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

Reports of bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia (BOOP) occurring in women after radiation therapy for breast cancer have suggested that radiation to the lung could participate in the development of BOOP. We now describe the clinical, radiographic, functional, and bronchoalveolar lavage characteristics of this syndrome in a series of 15 patients reported to the Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Maladies "Orphelines" Pulmonaires (GERM"O"P) in France. All 15 women (60 +/- 6 yr of age) fulfilled the following inclusion criteria: (1) radiation therapy to the breast within 12 mo, (2) general and/or respiratory symptoms lasting for at least 2 wk, (3) lung infiltrates outside the radiation port, and (4) no specific cause. The patients presented with fever, nonproductive cough, mild dyspnea, and peripheral alveolar opacities on chest radiograph with a characteristic migratory pattern. In five patients, BOOP was found at lung pathologic analysis. In all the patients dramatic improvement was obtained with corticosteroids, but relapses occurred in 12 patients while tapering or after stopping corticosteroids. This report demonstrates that a characteristic BOOP syndrome may occur after radiation therapy to the breast, including tangential radiation to the lung, thus suggesting that radiation therapy may prime the development of BOOP.
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PMID:Bronchiolitis obliterans organizing pneumonia syndrome primed by radiation therapy to the breast. The Groupe d'Etudes et de Recherche sur les Maladies Orphelines Pulmonaires (GERM"O"P) 984 88

Malignant pericardial effusion is an uncommon disorder and is usually caused by far advanced lung cancer, breast cancer, lymphoma and leukaemia. Pericardial effusion in recurrent gastric cancer has been reported in only three patients. We report the case of a 53-year-old male with sudden onset of dyspnoea, pericardial effusion and cardiac tamponade and the unexpected and the asymptomatic concurrence of gastric cancer. Recurrent haemorrhagic pericardial effusion with physical signs of cardiac tamponade as the initial and only clinical manifestation of gastric cancer has not been described previously.
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PMID:Recurrent cardiac tamponade as first manifestation of gastric cancer. 985 90

A 68-year-old woman presented with advanced ulcerative breast cancer of the precordium; edema of the face, cervix and bilateral upper extremities; dyspnea from carcinomatous pleurisy; and multiple bone metastases, which suggested a terminal state. Her general condition improved with symptomatic therapies; thus, doxifluridine (5'-DFUR) and an endocrine therapeutic drug were given to reduce the primary focus, eliminate the edemas and decrease the plural effusion. When the tumor markers increased again, CEFT therapy [cyclophosphamide (CPA), epirubicin (epi-ADM), 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and tamoxifen (TAM)] was conducted. This resulted in no adverse drug reaction, further reduction of the primary focus, and extremely improved Performance status (PS). The patient was discharged on 5'-DFUR and TAM therapy, which resulted in scarring of the ulcer, normalization of tumor marker levels, disappearance of the pleural effusion, and a reduction of metastatic bone foci. The findings suggest 5'-DFUR and endocrine therapeutic drugs can have a favorable clinical effect without impacting QOL and should be employed in patients with advanced cancer and poor general condition.
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PMID:[A case of giant advanced breast cancer responding remarkably to chemo-endocrine therapy chiefly with doxifluridine]. 988 Oct 86

In 1997, home care was provided for thirty-seven terminally ill cancer patients, fifteen patients with gastric cancer, nine patients with colorectal cancer, four patients with breast cancer, and nine patients with other miscellaneous cancer. The shortest period of home care was three days, the longest was six hundred seventeen days, and the average was one hundred eight days. Medical treatment at home consisted of dosage of morphine for 30 patients, parenteral nutrition for 30 patients, dosage of steroids for 29 patients, infusion of haloperidol for 8 patients, continuous draining of ascites for 6 patients, and continuous draining of intestinal fluid through nasogastric tube for 3 patients. As of May 31, 1998, 3 patients were alive but 34 patients had died, 31 of them at home. The characteristic trends in this year were reinforcement of the home care system in our hospital, prolongation of mean at-home days, inhalation of nebulized morphine for management of dyspnea, restriction of indication of home infusion therapy and active cooperation with public health center and welfare office.
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PMID:[Home care for terminally ill cancer patients in 1997]. 988 62

