No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

An accurate biomechanical model, coupled with an accurate solution of the governing differential equat ions, would be useful for the registration of images [rom different modalities during breast cancer diagnosis. Because of the large deformations and the behaviour of the breast tissue, incompressible nonlinear elasticity is required. But there is no agreed best method for solving these equations. In this thesis we investigate which finite element method (FEM) is most suitable [or breast models. We investigate both the cont inuous Galerkin FEM (CGFEM) and the discontinuous Galerkin FEM (DGFEM). We compare the linear compressible and incompressible theory using CGFEM. Alter showing the limitations of linear compressible elasticity in the case of near ly incompressible materials we use the nonlinear incompressible theory with both CGFEM and DGFEM for the forwards problem (where we assume that we know the undeformed configuration of the unloaded body, and wish to predict the deformation under a prescribed set of forces) and the backwards problem (where the deformed, loaded state of the body is known and we wish to predict the undefonned configuration) on 2D simple model problems. Between CGFErv! and DGFEM the results show similar behaviour with respect to the element size, with algebraic convergence of the error with rate which is determined by the polynomial order of the basis function used. The results of using OGFE~1 show that the scheme is not very sensitive to the choice of the method used to enforce incompressibility (between the two suggested ones) or the penalty parameter that penalizes discontinuities in the solut ion, as long as it is suffiCiently large. 'When it comes to the choice of element , different elements (triangular in different layouts and quadrilateral) give different accuracy but converge with the same rate for the same polynomial degree of the approximation. FUrther comparison of the twO schemes with respect to accuracy, st ability and speed is provided for the 20 case and this thorough investigat ion of the method's performance in 2D guides the choices made for 3D simulations. t:'sing both schemes and 3D hexahedral elements we solve the forwards and the backwards problem for simple 3D model problems and then construct models of the breast that allow us to simulate MRI and X- ray mammography. The resulls show that we can follow the clinically relevant approach of using the known deformed configuration of the breast from MRI or X- ray and perform intra~modali ty registration,

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer in Sudan, where this malignancy is frequently treated using plant-based traditional medicine, especially in the areas with minimal modem medical care. The aim of the present study was to test the in vitro anti-breast cancer activity of Sudanese plants and to elucidate the mechanisms of action of isolated active ingredients. Nine parts from five Sudanese plants (Kigelia africana: fruit and bark, Hygrophila auriculata: whole plant and leaves, Aerva javanica: whole plant, Indigofera astragalina: whole plant and fruit, and Boscia senegalensis: leaves and fruit) were selected on the basis of their traditional use for the treatment of breast cancer. The growth inhibitory properties of the methanol extract of the nine plant parts were examined in four breast carcinoma (MCF7, MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB- 468 and SK-BR-3), a pancreatic carcinoma (MIA-Pa-Ca2), a normal non- transformed fibroblast (MRCS), and a normal endothelial cell line (HUVECs), to assess their selectivity in breast carcinoma, and to test their effect in transformed compared with non-transformed cells; which resulted in five active extracts. The extracts of whole I. astragalina and its fruit (family: Papilionaceae) demonstrated the highest growth inhibitory activity in the breast carcinomas (GI50: 11.8-31.1 ug/rnl.). Phenols are more concentrated in the fruit compared to the whole plant extract, while flavonoids are higher in the whole plant extract. Both of the extracts reduced the growth of human adenocarcinoma cells (MDA-MB-468, 72 h) which was the most sensitive cell line to the extracts (22.2 and 22.6 ug/ml, for extracts 6 and 7, respectively); and they increased the preG 1 phase and caused S phase arrest in MDA-MB- 468 cells (72 h), whereas the fruit caused G2/M phase arrest. Both extracts strongly induced early apoptosis compared to late apoptosis and necrosis in MDA-MB-468 cells (24 h); all which agreed with the simultaneous cell cycle and apoptosis examination of each extract in MDA-MB-468 cells (24 h) which exposed early apoptotic populations emerging from each of the cell cycle phases, with the highest percentage from the non-cycling preG 1 phase. The dose-and time-dependency of the pro-apoptotic activities of I. astragalina whole extract were confirmed by the increase of cleaved poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) intensity in MDA-MB-468 cells (24 h and 48 h).

Stem cells play a vital role in the development and maintenance of normal tissues and e hypothesised to be involved in carcinogenesis. Side Population (SP) cells have been identified in both normal and cancerous tissue and are a putative stem cell population characterised by expression of ABCG2. To date the role of SP cells in normal breast development and in breast carcinogenesis remains to be elucidated.

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This thesis concentrates on the treatment of women with breast cancer in the 19th and 20th century. It analyses written published patient narratives linking them with clinical developments. Medical history holds a rich source of information providing the view of the clinician. This includes case reports and case series from one surgeon or one hospital for the earlier period of the study and has progressed to the double blind randomised controlled trial that dominates comparative research today. There is an imbalance in the material available for the analysis of patients’ perceptions of their treatment. The patient view is not represented well in the history of medicine. This thesis attempts to provide a more complete assessment of the developments in breast cancer treatment by including the patient’s view. Three narratives provide an insight into the perception of women who were treated with breast cancer prior to the introduction of anaesthesia and infection control. The novelist, Fanny Burney (1752-1840), underwent a mastectomy in 1811. In a letter to her sister she wrote about her experience providing details of her diagnosis and treatment. In comparison, Emily Gosse (1806-1857) refused a mastectomy for her breast cancer and sought alternative treatment with caustics. Her husband, Phillip Gosse and friend, Anna Shipton, wrote narratives about Emily’s suffering. A third narrative provides the view of a woman with breast cancer who received no treatment and died of metastatic breast cancer; Zelie Martin died in 1877. These narratives were linked to a case report by Lorenz Heister (1683-1758). Heister described the procedure for amputation of the breast in detail. His method prevailed until new scientific developments in surgery such as anaesthesia and infection control improved the short-term survival of patients and enabled surgeons to operate sooner with a greater attention to detail.