Special Issue "Breast Cancer"

Guest Editor
Dr. Tomoharu Sugie
Breast Surgery, Kyoto University Hospital, 54 Shogoin Kawara-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan
E-Mail:
Phone: +81 75 751 3660
Fax: +81 75 751 3616
Interests: breast surgery; cancer immunology

Dear Colleagues,

Current topics in breast cancer include the novel imaging in cancer, the minimal invasive operation, and tailoring therapeutic approach on the basis of cancer biology. Regarding the imaging, possible topics of interest may include the functional imaging on PET, molecular imaging on targeting molecules. Regarding surgery, possible topics of interest may include sentinel lymph node biopsy, the minimal surgery after chemotherapy and/or endocrine therapy, the plastic surgery. Regarding of cancer biology, possible topics of interest may include cancer stem cell, EMT, circulating tumor cell, and disseminated tumor cell. In clinical practice, we may interest in biomarkers predicting prognosis and therapeutic effect, chemotherapy and endocrine therapy on the basis of the intrinstic subtype, and immunotherapy (i.e. cancer vaccine, transferring CTL).

Tomoharu Sugie, MD
Guest Editor

Submission Information

All manuscripts should be submitted to cancers@mdpi.com with a copy to the Guest Editor. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

For the first two issues, to be published in 2009 and 2010, the Article Processing Charges (APC) will be waived for well-prepared manuscripts. English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.

• cancer imaging
• minimal breast surgery
• cancer biology
• biomarker
• intrinstic subtype
• chemotherapy
• endocrine therapy
• immunotherapy

Type of Paper: Review
Title: Molecular Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
Author: Edelhauser Gundula
Affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, AKH, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria; E-Mail: gundula.edelhauser@meduniwien.ac.at
Abstract: Traditionally breast cancer imaging has focused on physiologic and anatomic characteristics to detect breast cancer and determine its extent. These changes usually occur as late manifestations of the cellular and molecular alterations causing this disease. The visualization of the early changes on a molecular level allows for earlier detection and intervention. Consequently, molecular imaging has become a prioritized and rapidly emerging research area. In the animal model, receptor specific imaging of breast cancer is feasible with PET, MRI, and optical methods based on fluorescence. Using this method, the efficacy of chemotherapeutic treatment can be monitored at an earlier stage than the observance of size changes with conventional imaging would allow. Clinically, receptor imaging is feasible with PET and used in selecting receptor-positive patients for hormonal therapy. Ideally, future therapeutic regimens will be tailored to the molecular subtypes of the tumors, ultimately resulting in improved survival and better quality of life for patients with breast cancer.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Improving Risk Assessment for BRCA1 Carriers Using Functional Analysis
Authors: Marcelo A. Carvalho and Alvaro N.A. Monteiro
Affiliation: Cancer Prevention & Control Program, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, MRC 3 West,12902 Magnolia Drive,Tampa, FL 33612, USA; E-Mails: marcelo.carvalho@inca.gov.br, Alvaro.Monteiro@moffitt.org
Abstract: At present, genetic testing allows the identification of predisposing alleles of BRCA1 and BRCA2 linked to breast and ovarian cancer. Germline mutations in the tumor suppressor gene BRCA1 confer an estimated lifetime risk of 56-80% for breast cancers and 15-60% for ovarian cancer. Since 1994, when the gene was positionally cloned, more than 1600 different germline variants have been documented, but not for a significant number of these variants the association with cancer has not been determined. Many individuals undergoing genetic testing for BRCA1 receive testing results indicating the discovery of variants of unknown clinical significance, leading to problems in risk assessment, counseling and preventive care. Risk assessment for individuals carrying these rare variants, such as missense changes, are particularly difficult. Here we explore how biochemistry and cell biology can help to clarify these issues, using of functional assays to complement genetic data in the analysis of unclassified variants.