Background: Pure mucinous breast carcinoma is a relatively rare subtype of breast malignancy. This study is to investigate the clinical and pathologic features of pure mucinous breast carcinoma. Patients andMethods: A retrospective review of our database of patients who presented with breast cancer was performed. The medical records of 1,060 patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent surgery were reviewed. Results: 28 patients with pure mucinous breast cancer were identified. The mean age was 55.28 ± 15.73 years. 17 patients underwent modified radical mastectomy; 11 underwent breast-conserving therapy. The tumor size was T1 in 19 patients, T2 in 8 patients, and T3 in 1 patient. None of the patients had lymph node metastasis. There was no distant metastasis. 18 were stage I, and 10 were stage II. Estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, HER-2, and P53 were positive in 96, 93, 0, and 28%, respectively. Median follow-up was 42 months (range 1-84 months). 1 patient had local recurrence. The overall survival rate was 100%. Conclusion: Pure mucinous breast carcinoma has a favorable prognosis. Less invasive treatment might be optional. Larger data samples with longer follow-up would be necessary to gain a better understanding of this disease.

Bile acid reflux in the esophagus plays an important role in the carcinogenesis of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). The G-protein coupled bile acid receptor (TGR5) has been associated with the development of gastrointestinal cancer. However, little is known regarding the role of TGR5 in esophageal carcinoma and precancerous lesions. We analyzed genomic DNA from 116 EACs for copy number aberrations via Affymetrix SNP6.0 microarrays. The TGR5 gene locus was amplified in 12.7% (14/116) of the EACs. The TGR5 protein expression was also assessed using immunohistochemistry from tissue microarrays, including Barrett’s esophagus (BE), low-(LGD) and high-grade dysplasia (HGD), columnar cell metaplasia (CM), squamous epithelium (SE), EAC and squamous cell carcinoma. The TGR5 protein was highly expressed in 71% of EAC (75/106), 100% of HGD (11/11), 72% of LGD (13/18), 66% of BE (23/35), 84% of CM (52/62), and 36% of SE (30/83). The patients with high expression of TGR5 exhibited significantly worse overall survival compared to the patients with nonhigh expression. TGR5 high expression was significantly increased in the males compared to the females in all cases with an odds ratio of 1.9 times. The vitamin D receptor (VDR) was significantly correlated with TGR5 expression. Our findings indicated that TGR5 may play an important role in the development and prognosis of EAC through a bile acid ligand. Gender differences in TGR5 and VDR expression may explain why males have a higher incidence of EAC compared to females.