BACKGROUND Mammographic density is a potentially modifiable risk factor for breast cancer. To what extent mammographic density is a predictor for both hormone receptor-positive and hormone receptor-negative tumors is unclear. Even less is known about whether mammographic density predicts subtypes of breast cancer defined by expression status of the three receptors: estrogen receptor (ER), proge...

A 54-year-old woman with stage IV right breast cancer presented to our oncology clinic with 2week history of headache, nausea and gait instability. Six months ago, she was diagnosed with T4N1M1 lobular carcinoma of right breast, which was estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor negative but over expressed human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2 3+). She received neoadjuvant chemothera...

A 40-year-old woman noted a large mass in her right breast. A diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound confirmed a 3.4-cm mass with associated microcalcifications. Axillary ultrasound showed a prominent lymph node in the right axilla. A core needle biopsy of the breast mass was positive for a high-grade metaplastic carcinoma with predominantly squamous features (Figure, panel A). The lymph node biop...

Gastrointestinal (GIT) malignancies are a substantial health concern. Most patients present to the clinics with advanced and un-resectable diseases, so it remains difficult to cure with the existing chemotherapeutic regimes. It is therefore extremely important to devise novel therapeutic targets in these neoplasms in order to improve patient's survival. One such target is human epidermal growth...

Increased expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor HER-2/ErbB2 is frequently observed in breast cancer and is targeted by the anticancer drug Herceptin. Now, Zuo et al. (2007) reveal that an X-linked gene encoding the transcription factor FOXP3 is a breast cancer tumor suppressor that represses expression of HER2/ErbB2.

There is controversy over the role of Her-2 in osteosarcoma, with some investigators reporting association between expression and adverse outcome, whereas others point to the lack of gene amplification and membranous expression by immunohistochemistry (IHC) as inconsistent with biological significance. Her-2 normally requires pairing with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), Her-3, or Her-4...

Background: The present exploration is aimed to determine whether diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI)-derived mean diffusivity (MD) and (MK) are possible parameters for the invasive breast cancer grading MD/MK related clinical-pathologic factors including estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone (PR), human epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2) Ki-67. Methods: Tumors from 108 carcinoma patients (45.6 ± 11...

HER-2 belongs to the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases, which has been implicated in a variety of cancers. Overexpression of HER-2 is seen in 25-30% of breast cancer patients and predicts a poor outcome in patients with primary disease. Trastuzumab (Herceptin), a monoclonal antibody to HER-2, is specifically approved for HER-2-positive breast cancer but is active only in a subset of thes...

The HER-2/neu receptor is a member of the epidermal growth factor family and is amplified in multiple cancers. It is under intense investigation both as a prognostic marker and for therapy, using monoclonal antibodies targeted against the receptor. We have developed a novel two-component gadolinium-based MR contrast agent to image the HER-2/neu receptor. Positive T1 contrast in MR images was ge...