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Biomedical subjects

A P Forrest

Publications and source records attributed to A P Forrest.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1982

Oestrogen receptors and primary breast cancer.

Oestrogen receptor activity has been determined in the primary tumours from 243 patients with breast cancer and the subsequent clinical course of the disease has been followed for one to five years. Patients with oestrogen receptor-negative tumours had significantly shorter disease free intervals and survival times than those with receptor-positive tumours. Patients with large tumours, or with palpable axillary lymph nodes, or with histopathologically proven involvement of axillary lymph nodes also had a poorer prognosis than those with small tumours, impalpable nodes or histopathologically noninvaded nodes. The prognostic value of oestrogen receptor status was independent of these other three indices so that combination of receptor status and node status permitted definition of groups of patients with particularly good and particularly bad prognosis. The independence of these prognostic indices may relate to the possibility that whilst oestrogen receptor status is an index of the intrinsic biological behaviour of the tumour, nodal involvement and tumour size are more likely to reflect the chronological stage in the course of the disease at which the patient presents.

Breast Neoplasms↗
PubMed1982

Breast localization biopsy.

Nineteen localization biopsies were performed on eighteen women, where routine mammography revealed impalpable abnormalities. These abnormalities are described and the results of biopsy given. Six carcinomas were detected, all of which were shown to have no evidence of metastatic disease.

Biopsy↗
PubMed1982

Androgen conjugates in human breast cyst fluids.

Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHAS) has been measured by radioimmunoassay in 100 breast cyst fluids obtained from 82 women. Values ranged from 1.5 to 1,155 microM with a median of 140 microM. These concentrations are in excess of those for plasma but are comparable or less than values for breast secretions obtained by nipple aspiration. Levels of DHAS in cyst fluid were not significantly affected by age, menopausal status, or parity of the subject or by the volume of cyst fluid obtained. In patients with multiple cysts, DHAS values from cysts aspirated from the same breast on the same data were relatively comparable, but wide variations were frequently observed between cysts aspirated on different occasions from the same breast and between cysts from different breasts of the same patient, whether sampled simultaneously or sequentially. Such variability must complicate comparative studies among women.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Significance of aromatase activity in human breast cancer.

The significance of in vitro aromatization of [7 alpha-3H]testosterone to estradiol by human breast cancer has been investigated by correlation with (a) estrogen receptor activity and (b) clinical response to endocrine therapy. Evidence for estradiol synthesis was obtained in 66 and estrogen receptor activity in 81 of 110 tumors. Whereas most estrogen receptor-positive tumors synthesized estradiol, the majority of the receptor-negative tumors did not. This tendency for aromatization to be associated with estrogen receptor-positive tumors was statistically significant (p less than 0.005). Mean level of receptor was also significantly higher in tumors with aromatization than in tumors without estradiol synthesis (p less than 0.001). Forty patients with advanced breast cancer have been treated by endocrine therapy. There was a significant trend for tumors with aromatization to be associated with response to treatment (p less than 0.05), but the correlation was not absolute and may simply reflect the association between aromatase activity and estrogen receptors. Within the small subgroup of patients treated with aminoglutethimide or adrenalectomy, tumors with high aromatase activity responded whereas those without aromatization did not. Tumor estrogen biosynthesis may therefore be of clinical significance in selecting patients for treatments which remove sources of precursor for aromatization of inhibit aromatase activity itself.

Adrenalectomy↗
PubMed1981

Lymphoscintigraphy cannot diagnose breast cancer.

Axillary lymphoscintigraphy was performed by the technique of Agwunobi and Boak (1) in 68 patients with operable cancer of the breast and 11 patients with benign disease. Contrary to their previous report, scans were found to be indistinguishable from normal in the majority of breast cancer patients with interpretable scans, and no pattern of uptake was found which was typical of carcinoma in the corresponding breast.

Axilla↗
PubMed1981

Oestrogen receptor concentration in primary breast cancer and axillary node metastases.

The primary tumour and 1-3 invaded, axillary nodes from each of 24 patients were examined both histologically for the proportion of the specimen constituted by malignant epithelial cells ('cellularity index') and biochemically for oestrogen receptor concentration. Both malignant epithelial cell content and oestrogen receptor concentration were significantly higher in the nodal metastases than in the primary tumours, malignant cells constituting approximately half of the former tissue and three quarters of the latter. On average, receptor concentrations were 1.6 x (protein basis) to 2.3 x (wet weight basis) higher in nodes than in the primary tumours, probably due at least in part to the difference in cellularity. When, to eliminate the effect of the latter, receptor concentration in each tumour deposit was 'corrected' using the appropriate 'cellularity index', the difference in receptor concentration between primary and node was significantly diminished, but not quite eliminated. In one patient, progestogen receptor concentrations were also studied and found to be higher in the nodes than in the primary tumour. If the actual quantity of receptor is to be used for predictive/prognostic purposes, then either a different 'cut-off point' should be used for invaded nodes from that used for assessment on the primary tumour, or receptor concentrations should be corrected for differences in cellularity.

Axilla↗
PubMed1981

Factors affecting dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate levels in human breast secretions.

Human breast secretions as collected by nipple aspiration have been analysed for dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate by radioimmunoassay. All secretions collected from non-lactating normal women contained remarkably high levels of dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate as compared with plasma taken at the same time. Although there was a large range of concentrations, levels were of a similar magnitude in different ducts from the same breast and in different breasts from the same individual. No significant difference was detected between secretions from pre and postmenopausal women. Sequential sampling of breast secretions through the menstrual cycle in two normal premenopausal women showed no cyclic variation in dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate concentration. There was also no significant difference between levels in breast secretions obtained from normal women and patients with either malignant or benign breast disease. Analysis of secretions from tumour and non-tumour bearing breasts in cancer patients failed to show consistent differences although, in contrast to normal women, the variation between breasts in individual patients was often marked.

Adult↗
PubMed1980

Prediction of axillary metastases in breast cancer by lymphoscintigraphy.

A new technique of axillary lymphoscintigraphy has been investigated in thirty patients with breast carcinoma. Intradermal injection of 100 muCi technetium-99m antimony sulphide colloid in 0.1 ml buffer produced satisfactory scans of axillary lymph-nodes in twenty-seven patients (90%). Ten patients with node metastases from breast cancer (9 confirmed histologically) had a defect in the lower axillary uptake on the side of the lesion. Three of the remaining seventeen patients with breast cancer and normal scans had nodal metastases seen histologically, but in two these were micro-metastases only. Axillary lymphoscintigraphy improved considerably the clinical assessment of node status, and corrected the clinical classification in five of six patients who had been misclassified by clinical examination.

Axilla↗
PubMed1980

Benign breast disease and cancer.

A study of 7000 women attending a diagnostic breast clinic and the Breast Screening Clinic in Edinburgh has failed to show a significant relationship between the occurrence of previous symptomatic breast disease and a risk of cancer.

Adult↗