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Background The National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) B32 trial reported that the detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes by core needle biopsy (CNB) is higher than that by segmental resection. However, there are few reports regarding the detection rate of sentinel lymph nodes by vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB). Therefore, we analyzed the impact of preoperative biopsy methods on the surgical modes of 3,966 patients with breast cancer in our center. Methods In total, 3,966 female breast cancer patients [clinical tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage I-III] were enrolled in this study. Preoperative pathological diagnosis methods included fine needle aspiration (FNA) biopsy, CNB, excision biopsy, and VABB. According to the time of diagnosis. The data were analysis by chi square test, variance analysis and the Kaplan-Meier time series in SPSS 22.0. Results There was a decrease in the number of patients that underwent excision biopsy (7.3% to 2.7%) and intraoperative freezing (89.4% to 28.9%) over time, while CNB exhibited an increasing trend (1.6% to 55.3%). The positive rates of VABB, CNB, excision biopsy, and FNA were 99.5%, 97.1%, 97.9%, and 82.2%, respectively, and the false negative rates were 0%, 1.8%, 0.34%, and 8.9%, respectively. The overall breast-conserving rate was 36.7%, while the breast-conserving rate for VABB was 57.1%. The axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy rate of cN0 patients was 48.3%, and the intraoperative frozen group (36.7%) and excision biopsy group (39.5%) were lower than the CNB (57.1%) and VABB (77.9%) groups. Until December 2019, there were 350 cases with tumor recurrence or metastasis. The methods of biopsy were not correlated to the cumulative survival time. Conclusions Changes to the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer has a profound impact on the method of tumor biopsy. VABB biopsy offers advantages such as accurate diagnosis, a greater volume of tissue taken at one time, minimally invasive and repeatable, and does not affect the surgical approach and prognosis of patients. It will gradually become the primary method of preoperative pathological evaluation of breast cancer.

Purpose In this study, we aimed to investigate the viability of utilizing CytoSorter® system to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and to evaluate the diagnostic value of CTCs in breast cancer (BC). Methods A total of 366 females patients suspected of having BC and 30 healthy female volunteers were enrolled in this study. CTCs were enriched by CytoSorter®, a microfluidic‐based CTCs capturing platform. CTC detection was performed before operation or biopsy. Based on the biopsy results, patients were divided into two groups, namely patients with BC and patients with benign breast diseases (BBD). Patients with BBD and healthy volunteers were serving as controls. The correlation between CTC enumeration and patients' clinicopathological characteristics was evaluated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to assess the diagnostic potency of CytoSorter® system in BC. Results Based on the biopsy results, 130 BC patients at different cancer stages and 236 patients with BBD were enrolled in the study. Seven subjects were dropped out from the study. CTCs were detected in 109 of 128 BC patients, in one of 29 healthy volunteers, and in 37 of 232 patients with BBD. Maximum CTC counts detected in BC patients, healthy volunteers, and patients with BBD were 8, 1, and 4, respectively. Statistical analysis showed CTCs could be used to distinguish BC patients from healthy volunteers and patients with BBD (P

PurposeThis study was determined to evaluate the prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CAR) prior to surgery in luminal breast cancers (BC) with HER2-negativity.MethodsThe clinical data of 708 HER2-negative luminal BC patients from January 2013 to December 2016 were retrospectively collected and analyzed. The optimal cut-off value of NLR and CAR were determined via receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The disease-free survival (DFS) and cancer specific survival (CSS) rates were estimated using the Kaplan−Meier method. Cox univariate and multivariate proportional hazards regression models were performed to identify significant predictors of DFS and CSS simultaneously.ResultsThe mean age of the patients diagnosed was 52.43 years (range, 15–95 years), and the median follow-up was 62.71 months (range, 12-92 months). Univariate and multivariate analysis confirmed that NLR ≥2.2 was significantly associated with worse DFS (HR=2.886, 95%CI=1.756-4.745, pConclusionPreoperative evaluation of NLR and CAR were significant and independent prognostic indicators for luminal breast cancers with HER2-negativity.

Ferroptosis was reported to have tremendous promise in the treatment and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we identified a novel ferroptosis-related prognostic signature incorporating epigenetic and transcriptional biomarkers could help predicting survival of patients with HCC.We employed multi-omics and clinical data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to identify the ferroptosis-associated methylation CpG sites associated with HCC survival using sure independence screening (SIS). Then we utilized Kaplan-Meier curves to evaluate the prognostic significance of gene expression and DNA methylation. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used predicting the 3- and 5-year survival. Mediation analysis of ferroptosis-related methylation and transcriptional score was performed.We firstly identified 114 significant CpG sites under the criteria of false discovery rate (FDR)0.05 in training set. Then we screened out 5 candidate CpG sites in validation set for multivariate screening and stepwise regression. We found that the high-risk group had significantly shorter survival time than the low-risk group in the prognostic signature combined with epigenetic and transcriptional scores (HR =2.72 95% CI: 2.01-3.68, P=8.75E-11). And the predictive model involving clinical information, gene expression, and methylation data performed best for 3-year survival prediction (AUC =0.672) and 5-year survival prediction (AUC =0.742).Our results suggested a signature combining clinical information, ferroptosis-related gene expression, and methylation presented a superior ability for prognostic prediction in HCC, which may bring us novel tool and targets in the treatment of HCC.

