BackgroundPure mucinous carcinoma (MC) is found in about 3.5% of all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients in Taiwan. MC is a relatively rare malignancy of breast cancer, and its nature, behaviors, treatment pattern and long-term follow-up are not well understood. The study aimed to investigate the incidence rate, treatment patterns, and prognostic factors of MC of the breast and the clinical long-term outcomes compared with infiltrating ductal carcinoma not otherwise specified (IDC) in the middle and south Taiwanese women.MethodsData from 93 patients with breast MC were retrospectively reviewed and the clinicopathologic characteristics and survival status were compared with those of 2,674 patients with IDC.ResultsThe expression of hormonal receptor was higher in MC than those in IDC (P <0.001). MC also demonstrated lower Her2/neu gene over-expression (P = 0.023), less axillary lymph node involvement (P <0.0001), lymphovascular invasion (P <0.0001) and higher 10-year overall survival rate (P = 0.042), when compared with those of IDC.ConclusionOur data confirm the less aggressive behavior of MC compared to IDC. MC showed favorable clinicopathologic characteristics in tumor grade, hormone receptor status and lymph node involvement in the middle and south Taiwanese women.

Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) and sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) were found to have protective effects on cardiomyocyte against adriamycin-induced damage and may be used clinically. It is unclear whether the supplementation of STS or Tan IIA would affect the anticancer activity of anthracycline. To evaluate the effect of Tan IIA or STS on the anticancer of epirubicin, the cell viability, apoptosis, Akt expression, and uptake of epirubicin after supplementation of Tan IIA or STS in the epirubicin-treated BT-20 cells were measured and compared. Tan IIA inhibited BT-20 cell growth and induced apoptosis in a time- and dose-dependent manner. When Tan IIA was used with epirubicin, an increase of BT-20 cells apoptosis was accompanied by the decreasing phosphorylation of Akt. STS had no effect on the cell viability of BT-20 cells. However, when used with epirubicin, STS decreased the epirubicin-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in BT-20 cells. The antagonistic effect of STS on epirubicin-induced cytotoxicity in BT-20 cells occurred concomitantly with the reduced epirubicin uptake and the increased phosphorylation of Akt. STS decreased the uptake of epirubicin in BT-20 cells and blocked epirubicin-induced apoptosis through activation of Akt.

Introduction Hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) viruses are closely linked with hepato cellular carcinoma (HCC). Virus induced tumour recurrence and hepatic parenchymal damage are major concerns after curative resection of HCC. Methods 781 Patients who underwent curative resection of HCC were divided in to three groups according their viral status (HBV=656, HCV=28, none hepatitis = 98). The baseline features and the survival of the groups were compared. Further they were divided according to background liver status as cirrhotics and none cirrhotics. In two groups HBV positive and negative patients were compared on the baseline features and survival. Results A higher number of HBV (56%, p<0.001) and HCV (78%, p<0.001) patients were cirrhotics and had poor liver function. None B/C patient's median disease free survival (DFS) of 21.5 months and overall survival (OS) of 72 months was similar to DFS of 19 months and OS of 66 months (p=0.8 and 0.9 respectively) in HBV patients. HCV patients also had a similar DFS (26 months, p=0.7) and OS (66 months, p=0.64). When none cirrhotics (n=361) were taken separately, DFS in HBV positive cases was 18 months compared to 22 in others (p=0.68). On multivariate analysis HBV status was not affecting the OS (p=0.6) or DFS (p=0.6). In 393 cirrhotics, DFS was 18.5 months in HBV positive and 21.5 in none hepatitis patients (p=.0.5). The OS was 67.5 and 71 months in HBV and none hepatitis patients respectively (p=0.34). HBV status did not associate signifi cantly with OS (p=0.3) or DFS (p=0.64).