Human Breast Tissue Specimens Research Articles

Phosphodiesters in saponified extracts of human breast and colon tumors using 31P magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Saponified phospholipid extracts of malignant and normal human breast and colon surgical tissue specimens (n = 45) generate characteristic phosphodiester profiles using 31P magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy. The resultant 31P MR spectroscopic profiles of the analyzed tissues are used to differentiate malignant from normal. The appearance of an uncharacterized resonance at 0.29 delta in the malignant tissue spectra (50% of breast and 75% of colon specimens) is the most notable qualitative finding. Quantitatively, malignant colon tissues differ from normal colon tissues with depressed levels of phosphatidylserine and elevated levels of glycerol 3-phosphorylglycerol and an index measuring the summation of phospholipid polar head group residues with free hydroxyl groups. Malignant breast tissues have significantly elevated levels of glycerol 3-phosphorylethanolamine and significantly depressed levels of glycerol 3-phosphorylcholine compared to normal breast tissues, reflecting a perturbation in the balance of lipid residues that are the respective breakdown products of phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine. The concentration of the polar head group residues is compared to 31P MR spectroscopic profiles of colon and breast tissue phospholipids, in order to demonstrate the quantitative nature of the technique employed.

Preliminary results for shear wave speed of sound and attenuation coefficients from excised specimens of human breast tissue

A pilot study involving 53 specimens of excised human female breast tissue was performed to provide preliminary estimates of the acoustic shear wave speed of sound and linear attenuation coefficient associated with high risk for development of invasive breast cancer. The measured shear wave properties were studied as a function of : 1. whether the tissue was presented as a 2.0 to 4.0 gram mass biopsy sample or a 2.0 to 4.0 gram mass subsample taken from a larger mastectomy source; 2. the time post-excision prior to shear wave characterization; 3. the risk factor associated with the number and types of lesions found in the specimen; and 4. the percent by volume of fat or collagen present in the sample. The shear speed of sound was found to range between 20 and 900 m/s with a tendency for lower speeds as a function of time post excision. The results for shear attenuation coefficients ranged from 300 to 9000 cm −1 and did not show a marked time dependence. Average results from mastectomy specimens differed from those for biopsies, but the difference may have been due to variations in tissue composition and time post excision before shear wave characterization.

Preliminary Results for Shear Wave Speed of Sound and Attenuation Coefficients from Excised Specimens of Human Breast Tissue

A pilot study involving 53 specimens of excised human female breast tissue was performed to provide preliminary estimates of the acoustic shear wave speed of sound and linear attenuation coefficient associated with high risk for development of invasive breast cancer. The measured shear wave properties were studied as a function of: 1. whether the tissue was presented as a 2.0 to 4.0 gram mass biopsy sample or a 2.0 to 4.0 gram mass subsample taken from a larger mastectomy source; 2. the time post-excision prior to shear wave characterization; 3. the risk factor associated with the number and types of lesions found in the specimen; and 4. the percent by volume of fat or collagen present in the sample. The shear speed of sound was found to range between 20 and 900 m/s with a tendency for lower speeds as a function of time post excision. The results for shear attenuation coefficients ranged from 300 to 9000 cm-1 and did not show a marked time dependence. Average results from mastectomy specimens differed from those for biopsies, but the difference may have been due to variations in tissue composition and time post excision before shear wave characterization.

Immunohistologic detection of estrogen receptors in paraffin-embedded breast cancers: Correlation with cytosol measurements

Paraffin-embedded sections of 76 human breast tissue specimens were analyzed for estrogen receptors (ER) and endogenous bound estrogen (ER-E). Preincubation of sections with polyestradiol phosphate was followed by stabilization of the complex with glutaraldehyde. The bound hormone was then visualized by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase (PAP) technique with antiestradiol as the primary antiserum. Normal breast tissue and benign proliferations were consistently positive for ER and ER-E. All specimens were examined for free and bound receptors in cytoplasm and nuclei. Among the carcinomas examined, a high correlation was found between the presence of ER by the PAP method and by the biochemical analysis of cytosol preparations. The PAP method, requiring no special preparation of surgical specimens, overcomes many of the disadvantages of the cytosol method and adds the advantage of independent evaluation of nuclear and cytoplasmic estrogen binding sites.

