Types Of Mammary Cancer Research Articles

C-erbB-2 oncogene and P21 WAF/CIP1 tumor suppressor gene expression as prognostic factors in canine mammary adenocarcinomas

To evaluate the use of c-erbB-2 oncogene and p21 WAF1/CIP1 suppressor gene products as the prognosis markers for canine mammary tumors, expression of these gene products were examined immunohistochemically using tumor tissues and clinical data from 96 dogs with malignant mammary tumors. Semiquantitative data was compared with histopathological grades, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive index, and clinicopathological matters. The expression c-erbB-2 protein was found in the cellular membrane and cytoplasm of neoplastic epithelial cells, and the positive index had no significant relation to the histopathological features and PCNA-positive index, except for the individual age of affected dogs (P < 0.05). The product of p21 WAF1/CIP1 was mostly found in cytoplasm and occasionally in the nucleus of neoplastic cells. The quantitative data had significant association to the malignancy grade and size of tumors (P < 0.05). However, that had no significant relationship to the PCNA-positive index. The present study concluded that both gene products could not apply as the direct markers to evaluate the prognosis of canine mammary tumors. The detection of c-erbB-2 product may be partly beneficial to the differential diagnosis of epithelial type of mammary cancer. The use of p21 WAF1/CIP1 product in prognosis of canine mammary cancer needs further investigation.

Application of gene expression profiling for validating models of human breast cancer.

While classical histopathologic approaches are invaluable in classifying tumors and understanding aspects of cellular interactions, genomic approaches provide a means to molecularly dissect tumorigenesis. The relationship of gene expression to the development of neoplasia remains an area of intensive research. With the advent of large-scale genomic platforms, alterations in gene expression can be related to the morphological development of cancer. The feasibility of using large-scale genomic analysis platforms has dramatically changed the landscape of biological sciences, as cellular processes must be considered in the context of complex networks. Alterations in gene expression must now be understood in a systems approach in which the relationships between genes expression changes are studied by considering the interplay of multiple regulatory networks. Ultimately, such changes must be understood at the protein level. We have begun to apply this technology to determine changes in gene expression that differentiate various types of mammary cancers that arise in mouse models that have been initiated by different genetic alterations. Ultimately, a molecular catalogue of similarities and differences between rodent and human tumors can be created which will serve to validate or credential particular models for specific experimental purposes, such as preclinical testing. These approaches have led to new insights into molecular pathways involved in oncogenesis, new classifications of human breast cancer, and the identification of new genes that may be relevant to understanding and treating human cancer.

Bilateral adrenalectomy in the treatment of cancer of the breast.

The treatment of mammary cancer by endocrine methods rests on the concept of hormonal dependence, which characterizes many of these neoplasms. It has been shown that some methods of alterations in endocrine balance can constitute effective palliation in many cases. Surgical castration and administration of sex steroids have been used as the chief therapeutic armamentarium for metastatic cancer of the breast in the past decade and a half. In 1951 an important method of treatment of the disease was introduced by the finding that in certain types of mammary cancer there is an adrenal component which sustains and propagates the disease.1Surgical excision of the adrenal glands in patients maintained on cortisone has proved to be effective in producing regression of mammary cancer in certain cases.* In his Hunterian lecture Cade11commented, Bilateral adrenalectomy is an encouragement in the pursuit of an ideal which is to control cancer