Background: Conventional anthracyclines, like epirubicin, are cornerstone drugs for breast cancer treatment of all stages, but their cumulative toxicity could cause life-threatening side effects. Pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD), an effective anti-breast cancer drug, has lower toxicity than conventional anthracyclines. This retrospective study compared the efficacy and toxicity profiles between PLD and epirubicin as adjuvant therapy for breast cancer.Patients and Methods: A total of 1,471 patients diagnosed with stage I–III breast cancer between 2000 and 2018 were included in this study, among which 661 were treated with PLD and 810 with epirubicin, with 45.9 months as the median follow-up time. Anti-breast cancer efficacy was assessed with overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), while cardiac toxicity was assessed with left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) and electrocardiogram (ECG).Results: The Kaplan–Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model revealed that there was no statistical difference in OS or DFS between patients treated with PLD and epirubicin, regardless of cancer stages or molecular subtypes (all p-values > 0.05). In addition, patients had significantly better LEVF and ECG data after adjuvant therapy with PLD (both p-values < 0.05).Conclusion: Based on the large sample size and the long follow-up time of this study, we conclude that PLD has a similar anti-breast cancer efficacy as epirubicin while inducing lower level of cardiac toxicity in Han Chinese. This study suggests that PLD-based adjuvant chemotherapy could be a better option than epirubicin for breast cancer patients especially with existing cardiac disease.

Aim:Mitoxantrone is an antineoplastic antibiotic used in the treatment of acute leukemia, lymphoma, prostate and breast cancer. Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride Injection for tracing has a high degree of lymph node tropism by changing the dosage form, which penetrates into lymphatic capillaries through the interstitial space and enriches regional lymph nodes through the gland to stain the lymph nodes blue to achieve lymph node tracing effect. This study is aim to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride injection(MHI) for tracing sentinel lymph nodes in patients with early-stage breast cancer.Materials & methods: This study was a phase 3, multicenter, self-controlled, non-inferiority trial designed to assess the efficacy and safety of sentinel lymph node tracing with the investigational drug in patients with early-stage breast cancer. All subjects received MHI combined with Technetium-99m(99mTc-Sc), prior to SLNB. The sentinel node identification rate was compared between MHI and 99mTc-Sc to evaluate non-inferiority and concordance. Results: Data were collected from 381 patients in 6 centers all across China. The SLN detection rate was 96.9% (369/381) when using MHI and 97.4% (371/381) when using the standard technique(Table 1). There was no significant difference in the success rate of SLN detection between the two groups(P > 0.05). Since the lower limit of 95% confidence interval was greater than or equal to -5%, the success rate of SLN detection of MHI was non-inferior to that of 99mTc-Sc. In the combination group, 380 cases (99.5%) were successfully detected with SLN. 202 nodes (13.1%) were detected by the MHI but not by the 99mTc-Sc, and 222 nodes (14.4%) were detected by the 99mTc-Sc but not by the MHI(Table 2). All adverse events recovered within one month after intervention.Conclusion: This prospective, multicenter study has shown the Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride injection for tracing to be non-inferior to the standard technique (99mTc-Sc) for breast SLNB. The Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride injection for tracing can be used alone or combined with radioactive material.Key words:Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride injection(MHI), Tracing, Technetium-99m(99mTc-Sc), sentinel lymph node (SLN), Early-Stage Breast Cancer. Attachments: Table 1.SLN detection rate - comparing the Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride Injection and 99mTc-Sc for TracingSLN detection rates [n (%)]Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride Injection for TracingTotalAt least one node detectedNo nodes detected99mTc-ScPositive361 (94.8%)10 (2.6%)371 (97.4%)Negative8 (2.1%)2 (0.5%)10 (2.6%)Total369 (96.9%)12 (3.1%)381(100%) Table 2.Detected nodes-comparing the Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride Injection and 99mTc-Sc for TracingPer node detection rates [n (%)]Mitoxantrone Hydrochloride Injection for TracingTotalPositiveNegative99mTc-ScPositive869 (56.3%)222 (14.4%)1091 (70.7%)Negative202 (13.1%)251 (16.3%)453 (29.3%)Total1071 (69.4%)473 (30.6%)1544 (100%) Citation Format: Benlong Yang, Dechuang Jiao, Jiajian Chen, Chunjian Wang, Lidan Jin, Wenhe Zhao, Xueqiang Gao, Haibo Wang, Jun Li, Haidong Zhao, Di Wu, Zhiming Fan, Shujun Wang, Zhenzhen Liu, Yongsheng Wang, Jiong Wu. A phase 3, multicenter, self-controlled, non-inferiority trial comparing mitoxantrone hydrochloride injection for tracing versus technetium-99m in the detection of axillary sentinel nodes in patients with early-stage breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2021 Dec 7-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;82(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-01-10.

