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// Xue-Ying Hu 1,* , Ying Li 1,* , Guan-Qiao Jin 1 , Shao-Lv Lai 1 , Xiang-Yang Huang 1 and Dan-Ke Su 1 1 Department of Radiology, Guangxi Medical University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China * Authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Dan-Ke Su, email: // Keywords : MRI, apparent diffusion coefficient, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, breast cancer Received : February 06, 2017 Accepted : June 18, 2017 Published : July 05, 2017 Abstract This study aims to evaluate the potential of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) derived from diffusion-weighted MR imaging for predicting the treatment response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in patients with breast cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed prior to NACT and after two cycles of NACT. The correlation between mean ADC pre values, mean ADC post values, changes in ADC values and changes in tumor diameters after NACT was examined using Spearman rank correlation. A total of 164 breast cancers were enrolled in this study. Mean ADC pre values of responders ([0.85 ± 0.16] × 10 -3 mm 2 /s) and non-responders ([0.84 ± 0.21] × 10 -3 mm 2 /s) had no significant difference ( P = 0.759). While mean ADC post value of responders was significantly higher than that of non-responders ([1.17 ± 0.37] × 10 -3 mm 2 /s vs. [1.01 ± 0.28] × 10 -3 mm 2 /s; P = 0.002). Both mean ADC post values (r = 0.288, P = 0.000) and changes in mean ADC values (r = 0.222, P = 0.004) were positively correlated to changes in tumor diameter after NACT, except for mean ADC pre values (r = 0.031, P = 0.695). Our results indicated that mean ADC post values and changes in ADC values after NACT might be a biological marker for assessing the efficacy of chemotherapy.

Observational studies have reported controversial results on the association between GSTT1 and GSTM1 genotypes and treatment outcome of breast cancer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the association between GSTT1 and GSTM1 and treatment outcome in breast cancer patients. Eligible studies were searched in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. A random-effect model or fixed-effect model was used to calculate the overall combined risk estimates. Twenty-one studies with a total of 4990 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The GSTM1 null genotype (odds ratio (OR) = 1.33, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.01-1.75, P = 0.046) and GSTT1/GSTM1 double null genotype (OR = 2.22, 95 % CI 1.02-4.84, P = 0.045) were significantly associated with an increased tumor response. A reduced overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.84, 95 % CI 0.72-0.98, P = 0.024) was observed in GSTM1 null genotype, especially in mixed descent (HR = 0.77, 95 % CI 0.61-0.96, P = 0.018) and large sample size (HR = 0.85, 95 % CI 0.72-0.99, P = 0.033). Evidence of publication bias was observed in GSTM1 genotype rather than in GSTT1 genotype. This meta-analysis suggests that GSTM1 null and GSTT1/GSTM1 double null polymorphisms might be significantly associated with an increased tumor response. However, the GSTM1 null genotype might be significantly associated with a reduced overall survival. Future studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

This study meta-analyzed the literature on possible association of polymorphisms -137 (rs187238) and -607 (rs1946518) in the interleukin-18 (IL-18) promoter with risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The analysis included 8 case-control studies on the -137 polymorphism (1,318 cases, 2,254 controls) and 7 case-control studies on the -607 polymorphism (1,262 cases, 1,696 controls). None of the five genetic models suggested a significant association between the -137 polymorphism and HCC risk: allelic model, OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.74–1.34, P = 0.97; recessive model, OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.65–1.46, P = 0.91; dominant model, OR 1.35, 95% CI 0.73–2.52, P = 0.34; homozygous model, OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.65–1.49, P = 0.95; heterozygous model, OR 0.99, 95% CI 0.66–1.48, P = 0.94. Similar results were obtained in subgroup analyses of Asian patients, Chinese patients, or patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related HCC. Similar results were also obtained for the -607 polymorphism across the entire study population as well as in the three subgroups. The available evidence suggests no significant association of the -137 or -607 polymorphisms with risk of HCC in general or specifically of HBV-related HCC. These conclusions should be verified in large, well-designed studies.