Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

P Querzoli

Publications and source records attributed to P Querzoli.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1988

Epidermal growth factor receptor in human breast cancer: correlation with steroid hormone receptors and axillary lymph node involvement.

Epidermal growth factor (EGF-R) estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors were evaluated in 89 primary breast cancers and 23 axillary lymph node metastases. About 57% of primary and 72.2% of metastatic tumors were EGF-R positive and median EGF-R levels were higher in metastatic deposits than in primary breast tumors (P less than 0.05). An inverse distribution of EGF-R and steroid hormone receptor positive tumors was found (chi 2 = 10.87; P less than 0.001 for PR and chi 2 = 5.01; P less than 0.05 for ER) and an interesting correlation between EGF-R expression in primary tumor and axillary lymph node involvement was demonstrated (chi 2 = 21.4; P less than 0.001). Immunohistochemical studies with a monoclonal antibody against EGF-R revealed the presence of EGF-R only in malignant cells. Our data suggest that EGF-R could identify a class of more aggressive breast tumors endowed with a higher metastatic potential and may therefore represent an unfavorable prognostic parameter in breast cancer.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

Immunocytochemical demonstration of estrogen receptors by monoclonal antibodies in human breast cancer: correlation with estrogen receptor assay by dextran-coated charcoal method.

Immunocytochemical demonstration of estrogen receptors in 115 human breast cancer specimens was performed using mouse monoclonal antibodies against estrogen receptor and avidin-biotin as the displaying system. The antibody indicated a highly heterogeneous endowment of neoplastic cells with estrogen receptor at both nuclear and cytoplasmic levels. The percentage of labeled cells within each tumor specimen was recorded to compare this immunocytochemical assay with the biochemical assay of estrogen receptors by the dextran-coated charcoal method. A significant correlation was observed between these two assays. The present results show that estrogen receptors can be confidently demonstrated at the single cell level, thus providing additional information to quantitative biochemical assays. Their prognostic and therapeutic predictive powers may be usefully integrated, particularly in view of the heterogeneous distribution of receptors among cancer cells.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗
PubMed1987

Pathophysiology of estrogen receptors in mammary tissue by monoclonal antibodies.

Identification of preneoplastic lesions of the breast has mainly rested on morphological grounds, supported by epidemiological data. These studies assign a definite precancerous potential to a group of atypical hyperplastic lesions and in situ carcinoma. In spite of much effort no criteria are yet available to understand which, among these lesions, is committed to infiltrative growth, in other words, to understand the risk to a single patient. Estrogens are know to play a critical role in the etiology of breast cancer. The hypothesis is investigated that this role is dependent on a modified expression of their receptor. To approach this question estrogen receptor expression was traced by specific monoclonal anti-receptor antibodies and immunocytochemistry, on a spectrum of breast tissue changes, from normal tissue to infiltrating cancer. Estrogen receptor expression is heterogeneous in normal tissue and in infiltrating cancer, and on the contrary is homogeneous in proliferative atypical lesions and in in situ carcinomas. Present results show that receptor expression is enhanced and becomes homogeneous, maybe constitutive, in atypical hyperplasia and in in situ carcinoma and that this phenomenon could subserve important changes of proliferative capacity which are necessary and possibly sufficient for autonomous growth.

Breast↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Sentinel node study in early breast cancer.

Since October 1997 60 patients with early breast cancer (T <3 cm) were studied. All patients underwent lymphoscintigraphy with two types of colloid: the first (17 pts) with a particle size <1,000 nm; the second (43 pts) with a particle size <80 nm. The standard procedure consists of injection, on the day before surgery, of 70 MBq of the smaller nanocolloid in 0.4 cc saline divided over four sites, around the lesion or subdermally around the surgical scar. We utilize a low-energy, high-resolution LFOV camera for scintigraphy and a probe specific for the sentinel node during surgery. In 56/60 patients (93.3%) lymphoscintigraphy showed the sentinel node (SN). In two cases the SN was not detected presumably because of lymphatic interruption by an old surgical scar; in the other two cases the sites of injection were too close to the SN, thus masking it. In five cases (9%) the SN was not visualized with the surgical probe but in two of these drainage to the internal mammary chain was observed. The apparently lower sensitivity of intraoperative localization was due to the extra-axillary lymphatic drainage or to the vicinity of the SN to the primary lesion. The SN proved to be metastatic in 12 cases. No false-negative SNs were found. In five cases (10%) the radiolabeled lymph node was the only node containing tumor cells (micrometastases): this result depends on the combined use of hematoxylin-eosin and rapid cytokeratin staining. The application of blue dye was useful for easier identification of the SN but did not allow detection of more SNs. Our preliminary results are extremely encouraging. Considering that at the early stages of breast cancer the likelihood of lymph node metastases is low (20% in our series) and no false negative were reported in this study, we conclude that with SN biopsy axillary lymph node dissection can be avoided, making surgery less aggressive but maintaining accuracy.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Prognostic and therapeutic impact of sentinel node micrometastasis in patients with invasive breast cancer.

