Brain imaging screening in metastatic breast cancer: patients' and physicians' perspectives.

Background: Routine brain imaging screening (BIS) in patients with metastatic breast cancer (BC) without neurological symptoms is currently not recommended, as no survival/quality-of-life improvements have been demonstrated. We aimed to examine physicians and patients' attitudes and perceptions toward BIS.

Methods: International cross-sectional online survey for patients and physicians, distributed from May 2023 to February 2024.

Comparative efficacy between real-world and randomized studies of palbociclib+endocrine therapy in HR-positive/HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitors (CDK4/6i) combined with endocrine therapy are the standard-of-care for hormone receptor-positive (HR+)/HER2-negative (HER2-) metastatic breast cancer (MBC). Palbociclib, the first approved CDK4/6i, significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) in randomized controlled trials (RCTs). However, real-world (RW) outcomes may differ due to broader patient populations.

Preoperative Radiation Therapy-Induced Molecular and Immune Modulation in Early-Stage Breast Cancer: Results From the YOUNGSTER trial.

Purpose: The impact of preoperative radiation therapy (RT) on early-stage breast cancer (BC) is underexplored but may significantly improve outcomes and offer new therapeutic strategies. The YOUNGSTER study aimed to characterize the molecular changes induced by preoperative RT across BC subtypes: luminal A, luminal B, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-enriched, and basal-like.

Methods And Materials: This exploratory study enrolled 20 patients with early-stage BC who were eligible for breast-conserving surgery and had not received prior treatment.

HER2DX and survival outcomes in early-stage HER2-positive breast cancer: an individual patient-level meta-analysis.

Background: HER2-positive breast cancer accounts for 15-20% of all breast cancers and is characterised by HER2 (also known as ERBB2) amplification. Although HER2-targeted therapies have markedly improved outcomes, current clinical-pathological variables and pathological complete response after neoadjuvant therapy are insufficient to fully capture biological heterogeneity and guide personalised treatment. HER2DX is a genomic test that integrates tumour biology and clinical data to stratify risk.

Bridging the Gap: the role of MDM2 inhibition in overcoming treatment resistance in breast cancer.

Murine double minute 2 (MDM2) is a protein that plays a crucial role in the regulation of the tumor suppressor p53. It is involved in several biological processes and in cancer development, both in a p53-dependent and independent manner. Discordant evidence exists on MDM2 genetic polymorphisms and a possible susceptibility to breast cancer, but more studies are needed to fully understand this relationship.

A population-based estimation of breast cancer recurrence in northeast Italy with administrative healthcare databases.

Background/aim: Information on the long-term frequency of recurrence is of paramount importance for the increasing number of women living several years after breast cancer (BC) diagnosis and for their caregivers. The study aims to estimate the cumulative incidence of recurrence until 10 years after diagnosis in Italian women diagnosed with BC using population-based cancer registries.

Methods: Women diagnosed with stage I to III BC during 2004-2010 from Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto (Italy) cancer registries were included (n = 5825).

Paclitaxel-related type I Kounis Syndrome in a very young patient with HER2-positive breast cancer and the role of genomics to disentangle a complex therapeutic scenario: a case report and narrative review.

We present the first documented oncologic case of a type I Kounis syndrome (KS) following paclitaxel administration, in a very young patient with HER2-positive(+) early-stage breast cancer (BC). KS is a relatively rare acute coronary syndrome triggered by anaphylactic or hypersensitivity reactions, of which there is limited awareness among healthcare providers. It is subdivided in four subtypes depending on cardiac artery medical history.

Clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in patients with breast cancer and leptomeningeal metastases from a large registry of BMBC.

Background: Leptomeningeal metastases (LM) in patients with breast cancer (BC) are associated with a dismal prognosis. We explored clinical characteristics and prognostic factors in patients with BC and LM in the German Brain Metastases in Breast Cancer Registry.

Methods: All patients with histologically confirmed BC and diagnosis of LM (defined as the presence of tumor cells in the cerebrospinal fluid, or presence of typical clinical symptoms in combination with typical magnetic resonance imaging findings) were included.

Blood-based prognostic scores and early dynamics under immunotherapy to select patients with metastatic solid tumors for continuing immune check-point inhibition: a prospective longitudinal study.

