Breast milk expression (breast pumping) has become prevalent as an important dimension of breastfeeding behavior. It is, however, not clear whether increasing breast milk expression contributes to extend the duration of breastfeeding. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the impact of breast milk expression in early postpartum period on breastfeeding duration amongst mothers of healthy term infants. A prospective cohort study had been conducted from March to June 2010. Mothers who gave birth to healthy, full-term and singleton babies were enrolled at discharge. These women were interviewed at 6 weeks postpartum about their breastfeeding behaviors. According to expressing patterns at 6 week postpartum, women were divided into three groups: direct breastfeeding (group 1), combining direct breastfeeding with expressing (group 2), exclusive expressing (group 3). The investigators followed up the women by telephone thereafter at a bimonthly basis and documented breastfeeding duration. Survival analysis was conducted to explore the association between expressing patterns at 6 weeks postpartum and breastfeeding duration. Associated factors of exclusive expressing at 6 weeks postpartum were characterized by logistic regression analysis. Four hundred one eligible women were enrolled at discharge. Among the 389 women who attended the face-to-face interview at 6 weeks postpartum, 345 women continued breastfeeding. They were divided into 3 groups by their expressing patterns. According to survival analysis, women who exclusively expressed breast milk at 6 months postpartum (group 3) were 1.77 times as likely to stop breastfeeding as those who did not (group 1 and 2) (95 % confidence interval: 1.25–2.48; P <0.001). There is, however, no significant difference of breastfeeding duration between group 1 and group 2. Subgroup analysis showed that exclusive expressing women who were exclusively breastfeeding at 6 weeks postpartum had the shortest breastfeeding duration. Mother’s high education level, short maternity leave, breast milk expression in hospital and bottle-feeding in hospital were associated factors to exclusive expressing at 6 weeks postpartum. Exclusive expressing in the early postpartum period may not help women to achieve long-term breastfeeding duration, especially in women who were exclusively breastfeeding.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a type of breast cancer with a high degree of malignancy. Because of the remarkable biological characteristics of high invasion, metastasis and recurrence, TNBC is often accompanied by a poor prognosis. As a molecular characteristic of TNBC, high expression of CD147 has been confirmed by a large number of studies. However, the mechanism of CD147 expression regulation in TNBC remains elusive. In this study, we investigated the roles of miR-890 in inhibiting CD147. Quantitative Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect CD147 mRNA and miR-890 level, and western blotting was used to detect CD147 protein. Bioinformatics screening and 3′-Untranslated Region (3′-UTR) luciferase assays were used to analyze the microRNAs (miRNA) binding site. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and invasion were assessed by using CCK-8, flow cytometry and transwell assays. The upregulation of miR-890 inhibited cell proliferation and invasion, induced apoptosis in MDA-MB-231 and HCC-70 TNBC cells by negatively regulating its target gene, CD147, and the upregulation of CD147 rescued the inhibitory effects of miR-890. miR-890 targeted CD147 by binding to its 3′-UTR. Further results showed that the upregulation of miR-890 also inhibited the expression of MMPs, the downstream genes of CD147, and promoted the cleavage of Caspase-3. The CD147 recovery experiment was further confirmed by the activity changes in the downstream MMPs of CD147. In addition, it was confirmed that the effect of CD147 in promoting TNBC cell proliferation and invasion, inhibiting apoptosis was related to the change in caspase-3 activity. The downregulation of miR-890 is the potential cause of high CD147 expression in TNBC, which can promote the malignant transformation of TNBC.

