Evaluation of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response in Women with Locally Advanced Breast Cancer Using Ultrasound Elastography

PURPOSE: Ultrasound elastography is a new imaging technique that can be used to assess tissue stiffness. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of ultrasound elastography for monitoring treatment response of locally advanced breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. METHODS: Fifteen women receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy had the affected breast scanned before, 1, 4, and 8 weeks following therapy initiation, and then before surgery. Changes in elastographic parameters related to tissue biomechanical properties were then determined and compared to clinical and pathologic tumor response after mastectomy. RESULTS: Patients who responded to therapy demonstrated a significant decrease (P < .05) in strain ratios and strain differences 4 weeks after treatment initiation compared to non-responding patients. Mean strain ratio and mean strain difference for responders was 81 ± 3% and 1 ± 17% for static regions of interest (ROIs) and 81 ± 3% and 6 ± 18% for dynamic ROIs, respectively. In contrast, these parameters were 102±2%, 110±17%, 101±4%, and 109±30% for non-responding patients, respectively. Strain ratio using static ROIs was found to be the best predictor of treatment response, with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity obtained 4 weeks after starting treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that ultrasound elastography can be potentially used as an early predictor of tumor therapy response in breast cancer patients.     

An Elevated Peripheral Blood Lymphocyte-to-Monocyte Ratio Predicts Favorable Response and Prognosis in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer following Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Purpose

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NCT) is a standard treatment option for locally advanced breast cancer. However, the lack of an efficient method to predict treatment response and patient prognosis hampers the clinical evaluation of patient eligibility for NCT. An elevated lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) has been reported to be associated with a favorable prognosis for certain hematologic malignancies and for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; however, this association has not been investigated in breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether pre-NCT LMR analysis could predict the prognosis of patients with locally advanced breast cancer.

Methods

A retrospective cohort of 542 locally advanced breast cancer patients (T3/T4 and/or N2/N3 disease) receiving NCT followed by radical surgery was recruited between May 2002 and August 2011 at the Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center. Counts for pre-NCT peripheral absolute lymphocytes and monocytes were obtained and used to calculate the LMR.

Results

Univariate and multivariate analysis revealed that higher LMR levels (≥4.25) were significantly associated with favorable DFS (P = 0.009 and P = 0.011, respectively). Additionally, univariate analysis revealed that a higher lymphocyte count (≥1.5×10⁹/L) showed borderline significance for improved DFS (P = 0.054), while a lower monocyte count (<0.4×10⁹/L) was associated with a significantly better DFS (P = 0.010).

Conclusions

An elevated pre-NCT peripheral LMR level was a significantly favorable factor for locally advanced breast cancer patient prognosis. This easily obtained variable may serve as a valuable marker to predict the outcomes of locally advanced breast cancer.     

放化疗与介入性动脉化疗治疗局部晚期宫颈癌的临床研究

目的:比较分析放化疗与介入性动脉化疗治疗局部晚期动脉宫颈癌的临床效果。方法:选择我院局部晚期宫颈癌患者97例,依据治疗方法分为常规组(行传统放化疗)55例和介入组(行介入性动脉化疗)42例。观察治疗后肿瘤大小、近期疗效、根治性手术率、术后并发症,对生活质量指数进行评分,评价两种方法的临床效果。结果:治疗后,两组患者近期疗效比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05);介入组肿瘤直径明显小于常规组,而根治性手术率明显高于常规组,差异均具有统计学意义(P0.05);介入组患者日常生活、健康、总体情况以及总的评分均明显高于常规组,差异具有统计学意义(P0.05),同时介入组并发症较少。结论:放化疗与介入性动脉化疗治疗局部晚期动脉宫颈癌近期临床疗效均较好,但介入性动脉化疗具有较高的根治性手术率以及生活质量,且并发症少。     

新辅助化疗在局部晚期宫颈癌治疗中的疗效观察

目的：探讨新辅助化疗联合手术治疗较传统手术治疗Ib2、IIa2局部晚期宫颈癌的临床疗效。方法：选取2008年6月～2011年12月在黑龙江省哈尔滨医科大学附属第三医院初治宫颈癌患者120例,临床分期为Ib2期、IIa2期,术前均经病理证实为宫颈鳞癌,将其分为两组：研究组（新辅助化疗联合手术治疗组）;对照组（单纯手术治疗组）。研究组给予1～2个疗程的新辅助化疗后评估其化疗疗效,有效者化疗结束后行广泛性子宫切除＋盆腔淋巴结清扫术;对照组直接行手术治疗。结果：新辅助化疗能够使肿瘤体积较化疗前缩小或消失,临床有效率高达81.43%,从而降低了宫颈癌的临床分期,提高手术的切除率,扩大手术适应征,降低术后病理高危因素,同时手术治疗能保留卵巢功能,提高年轻宫颈癌患者生活质量。结论：术前新辅助化疗可以提高手术治疗局部晚期宫颈癌的临床疗效。     

