Non-anthracycline-containing docetaxel and cyclophosphamide regimen is associated with sustained worse outcome compared with docetaxel, anthracycline and cyclophosphamide in neoadjuvant treatment of triple negative and HER2-positive breast cancer patients:

Objective： A previous study demonstrated that non-anthracycline-containing docetaxel plus cyclophosphamide（TC） regimen was inferior to docetaxel, anthracycline and cyclophosphamide（TAC） in neoadjuvant treatment of triple-negative breast cancer（TNBC） and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-（HER2）-positive breast cancer in a short-term follow-up. Herein, long-term follow-up survival outcomes have been investigated.Methods： TNBC or HER2-positive patients were randomized to receive 6 cycles of TC or TAC neoadjuvant treatment. The primary endpoint was pathological complete remission（p CR）. Secondary endpoints included clinical response rate, event-free survival（EFS）, and overall survival（OS）.Results： A cohort of 96 patients consisted of 45 in TC and 51 in TAC arm. With a median follow-up period of53（range, 8-76） months, the patients achieving p CR post neoadjuvant chemotherapy exhibited superior EFS and OS than patients without p CR（P〈0.05）. TAC treatment resulted in consistently better EFS than TC treatment：the estimated 5-year EFS was 66.1% vs. 29.8%（P=0.002）. Moreover, the estimated 5-year OS was also in favor of TAC： 88.4% vs. 51.6%（P〈0.001）. Multivariable analysis demonstrated that the treatment regimen was an independent prognostic factor, and patients treated with TAC had a superior EFS [hazard ratio（HR）, 0.48; 95%confidence interval（95% CI）, 0.26-0.90; P=0.021] and OS（HR, 0.20; 95% CI, 0.08-0.60; P=0.003）.Conclusions： The updated long-term follow-up data demonstrated a sustained benefit in EFS and OS from anthracycline-containing TAC treatment, indicating that anthracycline is an essential and effective drug in this clinical trial.

Chidamide Combined with Paclitaxel Liposome for the Treatment of Advanced HER2-negative Breast Cancer in Clinical Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy and safety of chidamide combined with paclitaxel liposome in the treatment of advanced HER-2-negative breast cancer.First,41 patients with advanced HER-2-negative breast cancer who had received two chemotherapy regimens from May 2017 to November 2017 were randomly selected to receive chidamide combined with paclitaxel liposome treatment(observation group,n=20)or placebo combined with paclitaxel liposome treatment(control group,n=21).The treatment scheme of the observation group was oral chidamide 30mg twice a week for 2 months.In addition,on day 1,the patients were given paclitaxel liposome orally and intravenously administered with 175 mg/m2 for 1 cycle for 21 days and 3 cycles of chemotherapy.The treatment scheme of the control group was oral placebo 30 mg twice a week for 2 months.In addition,the method of paclitaxel liposome administration was the same as the observation group.The response rate(RR),disease control rate(DCR),and progression-free survival(PFS)were compared between the two groups.The results showed that all the 41 patients could be evaluated.In the observation group,CR5,PR7,SD5 and PD3 were obtained.RR was 60.0%and DCR was 85.0%.In the control group,CR3,PR3,SD5 and PD10 were obtained.RR was 28.6%and DCR was 52.4%.RR and DCR in the observation group were better than those in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).The median PFS of the observation group was 5.2 months,longer than that of the control group(3.1 months,P<0.05).The main adverse reactions in the two groups were gastrointestinal reactions and bone marrow suppression,with grade 1~2 as the main ones.The incidence of leukopenia,thrombocytopenia and nausea and vomiting in the observation group was higher than that in the control group(P<0.05).Therefore,the chidamide combined with paclitaxel liposome is effective in the treatment of advanced HER-2-negative breast cancer,and the adverse reactions can be tolerated.

GENISTEIN INHIBITS EXPRESSION OF VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR IN HER-2/NEU TRANSFECTED HUMAN BREAST CANCER MCF-7 CELLS

Objective： our previous studies have demonstrated that HER-2/neu gene expression in human breast cancer MCF-7 cells promotes angiogenesis in MCF-7 cells xenograft tumors, and genistein inhibits angiogenesis in MCF-7 cells with HER-2/neu expression xenograft tumors. Here, the effects of genistein on the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF） in MCR-7 cells with HER-2/neu expression were further studied for exploring the molecular mechanism of anti-angiogenesis in HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer by genistein. Methods： HER-2/neu-overexpressing MCF-7 cells （MCF-7/HER-2） were established by transfecting HEg-2/neu gene into HER-2/neu negative expression breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Immunocytochemical staining, western blot and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） were adopted to measure the expression of VEGF in MCF-7/HER-2 cells treated by genistein for 24, 48 and 72h. Results： HER-2/neu expression up-regulated VEGF mRNA and protein in MCF-7 cells, genistein decreased VEGF mRNA and protein level in MCF-7/HER-2 cells in a time-dependent manner. Conclusion： These results suggest that VEGF plays an important role in HER-2/neu gene expression promoted antiogenesis in breast cancer and genistein induced down-regulation of the expression of VEGF may be one of the molecular mechanisms of its anti-angiogenesis in HER-2/neu-overexpressing breast cancer.

