In recent years, many studies have focused on the host immune system and its relationship with tumor progression in a variety of solid tumors, including breast cancer. This study investigates recent trends of immunotherapy research in breast cancer and compares the contributions of research from different regions, institutions, and authors. A search of breast cancer and immunotherapy studies that were published between 2010 and 2019with different keyword combinationswas performed in the Web of Science database. Bibliometric data were collected for analysis. VOSviewer software was used to generate a figure for the keywords co-occurrence network, so as to implement network visualization analysis. A total of 1,041 publications were identified. The United States and China contributed to approximately 50 of the publications, 336 and 208, respectively. Both countries drove the increase in publications after 2015. A paper entitled Pembrolizumab in patients with advanced triple-negative breast cancer: Phase IB KEYNOTE-012 Study that was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology by Nanda et al. was the most cited (715 citations). The keywords found in this research were grouped into four clusters: mechanism, vaccination, PD-L1, and chemotherapy. The terms tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and PD-1/PD-L1 are among the latest hotspots, which mostly appeared in 2017. Author keyword analysis revealed that recent trends in breast cancer immunotherapy focus on the triple-negative breast cancer subtype and PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint pathway and inhibitors. This study analyzed global trends in immunotherapy research on breast cancer over the past 10 years and provided insight into the features and research hotspots of the articles in this issue.

Purpose: The programmed cell death 1 (PD-1)/programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) axis plays an important role in antitumor immune responses. However, there is considerable inconsistency regarding the prognostic value of PD-L1 expression status in breast cancer. We sought to evaluate the differential prognostic impacts of tumoral versus stromal immune cell PD-L1 expression in primary breast cancer.

Background The present study assessed the impact of different types of breast surgery on rates of psychological disorders in breast cancer patients. Methods This nationwide cohort study, based on Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service claims data, included 26,259 breast patients who underwent surgery from June 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. Associations between the incidence of psychological disorders and variables were evaluated by time dependent Cox regression analyses. Results Of the 26,259 patients, 9394 (35.8%) underwent total mastectomy (TM) and 16,865 (64.2%) underwent partial mastectomy (PM); of the former, 4056 (43.2%) underwent breast reconstruction surgery (RS). A total of 4685 patients (17.84%) were newly diagnosed with psychological disorders after surgery. Multivariable analysis showed that axillary lymph node dissection was significantly associated with increased rates of overall psychological disorders (p < 0.0001), depression (p = 0.0462), anxiety (p < 0.0001) and insomnia (p < 0.0001). The rates of overall psychological disorders (p = 0.0002) and insomnia (p = 0.01) were significantly lower in patients who underwent TM than PM. RS tended to associated with reduced rates of overall psychological disorders in patients who underwent TM. Subgroup analysis showed that, compared with PM, RS after TM significantly associated with a reduced incidence of overall psychological disorders and insomnia in younger patients (< 50 years) and those who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy. Conclusion In contrast to general belief, rates of overall psychological disorders and insomnia were lower in patients who underwent TM than PM. Moreover, RS after TM confers psychological benefit in younger patients with early stage breast cancer compared with PM.

Objective. Higher breast density is a strong, independent risk factor for breast cancer. Breast density varies by age, ethnicity, and geographic area although dense breast tissue has been associated with younger age and premenopausal status. The relationship between breast density and age in women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has not been determined. This study evaluated breast density in the UAE population and its relationship with age. Methods. Women participating in the national cancer screening program from August 2015 to May 2018 who underwent screening mammography were included. Breast parenchymal density was classified according to the American College of Radiology (ACR) Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) from category a (almost entirely fatty) through d (extremely dense). Subjects were divided into six age groups, and the association between age and breast density was evaluated. Results. Of the 4911 women included, 1604 (32.7%), 2149 (43.8%), 1055 (21.5%), and 103 (2.1%) were classified as having categories a–d breast density, respectively. A significant negative correlation was observed between age and breast density category (p<0.001). Women of mean age 44 ± 7 years had the highest breast density, whereas those of mean age 56 ± 14 years had the lowest breast density. Comparisons of Emirati women with Lebanese and Western women showed that breast density was lower in Emirati women than in the other populations. Conclusions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the relationship between mammographic breast density and age in UAE women. As in other populations, age was inversely related to breast density, but the proportion of Emirati women with dense breasts was lower than in other populations. Because this study lacked demographic, clinical, and histopathological data, further evaluation is required.

Background: Accurate determination of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status on breast core needle biopsy (CNB) tissue is important for determining neoadjuvant chemotherapies (NACs) for primary breast cancer. However, HER2 discrepancies occur before and after surgery, creating difficulties in the administration of appropriate NAC. This study aimed to identify the clinical factors affecting these discrepancies.