Background: In recent years, genetic testing (GT) has developed rapidly in China. However, the cancer genetic service system is still immature in China. Little is known about the opinions around genetic counseling (GC) and GT in Chinese individuals at high risk of breast cancer. This work aims to understand the changes in awareness, attitudes, and willingness of high-risk populations before and after GT, as well as the possible barriers to GC/GT. Methods: Several questionnaires for the high-risk populations of breast cancer were completed. Then, some patients were selected for free single/multi-gene testing as well as further survey and statistical analysis. Results: Despite low levels of awareness, Chinese high-risk breast cancer groups hold positive attitudes about GC/GT. There were differences in the willingness of different groups of high-risk people. After GT, different testing results led to different views and choices for the patients than before GT. Lack of genetic knowledge of breast cancer, misunderstanding, cost, fear of adverse effects, and policy market factors are obstacles to accepting GC/GT for the participants. Conclusions: Chinese doctors need to communicate according to the specific situation of high-risk individuals in pre-test counseling and post-test counseling. The national policy and GT market also need to be improved to support the hereditary breast cancer families’ follow-up service system.

Background: To summarize the clinicopathological characteristics, prognosis, and management of breast adenosquamous carcinoma (ASC).Methods: A population-based study was performed using retrospectively extracted data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database for breast cancer patients with histological diagnoses of ASC, infiltrating duct carcinoma (IDC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) from 2004 to 2016.Results: ASC presented similar tumor size but low histological grade and less lymph node metastasis compared to IDC. ASC expressed less positive rate of hormone receptors and barely HER2, which was similar with SCC. ASC patients underwent the similar surgical and systematic treatment as IDC, only with less radiotherapy. Median follow-up data of 78 months showed that the prognosis of IDC patients was better than that of ASC patients (allp < 0.05 for BCSM and OS). ASC was not an independent prognosis factor of breast cancer. After propensity score matching (PSM), no significant difference in BCSM nor OS was observed between ASC and IDC groups. In HR-negative patients, the prognosis of ASC was similar with that of IDC, and both were superior to SCC. In HR-positive patients, the 5-year survival rate of ASC was 63.5%, which was far less than that in ASC of HR-negative (81.0%). Multivariate analysis showed that older age (age > 60) and advanced AJCC-stage were independent factors of poor prognosis in ASC, breast-conserving surgery was also ideally suited for ASC.Conclusions: ASC has unique clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis. It is imperative to focus on a more precise and personalized treatment management of ASC patients.

Background: Triple-negative breast cancer has become an intricate part and hotspot in the clinical and experimental research. Connexins, serving as functional proteins in gap junctions, play an important role in tumorigenesis, cell proliferation and metastasis. Methods: We constructed and employed the Connexin 43 (Cx43) overexpression lentiviral vectors and Cx43 siRNA in paclitaxel-treated MDA-MB-231 cells. We performed the experiments of clonal formation and flow cytometry to gauge the effect of paclitaxel on cellular behaviors and immunofluorescence and subsequent quantitative RT-PCR and Western blot to examine the expression of genes and corresponding proteins. Experiments of scrape loading/dye transfer were utilized to explore the gap junctions. The targets of Cx43 were identified via the experiments of co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP), GST pull-down assays and proximal ligation assay (PLA). Results: The results showed that Cx43 hindered cell proliferation and promoted apoptosis in the paclitaxel-treated MDA-MB-231 cells. Overexpressed Cx43 suppressed the expression of resistance genes such as BRCP, Txr-1, α-tubulin and β-tubulin and promoted the expression of apoptosis gene as TSP-1 and Bcl-2. Cx43 was also positively related to ITGα 9 and negatively related to ITGαV and ITGα 11. The gap junctions altered magnificently under different expressions of Cx43, which indicated that Cx43 could promote the number of intercellular gap junctions. The immunofluorescent experiment revealed that both of Cx43 and β-tubulin were mainly localized in the cytoplasm. The assays of Co-IP and GST pull-down demonstrated that there existed a direct interaction between Cx43 and β-tubulin. Furthermore, the result of PLA also showed that Cx43 interacts with β-tubulin in MDA-MB-231 cells. Conclusion: Overexpression of Cx43 could modulate the cellular resistance to paclitaxel via targeting β-tubulin in triple-negative breast cancer.