Comparison of Fluorescence in situ Hybridization and Immunohistochemistry for Assessment of HER-2 Status in Breast Cancer Patients

The accurate assessment ofa proto-oncogene, human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 gene （HER-2）, is extremely important for the therapy and prognosis of breast cancer. Currently, immunohistochemistry （IHC） is the method widely used for the detection of HER-2 protein. Fluorescence in situ hybridization （FISH） has been suggested to be a golden standard assay for HER-2 amplification. This study examined the expression and amplification of HER-2 in paraffin-embedded sections of breast cancer tissues, and compared the two methods on the measurement of HER-2 status. HER-2 gene and protein were determined in breast cancer samples from 52 Chinese women by FISH and IHC respectively. The findings indicated that the HER-2 gene amplification was found in 18 cases （34.6%） by FISH and the HER-2 protein over-expression （score 3＋） in 15 cases （28.8%） by IHC. hnmunohistochemically, 28.6% of the cases scored as 2＋ and 93.3% of the cases scored as 3＋ were HER-2-positive by FISH. There was a significant correlation between the HER-2 gene amplification and HER-2 protein over-expression in breast cancer （P〈0.005）. No correlation was noted between the HER-2 gene amplification and any of the clinicopathological parameters examined, including age, menopausal status, menarche age, tumor size, histological tumor type, histological grade, lymph node status, and the expression of ER and PR. It was concluded that the detection of HER-2 gene amplification in breast cancer by FISH is valuable and can compare with HER-2 protein detection by IHC.

Impressive Objective Response to Nab-Paclitaxel plus Trastuzumab as Fifth Line Therapy in an Elderly HER-2 Positive Breast Cancer Patient

Background: Agent targeting HER-2 pathway plus chemotherapy has represented a major progress in the management of patients with breast cancer. However, the role of late-line treatment in heavily pretreated patients is still largely unclear. In the last decade, nab-paclitaxel has shown significant activity and good toxicity profile in metastatic breast cancer. Case Presentation: We report the case of a 76-year-old Caucasian woman with metastatic HER-2 positive ductal infiltrating breast carcinoma treated with a combination of weekly nab-paclitaxel and trastuzumab as fifth-line therapy. She had previously received first-line paclitaxel and trastuzumab, second-line vinorelbine and trastuzumab, third-line TDM1 and fourth-line oral capecitabine and lapatinib. Clinical and radiological staging showed progression at bone, skin and soft-tissue. The patient received weekly nab-paclitaxel plus trastuzumab. Massive objective response was clinically and PET documented which lasted 8 months. Tolerance to treatment was fairly good as well as cardiac safety. Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of efficacy of nab-paclitaxel in combination with trastuzumab as fifth-line of treatment in a patient with metastatic HER-2 positive breast cancer.

Detection of HER-2/neu Amplification on Fine Needle Aspirates of Breast Cancer Using Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization

The accuracy of diagnostic assays for HER-2/neu in breast cancer is extremely important as HER-2/neu status is essential in tailoring adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant treatment in every patient. FNAC is widely practiced in Egypt in preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer for its low cost and high diagnostic accuracy. Since the determination of HER-2/neu protein expression on cytological preparations was previously found to be unreliable for clinical use, we opted for the assessment of HER-2/neu status in fine needle aspirates using FISH. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the reliability of HER-2/neu status assessment by FISH on fine needle aspirates of breast cancers by comparing the results with IHC and FISH on FFPE tissue sections obtained from corresponding surgically resected specimens. Fine needle aspirates from 40 breast cancer patients with pathologically confirmed breast cancer were included in the study. They were submitted for HER-2/neu evaluation by FISH. After surgery, the corresponding FFPE sections were evaluated for HER-2/neu by FISH and by IHC. FNAs from 11 cases proved to be amplified by FISH, while 29 cases were not amplified. Apart from two cases that showed lack of signals, all specimens evaluated by FISH on the corresponding FFPE sections showed matched results. The Measurement of Agreement between FISH on FNAs and FISH on FFPE sections was 86.7%, while that between FISH on FNAs and IHC was 72.5%. The high concordance rate in the present study between FISH evaluation of HER-2/neu gene amplification on FNAC samples and their corresponding FFPE samples indicate that FISH may be a reliable technique for HER-2/neu assessment on FNAs. Furthermore, FISH on FNAs gave us better hybridization signals than their corresponding FFPE tissue sections. Finally, we also conclude that all score (2+) cases by IHC should be reevaluated by FISH which is crucial for the patient management.

