BACKGROUNDEstrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) is the most important endocrine therapy responsiveness predictor for women with breast cancer. The accuracy of the prediction of the response to endocrine therapy was thought to be affected by involving the estrogen receptor coregulatory proteins and cross-talk between ER and other growth factor-signaling networks. Nuclear corepressor 1 (NCOR1) is one of the ER a transcription repressor. The objective of the study is to investigate the expression of NCOR1 at the protein level and pursue its predictive value for breast cancer endocrine therapy.

METHODSIn the present study, the level of expression of NCOR1 protein has been assessed by immunohistochemistry in 104 cases of invasive carcinoma of the breast. Associations between NCOR1 protein expression and different clinicopathological factors and survival were sought.

RESULTSIt was found that NCOR1 was expressed at significantly higher levels in responsive patients treated with endocrine therapy as first-line treatment on relapse. Responsive patients also had a significantly longer post-relapse survival and overall survival. No NCOR1 expression difference was found between patient by age, tumor size, lymph node status, different histological grade groups and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status. Multivariate analysis showed that NCOR1 is an independent prognostic factor for over-all survival.

CONCLUSIONSIn breast cancer, NCOR1 protein expression level predicts response to endocrine therapy as first-line treatment for breast cancer patients on relapse and NCOR1 protein level assay may increase the accuracy in the endocrine treatment determination and, therefore, improving the patients survival.

Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; therapeutic use ; Breast Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Estrogen Receptor alpha ; metabolism ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Middle Aged ; Nuclear Receptor Co-Repressor 1 ; metabolism ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Progesterone ; metabolism ; Tamoxifen ; therapeutic use

Endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is useful for diagnosing mediastinal lymph node lesions. Cell blocks prepared from the needle washing fluid and flow cytometry of tissue samples are helpful in making the diagnosis, but the combination of both examinations is not routinely performed. A 77-year-old woman with fever, dyspnea, and anorexia was admitted to our hospital. Computed tomography showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes with calcification and left ureteral calculus; however, no focus of infection was identified. We suspected lymph node tuberculosis or malignant lymphoma, and EBUS-TBNA was performed to evaluate the mediastinal lymph node lesions. Because a cell block prepared from the needle rinse fluid was suspicious for malignant lymphoma, we changed the puncture needle from 22 G to 19 G and performed a second EBUS-TBNA. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) was diagnosed based on the results of flow cytometry of the EBUS-TBNA samples. Here we report this case of DLBCL in which mediastinal lymph node tuberculosis was suspected and cell block preparation and flow cytometry using EBUS-TBNA specimens were useful for the diagnosis.