BACKGROUND: Mastitis is an inflammation of the breast tissue, usually caused by bacteria. Mastitis stimulates pro-inflammatory cytokines. The cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) is a crucial mediator of the inflammatory response. This cytokine has adverse effects of hosting immunity that mediates resistance to pathogens and also exacerbates damage during chronic disease and acute tissue injury. Scaevola taccada (Gaertn.) Roxb. has been used as an ethnomedicine for healing sores in several provinces in Indonesia. AIM: This study aimed to assess the profile of pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β through the treatment effect of leaf extracts of S. taccada (Gaertn.) Roxb. as adjuvant for healing mastitis. METHODS: This study was a true control group experiment using the pre-test-post-test control design aimed to measure the effect of hydroalcoholic compounds in leaf extracts of S. taccada on the systemic pro-inflammatory activity of interleukin-1β (IL-1β). The treated animals were 18 mice of Sprague Dawley strain induced by Staphylococcus aureus. These treated mice were divided into three groups in which each group consisted of six mice. The mice in the Group I (negative control) were given 1 ml aquabides/250 g body weight, those in the Group II (positive control) were delivered with 9.6 mg/ml amoxicillin/250 g body weight, and those in the Group III (experimental) were given 9.6 mg amoxicillin/250 g body weight + 400 mg/ml leaf extracts of S. taccada/g body weight for 5 days, respectively. Pathological examinations were carried out from the inflamed tissues to prove the healing process of the treated mice. IL-1Β levels were determined using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and post hoc tests. RESULTS: There were statistically significant differences of IL-1β levels after the administration of leaf extracts of S. taccada among all the treated mice groups at p < 0.05. The Group III had the lowest IL-1β level with the mean value ± 1.45 pg/ml compared to the IL-1β level in the Group II (positive control) with the mean value ± 3.82 pg/ml and the IL-1β level in the Group I (negative control) with the with mean value ± 5.22 pg/ml. The pathological analysis of breast tissues of the treated mice proved that leaf extracts of S. taccada (Gaertn Roxb.) could reduce damaged tissues, cellular infiltration, and subcutaneous edema induced by this pathogenic microorganism. CONCLUSION: Leaf extracts of S. taccada had a significant function as adjuvant for healing mastitis by reducing pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β.

BACKGROUND: The plasminogen urokinase activation system consists of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), its receptor uPAR, and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1), which are considered to have a relationship with cancer aggressiveness. Several studies have found correlations between HER2 mRNA and uPAR in disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) in breast cancer patients. They are associated with a more aggressive primary tumor phenotype and recurrence/metastasis. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the relationship between the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2 (HER2) with the incidence of distant metastases in breast cancer. METHODS: This study was an observational study using a cross-sectional method and was conducted at Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital and the network. Immunohistochemical methods carry out examination of uPAR and HER2 expression from tissues of breast cancer patients. The relationship of uPAR, HER2 expression, and metastasis was tested with the Mann Whitney test. RESULTS: The study results found that the proportion of patients with metastasis was significantly higher in high uPAR expression compared to low uPAR (77.8% compared to 36.8%). The negative HER2 expression was significantly higher in the low uPAR expression than the high uPAR (78.9% compared to 33.3%). In comparison, the positive HER2 expression was significantly higher in the high uPAR expression than the low uPAR (66.7% compared to 21.1%). In positive HER2 expression, the mean percentage of uPAR expression was significantly higher in metastases than those without metastasis (72.7% compared to 42.1%). CONCLUSIONS: uPAR expression is associated with metastasis in HER2 positive breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: Benign and malignant breast tumors are the most commonly diagnosed tumor in females. Early and accurate diagnosis of malignancy is essential for effective breast cancer treatment. Human anterior gradient 3 (AGR3) has been suggested as a potential biomarker for the early detection and prognostic determination of breast cancer. OBJECTIVE: This study profiles AGR3 mRNA expression and serum protein levels in patients with benign and malignant breast tumors. METHODS: A case-control study was conducted on 40 benign and 40 malignant breast tumor patients in Makassar, Indonesia. AGR3 mRNA and protein were detected using qRT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. RESULTS: This study found significantly higher AGR3 mRNA expression in benign than malignant breast tumors using qRT-PCR (p < 0.001). In contrast, ELISA revealed no significant difference between AGR3 serum protein levels in benign and malignant breast tumors (p = 0.507). CONCLUSIONS: AGR3 is associated with non-aggressive tumors and could be used as a marker for less aggressive breast tumors.

INTRODUCTION: The relationship between increased platelet count and cancer classification stage has long been established. The prevalence of thrombocytosis varies from 10% to 57% in cancer patients. The pathogenesis of thrombocytosis in malignancy is uncertain. However, there is evidence that tumor cells secrete humoral factors that can cause thrombocytosis. Preoperative thrombocytosis is a poor prognostic variable in malignancies. This study investigated the correlation between platelet count and breast cancer stage. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2020 to January 2021. Patient data were collected from medical records. The study population comprised breast cancer patients at Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Makassar. The staging examinations were based on the tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) classification according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th Edition. RESULTS: The study group comprised 171 breast cancer patients of varying ages. Metastasis was present in five (2.92%) patients and absent in 166 (97.8%) patients. Analyses found no statistically significant differences between the three staging groups based on the platelet count (p = 0.952). CONCLUSION: There was no statistically significant relationship between increased platelet count and staging according to the TNM classification in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer (BC) is the second most frequent cancer-related death among women worldwide. Factors influencing BC patients’ survival include histopathological grade, histopathological type, stage, hormonal receptors, and number of mitotic images. OBJECTIVE: To compare the tumor size, histopathological grade, and molecular type of BC patients. METHODS: This was an observational analytic retrospective study. The population was BC patients at Dr. Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital from 2017 to 2021. The Kruskal–Wallis test was used to compare statistically between tumor size, histopathological grade, and molecular subtype. Significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: The study included 784 patients. Most were aged 50–59 years (34.8%), with tumor size 4c (37.0%) and moderate grade (66.1%), and the most common molecular subtype was luminal A (34.2%). Bivariate analysis using the Kruskal–Wallis test found no significant difference in molecular subtypes based on tumor size (p = 0.079), but significant differences existed in molecular subtype by histopathological grade (p = 0.005) and tumor size by histopathological grade (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Significant differences existed between histopathological grade by tumor size and molecular subtype. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment of BC patients are important to prevent morbidity and mortality.