Why natural killer cells in triple negative breast cancer?

The triple-negative subtype of breast cancer(TNBC)has the bleakest prognosis,owing to its lack of either hormone receptor as well as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2.Henceforth,immunotherapy has emerged as the front-runner for TNBC treatment,which avoids potentially damaging chemotherapeutics.However,despite its documented association with aggressive side effects and developed resistance,immune checkpoint blockade continues to dominate the TNBC immunotherapy scene.These immune checkpoint blockade drawbacks necessitate the exploration of other immunotherapeutic methods that would expand options for TNBC patients.One such method is the exploitation and recruitment of natural killer cells,which by harnessing the innate rather than adaptive immune system could potentially circumvent the downsides of immune checkpoint blockade.In this review,the authors will elucidate the advantageousness of natural killer cell-based immuno-oncology in TNBC as well as demonstrate the need to more extensively research such therapies in the future.

Evaluation of Tobacco Use and Her-2 Receptor Expression in Breast Cancer in an Ethnically Diverse Inner-City Population

Background: Tobacco is linked to most cancers however despite overwhelming biological plausibility and decades of epidemiological studies, no association has been established between tobacco and breast cancer. Although estrogen receptor status has been looked at as a variable there has been no evaluation of the role of Her-2 and smoking in breast cancer. Methods: Review of records from patients treated at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital from 1998-2012. The incidence of smoking and Her-2 expression in1255 women was evaluated. Data was analyzed by age, race, ethnic group, menopausal status, tumor stage, and ER/PR/Her-2 receptor status. Results: 1255 charts were analyzed with 1094 having full information. Overall rate of Her-2 expression 18.1%. The rate of Her-2 expression was 21.4% in smokers and 17.0% in non-smokers (p = 0.10). The rate of Her-2 expression was 10.8% in Caucasian smokers and 9.8% in Caucasian non-smokers (p = 0.88);24.5% in smokers of African descent and 17.3% in non-smokers of African descent (p = 0.24);22.9% in Latino smokers and 17.4% in Latino non-smokers (p = 0.10). The rate of Her-2/ER expression was 9.4% in smokers and 7.9% in non-smokers (p = 0.42);5.4% in Caucasian smokers and 4.9% in Caucasian non-smokers (p = 0.916);12.2% in smokers of African descent and 5.9% in non-smokers of African descent (p = 0.11);9.5% in Latin smokers and 8.8% in Latin non-smokers (p = 0.77). Conclusions: We found non-statistically significant positive associations in all analyses between Her-2 expression with or without ER expression and tobacco exposure when analyzed by ethnicity.

Abemaciclib-induced lung damage leading to discontinuation in brain metastases from breast cancer: A case report

BACKGROUND This case report addresses the dearth of effective therapeutic interventions for central nervous system metastases in patients with HER2-negative breast cancer.It presents a unique case of a woman with estrogen receptor-positive,HER2-negative breast cancer who developed brain metastasis.The report highlights her initial favorable response to abemaciclib and letrozole therapy prior to the discon-tinuation due to drug-induced lung damage(DILD).CASE SUMMARY In this comprehensive case summary,we present the clinical course of a woman in her 60s,who 11 years following primary breast cancer surgery,was diagnosed with multiple brain metastases.As a third-line systemic therapy,she underwent treatment with abemaciclib and letrozole.This treatment approach yielded a near-partial response in her metastatic brain lesions.However,abemaciclib adminis-tration ceased due to the emergence of DILD,as confirmed by a computed tomography scan.The DILD improved after 1 mo of cessation.Despite ongoing therapeutic efforts,the patient’s condition progressively deteriorated,ultimately resulting in death due to progression of the brain metastases.CONCLUSION This case underscores the challenge of managing adverse events in responsive brain metastasis patients,given the scarcity of therapeutic options.

