Management of breast cancer 50 years ago

2020 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Harold Ellis

In 1970, 50 years ago, I had headed the newly established Academic Unit of Surgery at the Westminster Medical School for 10 years. Since my appointment there in 1960, and for the next 30 years, one of my main interests as a general surgeon was the management of diseases of the breast – breast cancer in particular.

Author(s):  
Áurea Machado de Aragão ◽  
Antônio Martins De Oliveira Júnior

This article illustrates that public policies to facilitate access to medicines, research investments, and self-awareness for breast cancer are the way to change the scenario of breast cancer in Brazil, India and Australia. The motivation was due to the fact that the literature reports breast cancer as a public health problem due to high incidence and mortality rates, whether the country is developed or not. The method adopted was the review study based on the data analysis on public policies and patents for breast cancer in Brazil, India and Australia available in official websites, INPI, Espacenet and Patentscope databases, journals and international newspapers Specialized and physical literature related to the theme. The descriptors used were cancer, breast, breast cancer, breast cancer and Australia, cancer patents, breast cancer and India. The following inclusion criteria used were year and period of publication, availability of the article in full and the intersection between the descriptors. The research concluded that there is an urgent need to prioritize public health with more investment in breast cancer research and awareness programs on the importance of early detection in those countries, primarily in India.


Author(s):  
Yuan Xu ◽  
Shiying Kong ◽  
May Lynn Quan

IntroductionRecurrence free survival is frequently investigated in cancer outcome studies, however is not explicitly documented in cancer registry data that is widely used for research. Patterns of events after initial treatment such as oncology visits, re-operation, chemotherapy or radiation may herald recurrence. Objectives and ApproachThis study aimed to develop and validate algorithms for identifying breast cancer recurrence using large administrative data.Two cohorts with high recurrence rates were used: 1) all young (≤ 40 years) breast cancer patients (2007-2010), and 2) all neoadjuvant chemotherapy patients (2012-2014) in Alberta, Canada. Health events after primary treatment were obtained from the Alberta cancer registry, physician billing claims, and vital statistics databases. Positive recurrence status (defined as either locoregional, distant or both) was ascertained by primary chart review. The cohort was divided into a developing (60%) and validating (40%) set. Development of algorithms geared towards high sensitivity, PPV and accuracy respectively were performed using classification and regression tree (CART) models. Key variables in the models included: a new round of chemotherapy, a second mastectomy, and a new cluster of radiologist, oncologist or general surgeon visits occurring after the primary treatment. Compared with chart review data, the sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy of the algorithms were calculated. ResultsOf 606 patients, 121 (20%) had recurrence after a median follow-up 4 years. The high sensitivity algorithm had 94.2% (95% CI: 90.1-98.4%) sensitivity, 92.8% (90.5-95.1%) specificity, 76.5% (70.0-88.3%) PPV, 98.5% (97.3-99.6%) NPV and 93.1% (91.0-95.1%) accuracy. The high PPV algorithm had 74.4% (66.6-82.2%) sensitivity, 97.8% (96.5-99.2%) specificity, 90.0% (84.1-95.9%) PPV, 93.6% (91.4-95.7%) NPV and 92.9% (90.9-95.0%) accuracy. The high accuracy algorithm had 88.4% (82.7-94.1%) sensitivity, 97.1% (95.6-98.6%) specificity, 88.4% (82.7-94.1%) PPV, 97.1% (95.6-98.6%) NPV and 95.4% (93.7-97.1%) accuracy. Conclusion/ImplicationsThe proposed algorithms achieved favourably high validity for identifying recurrence using widely available administrative data. Further study may be needed for improving sensitivity and PPV, and validating the algorithms in larger data for widespread use.


Cells ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1336
Author(s):  
Filippo Acconcia

The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is a network of proteins regulating many aspects of human physiology, including cardiovascular, pulmonary, and immune system physiology. The RAS is a complicated network of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) (i.e., AT1R, AT2R, MASR, and MRGD) orchestrating the effects of several hormones (i.e., angiotensin II, angiotensin (1–7), and alamandine) produced by protease-based transmembrane receptors (ACE1 and ACE2). Two signaling axes have been identified in the RAS endocrine system that mediate the proliferative actions of angiotensin II (i.e., the AT1R-based pathway) or the anti-proliferative effects of RAS hormones (i.e., the AT2R-, MAS-, and MRGD-based pathways). Disruption of the balance between these two axes can cause different diseases (e.g., cardiovascular pathologies and the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2- (SARS-CoV-2)-based COVID-19 disease). It is now accepted that all the components of the RAS endocrine system are expressed in cancer, including cancer of the breast. Breast cancer (BC) is a multifactorial pathology for which there is a continuous need to identify novel drugs. Here, I reviewed the possible roles of both axes of the RAS endocrine network as potential druggable pathways in BC. Remarkably, the analysis of the current knowledge of the different GPCRs of the RAS molecular system not only confirms that AT1R could be considered a drug target and that its inhibition by losartan and candesartan could be useful in the treatment of BC, but also identifies Mas-related GPCR member D (MRGD) as a druggable protein. Overall, the RAS of GPCRs offers multifaceted opportunities for the development of additional compounds for the treatment of BC.


Author(s):  
LEONARDO DAVID PIRES BARCELOS ◽  
DIOGO BORGES PEDROSO ◽  
VALTER SIMÕES DEPERON ◽  
JOSÉ RODRIGUES NAVA ◽  
GABRIEL CAMPELO DOS SANTOS ◽  
...  

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