We investigate rates of pathologic complete response (pCR) and tumor expression of ER, PgR, HER2 discordance after neoadjuvant chemotherapy using Japanese breast cancer registry data.
Records of more ...than 300 000 breast cancer cases treated at 800 hospitals from 2004 to 2013 were retrieved from the breast cancer registry. After data cleanup, we included 21 755 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and had no distant metastases. pCR was defined as no invasive tumor in the breast detected during surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. HER2 overexpression was determined immunohistochemically and/or using fluorescence in situ hybridization.
pCR was achieved in 5.7% of luminal tumors (n = 8730), 24.6% of HER2-positive tumors (n = 4403), and 18.9% of triple-negative tumors (n = 3660). Among HER2-positive tumors, pCR was achieved in 31.6% of ER-negative tumors (n = 2252), 17.0% of ER-positive ones (n = 2132), 31.4% of patients who received trastuzumab as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (n = 2437), and 16.2% of patients who did not receive trastuzumab (n = 1966). Of the 2811 patients who were HER2-positive before treatment, 601 (21.4%) had HER2-negative tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, whereas 340 (3.4%) of the 9947 patients with HER2-negative tumors before treatment had HER2-positive tumors afterward. Of the 10 973 patients with ER-positive tumors before treatment, 499 (4.6%) had ER-negative tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, whereas 519 (9.3%) of the 5607 patients who were ER-negative before treatment had ER-positive tumors afterward.
We confirmed that loss of HER2-positive status can occur after neoadjuvant treatment in patients with primary HER2-positive breast cancer. We also confirmed that in practice, differences in pCR rates between breast cancer subtypes are the same as in clinical trials. Our data strongly support the need for retest ER, PgR, HER2 of surgical sample after neoadjuvant therapy in order to accurately determine appropriate use of targeted therapy.
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•A Neutral Network Potential using an Artificial Neutral Network is developed for Zr.•Potential accurately reproduces material properties.•This identifies the formation process of a ...c-type dislocation loop.
In this study, a Neural Network Potential (NNP) using an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was developed for Zr, which is used as fuel claddings in light water reactors. The reference data were obtained through first-principles calculations of various quantities, such as strained hexagonal-closed-packed (hcp) cells, strained face-centered cubic cells, cells containing a vacancy, several vacancies, and surface and γ-surface energies on all five slip planes in the hcp structures. These data were converted to training data for the ANN, which were invariant to the rotation and translation of the atoms and independent of the number of atoms in the cells. The ANN was defined as a three-layer structure and the number of the nodes was set to 26-12-18-1. The NNP reproduced the first-principles calculations, particularly for the shear deformation, vacancy formation energy, surface energies, and γ-surface energies, with much higher accuracy than any of the existing potentials that have been developed for classical molecular dynamics simulations. The NNP was applied to identify the formation process of c-type dislocation loops in Zr, which is a key microstructure responsible for abrupt increases in hydrogen absorption. The formation process was determined by the balance of the vacancy formation energy, surface energy and the γ-surface energy on the basal plane, both of which were precisely reproduced only by the NNP developed in this study. The formation process was identified based on the atomistic behavior of the NNP.
Objective
The differential diagnosis of fibroadenoma (FA) and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) has been problematic in fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAC) because it has been difficult to ...differentiate between the “large epithelial clusters” associated with FA and those associated with DCIS. The purpose of this study was to prospectively validate the usefulness of immunocytochemical staining using cocktail antibody targeting p63/CK14 in the differential diagnosis of FA and DCIS.
Materials and methods
Twenty patients diagnosed as having an uncertain malignant potential (indeterminate) for breast cancer on the basis of a FNAC finding were selected randomly: ten patients with FA and ten with DCIS. The cover glass on a specimen stained with the Papanicolaou stain on a glass slide was peeled off, and the specimen was restained by immunocytochemical staining of cocktail antibody targeting p63 and CK14.
Results
Six of the twenty patients were CK14‐immunopositive: FA, 6; DCIS, 0. The remaining patients were CK14‐immunonegative: FA, 4; DCIS, 10. The number of CK14‐immunopositive DCIS patients was significantly different from that of FA patients (P=.0054). Eight out of the twenty patients were p63‐immunopositive: FA, 8; DCIS, 0. The remaining patients were p63‐immunonegative: FA, 2; DCIS, 10. The number of p63‐immunopositive DCIS patients was significantly different from that of FA patients (P=.0004).
