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Query: UMLS:C0006142 (breast cancer)
 160,383 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We studied the effect of a progestin (lynestrenol) on estrogen receptors (ER) and cathepsin D (cath-D) levels immunochemically in successive fine needle aspirates of benign breast disease. Fibrocystic disease was the main pathology (43 out of 47 patients). Thirty-one patients were treated with 10 mg of lynestrenol daily from the fifth to the twenty-fifth day of the menstrual cycle for 1 to 3 months. Sixteen untreated patients were used as controls. Lynestrenol significantly decreased the percentage of ER stained cells. This is in agreement with the antiestrogenic effect of progestin and, for the first time, indicates that in vivo progestin may decrease the stimulatory effect of estrogens on mammary cells by decreasing their estrogen receptor content. No effect of progestin on cath-D level was found throughout the whole population. However, this level varied more between aspirates of each patient in the treated group than in the control group, suggesting heterogeneity in patient responses to progestin. Since cath-D may have a role in carcinogenesis, clinical follow-up of these patients and more detailed studies are required to determine whether this progestin-challenge test has any value for detecting high risk mastopathies and for predicting effectiveness of treatment.
Breast Cancer Res Treat 1991 Oct
PMID:Progestin treatment depresses estrogen receptor but not cathepsin D levels in needle aspirates of benign breast disease. 175 73

A case review of 225 patients with abnormal breast nipple secretions (NS) was done to determine diagnostically useful clinical and cytologic features. The cytologic specimens and medical records from all patients and 45 concurrent breast biopsies were reviewed. Nipple discharge was attributed to fibrocystic disease (FCD) in 81 cases, physiologic disturbances in 62, papillomas in 18, ductal carcinoma (CA) in 5, miscellaneous benign disorders in 14, and unknown causes in 45. Although cytologic examination of NS was very specific in identifying malignancy, the sensitivity of cytology was low. Carcinoma was diagnosed or suspected cytologically in only three of the five CA cases, with no false-positive cytopathologic interpretations. Malignant NS were usually unilateral, hemorrhagic, mass-associated, and in older patients. Males with nipple discharge had a significantly higher incidence of breast cancer (two of nine; 22%) than women with abnormal NS (3 of 216; 1.5%). Papilloma NS were generally unilateral and hemorrhagic; FCD and physiologic NS were mostly serous or milky. Benign NS were not cytologically distinguishable. We conclude that cytologic examination of NS is a specific but insensitive method to identify underlying malignancy. Additional clinical features, including patient age, laterality and character of NS, and radiographic findings, were found to be diagnostically useful.
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PMID:Cytologic and clinicopathologic features of abnormal nipple secretions: 225 cases. 156 18

A case-control study was undertaken to investigate the role of diet in women with breast cancer, and in two groups of women with benign breast disease: epithelial hyperplasia, and fibrocystic disease without hyperplasia. The study provides data which suggest that the consumption of red meat, savoury meals (pizza, pies, stew, etc.) and of starches is disadvantageous, while the consumption of chicken and fish, and of fruit, appears to be beneficial. These patterns were present for both the breast cancer patients and the patients with benign epithelial hyperplasia. One-third of breast cancer patients had changed their diet after their diagnosis, compared to only around 12% in controls and patients with benign breast disease. Overall, the women studied had changed their diet to reduce their intake of sugars, dairy products and meat, and increased their intake of poultry, fish, fruit and vegetables over the past decade; but the breast cancer group was less likely to have made this change.
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PMID:The role of diet in the development of breast cancer: a case-control study of patients with breast cancer, benign epithelial hyperplasia and fibrocystic disease of the breast. 185 21

