Abstract
The investigation was designed to evaluate numerical and functional properties of peripheral blood monocytes (PBMo) in patients with breast cancer at different clinical stages. Monocyte phagocytosis test was performed in 19 patients with benign breast tumor, 29 patients with breast cancer and 10 healthy subjects. Cancer patients were divided into three groups on the basis of the clinical stage of disease: groupA, patients with localized disease; groupB, patients with regional lymph node metastasis; and groupC, patients with distant metastasis. Patients with advanced disease (groupC) showed an increase in neutrophils, but no differences in the total count of leukocytes and absolute number of lymphocytes as compared with healthy individuals, patients with benign breast tumor or patients with lower stage. However, the mean number of monocytes decreased in patients with benign disease and further decreased in cancer patients, reaching the significantly lowest value in patients with distant metastasis. Phagocytic activity of PBMo was found to be significantly lower in patients with benign tumor, and it became further reduced in the cancer group, related to the clinical stage. Thus, we noted a sixfold decrease in the capacity of phagocytosis, fourfold decrease in percentage of phagocytosis and twofold decrease in phagocytic index in patients with advanced stage (groupC). The alterations in number and function of PBMo in patients with benign and malignant breast tumor were observed in close association with clinical stage of disease, and thus they could be considered as indicators of tumor progression. However, further studies are required to determine whether monocyte dysfunction could provide additional prognostic information in the case of breast cancer diagnosis and therapy.
Highlights
Lymph node biopsy is important as a prognostic factor, and influences therapy
In this study we determined the in vivo cell kinetics along the spectrum of apparently normal epithelium, hyperplasia, preinvasive lesions and invasive carcinoma, in breast tissues affected by fibrocystic changes in which preinvasive and/or invasive lesions developed, as a model of breast carcinogenesis
This study was undertaken to determine the effect of wound healing drainages and postsurgical sera obtained from breast carcinoma (BC) patients on proliferation of dormant BC cells and to assess the role of HER2 oncoprotein in this proliferation
Summary
Lymph node biopsy is important as a prognostic factor, and influences therapy. In the transition from normal epithelium to hyperplasia and from preinvasive lesions to invasive carcinoma, the net growth of epithelial cells results from a growth imbalance in favour of proliferation. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in symptomatic patients after breast cancer treatment. Conclusion: Hyperbaric oxygen therapy should be considered as a treatment option for patients with persisting symptomatology following breast-conserving therapy. We hypothesized that COX-2 expression was associated with that of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) in human breast cancer. Conclusion: COX-2 expression is significantly associated with increased cellular proliferation and angiogenesis in invasive breast cancer. Recent studies have demonstrated that the sentinel node biopsy (SNB) is a reliable and minimally invasive method for determining the axillary node status in patients with breast cancer. Conclusion: Overexpression of episialin strongly inhibits fat secretion, and critically affects timing of involution of the lactating mammary gland
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