Predicting Treatment Response of Breast Cancer to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Using Ultrasound-Guided Diffuse Optical Tomography

PURPOSE: To prospectively investigate ultrasound-guided diffuse optical tomography (US-guided DOT) in predicting breast cancer response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-eight breast cancer patients, with a total of 93 lesions, were included in our study. Pre– and post–last chemotherapy, size and total hemoglobin concentration (THC) of each lesion were measured by conventional US and US-guided DOT 1 day before biopsy (time point t0, THC THC0, SIZE S0) and 1 to 2 days before surgery (time point tL, THCL, SL). The relative changes in THC and SIZE of lesions after the first and last NAC cycles were considered as the variables ΔTHC and ΔSIZE. Receiver operating characteristic curve was performed to calculate ΔTHC and ΔSIZE cutoff values to evaluate pathologic response of 93 breast cancers to NAC, which were then prospectively used to predicate response of 61 breast cancers to NAC. RESULTS: The cutoff values of ΔTHC and ΔSIZE for evaluation of breast cancers NAC treatment response were 23.9% and 42.6%. At ΔTHC 23.9%, the predicted treatment response in 61 breast lesions for the time points t1 to t3 was calculated by area under the curve (AUC), which were AUC₁ 0.534 (P = .6668), AUC₂ 0.604 (P = .1893), and AUC₃ 0.674(P =. 0.027), respectively; for ΔSIZE 42.6%, at time points t1 to t3, AUC₁ 0.505 (P = .9121), AUC₂ 0.645 (P = .0115), and AUC₃ 0.719 (P = .0018). CONCLUSION: US-guided DOT ΔTHC 23.9% and US ΔSIZE 42.6% can be used for the response evaluation and earlier prediction of the pathological response after three rounds of chemotherapy.     

紫杉醇联合卡铂治疗局部晚期乳腺癌的临床研究

目的:探讨紫杉醇联合卡铂治疗局部晚期乳腺癌的临床疗效和安全性。方法:选取2010年3月~2012年8月在我院接受治疗的局部晚期乳腺癌患者80例,以其中采用紫杉醇联合卡铂治疗的40例患者作为实验组,紫杉醇联合表阿霉素治疗的40例患者作为对照组,化疗后患者行乳腺癌改良根治术或保乳术,观察和比较两组患者的治疗有效率、不良反应的发生情况及术后复发和转移情况。结果:两组患者的治疗有效率及不良反应的发生率比较均并无统计学差异(P>0.05),而实验组患者术后复发及转移的发生率明显低于对照组患者(P<0.05)。结论:紫杉醇联合卡铂治疗局部晚期乳腺癌的临床疗效及安全性与紫杉醇联合表阿霉素化疗相当,但是能够明显降低患者的术后复发率及转移率,改善患者的预后。     

Differential Network Analysis Applied to Preoperative Breast Cancer Chemotherapy Response

In silico approaches are increasingly considered to improve breast cancer treatment. One of these treatments, neoadjuvant TFAC chemotherapy, is used in cases where application of preoperative systemic therapy is indicated. Estimating response to treatment allows or improves clinical decision-making and this, in turn, may be based on a good understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. Ever increasing amounts of high throughput data become available for integration into functional networks. In this study, we applied our software tool ExprEssence to identify specific mechanisms relevant for TFAC therapy response, from a gene/protein interaction network. We contrasted the resulting active subnetwork to the subnetworks of two other such methods, OptDis and KeyPathwayMiner. We could show that the ExprEssence subnetwork is more related to the mechanistic functional principles of TFAC therapy than the subnetworks of the other two methods despite the simplicity of ExprEssence. We were able to validate our method by recovering known mechanisms and as an application example of our method, we identified a mechanism that may further explain the synergism between paclitaxel and doxorubicin in TFAC treatment: Paclitaxel may attenuate MELK gene expression, resulting in lower levels of its target MYBL2, already associated with doxorubicin synergism in hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines. We tested our hypothesis in three breast cancer cell lines, confirming it in part. In particular, the predicted effect on MYBL2 could be validated, and a synergistic effect of paclitaxel and doxorubicin could be demonstrated in the breast cancer cell lines SKBR3 and MCF-7.     