Conclusions
Immunocytochemical staining using cocktail antibody targeting p63/CK14 was useful for the differential diagnosis of FA and DCIS in FNAC of the breast.
The immunocytochemical staining using cocktail antibody targeting p63/CK14 was useful for the differential diagnosis of FA and DCIS in FNAC of the breast.
A surface-wave excited plasma is exploited in a diamond growth process by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method. Nanocrystalline diamond films with smooth surfaces are obtained from the ...plasma. As well as characterizing the deposited diamond films, the electron density and the electron temperature of the plasma are determined by using double-probe measurements. The plasma diagnosis reveals low electron temperatures of 2–3
eV in the process region, which is a distinctive characteristic of the surface-wave plasma. The low electron temperature is essential for the continuous re-nucleation of diamond in a hydrogen-rich plasma during the nanocrystalline diamond growth for a wide range of substrate temperature from under 100 to over 700
∘C.
► Nanodiamond grows in surface-wave plasma in a wide range of substrate temperature. ► Surface-wave plasma exhibits low electron temperatures of 2–3
eV. ► Low electron temperature enables continuous re-nucleation of diamond. ► The high rate of re-nucleation permits nanocrystalline diamond to grow.
For patients with breast cancer treated with preoperative chemotherapy, residual tumour burden in lymph nodes is the strongest prognostic factor. However, conventional pathological examination has ...limitations that hinder the accurate and reproducible measurement. The one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) assay is a novel molecular method for detecting nodal metastasis. In this prospective multicentre trial, we assessed the performance of the OSNA assay in detecting nodal metastasis after chemotherapy.
In total, 302 lymph nodes from 80 breast cancer patients who underwent axillary dissection after chemotherapy were analysed. Each node was cut into two or four slices. One piece or alternate pieces were evaluated by pathology, and the other(s) were examined using the OSNA assay. The results of the two methods were compared. Stromal fibrosis, histiocytic aggregates, and degenerated cancer cells were regarded as chemotherapy-induced histological changes.
The overall accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of the OSNA assay compared with the reference pathology were 91.1%, 88.3%, and 91.7%, respectively. Of the 302 lymph nodes, 66 (21.9%) exhibited chemotherapy-induced histology. For these nodes, the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity were 90.9%, 88.9%, and 93.3%, respectively.
The OSNA assay can detect the residual tumour burden as accurately as conventional pathology, although chemotherapy-induced histological changes are present.
Fluorine incorporated diamond-like carbon (F-DLC) films were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering method using a mixture of argon (Ar) and methane (CH
4) and tetrafluoromethane (CF
4) gases and a ...graphite target. The structure of the films changes from a diamond-like structure to polymer-like structure, with reduction of the hardness and Young's modulus of the films. The surface energy is decreased by the fluorine incorporation. The tribological test by a ball-on-disk friction tester in a deionized environment showed that 25 at.% F-DLC films exhibit the low friction. The antibacterial activity of the DLC films and the F-DLC films were also evaluated by bacterial eradication tests with
Escherichia coli (
E. coli). The percentage eradication of
E. coli attached to DLC films and 25 at.% F-DLC films was 40% and 56%, respectively. The antibacterial activity of the fluorine-free DLC films was improved by the fluorine incorporation.
This paper explores the feasibility of employing drinking water treatment sludge (WTS) mixed with soils, lime, or rock powder in geotechnical applications, as well as discusses the sustainability of ...the approach based on experimental results, aiming at the beneficial reuse of waste and the preservation of natural geomaterials. The selected materials were two soils largely used in earthworks, two WTSs, a high purity calcium hydrated lime, and rock powder from a granitic–gneissic quarry, all occurring in São Paulo State, Brazil. The mixtures were chemically, mineralogically, and geotechnically characterized, and the geotechnical properties permeability, shear strength, and deformability were investigated. Soil-WTS mixtures showed hydraulic conductivity (10−10–10−6 m/s, depending on soil and WTS), effective cohesion (10–30 kPa), friction angle (34°–40°), undrained strength (>50 kPa), and compression index (0.1–0.4) compatible with those of soils usually employed in earthworks. Lime:WTS and rock powder:WTS mixtures achieved 50 kPa undrained strength for WTS contents lower than 24% and 8%, respectively, and could be used as daily and intermediate covers of waste landfills, as well as in other applications with low soliciting stresses. The possibility of WTS being pumped instead of transported by trucks was analyzed in the light of results from rheological tests.
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