Handling of [formula omitted] human breast tissue samples: Protocol requirements for accurate NMR relaxation measurements

Post-excisional degradation of T 2 (spin-spin relaxation) values was studied in biopsy specimens of human breast tissue. Transverse relaxation of breast tissue was characterized by a biexponential decay resolvable into two distinct T 2 parameters. After five hours of storage at three different temperatures, there was diminution of T 2 values irrespective of storage temperature. These findings are discussed as they relate to tumor differentiation and the study of subcellular molecular dynamics.

Uncontrolled growth of tumour stromal fibroblasts in vitro.

The disturbance of the growth control mechanisms in tumour cells in vivo may be manifested as uncontrolled growth of the tumour stroma in vitro. Stromal fibroblast-like finite cell lines produced from benign or malignant human breast tissue specimens exhibited cell overlapping which ranged from multilayers to dense piling up colonies, while cells derived from normal tissues exhibited intense contact inhibition of growth and locomotion, under the same culture conditions. 6 out of 13 lines derived from malignant tissues and 2 out of 5 lines derived from benign lesions exhibited the phenomenon of 'periodic appearance of piling up colonies'.

Local Immunoglobulin A in Normal and Neoplastic Breast Tissues<xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn2">2</xref><xref ref-type="fn" rid="fn3">3</xref>

Local IgA levels in 36 normal, 92 nonmalignant atypical, and 47 malignant human breast tissue specimens were analyzed by three methods: direct immunofluorescence, modified radioimmunoassay for IgA in cryostat sections, and the Immuno-Fluor (Bio-Rad Laboratories, Richmond, Calif.) assay for the cell surface IgA in tissue eluates. The proportion of epithelium in each sample was estimated microscopically. For malignant specimens the proportion of epithelial cells was significantly higher than that for nonmalignant specimens. The immunofluorescence test showed no qualitative difference in epithelial IgA content between normal and nonmalignant atypical tissues, but the frequency of positive specimens was markedly lower in malignant tissues. The modified radioimmunoassay and the Immuno-Fluor assay indicated little or no difference in IgA concentration per tissue weight among normal, nonmalignant atypical, and malignant breast tissues. However, when the data were corrected for proportion of glandular epithelium, nonmalignant atypical tissues had less IgA per cell than normal tissues, and malignant mammary carcinomas had significantly less IgA per cell than both normal and nonmalignant atypical tissues.

Retinoic Acid-Binding Protein in Human Breast Cancer and Dysplasia<xref ref-type="fn" rid="FN2">2</xref>

Seventy-five specimens of human breast tissue were checked for the presence of cellular retinoic acid-binding protein (cRABP). Fifty-two percent of the primary carcinomas and 43% of the dysplastic breast lesions (stage MII) contained detectable amounts of crabp, whereas no cRABP was found in normal tissue. Sucrose gradient centrifugation and electrophoresis on agarose were used for analysis of the presence of cRABP. The cRABP of human origin (normal uterus and neoplastic mammary tissue) differed in its mobility in agarose electrophoresis from that of rat testis cRABP.

Significance of intermediary reduction products in the histochemical demonstration of dehydrogenase activity.

When the tetrazolium salt N‐BT is used as indicator in the histochemical demonstration of dehydrogenase activity two differently coloured reduction products may be formed. Complete reduction yields blue granules (diformazans), while incomplete reduction leads to the production of rose‐violet formazan compounds called half‐formazans. The incidence of half‐formazans in a material comprising 200 biopsy specimens of human breast tissue has been investigated. The half‐formazans were seen in 75 per cent of the biopsy specimens from cases of carcinoma. In fibroadenomatosis 16 per cent of the biopsies showed half‐formazans. The incidence was seen to increase appreciably with increasing degree of tumour anaylasia: (Grade I: 60 per cent, grade II: 72 per cent, and grade III: 89 per cent). The author considers that the half‐formazan production is a direct consequence of alterations of the tumour‐cell enzyme activity.