Introduction: Immune check-point inhibitors (ICI) were a major breakthrough in cancer care, but optimal patient selection remains elusive in most tumors.

Methods: Overall 173 adult patients with metastatic solid tumors candidates to ICI in clinical trials at our Institution were prospectively recruited. Blood samples were collected at cycle 1 (C1D1) and 2 (C2D1) and until the occurrence of progressive disease (PD).

Identifying the best treatment choice for relapsing/refractory glioblastoma: a systematic review with multiple Bayesian network meta-analyses.

Background: Glioblastoma is a highly aggressive primary central nervous system tumor characterized by poor outcomes. In case of relapse or progression to adjuvant chemotherapy, there is no univocal preferred regimen for relapsing glioblastoma.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and Bayesian trial-level network meta-analyses (NMA) to identify the regimens associated with the best outcomes.

Predicting Additional Metastases in Axillary Lymph Node Dissection After Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: Ratio of Positive/Total Sentinel Nodes.

Background/objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the clinical value of the sentinel lymph node ratio (SLN-R) in predicting additional positive lymph nodes during axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in breast cancer patients following neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at a single institution evaluating data from 1521 BC patients. Inclusion criteria comprised cT1/cT4, cN0/cN1 status with positive post-NAC axillary staging by SLN/TAD, respectively, and subsequent ALND.

Reawakening the master switches in triple-negative breast cancer: A strategic blueprint for confronting metastasis and chemoresistance via microRNA-200/205: A systematic review.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) exhibits a proclivity for early recurrence and development of metastasis. Moreover, drug resistance tends to arise few months following chemotherapeutic regimen with agents such as Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, Docetaxel, and Cisplatin. miR-200 family and miR-205 are considered key regulators of metastasis by regulating the Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) via inhibiting ZEB1.

Neoadjuvant Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors Plus Chemotherapy in Early Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Importance: Recent studies have investigated the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) with (neo)adjuvant chemotherapy in early-stage breast cancer. However, there is an ongoing debate about the optimal approach for integrating this strategy.

Objectives: To evaluate the association of neoadjuvant ICIs with pathologic complete response (pCR) across molecular phenotypes, to quantify the survival benefits of ICIs beyond pCR status, and to estimate the incidence of specific adverse events.

Navigating the complex relationship between human gut microbiota and breast cancer: Physiopathological, prognostic and therapeutic implications.

The human body represents the habitat of trillions of symbiotic microorganisms, collectively known as human microbiota, approximately half of which residing in the gut. The development of next-generation sequencing techniques has boosted the profiling of human microbiota in recent years. A growing body of evidence seems to support a strict relationship between the disruption of the mutualistic relationship between the microbiota and the host (i.

Hormone receptor-positive early breast cancer in young women: A comprehensive review.

The incidence of breast cancer in ≤ 40 yr-old women (YWBC) has been steadily increasing in recent decades. Although this group of patients represents less than 10 % of all newly diagnosed BC cases it encompasses a significant burden of disease. Usually underrepresented in clinical trials, YWBCs are also characterized by late diagnoses and poorly differentiated, aggressive-subtype disease, partly explaining its poor prognosis along with a high recurrence risk, and high mortality rates.

Prediction of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy by MammaTyper® across breast cancer subtypes: A retrospective cross-sectional study.

Background: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is widely used in the treatment of triple-negative and HER2-positive breast cancer (BC), but its use in estrogen receptor (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive/HER2-negative BC is questioned because of the low pathologic complete response (pCR) rates. This retrospective study assessed the mRNA-based MammaTyper® assay's capability of predicting pCR with NACT, and ER, PR, Ki67, and HER2 status at immunohistochemical (IHC) through transcriptomics.

Methods: Diagnostic biopsies from 76 BC patients treated at the Cremona Hospital between 2012-2018 were analyzed.

CD99 Expression and Prognostic Impact in Glioblastoma: A Single-Center Cohort Study.

Glioblastoma is the most frequent and aggressive brain tumor in adults. This study aims to evaluate the expression and prognostic impact of CD99, a membrane glycoprotein involved in cellular migration and invasion. In a cohort of patients with glioblastoma treated with surgery, radiotherapy and temozolomide, we retrospectively analyzed tumor expression of CD99 by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) for both the wild type (CD99wt) and the truncated (CD99sh) isoforms.