Tadashi Ikeda

..Core needle biopsy should be performed before neoadjuvant chemotherapy to avoid over-treatment. It is essential to develop more effective regimens and stratify patients based on predictive factors...

..This article deals with the history of the evolution of primary chemotherapy, along with a discussion of some relevant issues...

..The final decision as to whether SLNB is an adequate substitute for axillary dissection awaits the results of prospective randomized trials...

..The current status of breast conserving operations in Japan is reviewed in comparison with their status in Western countries...

..The purpose of this study was to clarify risk factors of IBTR and the impact of IBTR on development of distant metastases in this ethnic group...

..In breast cancer patients with a positive SLN, lymphatic invasion and the number of tumor-involved SLNs were both independent predictors of non-SLN involvement...

..Conventional planar scintigraphy cannot provide three-dimensional(3D) information for SLN biopsy. We applied stereoscopic imaging to preoperative lymphoscintigraphy to obtain 3D information and evaluated its usefulness...

..Increasing age of breast cancer patients was reported to cause not only failure of sentinel lymph node (SLN) identification but also false negative results...

..Predictive factors for the effect of radiation therapy should also be taken into account after breast-conserving surgery. It remains to be determined which predictive factors should be considered at which time...

..To perform good clinical trials, it is imperative to construct infrastructures including clinical research coordinator, and abolish governmental regulation of the dose of anticancer agents...

..Dose-dense therapy seems promising but still needs further investigation. Incorporation of taxanes into adjuvant chemotherapy for early breast cancer is also controversial...

..The aim of this study is to clarify the biological difference between TR and NP, and to show the clinical significance of classifying IBTR into these two types of recurrence...

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..This clarity needs to reach a level where the sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) and the body contour are clearly visible. We have developed a simple image processing method using the division of primary and scattered photon counts...

..The feasibility of a preoperative docetaxel/5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR) regimen for breast cancer patients was examined and the genes related to the response to it was investigated...

..and a trial to detect lymphatic flow with CT after local injection of contrast medium is also being conducted. Sentinel node adenectomy may become a standard technique for early breast cancer patients in the near future...

..Although several prognostic markers have already been identified for breast cancer, it is clear that others remain to be identified...

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..It was concluded that SLNB using the small-sized tin colloid was technically feasible and provided higher detection and identification rates than the regular-sized tin colloid...

..CONCLUSION: The good response rate and long TTP of this doxifluridine plus docetaxel regimen indicate its potential as a first- or second-line treatment for advanced/recurrent breast cancer patients...

..In this study, we investigated their effects, alone or in combination, on mammary carcinogenesis using breast cancer cells and preneoplastic lesions inC3H/OuJ mice...

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..Paclitaxel (PTX) is administered as a solution in polyoxyethylated castor oil (CO) due to its low water solubility, but solvent-induced side-effects may be severe...

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..CONCLUSION: Conjugates composed solely of human proteins might be useful with less immunogenicity and less toxicity than the conventional immunotoxins for targeted therapy...

..Most patients responding to pre-operative therapy remained recurrence-free. Sequential pre-operative/post-operative treatment with anastrozole resulted in lower recurrence and death rates, compared with tamoxifen...

..Integrin alpha(v)beta3 mediates the attachment of osteoclasts to bone matrix, and it is overexpressed in bone-residing breast cancer cells. We studied BM from breast cancer in relation to its Integrin alpha(v)beta3 expression...

..However, the serum BAP increase was not significant at 24 months. TOR provides better effects than ANA in terms of lipid profiles and bone metabolism in postmenopausal females with early breast cancer...

..Accordingly, further studies including combined use of systemic chemotherapy are mandatory to the control of micrometastases outside the target organ...

..The number of Japanese patients necessary for Phase III studies is individual developmental strategy and needs to be examined by both companies and regulatory agencies...

..After 2 years, the RPV of TS decreased with time, suggesting that 2 years of treatment with oral fluorouracil derivatives may be inadequate. Further studies are required to investigate this possibility...

..Although many clinical data regarding breast-conserving treatment have already been reported from European and North American countries, few clinical data with long-term follow-up have been reported from Japan...

..If we can address these issues Japanese investigators and collaborative groups should be able to initiate and lead global trials in the future...

..Dofequidar is a novel, orally active quinoline derivative that reverses multidrug resistance...

..Study results suggest that 2-year HCT therapy including the oral 5-FU anti-cancer drug HCFU is a useful adjuvant therapy which can replace CMFT therapy in early breast cancer cases with 3 or lower metastatic lymph nodes...

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..Currently, many clinical randomized trials are being conducted to examine the effectiveness of new endocrine treatment. Significant changes are occurring in the endocrine treatment of breast cancer...

..We sought to investigate the perioperative factors that influence left atrial geometry and mechanical functions after the Maze procedure in patients with refractory atrial fibrillation and left atrial enlargement...

..There have been some recent improvements and further progress is expected so that Japanese doctors can play a full role in the evaluation of new therapies...

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..In fact, researcher-initiated clinical trials achieved a rapid growth in Japan in the past year...

..8% and 93.8%, respectively (p = 0.099). CONCLUSIONS: Early and mid-term results of LVVRS were satisfied, and the non-Dor operation tended to be superior in mid-term survival to the Dor operation. Long-term follow-up is warranted...

..Down-regulation of the DPD activity of the tumors is also considered to be correlated with the antitumor effect of the treated groups, suggesting its influence on the synergistic effect of the combination therapy...