Targeting autophagy in breast cancer

Macroautophagy(referred to as autophagy here) isan intracellular degradation pathway enhanced in response to a variety of stresses and in response to nutrient deprivation. This process provides the cell withnutrients and energy by degrading aggregated anddamaged proteins as well as compromised organelles.Since autophagy has been linked to diverse diseasesincluding cancer, it has recently become a very interesting target in breast cancer treatment. Indeed, currentclinical trials are trying to use chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine, alone or in combination with other drugsto inhibit autophagy during breast cancer therapy sincechemotherapy and radiation, regimens that are used totreat breast cancer, are known to induce autophagy incancer cells. Importantly, in breast cancer, autophagyhas been involved in the development of resistance tochemotherapy and to anti-estrogens. Moreover, a closerelationship has recently been described between autophagy and the HER2 receptor. Here, we discuss someof the recent findings relating autophagy and cancerwith a particular focus on breast cancer therapy.

Targeted therapies in breast cancer:New challenges to fight against resistance

Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer found in women and today represents a significant challenge to public health. With the latest breakthroughs in molecular biology and immunotherapy, very specific targeted therapies have been tailored to the specific pathophysiology of different types of breast cancers. These recent developments have contributed to a more efficient and specific treatment protocol in breast cancer patients. However, the main challenge to be further investigated still remains the emergence of therapeutic resistance mechanisms, which develop soon after the onset of therapy and need urgent attention and further elucidation. What are the recent emerging molecular resistance mechanisms in breast cancer targeted therapy and what are the best strategies to apply in order to circumvent this important obstacle? The main scope of this review is to provide a thorough update of recent developments in the field and discuss future prospects for preventing resistance mechanisms in the quest to increase overall survival of patients suffering from the disease.

Nanoparticle-linked antagonist for leptin signaling inhibition in breast cancer

AIM To develop a leptin peptide receptor antagonist linked to nanoparticles and determine its effect on viability of breast cancer cells.METHODS The leptin antagonist, LPrA2, was coupled via EDAC [1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide] to iron oxide nanoparticles(IONP-LPrA2) to increase its efficacy.IONP-LPrA2 conjugation was confirmed by Western blot and nanoparticle tracking analysis.Human triple negative breast cancer(TNBC) MDA-MB-231, HCC1806 and estrogen receptor positive(ER+) MCF-7 cells were analyzed for the expression of the leptin receptor, Ob-R.The effects of leptin and antagonist on levels of leptin-induced STAT3 phosphorylation and cyclin D1, cell cycle progression, cell proliferation, and tumorsphere formation in breast cancer cells were determined.Doses of the chemotherapeutics [cisplatin(Cis), cyclophosphamide(CTX), doxorubicin(Dox) and paclitaxel(PTX)] to effectively reduce cell viability were calculated.The effects of combination treatments of IONP-LPrA2 and chemotherapeutics on cell viability were determined.RESULTS Western blot analysis of coupling reaction products identified IONP-LPrA2 at approximately 100 kD.IONPLPrA2 significantly decreased leptin-induced p STAT3 levels in HCC1806 cells and drastically decreased cyclin D1 levels in all cell lines.IONP-LPrA2 significantly reduced leptin-induced S phase progression and cell proliferation in all breast cancer cell lines and the formation of tumorspheres in MDA-MB-231 cells.Also, IONP-LPrA2 showed an additive effect on the reduction of breast cancer cell survival with chemotherapeutics.Cis plus IONP-LPrA2 produced a significant reduction in the survival of MDA-MB-231 and HCC1806 cells.CTX plus IONP-LPrA2 caused a significant decrease in the survival of MDA-MB-231 cells.Dox plus IONP-LPrA2 caused a marked reduction in the survival of HCC1806 cells.Although, PTX plus IONP-LPrA2 did not have a major effect on the viability of the breast cancer cells when compared to PTX alone.CONCLUSION Present data indicate that IONP-LPrA2 may be a useful adjuvant for chemotherapeutic treatment of breast cancer, particularly for TNBC which lacks targeted therapeutic options.

Enhanced immuno-detection of shed extracellular domain of HER-2/neu

HER-2/neu oncogene is over-expressed and amplified in patients associated with metastatic breast cancer. An increased level (>15 ng/mL) in the shed extracellular domain (sECD-HER 2/neu) is indicative of the potential presence and as-sociated progression of this disease. A fluo-rescent ELISA incorporating the newly devel-oped ALYGNSA antibody-orientation system revealed a 10-fold increase in sensitivity (≤0.63 ng/mL) of sECD-HER 2/neu when compared to a control standard ELISA kit (≤7.5 ng/mL). This enhanced mode of detection has the potential to not only address breast and other cancers per se but also permit an in depth evaluation of “shed extracellular domains”, in general, and the role of these “proteolytic derived factors” in physiological signalling at normal levels.

