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“Purpose: Although at any time in the UK, there are about 20,000 women with MS who may be considering having children, healthcare system often fails to provide them with information and support they need to make informed decisions about their
health and pregnancy management. The aim of this paper is to explore the childbearing experience of women with MS to determine what support and information may be useful to this target group. Method: Interviews were conducted with women with MS (n = 9). Transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Three major themes emerged from the interviews with women living with MS. We found women were concerned about both medical and practical issues associated with having children. Limited access to information about
relationships between MS and childbearing and receiving conflicting or wrong information was recounted. Opinions of family members and clinicians regarding SB203580 chemical structure having children in the context of MS impacted on women’s GNS-1480 experience of making decision about having children and childbearing. Conclusions: Women with MS can benefit from having access to comprehensive, structured sources of information about MS and childbearing. Healthcare professionals and family members support could be channelled more appropriately to enhance their experience of making choices about childbearing.”
“To assess the impact in pathological complete response (pCR) and outcome of two dose-dense neoadjuvant chemotherapy (DDNC) regimens among different histological subtypes determined by hormonal receptor (HR) and HER2 status in breast cancer patients. A total of 127 breast cancer
patients were treated with DDNC in two prospective studies. A: adriamycin 40 mg/m(2) on day (d) 1 plus paclitaxel 150 mg/m(2) and gemcitabine 2,000 mg/m(2) on d2 for six cycles (n = 54). B: epirubicin 90 mg/m(2), cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m(2) on d1 for three cycles, followed by KU-57788 purchase paclitaxel 150 mg/m(2) and gemcitabine 2,500 mg/m(2) on d1 +/- A trastuzumab according to HER2 status (n = 73). Histological subtypes of breast cancer were 49 % HR+/HER2-, 17.5 % HR+/HER2+, 13.5 % HR-/HER2+ and 20 % HR-/HER2-. pCR (absence of invasive cells in breast and lymph node) was achieved in 35 patients (28 %). The pCR rate was significantly different between histological subtypes: HR+/HER2- (9 %), HR+/HER2+ (23 %), HR-/HER2+ (50 %), HR-/HER2- (56 %) (p smaller than 0.001). The median follow-up was 81 months (r: 15-150 months). HR-/HER2- tumor subtype had a significantly worse DFS compared to HR+/HER2- (p = 0.02), RH+/HER2+ (p = 0.04) and HR-/HER2+ tumor subtypes (p = 0.02). HR-/HER2- tumor subtype had a significantly shorter OS compared to HR+/HER2- (p = 0.007), RH+/HER2+ (p = 0.05), and HR-/HER2+ (p = 0.03) tumor subtypes. However, no significant difference was observed in DFS and OS among HR-/HER2- tumors that achieved a pCR.