Amplification of the Neu oncogene (c-erbB-2) has been reported by various researchers as a marker for poor clinical outcome in patients with breast cancer. We have performed immunohistochemical staining using a polyclonal antibody to the Neu oncoprotein on formalin-fixed material from normal breast, benign breast lesions, and 102 stage I node-negative breast cancers. Hybridization studies were also performed on 66 of the breast cancer cases. In the cancers 33% of cases showed positive staining of the in situ and invasive component, whereas only 25% of cases showed amplification of the Neu oncogene. The staining pattern in the tumor cells was cytoplasmic with plasma membrane accentuation. Focal positive cytoplasmic staining was noted in some cases of fibrocystic disease, fibroadenoma, and normal breast duct epithelium. Myoepithelial cells and smooth muscle of blood vessels also showed a positive reaction. This study shows that the Neu oncoprotein can be demonstrated on formalin-fixed material from normal, benign, and malignant breast lesions. In the breast cancers the differences in the number of cases showing amplification and those showing a positive immunohistochemical reaction could be due to increased transcriptional activity. It is possible that the node-negative patients whose tumors express the Neu oncogene may correspond to the group of patients who are expected to have a poor prognosis.
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PMID:Distribution and patterns of staining of Neu oncogene product in benign and malignant breast diseases. 197 59

The discrepancy between serum CEA levels and CEA tissue expression in patients with breast cancer is well known. Whereas immunohistochemistry shows positive CEA expression in 70-90%, the serum CEA levels are often within the normal range. We performed immunoscintigraphy and SPECT with a Tc-99m labelled anti-CEA monoclonal antibody (MAb BW 431/26) in 46 women with suspected breast cancer or recurrence. The results of anti-CEA immunoscintigraphy, mammography, serum CEA levels and immunohistochemistry were evaluated according to the histology of the tumor. Histology verified breast cancer or recurrence (pT1 [n = 7], pT2 [n = 17], pT3 [n = 3], pT4 [n = 3]) in 30 out of 46 patients; benign breast disease such as fibrocystic disease, fibroadenoma, fatty necrosis or chronic mastitis was responsible for suspicious mammographic findings in 16 patients. Immuno-SPECT showed 25 true-positive, 5 false-negative, 11 true-negative and 5 false-positive findings (sensitivity 83%, specificity 69%). Anti-CEA immuno-SPECT of 2 patients with bone metastasis showed all lesions previously detected by bone scintigraphy to be CEA-expressing metastases. In contrast, serum CEA levels were slightly elevated in only 5 out of 30 patients with histologically verified breast cancer (sensitivity 17%). The results of immuno-histochemistry were surprising; tissue CEA expression could be demonstrated in only 5 patients with breast cancer. According to our experiences with this Tc-99m labelled anti-CEA MAb, immuno-SPECT is a suitable additional method for the diagnosis of breast cancer and especially of recurrence. Pre-operative serum CEA levels give no support for the differentiation between benign and malignant breast tumors.
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PMID:The immunoscintigraphic use of Tc-99m-labelled monoclonal anti-CEA antibodies (BW 431/26) in patients with suspected primary, recurrent and metastatic breast cancer. 201 Feb 29

One out of 11 women is destined to develop breast cancer. All women should be "under observation". Does a "normal" breast really exist? A discharge from a single orifice could suggest a papillomatosis, a real borderline lesion, the adenofibroma practically never degenerates, the essential problem is that of the fibrocystic disease, (or mastosis) which was the object of a recent detailed analysis (W. Dupont and D. Page), pre-menstrual mastodynia does not seem to be a risk factor. On the other hand, certain dystrophic lesions constitute a high risk, such as atypical epithelial hyperplasia, especially if it is associated with a direct family history of breast cancer. Recent studies on mammary cysts insist on their hormone and electrolyte content, the presence of EGF, as well as that of certain proteins (GCDFP 15). They also insist on the local tissue enzymatic activities, the importance of myoepithelial cells and of fibroblasts. On a practical level, the attention is drawn on: cysts whose diameter exceeds 5 mm, certain histological lesions found during the biopsies. The value of mammography and thermography in the assessment of the high risk is discussed. Finally, the present well-established notions are recalled: the family history, late pregnancies, the diet, the weight, certain pathological associations, the endogenous hormonal balance bearing on E2/P and the blood prolactin level, the exogenous hormone intake.
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PMID:[What is mastopathy at risk? Epidemiologic and clinical basis]. 206 85

The relationship of reproductive factors, such as nulliparous vs ever-parous status, age at first birth, and total parity, with morphologic prevalence of fibrocystic changes were examined using autopsy material from three ethnic/racial groups at varying risks for breast cancer. Although there was a trend toward a protective effect of ever-parous status, there was no statistically significant difference in the prevalence of fibrocystic disease in any group defined by parity status. The ethnic differences in the prevalence of fibrocystic changes were not explained by the differences in parity status distribution for the three ethnic/racial groups.
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PMID:Parity factors and prevalence of fibrocystic breast change in a forensic autopsy series. 206 34

