The maximum values were recorded for statistical analysis.Medical records were reviewed to determine tumor size,histological grade,lymph node status and immunohistochemical results.Tumor subtypes were categorized as luminal A,luminal B,human epidermal growth factor receptor 2(HER2)positive and triple negative.The correlations between SWV and histological prognostic factors were analyzed.It was found that tumor size showed positive association with SWV(r=0.465,P<0.001).Larger tumors had significantly higher SWV than smaller ones(P=0.001).Histological grade 1 tumors had significantly lower SWV values than those with higher histological grade(P=0.015).The Ki67 expression,tumor subtypes and lymph node status showed no statistically significant correlations with SWV,although triple negative tumors and lymph node-positive tumors showed higher SWV values.It was concluded that tumor size was significantly associated with SWV.Higher histological grade was associated with increased SWV.There was no statistically significant correlations between SWV and other histological prognostic factors.

Low-Grade and High-Grade Invasive Ductal Carcinomas of the Breast Follow Divergent routes of Progression

Low-grade invasive ductal carcinoma is almost diploid, and has frequent losses of chromosome 16q, which is shared by other precancerous lesions of the mammary gland such as flat epithelial atypia （FEA）, atypical ductal hyperplasia （ADH）, and lownuclear grade ductal carcinoma in situ （DCIS）. The genetic alterations accumulate in a stepwise fashion as the precancerous lesions progress to invasve ductal carcinoma. This supports the linear progression model of breast cancer from FEA, through ADH, to low- nuclear grade DCIS as non-obligate early events in low-grade IDC evolution. In contrast, high-grade carcinoma tends to aneuploidy with complex genetic alterations--most importantly, frequent gains at chromosome 16q. Frequent losses at chromosome 16q in low-grade IDC and gains in the same arm of the same chromosome in high-grade IDC imply that these lesions are two end outcomes of different disease processes and that they do not lie in the same continuum of a process. Therefore, low-grade and high-grade IDC are two distinct diseases with a divergent route of progression.

MTDH Expression in Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma of the Breast

OBJECTIVE To clarify the expression of MTDH in invasive micropapillary carcinoma of the breast （IMPC） and analyze the relationship between MTDH expression and clinicalpathologic parameters of the IMPC patietns.

Relationship between Lymphatic Vessel Density and Lymph Node Metastasis of Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma of the Breast

OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between lymphatic vessel density and lymph node metastasis of invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast. METHODS The immunohistochemical study for vascular endothelial growth factor-c (VEGF-C), VEGF Receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) and lymphatic vessel density of 51 cases of IMPC were performed, and lymph node metastases were examined by microscopic analysis of these cases. RESULTS In IMPC, VEGF-C was expressed in the cytoplasm and/or on the membrane of the tumor cells, and the expression of VEGF-C showed a positive correlation with lymph node metastasis (P<0.01). Lymphatic vessel density was determined by the number of micro-lymphatic vessels with VEGFR-3 positive staining. Lymphatic vessel density was positively correlated with VEGF-C expression (P<0.01) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.01). The percentage of IMPC in the tumor was not associated with the incidence of lymph node metastasis. The metastatic foci in lymph nodes were either pure or predominant micropapillary carcinoma. CONCLUSION The results suggested that VEGF-C overexpression stimulated tumor lymphangiogenesis, and the increased lymphatic vessel density may be the key factor that influenced lymph node metastasis of IMPC.

Gastrointestinal metastasis secondary to invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast:A case report

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal metastasis of breast cancer is rare,and clinicians may not have previously encountered this disease in clinical practice.CASE SUMMARY We report a patient with invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast who developed gastrointestinal metastasis two years after modified radical surgery.Mild elevation of carbohydrate antigen 15-3 was observed in the patient at an early stage;however,diagnosis and treatment were delayed due to non-specific clinical manifestations and no identifiable metastasis observed on imaging.CONCLUSION Clinicians should pay attention to gastrointestinal metastasis of breast cancer,especially invasive lobular carcinoma of the breast.

Invasive stratified mucin-producing carcinoma (ISMC) of the uterinecervix: An analysis of 6 cases with distinctive clinicopathologicalfeatures

Invasive stratified mucin-producing carcinoma(ISMC)is a recently described histologic variant of high-risk human papillomavirus(HPV)-associated endocervical adenocarcinoma,as the putative invasive counterpart of the stratified mucin-producing intraepithelial lesion(SMILE).ISMC can display variable architectural patterns and usually coexists with other more conventional types of HPV-associated carcinomas,which makes diagnosis and differential diagnosis of ISMC is difficult for pathologists.Moreover,the prognosis of ISMC is still controversial.We analyzed 6 ISMCs with detailed pathological and clinical information.Intraepithelial lesion,including 1 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion and 1 SMILE,was found.Various architectures were observed(including nest,glandular,solid,trabecular,and single cell).Nuclear peripheral palisading,apoptotic bodies and mitoses,and variable cytoplasmic mucin vacuoles were seen in all of our cases.The predominance of neutrophils infiltration was seen in only 1 tumor.All the tumors infiltrated the cervical stroma in Silva pattern C manner.p63 and/or p40 was characteristically expressed in the peripheral cells in only 2 cases.High-risk HPV infection was observed in 3/3 detected cases.All the patients were alive during the follow-up time.Recognition of this infrequent tumor may help pathologists and oncologists for an accurate diagnosis and a better understanding of the clinicopathological behavior.