Purpose In this study, we aimed to investigate the viability of utilizing CytoSorter® system to detect circulating tumor cells (CTCs) and to evaluate the diagnostic value of CTCs in breast cancer (BC). Methods A total of 366 females patients suspected of having BC and 30 healthy female volunteers were enrolled in this study. CTCs were enriched by CytoSorter®, a microfluidic‐based CTCs capturing platform. CTC detection was performed before operation or biopsy. Based on the biopsy results, patients were divided into two groups, namely patients with BC and patients with benign breast diseases (BBD). Patients with BBD and healthy volunteers were serving as controls. The correlation between CTC enumeration and patients' clinicopathological characteristics was evaluated. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to assess the diagnostic potency of CytoSorter® system in BC. Results Based on the biopsy results, 130 BC patients at different cancer stages and 236 patients with BBD were enrolled in the study. Seven subjects were dropped out from the study. CTCs were detected in 109 of 128 BC patients, in one of 29 healthy volunteers, and in 37 of 232 patients with BBD. Maximum CTC counts detected in BC patients, healthy volunteers, and patients with BBD were 8, 1, and 4, respectively. Statistical analysis showed CTCs could be used to distinguish BC patients from healthy volunteers and patients with BBD (P, Circulating tumor cells were successfully isolated in breast cancer (BC) patients using CytoSorter® system. Circulating tumor cells can be used to differentiate BC patients from the patients with benign breast diseases or healthy volunteers, and as a diagnostic aid for early cancer diagnosis and cancer staging.

Purpose Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are known to be associated with late recurrence and poor prognosis in breast cancer (BC). Different CTC enrichment platforms have different CTC cut-off values for poor prognosis. This study aimed to evaluate whether preoperative CTCs could be a prognostic factor for early recurrence of disease in BC patients with resectable tumors, and to ascertain the CTC cut-off value for early recurrence with CytoSorter® CTC system. Methods Thirty-six stage II and III BC patients who had preoperative (pre-op) CTC detection and underwent a mastectomy or lumpectomy for curative intent between January and May 2018 were enrolled in this retrospective study. CTC detection was performed using CytoSorter® CTC system. Correlations of patients’ demographics, clinicopathological characteristics, adjuvant therapies and CTCs with relapse and survival were evaluated. Results CTCs were detected in 32 out of 36 patients before surgery. Nine patients developed relapses during follow-up, and seven of them were distant recurrence. Univariate analysis showed that CTCs were correlated with two-year recurrence free survival (RFS) and distant RFS (D-RFS) (P = 0.013 and 0.029, respectively). Two-year RFS and D-RFS were 85.2% and 88.9%, respectively, for patients with P = 0.024) and D-RFS (HR: 0.218, 95% CI [0.048–0.977], P = 0.047). Conclusion BC patients with pre-op CTCs ≥4 per four mL of blood have significantly reduced two-year RFS and D-RFS. A pre-op CTC cut-off of four per four mL of blood was found for CytoSorter® to identify BC patients with a higher risk for early recurrence.

Adjuvant chemotherapy(AC) plays a substantial role in the treatment of locally advanced gastric cancer (LAGC), but the response remains poor. We aims to improve its efficacy in LAGC. Therefore, we identified the expression of eight genes closely associated with platinum and fluorouracil metabolism (RRM1, RRM2, RRM2B, POLH, DUT, TYMS, TYMP, MKI67) in the discovery cohort (N=291). And we further validated the findings in TCGA (N=279) and GEO. Overall survival (OS) was used as an endpoint. Univariate and multivariate Cox models were applied. A multivariate Cox regression model was simulated to predict the OS. In the discovery cohort, the univariate Cox model indicated that AC was beneficial to high-RRM1, high-DUT, low-RRM2, low-RRM2B, low-POLH, low-KI67, low-TYMS or low-TYMP patients, the results were validated in the TCGA cohort. The multivariate Cox model showed consistent results. Cumulative analysis indicated that patients with low C-Score respond poorly to the AC, whereas the high and medium C-Score patients significantly benefit from AC. A risk model based on the above variables successfully predicted the OS in both cohorts (AUC=0.75 and 0.67, respectively). Further validation in a panel of gastric cancer cell (GC) lines (N=37) indicated that C-Score is significantly associated with IC50 value to fluorouracil. Mutation profiling showed that C-Score was associated with the number and types of mutations. In conclusion, we successfully simulated a predictive signature for the efficacy of AC in LAGC patients and further explored the potential mechanisms. Our findings could promote precision medicine and improve the prognosis of LAGC patients., Highlights • We successfully simulated a predictive signature for the efficacy of chemotherapy in LAGC patients and a GC cell line panel. • We further explored the potential mechanisms that it may be associated with the number and type of mutations. • Our findings could promote precision medicine and improve the prognosis of LAGC patients.