TAC方案治疗晚期术后乳腺癌疗效观察

目的探讨分析TAC方案治疗晚期术后乳腺癌的临床疗效。方法选取我院自2008年1月至2010年6月收治的76例晚期术后乳腺癌患者,所有患者按随机数法分为实验组与对照组,两组均为38例。实验组接受TAC化疗方案,对照组接受CTF化疗方案,治疗6个疗程后比较两组患者的临床疗效及不良反应发生情况。结果实验组的无进展生存期、总生存期及1—3年生存率均明显优于对照组（P〈0．05）;实验组中性粒细胞减少与恶性呕吐的发生率明显高于对照组（P〈0．05）,两组其余髓内及髓外毒性反应及心脏毒性反应发生率的差异比较均无统计学意义（P〉0．05）。结论TAC方案治疗晚期术后乳腺癌的临床疗效显著,延长了患者术后的生存时间,且不良反应少,值得推广。     

Oestrogen Receptor in Human Breast Cancer Tissue and Response to Endocrine Therapy

Oestrogen receptor determinations were done in metastatic breast cancer tissue of patients with advanced breast cancer. In 37 patients with progressive disease evaluation of the response to endocrine treatment was possible, following the criteria of the E.O.R.T.C. Co-operative Breast Cancer Group. In 20 patients with receptor-negative tumours two objective remissions were noted; in 17 patients with receptor-positive tumours 14 objective remissions were seen. There seems to be a striking correlation between the presence or absence of oestrogen receptor in tumour tissue and the clinical response to hormonal therapy.     

Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) Predicts Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Clinical Outcome in Primary Human Breast Cancer

In our previous work we showed that NGAL, a protein involved in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation, is overexpressed in human breast cancer (BC) and predicts poor prognosis. In neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) pathological complete response (pCR) is a predictor for outcome. The aim of this study was to evaluate NGAL as a predictor of response to NACT and to validate NGAL as a prognostic factor for clinical outcome in patients with primary BC. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarrays from 652 core biopsies from BC patients, who underwent NACT in the GeparTrio trial. NGAL expression and intensity was evaluated separately. NGAL was detected in 42.2% of the breast carcinomas in the cytoplasm. NGAL expression correlated with negative hormone receptor (HR) status, but not with other baseline parameters. NGAL expression did not correlate with pCR in the full population, however, NGAL expression and staining intensity were significantly associated with higher pCR rates in patients with positive HR status. In addition, strong NGAL expression correlated with higher pCR rates in node negative patients, patients with histological grade 1 or 2 tumors and a tumor size <40 mm. In univariate survival analysis, positive NGAL expression and strong staining intensity correlated with decreased disease-free survival (DFS) in the entire cohort and different subgroups, including HR positive patients. Similar correlations were found for intense staining and decreased overall survival (OS). In multivariate analysis, NGAL expression remained an independent prognostic factor for DFS. The results show that in low-risk subgroups, NGAL was found to be a predictive marker for pCR after NACT. Furthermore, NGAL could be validated as an independent prognostic factor for decreased DFS in primary human BC.     

局部进展期胃癌术前动静脉结合化疗的疗效观察

目的:局部进展期胃癌,即使没有出现远处转移或腹膜种植,预后也极不理想.我们对局部进展期胃癌患者进行术前mECF方案的动静脉结合化疗,以评价其治疗疗效.方法:选取自2009年1月至2011年6月间我院局部进展期胃癌Ⅱ-ⅢC期患者38例,均由影像学确定淋巴结高度可疑转移或浸润、包绕主要血管结构,且没有发现远处转移或腹膜种植,进行2个周期的术前动静脉结合化疗后,行手术治疗.记录化疗毒性反应、临床、病理缓解率、手术并发症发生率和病死率以及1年无病生存率.结果:化疗毒性反应低,3级反应不超过10％,仅有1例出现4级反应,表现为腹泻、恶心和呕吐.38例患者中临床CR有6例,占15.8％,PR17例,占44.7％,NC13例(34.2％),PD2例(5.3％),RR为60.5％(23/38).全部患者均施行了手术,37例患者进行了根治性手术,R0切除率为97％.病理缓解率为5例完全缓解(13.2％),21例部分缓解(55.3％),8例轻微缓解(21.1％),4例未缓解(10.5％).手术并发症发生率为7.9％,无治疗相关死亡发生.1年无病生存率为81.6％.结论:局部进展期胃癌患者术前进行mECF方案的动静脉化疗毒性反应低,疗效理想,之后行手术完整切除后临床效果突出,是理想的治疗方法.     