Clinical Value Analysis of Ultrasonography and MRI in Diagnosis of Invasive Micropapillary Carcinoma of Breast

Objective:To investigate the diagnostic value of invasive micropapillary carcinoma(IMPC)by ultrasonography and MRI.Method:63 female patients with IMPC were selected,all of which were confirmed by pathological examination,and were assigned to the IMPC group.In the same period,40 patients with invasive ductal carcinoma(IDC group)were selected for diagnostic efficacy control.The efficacy indexes of accuracy,sensitivity,specificity,positive prediction rate and negative prediction rate were 73.0%,65.9%,89.5%,93.5%,46.9%,respectively.The efficiency indexes of accuracy,sensitivity,specificity,positive prediction rate and negative prediction rate of ultrasound combined with breast MRI were 93.6%,93.2%,94.7%,97.6%,85.7%.Ultrasonography combined with MRI has more application value in the diagnosis of IMPC.

Relationship between cell adhesion molecules expression and the biological behavior of gastric carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the relationship between the expression of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) and the biological behavior of gastric carcinoma. METHODS: Expression of syndecan-1, E-cadherin and integrin β3 were evaluated by immunohistochemical study in a total of 118 gastric carcinomas and 20 non- tumor gastric mucosas. RESULTS: The expressions of syndecan-1 and E-cadherin were significantly lower in gastric carcinoma compared to non-tumor gastric mucosa, and the low expression rates were positively correlated to the tumor invasion depth, vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis (P < 0.01 in all cases). However, the expression of integrin β3 was significantly higher in gastric carcinoma compared to non-tumor gastric mucosa, and the high expression rates were positively correlated to the tumor invasion depth, vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis (P < 0.01 in all cases). In addition, the three protein expressions were correlated to the tumor growth pattern (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, and P < 0.05 respectively), but not correlated to tumor differentiation (P > 0.05, P > 0.05 and P > 0.05 respectively). Positive correlation was observed between the expressions of syndecan-1 and E-cadherin, but they which were negatively correlated to the expression of integrin β3 (P < 0.01 in all cases). Univariate analysis demonstrated that the mean survival time and 5-year survival rate were lower in the cases with low expressions of syndecan-1 and E-cadherin and high expression of integrin β3 (P < 0.01, in all cases). COX multivariate analysis showed that the expression level of syndecan-1 could be an independent prognostic index of gastric carcinoma (P < 0.01), whereas E-cadherin and integrin β3 could not be independent indexes (P > 0.05, P > 0.05 respectively). CONCLUSION: The low expression of syndecan-1 and E-cadherin and the high expression of integrin β3 are significantly correlated with the invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinoma, and they are highly correlated with each other. Therefore they may serve as important prognostic markers of gastric carcinoma.

Growth process of small pancreatic carcinoma: A case report with imaging observation for 22 months

This report describes serial observations of the growth process of a small invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the pancreas from imaging studies. Histopathological studies showed IDC with macroscopic retention cysts proximal to an intraductal papillary-mucinous adenoma with mild atypia of the branch duct type in the pancreatic body, with no relation between the two lesions. IDC was demonstrated as an extremely low-echoic mass resembling a cyst with an unclear margin on the initial endoscopic ultrasonography. We misinterpreted the low-echoic mass as a benign intraductal mucinous-papillary neoplasm (IPMN) based on findings of other imaging studies, and the patient was followed-up. The mass increased from 7 mm to 13 mm in diameter over 22 mo, and remained smaller than 10 mm in diameter for about 420 d. The tumor volume doubling time was 252 d. The Ki67 labeling index was 15.9%, similar to that described in previous reports. Hence, IDC may grow slowly while remaining small.

KL-6 mucin expression in carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater: Association with cancer progression

AIM： To assess histochemical expression of KL-6 and its clinicopathological significance in carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater. METHODS： Ampullary carcinoma tissues were collected from 38 patients who underwent pancreatoduodenectomy or local resection. Tissues were subjected to immunohistochemical analysis using KL-6 antibody. RESULTS： Positive staining of ampullary carcinoma cells was observed in 26 （68.4%） cases. Staining was not found in the surrounding non-cancer regions of the ampullary tissues. Remarkable KL-6 expression was observed in invasive carcinoma cells in pancreatic and duodenal tissues and in metastatic carcinoma cells in lymph nodes. Positive KL-6 expression was related to lymph node metastasis （P = 0.020）, pancreatic invasion （P = 0.016）, duodenal invasion （P = 0.034）, and advanced stage of TNM clinical classification （P = 0.010）. Survival analysis showed that positive expression of KL-6 was related to a poorer prognosis （P = 0.029）. CONCLUSION： The aberrant expression of KL-6 mucin is significantly related to unfavorable behaviors of cardnoma of the ampulla of Vater.