Cancer is genetic, in the sense that it is caused by DNA alterations at the cellular level. On the other hand, the most important risk factors for the common cancers are environmental: cigarette smoking, environmental pollution, occupational exposures, poor diet, and so on. These two observations are not in conflict: the DNA alterations that lead to cancer are very likely to be caused by environmental mutagens. It would be valuable to know exactly what genes are altered to cause a specific cancer, because the effects of these alterations might then be reversible before cancer has a chance to develop. A key to identifying these cancer genes may lie with rare families at extremely high risk of a specific cancer. Unlike most cancer patients, members of these families may inherit an alteration that confers increased susceptibility to cancer. In these rare instances, cancer is a genetic disease at the level of the family, as well as at the level of the cell. Therefore, in these families, genes predisposing to cancer can be mapped in the same way as genes for purely genetic diseases like sickle cell anaemia, cystic fibrosis, and Huntington's disease. The hypothesis that underlies the mapping of cancer genes in families is that the genes inherited in altered form in these rare families are the same genes that are altered in somatic cells of individuals without a remarkable family history of cancer. This hypothesis has proved correct for retinoblastoma. Genes responsible for other rare cancers have been mapped in families as well: neurofibromatosis, multiple endocrine neoplasia, Wilms' tumour, and colon cancer following familial adenomatous polyps, among others. Genes responsible for common cancers are also being defined by genetic analysis, most notably breast cancer and colon cancer. This review summarizes why, how, and what genetic analysis of families can reveal about human cancers.
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PMID:Genetic analysis of cancer in families. 210 20

A study of 424 women was undertaken to determine whether there was an association between serum prolactin levels and breast cancer; whether prolactin levels would reflect degrees of risk of developing breast cancer; and whether associations between known risk factors for breast cancer and serum prolactin concentrations could be demonstrated. Prolactin levels higher than the median value in control subjects were found to be associated with a more than two-fold increase in the risk of breast cancer (relative risk, 2.1; confidence interval [CI], 1.0-4.5). Moreover, a relative risk of 1.7 (CI, 0.9-3.3) for a group of women with benign epithelial hyperplasia (high risk of developing breast cancer), and a relative risk of 1.0 (CI, 0.6-1.8) for a group with benign fibrocystic disease (low risk of developing breast cancer), provided supportive evidence that prolactin plays a role in the development of breast cancer. A considerable fall in the concentration of prolactin at menopause was noted, so those women who have an early menopause have a reduced period of exposure to high concentrations of prolactin. Similarly, there was a considerable reduction in prolactin concentration after the first pregnancy. Finally, our results showed that, in premenopausal women, a high intake of saturated fats was associated with a high prolactin concentration. Our study supports the concept that parity, menstrual status, and saturated fat consumption influence a woman's exposure to prolactin and therefore the risk of developing breast cancer.
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PMID:Prolactin and breast cancer risk. 167 Nov 67

Within a study on diet as a risk factor for fibrocystic disease and breast cancer, 68 patients with breast cancer, aged from 40 to 59, participating in the National Breast Screening Study in Montreal, were compared to 340 patients with fibrocystic disease and to 343 controls. The personal and family history was collected from medical records and completed by an interview. The nutritional assessment was done by a food frequency questionnaire with a special attention to the quantity and quality of fat, vitamins A, C, E, as well as life style habits. The cancer patients were significantly heavier (64.9 vs. 60.8 kg), had higher body mass index (24.9 vs. 23.4), menstrual cycle more often irregular, later menopause (47.5 vs. 44.5 years), and shorter school attendance (10.3 vs. 12.6 years). No significant differences were found in the use of contraceptives, menopausal hormones, analgesics and tobacco, marital status, number of pregnancies and children, age at menarche, duration of menstrual cycle, and the age at the first pregnancy. The cancer patients consumed significantly more poultry, fish, pastry, margarine, and alcohol and less milk, raw vegetables, pastas, sugar, butter, and coffee.
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PMID:Nutrition and lifestyle factors in fibrocystic disease and cancer of the breast. 222 21


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