Magnetic Resonance Metabolic Profiling of Breast Cancer Tissue Obtained with Core Needle Biopsy for Predicting Pathologic Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

The purpose of this study was to determine whether metabolic profiling of core needle biopsy (CNB) samples using high-resolution magic angle spinning (HR-MAS) magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) could be used for predicting pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with locally advanced breast cancer. After institutional review board approval and informed consent were obtained, CNB tissue samples were collected from 37 malignant lesions in 37 patients before NAC treatment. The metabolic profiling of CNB samples were performed by HR-MAS MRS. Metabolic profiles were compared according to pathologic response to NAC using the Mann-Whitney test. Multivariate analysis was performed with orthogonal projections to latent structure-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). Various metabolites including choline-containing compounds were identified and quantified by HR-MAS MRS in all 37 breast cancer tissue samples obtained by CNB. In univariate analysis, the metabolite concentrations and metabolic ratios of CNB samples obtained with HR-MAS MRS were not significantly different between different pathologic response groups. However, there was a trend of lower levels of phosphocholine/creatine ratio and choline-containing metabolite concentrations in the pathologic complete response group compared to the non-pathologic complete response group. In multivariate analysis, the OPLS-DA models built with HR-MAS MR metabolic profiles showed visible discrimination between the pathologic response groups. This study showed OPLS-DA multivariate analysis using metabolic profiles of pretreatment CNB samples assessed by HR- MAS MRS may be used to predict pathologic response before NAC, although we did not identify the metabolite showing statistical significance in univariate analysis. Therefore, our preliminary results raise the necessity of further study on HR-MAS MR metabolic profiling of CNB samples for a large number of cancers.     

香菇多糖联合TA方案化疗治疗晚期乳腺癌的临床观察

目的:观察香菇多糖联合TA方案(紫杉醇、阿霉素)治疗晚期乳腺癌患者的近期疗效及毒副反应。方法:将确诊为Ⅳ期的52例乳腺癌患者随机分为对照组及治疗组,两组均采用TA方案化疗,治疗组加用香菇多糖,观察两组近期疗效及毒副反应,计算和比较两组治疗前后的CD4+/CD8+值。结果:治疗组及对照组的治疗总有效率分别为67.86%、62.50%,其差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);两组的生活质量(Karnofsky评分)改善率分别为71.43%和41.67%,治疗组显著高于对照组,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。两组治疗后CD4+及CD8+细胞绝对计数均较治疗前下降,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组CD4+/CD8+值上升,但与治疗前比较差异无统计学意义(P>0.05),对照组CD4+/CD8+值较治疗前下降,差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);两组治疗后CD4+/CD8+值差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。治疗组毒副反应较对照组明显减轻(P<0.05)。结论:香菇多糖联合TA化疗方案能有效改善晚期乳腺癌患者的生存质量、调节免疫力并减轻毒副反应。     

Comprehensive Analysis of MicroRNA (miRNA) Targets in Breast Cancer Cells

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate mRNA stability and translation through the action of the RNAi-induced silencing complex. In this study, we systematically identified endogenous miRNA target genes by using AGO2 immunoprecipitation (AGO2-IP) and microarray analyses in two breast cancer cell lines, MCF7 and MDA-MB-231, representing luminal and basal-like breast cancer, respectively. The expression levels of ∼70% of the AGO2-IP mRNAs were increased by DROSHA or DICER1 knockdown. In addition, integrated analysis of miRNA expression profiles, mRNA-AGO2 interaction, and the 3′-UTR of mRNAs revealed that >60% of the AGO2-IP mRNAs were putative targets of the 50 most abundantly expressed miRNAs. Together, these results suggested that the majority of the AGO2-associated mRNAs were bona fide miRNA targets. Functional enrichment analysis uncovered that the AGO2-IP mRNAs were involved in regulation of cell cycle, apoptosis, adhesion/migration/invasion, stress responses (e.g. DNA damage and endoplasmic reticulum stress and hypoxia), and cell-cell communication (e.g. Notch and Ephrin signaling pathways). A role of miRNAs in regulating cell migration/invasion and stress response was further defined by examining the impact of DROSHA knockdown on cell behaviors. We demonstrated that DROSHA knockdown enhanced cell migration and invasion, whereas it sensitized cells to cell death induced by suspension culture, glucose depletion, and unfolding protein stress. Data from an orthotopic xenograft model showed that DROSHA knockdown resulted in reduced growth of primary tumors but enhanced lung metastasis. Taken together, these results suggest that miRNAs collectively function to promote survival of tumor cells under stress but suppress cell migration/invasion in breast cancer cells.     