Predictive value of tumor markers in patients with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma in different vascular invasion pattern

BACKGROUND： Four tumor markers for hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC）, alpha-fetoprotein（AFP）, glypican-3（GPC3）, vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF） and des-gammacarboxy prothrombin（DCP）, are closely associated with tumor invasion and patient＇s survival. This study estimated the predictability of preoperative tumor marker levels along with pathological parameters on HCC recurrence after hepatectomy.METHODS： A total of 140 patients with HCC who underwent hepatectomy between January 2012 and August 2012 were enrolled. The demographics, clinical and follow-up data were collected and analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups： patients with macroscopic vascular invasion（Ma VI ＋） and those without Ma VI（Ma VI-）. The predictive value of tumor markers and clinical parameters were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis.RESULTS： In all patients, tumor size（〉8 cm） and Ma VI were closely related to HCC recurrence after hepatectomy. For Ma VI＋ patients, VEGF（〉900 pg/m L） was a significant predictor for recurrence（RR=2.421; 95% CI： 1.272-4.606; P=0.007）. The 1- and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for Ma VI＋ patients with VEGF ≤900 pg/m L versus for those with VEGF 〉900 pg/m L were 51.5% and 17.6% versus 19.0% and 4.8%（P〈0.001）. For Ma VI- patients, DCP 〉445 m Au/m L and tumor size 〉8 cm were two independent risk factors for tumor recurrence（RR=2.307, 95% CI： 1.132-4.703, P=0.021; RR=3.150, 95% CI： 1.392-7.127, P=0.006; respectively）. The 1- and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for the patients with DCP ≤445 m Au/m L and those with DCP 〉445 m Au/m L were 90.4% and 70.7% versus 73.2% and 50.5% respectively（P=0.048）. The 1-and 2-year tumor-free survival rates for the patients with tumor size ≤8 cm and 〉8 cm were 83.2% and 62.1% versus 50.0% and 30.0%, respectively（P=0.003）.CONCLUSIONS： The Ma VI＋ patients with VEGF ≤900 pg/m L had a relatively high tumor-free survival than those with VEGF 〉900 pg/m L. In the Ma VI- patients, DCP 〉445 m Au/m L and tumor size 〉8 cm were predictive factors for postoperative recurrence.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and microvessel density for detection and prognostic evaluation of invasive breast cancer

Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） and CD105-microvessel density （MVD）in invasive breast carcinomas. We also aimed to analyze the relationship between VEGF and MVD expression with other standard prognostic parameters associated with invasive breast cancer, such as size, grade, stage of the cancer, metastases, and tumor recurrence. Methods immunohistochemistry via the Ultra SensitiveTM S-P method was used to detect VEGF and MVD expression in 128 cases of invasive breast carcinoma. Specimens were evaluated for CD105 expression. Positively stained microvessels were counted in dense vascular loci under 400x magnification, MVD in the peripheral area adjacent to the lesion and in the central, area within the lesion in invasive breast carcinomas and benign leisions groups were also assessed. Fifty cases of benign breast disease tissue were selected as the control group. Results Results showed that 64.1% of invasive breast cancer samples were VEGF-positive, higher than in benign breast disease tissue （22.0%, P 〈 0.05）. There was a positive correlation between VEGF overexpression and histological grade, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis of invasive breast cancer. VEGF expression was not related to age or size of the tumor （P 〉 0.05）. MVD of the peripheral area adjacent to the lesion was significantly higher than those central area within the lesion in both invasive breast cancer and benignbreast disease groups （P 〈 0.01 for each group）. There were significant differences in the mean CD105-MVD, between invasive breast tumors with a histological grade of Ⅰ or Ⅱ and grade Ⅲ; between tumors with lymph node or distant metastasis; and between patients with or without recurrence （P 〈 0.05）. However, there was no difference in the mean MVD between the two age groups （≤ 50 years vs. 〉 50 years） or the two tumor diameter groups （〈 2 cm vs. 〉 2 cm）, P 〉 0.05. Conclusion Overexpression of VEGF and MVD may be important biological.markers for invasion and lymph node and distant metastases of invasive breast cancer. Combined detection of the two tumor markers could provide better prognostic monitoring for disease recurrence and metastasis, as well as aid with clinical staging of breast tumors. Prediction of the risk for metastasis and recurrence, as well as recurrence patterns based on VEGF and MVD post-surgery, could aid design of better follow-up regimens and appropriate treatment strategies for breast cancer patients.

A new three-step procedure for pancreatic head carcinoma with invasion of superior mesenteric artery

Pancreatic head carcinoma is characterized by high malignancy and a low survival rate and its mortality ranks fourth for malignant tumors with a 5-year survival rate of only 5%[1].Treatment of this cancer relies on surgical resection.However,the resection rate is only about 20%,because majority of the patients are classified as unresectable when diagnosed due to distant metastasis or