Catharina Bartmann

Quantification of the predominant immune cell populations in decidua throughout human pregnancy.

To date, a multiplicity of factors contributing to the establishment and progression of a successful pregnancy have been postulated. There is emerging evidence that decidual leukocytes could be decisive factors during pregnancy. Despite numerous investigations on immune cells in human early pregnancy decidua, little is known about the physiological composition and proportion of the various immune cell populations during the different phases of pregnancy. In this study, we therefore analyzed the proportion of the dominant decidual leukocytes in human tissue samples derived from all phases of pregnancy.

CD33+/HLA-DRneg and CD33+/HLA-DR+/− Cells: Rare Populations in the Human Decidua with Characteristics of MDSC

Human pregnancy needs a remarkable local immune tolerance toward the conceptus. Myeloid‐derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are important players promoting cancer initiation and progression by suppressing T‐cell functions and thus inducing immune tolerance. Therefore, MDSC were expected within decidua.

Do Patients with Luminal A Breast Cancer Profit from Adjuvant Systemic Therapy? A Retrospective Multicenter Study.

Background Luminal A breast cancers respond well to anti-hormonal therapy (HT), are associated with a generally favorable prognosis and constitute the majority of breast cancer subtypes. HT is the mainstay of treatment of these patients, accompanied by an acceptable profile of side effects, whereas the added benefit of chemotherapy (CHT), including anthracycline and taxane-based programs, is less clear-cut and has undergone a process of critical revision. Methods In the framework of the BRENDA collective, we analyzed the benefits of CHT compared to HT in 4570 luminal A patients (pts) with primary diagnosis between 2001 and 2008. The results were adjusted by nodal status, age, tumor size and grading. Results There has been a progressive reduction in the use of CHT in luminal A patients during the last decade. Neither univariate nor multivariate analyses showed any statistically significant differences in relapse free survival (RFS) with the addition of CHT to adjuvant HT, independent of the nodal status, age, tumor size or grading. Even for patients with more than 3 affected lymph nodes, there was no significant difference (univariate: p = 0.865; HR 0.94; 95% CI: 0.46–1.93; multivariate: p = 0.812; HR 0.92; 95% CI: 0.45–1.88). Conclusions The addition of CHT to HT provides minimal or no clinical benefit at all to patients with luminal A breast cancer, independent of the RFS-risk. Consequently, risk estimation cannot be the initial step in the decisional process. These findings–that are in line with several publications–should encourage the critical evaluation of applying adjuvant CHT to patients with luminal A breast cancer.

The impact of breast cancer biological subtyping on tumor size assessment by ultrasound and mammography - a retrospective multicenter cohort study of 6543 primary breast cancer patients

BackgroundMammography and ultrasound are the gold standard imaging techniques for preoperative assessment and for monitoring the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer. Maximum accuracy in predicting pathological tumor size non-invasively is critical for individualized therapy and surgical planning. We therefore aimed to assess the accuracy of tumor size measurement by ultrasound and mammography in a multicentered health services research study.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed data from 6543 patients with unifocal, unilateral primary breast cancer. The maximum tumor diameter was measured by ultrasound and/or mammographic imaging. All measurements were compared to final tumor diameter determined by postoperative histopathological examination. We compared the precision of each imaging method across different patient subgroups as well as the method-specific accuracy in each patient subgroup.ResultsOverall, the correlation with histology was 0.61 for mammography and 0.60 for ultrasound. Both correlations were higher in pT2 cancers than in pT1 and pT3. Ultrasound as well as mammography revealed a significantly higher correlation with histology in invasive ductal compared to lobular cancers (p < 0.01). For invasive lobular cancers, the mammography showed better correlation with histology than ultrasound (p = 0.01), whereas there was no such advantage for invasive ductal cancers. Ultrasound was significantly superior for HR negative cancers (p < 0.001). HER2/neu positive cancers were also more precisely assessed by ultrasound (p < 0.001). The size of HER2/neu negative cancers could be more accurately predicted by mammography (p < 0.001).ConclusionThis multicentered health services research approach demonstrates that predicting tumor size by mammography and ultrasound provides accurate results. Biological tumor features do, however, affect the diagnostic precision.

The cytoskeletal protein LASP-1 differentially regulates migratory activities of choriocarcinoma cells

PurposeDuring healthy pregnancy, a distinct but limited invasion of trophoblast cells into the uterus occurs. In contrast, excessive trophoblast invasion is associated with placental choriocarcinoma (CC). Overexpression of the cytoskeletal protein LASP-1 was shown to contribute to cancer aggressiveness. Here, the yet unknown role of LASP-1 in CC cells is analysed.MethodsExpression of LASP-1 in human primary carcinoma was assessed by immunohistochemistry and confirmed in CC-derived cell lines by immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR and Western blot. After down-regulation of LASP-1 expression with specific si-RNA in CC-derived cell lines, migratory and proliferative activities were analysed by matrigel migration assay and WST-8 test.ResultsLASP-1 expression was detected in human primary choriocarcinoma and in JEG-3, JAR and BeWo cells. Knock down of LASP-1 resulted in a decreased expression of LASP-1 protein in JEG-3 and JAR cells accompanied by a diminished migration and a decreased proliferative activity of these two cell lines. Knockdown of LASP-1 in BeWo cells failed. In consequence, migratory function and proliferation was unaffected.ConclusionThis is the first study describing LASP-1 expression in CC cells. Detecting an affection of migratory processes after LASP-1 silencing, we propose that LASP-1 could impact on metastasis of CC cells.

Are There Breast Cancer Patients with Node-Negative Small Tumours, Who Do Not Benefit from Adjuvant Systemic Therapy

Objective: To identify subgroups of patients with pT1 pN0 breast cancer (BC) who might not profit from adjuvant systemic therapy (AST). Methods: Data of 3,774 pT1 pN0 BC patients from 17 certified BC centres within the BRENDA study group were collected between 1992 and 2008 and retrospectively analysed. Uni- and multivariate analyses were performed using Kaplan-Meier methods and Cox regression models. Results: 279 (7.4%) of the pT1 pN0 BC patients were T1a, 944 (25.0%) were T1b and 2,551 (67.6%) were T1c. There was no significant difference (p > 0.1) in recurrence-free survival (RFS)/overall survival (OAS) between patients with pT1a, pT1b, and T1c. Patients receiving any type of AST had a better outcome compared to women without AST after adjusting for age, tumour size, and intrinsic subtypes (RFS: p < 0.001; OAS: p < 0.001). AST was the most important prognostic parameter for RFS followed by intrinsic subtypes and age. Conclusion: Patients with pT1 pN0 BC profit from AST independently of molecular subtypes, tumour size, age or comorbidity, with 5-year RFS of more than 95%. The correct definition of subgroups of patients who do not need AST is still an open question.