Detection of a Mammographically Occult Breast Cancer with a Challenging Clinical History

Screening mammography has helped to identify countless incidences of breast cancer since its adoption in the 1960s. Over time, the screening guidelines and techniques have been refined to better detect malignancies and to avoid false positive results. However, weaknesses remain in mammography and represent an opportunity for improvement. The interference of natural breast tissue and glands can obscure the presence of occult breast malignancies. Additionally, the inability to differentiate breast tissue on the basis of depth, and the compounding of breast densities that occurs as a consequence of two-dimensional imaging, are setbacks when it comes to relying on mammography. User error and bias can also misguide the proper detection of underlying cancers during the radiological interpretation process. The following case represents a combination of these factors and others that culminated in a missed diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma in a young woman suffering from mastitis of the contralateral breast.

Novel treatment of neuroinflammation against low back pain by soluble fullerol nanoparticles

STUDY DESIGN

An in vitro study to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of fullerol on mouse dorsal root ganglia (DRG) under tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α induction.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the potential of a free radical scavenger, fullerol nanoparticles, to prevent DRG tissue and neuron inflammatory responses under TNF-α induction in vitro.

SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA

Low back pain is one of the most common reasons for clinician visits in Western societies. Symptomatic intervertebral disc degeneration is strongly implicated as a cause of low back pain, as it results in DRG inflammation. Increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is associated with DRG inflammation.

METHODS

With or without fullerol treatment, DRG tissue and DRG neurons isolated from wild-type C3H/HeNCrl (Charles River Laboratories, Wilmington, MA) mice were cultured under TNF-α induction. The amount of intracellular ROS was measured with H2DCFDA (Life Technologies Corporation, Grand Island, NY) fluorescence staining. Cellular apoptosis was detected via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling assay. The expression of inflammatory as well as antioxidative enzyme genes in neurons was analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. In addition, inflammatory cytokine expression in DRG tissue was determined by immunofluorescence staining and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

RESULTS

Fluorescence staining results indicated that TNF-α markedly increased the production of intracellular ROS and the number of apoptotic cells. Under fullerol treatment, cellular apoptosis was reduced along with concomitant suppression of ROS. The expression of inflammatory cytokines interleukin 1 β, interleukin 6, cyclooxygenase-2, and prostaglandin E2, was also inhibited by fullerol in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, fullerol-treated cells exhibited upregulation of antioxidative enzyme genes superoxide dismutase 2 and catalase.

CONCLUSION

The results obtained from this study clearly suggest that fullerol treatment suppresses the inflammatory responses of DRG and neurons, as well as cellular apoptosis by decreasing the level of ROS and potentially enhancing antioxidative enzyme gene expression. Therefore, fullerol has potential to serve as a novel therapeutic agent for low back pain treatment.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

N/A.