AIMS AND BACKGROUND: Locoregional lymph node status is one of the most important prognostic factors determining the need for adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer. Many authors have reported that micrometastases were not detected by routine sectioning of lymph nodes but were identified by multiple sectioning and additional staining. Among lymph node-negative patients 15-20% had an unfavorable outcome at five years from primary surgery. Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy is an accurate technique for identifying axillary metastases because the pathologist utilizes hematoxylin-eosin (H-E) staining together with immunohistochemistry (IH) to examine all lymph node sections. Sentinel node micrometastasis has therefore become an important tumor-related prognostic factor. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: From November 1997 to October 2001 we examined in 210 patients the pathological features of primary breast lesions and SLN metastases and we correlated these with the tumor status of non-SLNs in the same axillary basin. We applied IH examination to both SLNs and non-SLNs of patients who were negative for metastasis by standard H-E examination. RESULTS: In this study lymph node staging was based on SLN findings, primary tumor size and the presence of peritumoral lymphovascular invasion (LVI). We found 18 SLN micrometastases (9%) in 210 patients and one of these (5.5%) of patients with SLN micrometastasis) also had one non-SLN metastasis: this patient had LVI and a larger primary tumor than patients with SLN micrometastasis without non-SLN metastasis. We also found 24 SLN macrometastases (11.5%) in 210 patients and 13 of these (54.2% of patients with SLN macrometastases) had one or more non-SLN metastases. CONCLUSIONS: According to the results reported in the literature, tumor cells are unlikely to be found in non SLNs when the primary lesion is small and SLN involvement micrometastatic (5.5% in our experience, 7% in Giuliano's). Our findings suggest that axillary lymph node dissection may not be necessary in patients with SLN micrometastasis from T1 lesions.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Quality control for biomarker determination in oncology: the experience of the Italian Network for Quality Assessment of Tumor Biomarkers (INQAT).

Biomarker analysis and evaluation in oncology is the product of a number of processes (including managerial, technical and interpretation steps) which need to be monitored and controlled to prevent and correct errors and guarantee a satisfactory level of quality. Several biomarkers have recently moved to clinical validation studies and successively to clinical practice without any definition of standard procedures and/or quality control (QC) schemes necessary to guarantee the reproducibility of the laboratory information. In Italy several national scientific societies and single researchers have activated -- often on a pilot level -- specific external quality assessment protocols, thereby potentially jeopardizing the clinical reality even further. In view of the seriousness of the problem, in 1998 the Italian Ministry of Health sponsored a National Survey Project to coordinate and standardize the procedures and to develop QC programs for the analysis of cancer biomarkers of potential clinical relevance. Twelve QC programs focused on biomarkers and concerning morphological, immunohistochemical, biochemical, molecular, and immunoenzymatic assays were coordinated and implemented. Specifically, external QC programs for the analytical phase of immunohistochemical p53, Bcl-2, c-erb-2/neu/HER2, and microvessel density determination, of morphological evaluation of tumor differentiation grade, and of molecular p53 analysis were activated for the first time within the project. Several hundreds of Italian laboratories took part in these QC programs, the results of which are available on the web site of the Network (www.cqlaboncologico.it). Financial support from the Italian Government and the National Research Council (CNR) will guarantee the pursuit of activities that will be extended to new biomarkers, to preanalytical phases of the assays, and to revision of the criteria of clinical usefulness for evaluating the cost/benefit ratio.

Autoradiography↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Immunocytochemical detection of estrogen receptors by staining with monoclonal antibodies on cytologic specimens of human breast cancer.

A study was undertaken to test the possibility of determining the estrogen receptor (ER) content in human breast cancers by staining with commercial specific monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) on cytologic specimens (touch imprints and fine needle aspirates). The aspirates were suspended in a cell culture medium and cytocentrifuged onto slides to preserve their morphologic characteristics and to allow a proper immunocytochemical staining for ERs. MAb staining for ER was also performed on the respective surgical samples. The staining of cytologic samples for ER showed 100% specificity and 95% sensitivity in comparison to the staining of the histologic samples. Moreover, comparison of the percentage of stained cells in the cytologic specimens to the ER content in the respective surgical specimens, as assayed by the dextran-coated charcoal method, showed the MAb staining of cytologic samples to have 94% specificity and 100% sensitivity. These results support the reliability of MAb staining for ERs in cytologic samples and suggest that it could be the assay of choice in particular clinical settings in the evaluation of primary and recurrent breast cancers.

Antibodies, Monoclonal↗