Background Intestinal 18F-FDG Uptake Is Related to Serum Lipid Profile and Obesity in Breast Cancer Patients

Background

This study investigated the relationships between background intestinal uptake on ¹⁸F–FDG PET and cardio-metabolic risk (CMR) factors.

Methods

A total of 326 female patients that underwent ¹⁸F–FDG PET to determine the initial stage of breast cancer were enrolled. None of the patients had history of diabetes or hypertension. The background intestinal uptake on PET was visually graded (low vs. high uptake group) and quantitatively measured using the maximal standardized uptake value (SUV_max). SUV_max of 7 bowel segments (duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, hepatic flexure, splenic flexure, and descending colon-sigmoid junction) were averaged for the total bowel (TB SUV_max). Age, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose level (BST), triglyceride (TG), cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low density lipoprotein (LDL) were the considered CMR factors. The relationships between background intestinal ¹⁸F–FDG uptake on PET and diverse CMR factors were analyzed.

Results

The visual grades based on background intestinal ¹⁸F–FDG uptake classified 100 (30.7%) patients into the low uptake group, while 226 (69.3%) were classified into the high uptake group. Among CMR factors, age (p = 0.004), BMI (p<0.001), and TG (p<0.001) were significantly different according to visual grade of background intestinal ¹⁸F–FDG uptake. Quantitative TB SUV_max showed significant positive correlation with age (r = 0.203, p<0.001), BMI (r = 0.373, p<0.001), TG (r = 0.338, p<0.001), cholesterol (r = 0.148, p = 0.008), and LDL (r = 0.143, p = 0.024) and significant negative correlation with HDL (r = -0.147, p = 0.022). Multivariate analysis indicated that BMI and TG were independent factors in both visually graded background intestinal ¹⁸F–FDG uptake (p = 0.027 and p = 0.023, respectively) and quantitatively measured TB SUV_max (p = 0.006 and p = 0.004, respectively).

Conclusion

Increased background intestinal ¹⁸F–FDG uptake on PET may suggest alteration of lipid metabolism and risk of cardio-metabolic disease in non-diabetic and non-hypertensive breast cancer patients.     

Multi-Site Clinical Evaluation of DW-MRI as a Treatment Response Metric for Breast Cancer Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Purpose

To evaluate diffusion weighted MRI (DW-MR) as a response metric for assessment of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with primary breast cancer using prospective multi-center trials which provided MR scans along with clinical outcome information.

Materials and Methods

A total of 39 patients with locally advanced breast cancer accrued from three different prospective clinical trials underwent DW-MR examination prior to and at 3–7 days (Hull University), 8–11 days (University of Michigan) and 35 days (NeoCOMICE) post-treatment initiation. Thirteen patients, 12 of which participated in treatment response study, from UM underwent short interval (<1hr) MRI examinations, referred to as “test-retest” for examination of repeatability. To further evaluate stability in ADC measurements, a thermally controlled diffusion phantom was used to assess repeatability of diffusion measurements. MRI sequences included contrast-enhanced T1-weighted, when appropriate, and DW images acquired at b-values of 0 and 800 s/mm². Histogram analysis and a voxel-based analytical technique, the Parametric Response Map (PRM), were used to derive diffusion response metrics for assessment of treatment response prediction.

Results

Mean tumor apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values generated from patient test-retest examinations were found to be very reproducible (|ΔADC|<0.1x10^-3mm²/s). This data was used to calculate the 95% CI from the linear fit of tumor voxel ADC pairs of co-registered examinations (±0.45x10^-3mm²/s) for PRM analysis of treatment response. Receiver operating characteristic analysis identified the PRM metric to be predictive of outcome at the 8–11 (AUC = 0.964, p = 0.01) and 35 day (AUC = 0.770, p = 0.05) time points (p<.05) while whole-tumor ADC changes where significant at the later 35 day time interval (AUC = 0.825, p = 0.02).

Conclusion

This study demonstrates the feasibility of performing a prospective analysis of DW-MRI as a predictive biomarker of NAC in breast cancer patients. In addition, we provide experimental evidence supporting the use of sensitive analytical tools, such as PRM, for evaluating ADC measurements.