Metastatic lesions of breast cancer represent rare indications for operation in thoracic surgery. Only in case of persistent malignant pleural effusions or in case of tumour progress despite all other available therapy modalities thoracic surgery can be indicated. Over a period of 5 years between 1993 and 1997 53 patients with metastatic breast cancer were treated in our institution. 36 pts. suffered from persistent pleural effusions, 13 pts. had pulmonary metastases and 4 pts. had metastases involving the chest wall. In all these patients the disease could not be controlled by conservative measures. Our experiences are the following: Thoracoscopy is the diagnostic method of choice for pleural effusions in patients with malignant tumors. If a malignant pleural effusion is confirmed, a talc poudrage represents the most reliable treatment to palliate the dyspnea. The resection of a single solitary pulmonary metastasis can be indicated to confirm the histologic type of the nodule. Resections for centrally localized lesions causing hemoptysis or atelectasis represent rare occasions. Metastatic lesions of breast cancer involving the ribs or the sternum are resected in order to confirm the histologic diagnosis. According to the literature these procedures, with a 5-year survival rate of 50% and without perioperative mortality, can be beneficial.
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PMID:[Thoracic surgery relevant indications for adjuvant and/or palliative measures in breast carcinoma]. 1006 94

Amplification of the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 protein (HER2) in primary breast carcinomas has been shown to correlate with poor clinical prognosis for certain patients. Trastuzumab (Herceptin, Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, California) is a highly purified recombinant DNA-derived humanized monoclonal immunoglobulin G1 kappa antibody that binds with high affinity and specificity to the extracellular domain of the HER2 receptor. In vitro and in vivo preclinical studies have shown that administration of trastuzumab alone or in combination with paclitaxel or carboplatin significantly inhibits the growth of breast tumor-derived cell lines that overexpress the HER2 gene product. At therapeutic doses in breast cancer patients, the mean half-life of trastuzumab is 5.8 days. Trastuzumab serum concentrations reach steady state with mean trough and peak concentrations of 79 microg/mL and 123 microg/mL, respectively. In a 222-patient, single-arm clinical study, treatment with a loading dose of trastuzumab 4 mg/kg administered IV followed by weekly IV doses of 2 mg/kg produced an overall response rate of 14% (2% complete remission and 12% partial remission). The beneficial effects were greatest in patients with the greatest degree (3+) of HER2 protein overexpression. In another clinical study, 469 women with metastatic breast carcinoma were randomized to a paclitaxel or anthracycline-plus-cyclophosphamide regimen with or without trastuzumab. The overall response rate was significantly greater in the trastuzumab-plus-chemotherapy group than in the chemotherapy-alone cohort. The magnitude of observed effects was greatest with pacli taxel plus trastuzumab. The most common adverse effects attributed to trastuzumab in clinical studies were fever and chills, pain, asthenia, nausea, vomiting, increased cough, diarrhea, headache, dyspnea, infection, rhinitis, and insomnia. Trastuzumab in combination with chemotherapy can lead to cardiotoxicity, leukopenia, anemia, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and infection. Trastuzumab has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a single agent for the treatment of patients who have metastatic breast cancer involving overexpression of the HER2 protein and who have received 1 or more chemotherapy regimens; in combination with paclitaxel, it has been approved for the treatment of such patients who have not received chemotherapy.
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PMID:Trastuzumab, a recombinant DNA-derived humanized monoclonal antibody, a novel agent for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. 1021 34

Paratracheal lymph-nodal metastases secondary of breast cancer aren't frequent in this kind of cancer. Here is described the case of a 76-years-old woman come to our note for ingravescent dyspnoea caused by metastatic adenopathy compression of the tracheal lumen. After excluding other treatments, a tracheal stent is put on. The obstruction gets better right away, the initial severe respiratory symptoms are improved and the ventilation is almost normal.
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PMID:[Tracheal stenosis due to metastatic adenopathic compression from breast carcinoma]. 1022 55

