Fwd: Serum HER-2/neu and relative resistance to trastuzumab-based therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

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From: HubMed - breast cancer <rssfwd@rssfwd.com>
Date: Wed, Jul 30, 2008 at 9:30 PM
Subject: Serum HER-2/neu and relative resistance to trastuzumab-based therapy in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
To: mesothelioma77@gmail.com


[1]Cancer. 2008 Jul 25;
Ali SM, Carney WP, Esteva FJ, Fornier M, Harris L, Köstler WJ, Lotz JP, Luftner D, Pichon MF, Lipton A,

BACKGROUND.: Previous reports based on small patient numbers suggested that changes in serum HER-2/neu levels may predict response or lack of response to trastuzumab-based therapies in metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The objectives of this study were to pool data from 307 patients with MBC from 7 medical institutions to validate that the serum HER-2/neu profile predicts patient resistance to trastuzumab and to establish a clinically relevant cutoff. METHODS.: This was an international, multicenter, retrospective analysis of individual pooled data from 307 patients with MBC who were treated with first-line trastuzumab-based therapy. Serum was collected at baseline and 30 to 120 days after the initiation of trastuzumab therapy. A serum HER-2/neu decrease >/=20% (receiver operating curve analysis) was defined as a significant HER-2/neu change. RESULTS.: Of the 307 patients with MBC, 191 patients (62%) had a significant decline (>20%) in serum HER-2/neu and 116 patients (38%) did not. The objective response rate was 57% for patients who achieved this decline in serum HER-2/neu (>20%) compared with 28% for patients who did not. Patients who achieved this decline in serum HER-2/neu also had a significantly longer time to disease progression (320 days vs 180 days; P /=20%) in serum HER-2/neu levels had decreased benefit from trastuzumab-based therapy, and these patients should be considered for clinical trials evaluating additional HER-2/neu-targeted interventions. Cancer 2008. (c) 2008 American Cancer Society.



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Source: http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=18661530
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Fwd: Recent advances in breast MRI and MRS.

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From: HubMed - breast cancer <rssfwd@rssfwd.com>
Date: Tue, Jul 29, 2008 at 7:42 AM
Subject: Recent advances in breast MRI and MRS.
To: mesothelioma77@gmail.com


[1]NMR Biomed. 2008 Jul 23;
Sinha S, Sinha U

Breast MRI is an area of intense research and is fast becoming an important tool for the diagnosis of breast cancer. This review covers recent advances in breast MRI, MRS, and image post-processing and analysis. Several studies have explored a multi-parametric approach to breast imaging that combines analysis of traditional contrast enhancement patterns and lesion architecture with novel methods such as diffusion, perfusion, and spectroscopy to increase the specificity of breast MRI studies. Diffusion-weighted MRI shows some potential for increasing the specificity of breast lesion diagnosis and is even more promise for monitoring early response to therapy. MRS also has great potential for increasing specificity and for therapeutic monitoring. A limited number of studies have evaluated perfusion imaging based on first-pass contrast bolus tracking, and these clearly identify that vascular indices have great potential to increase specificity. The review also covers the relatively new acquisition technique of MR elastography for breast lesion characterization. A brief survey of image processing algorithms tailored for breast MR, including registration of serial dynamic images, segmentation and extraction of morphological features of breast lesions, and contrast uptake modeling, is also included. Recent advances in MRI, MRS, and automated image analysis have increased the utility of breast MR in diagnosis, screening, management, and therapy monitoring of breast cancer. Copyright (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.



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Source: http://www.hubmed.org/display.cgi?uids=18654998
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