Study on the high risk factors related to different metastatic sites of advanced breast cancer

Objective:Several studies indicated that many factors have relationship with the metastatic sites of advanced breast cancer.This retrospective study investigated the high risk factors which related to the different metastatic sites of stage IV breast cancer.Patients and methods:From January 2003 to December 2005 a total of 387 consecutive breast cancer patients were retrospectively analyzed.The relationships between different categorical variables and breast cancer were identified by Chi-square tests.Results:The high risk factors of metastatic breast cancer included the overexpression of HER-2 and lymph nodes invasion.The overexpression of HER-2 and lymph nodes invasion had a significantly difference between metastatic breast cancer and breast cancer without metastasis(P=0.018,P<0.001,respectively).As for metastatic breast cancer patients with only one single metastatic organ,the overexpression of HER-2 had a significantly high positive rate in patients with visceral metastases when compared with bone metastasis(P=0.045).Conclusion:The overexpression of HER-2 and lymph nodes invasion significantly influenced the metastasis of breast cancer.Overexpression of Her-2 was high risk factors for breast cancer developed to visceral metastases disease.

The mechanism of BRCA1 participate sporadic breast carcinomas genesis

Objective To elucidate the BRCA1 participated mechanism of genesis and development of sporadic breast cancer through detect the statues of BRCA1 and analysis the relationship with the pathologic and clinic parameters.Methods BRCA1 statues were respectively analyzed in frozen samples or paraffine fixed sporadic breast carcinoma and benign breast tissues by three methods:protein expression by immunohistochemistry(IHC),the methylation of BRCA1 promoter by methylation specific PCR(MSP),gene copy number by interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization(FISH).Results 14.2%(29/204)cases were detected hypermethylation of BRCA1 promoter in sporadic breast cancer.BRCA1 mean copy number in sporadic breast cancer(1.70±0.14)less than those in benign tissues(2.03±0.08,P<0.05),and in sporadic breast cancer with hypermethylation of BRCA1(1.62±0.09)significantly less than in those without hypermethylation(1.84±0.26,P<0.05).The loss copy related to the methylation of BRCA1 promoter.There were significant of 41.1%(88/214)cases no BRCA1 nuclei expression in sporadic breast cancers.Loss expression of BRCA1 had significant correlation with higher histological stages,axillary's lymph nodal metastasis(P<0.01),lower expression of ERα,and overexpression of HER-2 protein(P<0.01).Conclusions There are BRCA1 methylations,loss BRCA1 gene copy and loss protein expression in the sporadic breast cancer,the three statues of BRCA1 is correlated to each other;and the loss expression of BRCA1 protein related to part of pathology and clinic parameters.

Injectable“cocktail”hydrogel with dual-stimuli-responsive drug release,photothermal ablation,and drug-antibody synergistic effect

The combination of the first-line standard chemotherapeutic drug doxorubicin hydrochloride(DOX)and the molecular-targeted drug Herceptin(HCT)has emerged as a promising strategy for human epidermal growth receptor 2(HER-2)overexpressing breast cancer treatment.However,insufficient drug accumulation and severe cardiotoxicity are two major challenges that limit its clinical application.Herein,an in situ forming gold nanorods(AuNRs)-sodium alginate(ALG)hybrid hydrogel encapsulating DOX and HCT was engineered for tumor synergistic therapy involving injectable,dual-stimuli-responsive drug release,photothermal ablation,and drug-antibody synergistic therapy.The photothermal agent AuNRs,anticancer drug DOX,and anticancer antibody HCT were mixed in ALG solution,and after injection,the soluble ALG was quickly transformed into a hydrogel in the presence of Ca^(2+)in the body.Significantly,the hybrid hydrogel exhibits an extremely high photothermal conversion efficiency of 70%under 808 nm laser irradiation.The thermal effect can also provide photothermal stimulation to trigger the drug release from the gel matrix.In addition,the drug release rate and the releasing degree are also sensitive to the pH.In vitro studies demonstrated that the PEI-AuNR/DOX/HCT/ALG hydrogel has facilitated the therapeutic efficiency of each payload and demonstrated a strong synergistic killing effect on SK-BR-3 cells.In vivo imaging results showed that the local drug delivery system can effectively reduce the nonspecific distribution in normal tissues and increase drug concentration at tumor sites.The proposed hydrogel system shows significant clinical implications by easily introducing a sustainable photothermal therapy and a potential universal carrier for the local delivery of multiple drugs to overcome the challenges faced in HER-2 overexpressing cancer therapy.