Cancer patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy often become anaemic and may require blood transfusions. A large-scale audit of patients with a variety of solid tumours receiving chemotherapy at 28 specialist centres throughout the UK was undertaken to quantify the problem. Data were available from 2719 patients receiving 3206 courses of cytotoxic chemotherapy for tumours of the breast (878), ovary (856), lung (772) or testis (213). Their mean age was 55 years (range 16-87). Overall, 33% of patients required at least one blood transfusion but the proportion varied from 19% for breast cancer to 43% for lung. Sixteen per cent of patients required more than one transfusion (7% for breast, 22% in lung). The mean proportion of patients with Hb < 11 g dl(-10 rose over the course of chemotherapy from 17% before the first cycle, to 38% by the sixth, despite transfusion in 33% of patients. Of the patients receiving transfusions, 25% required an inpatient admission and overnight stay. The most common symptoms reported at the time of transfusion were lethargy, tiredness and breathlessness. Further research is needed to evaluate the role of blood transfusions in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.
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PMID:Large-scale UK audit of blood transfusion requirements and anaemia in patients receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy. 1063 73

One of the breast cancer patients introduced here suffered from recurrent carcinomatous pleurisy and the other from recurrent carcinomatous peritonitis. The patient with recurrent carcinomatous pleurisy was a 47-year-old female with stage IIIa breast cancer. She underwent a standard mastectomy and, following surgery, radiotherapy (50 Gy) and CAF therapy (30 mg of ADM, 1,800 mg of futraful and 100 mg of CPA, administered p.o.). Dyspnea occurred 4 years after surgery. Pleural exudate cytodiagnosis proved positive and the patient was diagnosed with carcinomatous peritonitis. Continuous thoracic cavity drainage was carried out, and 30 mg of ADM was injected into the thoracic cavity. CAF therapy was performed. The dyspnea and thoracic effusion disappeared. At present, after one year and 7 months, the patient is receiving outpatient treatment and remains under observation. The patient with recurrent carcinomatous pleurisy was a 43-year-old female. The breast cancer was detected in a diagnosis of metastasis to the axillary lymph nodes. An increased CA15-3 level and ascitic retention were observed postoperatively at 5 months. Following administration of 600 mg of UFT and 1,200 mg of MPA, the ascites decreased and improvement of the thickened peritoneum was noted. The CA15-3 level was also lowered. It is anticipated that chemotherapy for carcinomatous pleurisy and carcinomatous peritonitis will contribute to an improvement in patients' QOL.
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PMID:[Improved QOL with cancer chemotherapy in two patients with breast cancer suffering form carcinomatous pleurisy and carcinomatous peritonitis]. 1070 Sep 6

Fatigue is one of the most frequent symptoms in cancer patients. However, the precise causes of this fatigue are still unknown, and this situation makes it difficult to combat the problem. The present study was conducted to investigate factors correlated with fatigue in disease-free breast cancer patients. A group of 134 randomly selected ambulatory breast cancer patients who had undergone successful surgical treatment participated. They completed the Cancer Fatigue Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale, and an ad hoc questionnaire detailing physical symptoms, social support, and demographic variables at home and returned them by mail the following day. Multiple regression analysis revealed that fatigue was significantly correlated with dyspnea, insufficient sleep, and depression, and that these three variables accounted for a total of 46% of variance in fatigue. Factors concerned with the cancer and treatment, such as disease stage, lymph node metastasis, number of days since operation, past intravenous chemotherapy, radiotherapy, current use of fluoropyrimidine compounds, and current use of tamoxifen citrate were not correlated with fatigue. The results suggest that fatigue in this population is determined by current physical and psychological distress rather than by the cancer itself and prior cancer treatments, and that the management of dyspnea, insomnia, and depression might be important in reducing fatigue in this population.
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PMID:Factors correlated with fatigue in disease-free breast cancer patients: application of the Cancer Fatigue Scale. 1078 63


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