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Background: It has been reported that treatment with uracil-tegafur (UFT) has shown significantly better survival and relapse-free survival (RFS) than surgery alone. Therefore, we compared UFT with a combination therapy of cyclophosphamide, methotrexate, and fluorouracil (CMF) in patients who had undergone curative surgery for axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer.Methods: A total of 377 node-positive patients with stage I, II, or IIIA disease were registered from September 1996 through July 2000 and were randomly assigned to either 6 cycles of CMF or 2 years of UFT. In both arms, tamoxifen (TAM) was concurrently administered for 2 years. The primary end point in this study was the non-inferiority of UFT to CMF.Results: No statistically significant difference between the two groups was observed with regard to the 5-year RFS rate (72.2% in the UFT and 76.3% in the CMF). Adverse event profiles differed between the two groups, with a significantly lower incidence of leukopenia and anaemia in the UFT group, as well as anorexia, nausea/vomiting, stomatitis, and alopecia, which have implications for quality of life.Conclusion: UFT administered in combination with TAM holds promise in the treatment of lymph node-positive early breast cancer. On stratified analysis, the recurrence rate in the UFT group was found to be better in oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive patients. Tegafur-based treatment should be evaluated by a prospective randomised trial conducted in ER-positive patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of weekly paclitaxel (PTX) against metastatic breast cancer (MBC) that was resistant to docetaxel (DTX) given every 3 weeks. A multicenter phase II study was performed. Women with MBC resistant to DTX were eligible for enrollment. DTX resistance was defined as no tumor response to DTX and stable disease, partial response, or complete response to DTX preceding disease progression. PTX 80 mg/m2 was administered over 1 hour once a week for 3 weeks per 4-week cycle. Among 47 enrolled patients, 46 patients were assessable for response and toxicity. The overall objective response rate (complete responses[CRs] and partial responses[PRs]) was 17.4% and overall clinical benefit rate (CRs, PRs, and stable disease >=24 weeks) was 26.1%. The median time to progression was 11 weeks. There were a few severe hematologic toxicities related to the therapy, with grade 4 neutropenia (4.3%) and thrombocytopenia (2.2%). Grade 3 anaphylaxis and grade 3 neuropathy were observed in one patient (2.2%) each. The median delivered dose intensity was 77.6 mg/m2/week, 97.1% of the planned dose intensity. Weekly PTX has activity in patients with MBC resistant to DTX every 3 weeks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Background: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the usefulness of intraoperative imprint cytology and frozen sectioning of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with clinically node-negative breast cancer. Methods: Sentinel node biopsy was performed in 101 patients with stage I or II breast cancer with clinically negative nodes using a dye-guided method. Intraoperative evaluation of sentinel node involvement by imprint cytology and frozen sectioning was compared with the final histopathological results of permanent sections. Tumour-negative nodes in paraffin sections stained by haematoxylin and eosin were further studied using an anticytokeratin antibody. Results: The results of imprint cytology and frozen-section analysis were compared with those of haematoxylin and eosin-stained sections. The sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy of imprint cytology were 96·0, 90·8 and 92·1 per cent respectively, and those of frozen-section examination were 52·0, 100 and 88·1 per cent. Ten sentinel nodes were tumour positive on imprint cytology and tumour negative on stained paraffin sections. Micrometastasis was found in eight of these nodes on immunohistochemistry. Taking these immunohistological results into consideration, the final sensitivity, specificity and overall accuracy of imprint cytology were 90·9, 98·5 and 96·0 per cent respectively. Conclusion: Intraoperative imprint cytology is a useful method for evaluating the status of sentinel nodes and is more accurate than frozen-section analysis. In addition, imprint cytology can detect micrometastasis more accurately than conventional haematoxylin and eosin-stained sectioning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have shown that fibroadenoma of the breast is polyclonal and that phyllodes tumour is monoclonal in origin. It is not known whether a giant fibroadenoma which is histologically identical to the more usual type of fibroadenoma but grows to be a huge mass, like a phyllodes tumour, is polyclonal or monoclona. Clonal analysis was conducted on the DNA samples extracted from the paraffin sections of a giant fibroadenoma resected from a 21-year-old woman. The method used was based on trinucleotide repeat polymorphism of the X-chromosome-linked androgen receptor gene and on random inactivation of the gene by methylation. Clonal analysis showed that the giant fibroadenoma and the adjacent normal breast tissue are polyclonal in origin. Although the term giant fibroadenoma has often been used interchangeably with the term benign phyllodes tumour, because of their similarity in clinical appearance, our present results demonstrate that a giant fibroadenoma is a polyclonal fibroadenoma that has attained an immense size and is different from the monoclonal phyllodes tumour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The levels of c-erbB-2 oncoprotein (ErbB-2 protein) in nipple discharge were evaluated together with those of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 9 patients with breast cancer, 2 patients with borderline lesions, 8 patients with intraductal papilloma, and 19 patients with fibrocystic change. When the tentative cutoff value was set at 40 ng/ml in the nipple discharge, elevated ErbB-2 protein levels were found in all 3 patients with palpable breast cancer and 3 of the 6 patients with nonpalpable cancer. Two of the 8 patients with intraductal papilloma had high ErbB-2 protein levels. A combination test with CEA resulted in positive detection in all cancer patients. Two patients with borderline lesions, 2 with intraductal papilloma and 2 with ñbrocystic change were positive in a combination test. In addition, elevated ErbB-2 protein levels in nipple discharge correlated well with the overexpres-sion of ErbB-2 protein in the tumor. All the patients with ErbB-2 protein levels over 100 ng/ml in their nipple discharge had comedo or solid intraductal carcinomas. Thus, measurement of ErbB-2 protein levels in nipple discharge can assist in the diagnosis of intraductal carcinoma and also in detecting tumors with a high proliferation rate and an overexpression of ErbB-2 protein: usually comedo or solid carcinomas. Copyright © 1993 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether focused analysis of sentinel nodes is more useful than routine haematoxylin and eosin examination of axillary lymph nodes obtained by axillary lymph node dissection. Methods: One hundred and fifty-two patients with breast cancer with clinically negative axillary nodes underwent successful sentinel node biopsy using a combination of dye and radioisotope, followed immediately by standard level I and II axillary lymph node dissection. Multiple sectioning, with haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical analysis of sentinel nodes using cytokeratin antibody, was compared with single section and haematoxylin and eosin analysis of sentinel and non-sentinel nodes (routine examination). Results: A mean of 1·9 (range 1–12) sentinel nodes and 11·2 (range 4–24) non-sentinel nodes were excised per patient. Metastases were detected in 44 patients (29 per cent) by single section and haematoxylin and eosin analysis of sentinel and non-sentinel nodes. An additional five patients (3 per cent) with metastases were detected by multiple sectioning and haematoxylin and eosin analysis of sentinel nodes. A further 20 patients (13 per cent) with metastases were identified by multiple sectioning and immunohistochemical analysis of sentinel nodes. Both haematoxylin and eosin and immunohistochemical analysis of sentinel nodes missed one patient with node metastases, which led to a false-negative rate of 1 per cent. Conclusion: Multiple sectioning and immunohistochemical staining of sentinel nodes identified 16 per cent more patients with positive axillary lymph nodes than routine haematoxylin and eosin examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "British Journal of Cancer," Volume 101, pages 598-604, published in 2009 issue is presented.