Nicoletta Biglia

..Abrupt estrogen deficiency following chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy plays an important role in worsening of sexuality...

..The more frequent side effect was somnolence. A sizeable compiliance problem has been observed due to the reluctance to take antidepressant drugs and to side effects...

..During the menopause, levels of SHBG, IGF-I and IGFBPs are significantly modified by the use of different HRT regimens...

..The use of HRT in breast cancer patients is, at present, considered contra-indicated, even if results of clinical trials are not concordant. Therapeutic non-hormonal alternatives may be proposed to these patients...

..To evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of long-term treatment with venlafaxine at low dose for the reduction of vasomotor symptoms in breast cancer survivors...

..Due to the younger age and the ever wider use of adjuvant chemotherapy and antiestrogens, menopausal symptoms are a frequent cause of concern for breast cancer patients...

..In fact, metastases are more frequently distributed to the gastrointestinal tract, peritoneum/retroperitoneum and gynaecological organs than in IDC...

..The aim of axillary reverse mapping (ARM) is to preserve arm lymphatics in patients with breast cancer who underwent surgical axillary staging...

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..This work provides a novel set of genes that could be used as independent prognostic markers and potential drug targets for breast cancer...

..It is debated whether all patients with a positive sentinel node dissection (SLND) should be submitted to axillary lymph node dissection (ALND). Models have been developed to estimate the likelihood of nonsentinel node (non-SLN) metastases...

..To describe the prevalence of hormone replacement therapy (HT) use by postmenopausal women doctors and doctors' wives in Italy and to explore the relationship between their personal characteristics and HT use...

..This is in contrast with the very low prevalence of use in the general population and may lead, in the near future, to a larger use of HRT in Italy...

..The increase of serum estrogens levels during treatment with vaginal estrogen at these dosages is minimal...

..Tibolone, a synthetic steroid, is effective in reducing these symptoms in healthy post-menopausal women, but this has never been studied in a large breast cancer population...

..We suggest that pathological features of DCIS are associated with surgical outcome and may be predicted by mammography...

..An algorithm based on present knowledge is proposed...

..Further research is warranted to confirm whether vaginal estrogens are safe in symptomatic breast cancer patients who are non-responsive to alternative treatments...

..Furthermore, it is likely that treatment tailoring will be increased by the definition of patient subgroups that could derive larger benefits from AIs (progesterone receptor-negative, HER-2-overexpressing) or other new drugs...

..Our results underline the complexity of genomic responses to estrogen in breast cancer cells and strongly suggest that the molecular characterization of estrogen agonists and antagonists used in human therapy should be carefully studied...

..To critically discuss the use of tibolone (T), in light of a series of very recent double-blind placebo (PL) controlled trials (LISA, LIFT, OPAL, THEBES, LIBERATE) conducted worldwide in a large number of postmenopausal women (PMW)...

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..Although in our study tumor volume reduction after two cycles had the strongest predictive value, DCE-MRI has the potential to provide functional parameters that could be integrated to optimize neoadjuvant chemotherapy strategies...

..For symptomatic patients, the association of raloxifene with different drugs which have demonstrated efficacy in the control of vasomotor symptoms is now under evaluation...

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..Negative sentinel node may predict tumour-free axillary nodes in breast cancer. We report the performance of sentinel node dissection at our Institution...

..In ZR75.1 and T47D cells, expression of ANG2 mRNA was increased up to 10-fold by treatment with estrogen within 24 hr. Although preliminary, these data suggest a possible role of ANG2 as a prognostic factor for primary breast cancer...

..CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that HRT use may modify the pathological presentation of breast cancer. Further studies are indicated, while other clinical-pathological characteristics did not differ according to HRT use...

..The secondary objective was to evaluate the effect of the treatments on the quality of sleep and other aspects of the quality of life...

..Many issues, some of which will be discussed in the light of our personal experience, still need to be tested in clinical controlled trials...

..CONCLUSIONS: Eight novel potential markers for breast cancer have been preliminarily characterized. As expected from in vitro data, their expression is able to discriminate ER- versus ER+ tumors...

..Chemoprevention with tamoxifen and with the new selective estrogen receptor modulators, namely raloxifene, is very promising and deserves a thorough discussion for all high-risk women...

..It is equally important that the best strategies for breast and endometrial surveillance in women commencing HRT be outlined, bearing in mind that the diffusion of hormonal therapies may be halted by unnecessary medical interventions...

..However, the theoretical possibility exists that low doses of oral estrogens, plus a progestin providing progesterone-like effects only, will be shown to be associated with a limited breast cancer risk increase...

..Similar results were obtained for overall survival. CONCLUSIONS: KLK9 is a new potential independent marker of favorable prognosis in breast cancer...

..006) and OS (P = 0.004) in the subgroup of patients with grade I and II tumors. CONCLUSIONS: KLK5 expression as assessed by quantitative RT-PCR is an independent and unfavorable prognostic marker for breast carcinoma...

..New administration routes and novel hormone regimens are currently under evaluation, and these new HRT modalities could have different impact on breast cancer risk because of their metabolic and pharmacodynamic effects...

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..We studied the effect of estrogen receptor recruitment on actin cytoskeleton remodeling and breast cancer cell movement and invasion. Moreover, we characterized the signaling steps through which these actions are enacted...

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