Staging procedures used to detect metastatic breast cancer at the time of diagnosis are bone scan (BS), chest X-ray (CXR), liver ultrasonography (LUS) and laboratory parameters (LP). These procedures ...are expensive and not all patients need them. We aimed to identify groups of patients with different risks for metastatic disease.
We reviewed data from 1,218 consecutive cases of breast cancer. Pathological and biological parameters and instrumental procedures performed at the time of diagnosis and during 6 months of follow-up were recorded. True positive and negative, false positive and negative cases were evaluated. All cases were grouped on the basis of tumour size, nodal involvement, biological characteristics, menopausal status and age.
We observed 46 (3.8%) true positive cases with metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis. Documentation relating to BS, CXR and LUS was available for 1,193, 1,206 and 1,206 patients, respectively, with 37 (3.1%), 8 (0.7%) and 10 (0.8%) true positive tests. Logistic regression analysis showed significant odds ratio estimates for pT status and nodal status, thus highlighting the role of these morphological data. These findings suggest that breast cancer patients can be divided into two subgroups: first group pT1-3N0-1. with < or = 3 involved nodes, and second group pT1-3N1 with > or = 4 involved nodes, pT4 and pN2 (metastases detection rate 1.46 and 10.68%, respectively). In the former group the appropriate procedures of staging would only be laboratory parameters, whereas in the latter group BS, CXR, LUS, LP and tumour markers CEA and CA 15.3 would.be necessary.
The standard staging procedures to detect metastatic disease at breast cancer diagnosis require modification. On the basis of the literature data and our findings, the full staging procedure is appropriate in the second group of patients.
Digital imaging has proven to be a valid technique to determine the spatial distribution of radioisotopes in nuclear applications. In the present work, an intensified EBCCD camera with 80 mm ...photocathode and a fiber optics plate covered by a thin Gadolinium oxysulfide layer was used as a detector to obtain a digital map of the activity distribution for a variety of beta sources. The distribution map was elaborated and displayed in a 1024
×
1024 pixel format by using digital imaging techniques. The decay constant of various radioisotopes was calculated in different regions of interest of the image, with a deviation of 5–9% (depending on the signal intensity) from theoretical values, even in single pixel areas. The EBCCD camera has shown strong detection capabilities even for single beta particle interaction and the response of the system has found to be very fast, allowing us to achieve a real time distribution map of radioisotopes. In fact, it is possible to load in RAM and display on a monitor a single distribution image map in about 1 s. Better distribution uniformity was obtained by integrating a sequence of 16, 32 or 64 images. By analysing a single beta interaction (i.e. a point spread function (PSF) on the image) the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the system has been calculated leading to a global resolution of about 80 m at 10% MTF.
A method for the selective determination of Se4+ and Se6+ using solid phase microextraction (SPME) and GC/MS analysis is presented. Se4+ is selectively derivatized by reaction with ...4,5‐dichloro‐1,2‐phenylenediamine to form the corresponding piazselenolo complex, extracted by the SPME fiber, and determined by GC/MS. The RSD at a 5 μg/L concentration was 9.88% and the theoretical detection limit 6 ng/L. The method was employed to test real matrices; tap and river water were analyzed before and after spiking giving a recovery rate of 102% in river water and 97% in tap water.
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