Idiopathic granulomatous gastritis resembling a gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

A 41-year-old female presented with a 2 cm gastric submucosal tumor that was suspected to be a gastrointestinal stromal tumor or other malignancy, and local resection of the stomach was performed. However, histopathological examination showed granulomatous gastritis (GG) with a variety of chronic inflammatory cells and multinodular granulomas. Although she had a past history of tuberculosis and advanced breast cancer after surgery, there was no apparent evidence of either tuberculosis or a metastatic tumor.

Hepatocellular carcinoma and focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver in a glycogen storage disease patient.

Glycogen storage disease type Ia (GSD-Ia; also called von Gierke disease) is an autosomal recessive disorder of carbohydrate metabolism caused by glucose-6-phosphatase deficiency. There have been many reports describing hepatic tumors in GSD patients; however, most of these reports were of hepatocellular adenomas, whereas there are only few reports describing focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We report a case with GSD-Ia who had undergone a partial resection of the liver for FNH at 18 years of age and in whom moderately differentiated HCC had developed.

Primary lung cancer presenting with metastasis to the colon: a case report.

Although about 50% of lung cancers have distant metastasis at the time of initial diagnosis, colonic metastases are extremely rare. This report presents a rare clinical case of colonic metastasis from primary squamous cell carcinoma of the lung. A 60-year-old female with anorexia and fatigue was referred to the department of pulmonary surgery in our hospital.

[Malignant phyllodes tumor metastatic to the pancreas: a case report].

A woman in her 50s was admitted with obstructive jaundice due to a pancreatic mass. She had a history of a right breast phyllodes tumor treated with mastectomy 3 years previously. Diagnostic imaging (endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), CT, and MRI) demonstrated a well-demarcated mass in the pancreatic head.

Multicentric hepatocarcinogenesis at 6 and 13 years after sustained viral response to hepatitis C virus.

A 68-year-old Japanese woman with chronic hepatitis C infection who achieved sustained viral response (SVR) was followed up regularly. Six years after SVR, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) was increased. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was diagnosed by computed tomography and was excised by hepatic resection.

Whole-genome sequencing of liver cancers identifies etiological influences on mutation patterns and recurrent mutations in chromatin regulators.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. We sequenced and analyzed the whole genomes of 27 HCCs, 25 of which were associated with hepatitis B or C virus infections, including two sets of multicentric tumors. Although no common somatic mutations were identified in the multicentric tumor pairs, their whole-genome substitution patterns were similar, suggesting that these tumors developed from independent mutations, although their shared etiological backgrounds may have strongly influenced their somatic mutation patterns.

Efficacy of rosuvastatin for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis with dyslipidemia: An open-label, pilot study.

Aim:   Statins, an inhibitor of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase, are reported to be useful for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Currently, there is no proven therapy for NASH. In this study, we assessed the efficacy of rosuvastatin in NASH patients with dyslipidemia.

Safety and feasibility of diet-treated donors with steatotic livers at the initial consultation for living-donor liver transplantation.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate both safety of diet-treated donors and the feasibility of their use for living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

Methods: A total of 128 living donors were enrolled in this study between April 2003 and March 2010. Of them, 41 were diagnosed with hepatic steatosis at the initial consultation.

A first case of hepatic angiosarcoma treated with recombinant interleukin-2.

A 60 year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of management of multiple liver tumors. According to image findings and liver biopsy, she was diagnosed as having epithelioid hemangioendothelioma of the liver accompanied by metastases in the spleen, lungs and bones. Based on the spread of the liver tumors and the extensive systemic metastases, she was considered inoperable.

IL28B polymorphism is associated with fatty change in the liver of chronic hepatitis C patients.

Background: Several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within the interleukin 28B (IL28B) locus are associated with sustained viral response in chronic hepatitis C (HCV) patients who were treated with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) plus ribavirin (RBV) combination therapy. Recently, an association between γ-GTP level and IL28B genotype was identified. In this study, the relationship between IL28B genotype and liver steatosis was analyzed.

Mechanistic analysis of the antitumor efficacy of human natural killer cells against breast cancer cells.

We investigated the role of human natural killer (NK) cells in the peripheral blood (PB) and liver in controlling breast cancer. The proportion of NK cells among liver mononuclear cells was significantly higher than among PB mononuclear cells. Liver NK cells inductively expressed higher levels of tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) than PB NK cells in response to interleukin-2 (IL-2).

Interferon (alpha, beta and omega) receptor 2 is a prognostic biomarker for lung cancer.

Objectives: It has been reported that the type I interferon receptor subunit, interferon (alpha, beta and omega) receptor 2 (IFNAR2), is overexpressed in several malignancies, primarily adenocarcinomas (ADCs); however, the biological significance of IFNAR2 in human lung cancer has not yet been studied.

Methods: Immunohistochemical analysis of 113 surgically resected lung specimens was performed, and the results were evaluated in association with clinical variables, including survival. Serum concentrations of IFNAR2 were also determined by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in 157 lung cancer patients and 164 healthy volunteers.

Fibrinogen/thrombin-based collagen fleece (TachoComb(R)) promotes regeneration in pulmonary arterial injury.

Objectives: To repair unexpected damage of the pulmonary artery (PA) during thoracic surgery, fibrinogen/thrombin-based collagen fleece (TachoComb(®) [TC]) can be applied as a haemostatic material. The progression of vessel restoration with TC has not been elucidated. In this study, we investigate details of the healing process with TC after PA injury using a canine model.

Spontaneously hypertensive rats develop pronounced hepatic steatosis induced by choline-deficient diet: Evidence for hypertension as a potential enhancer in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Aim:   Patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) frequently have many co-morbidities including essential hypertension, which is reported to increase vascular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and alter the hepatic anti-oxidant defense system. Since ROS play a role in the pathogenesis of NASH, it is hypothesized that hypertension modulates the hepatic oxidative status and influences the development of NASH. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of hypertension on the progression of NASH.

Comparisons of multi b-value DWI signal analysis with pathological specimen of breast cancer.

Previous studies have reported that the signal attenuation of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging for tumor tissues displays a non-monoexponential biexponential decay, and the apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) can be divided into a fast and slow diffusion component by using a simple biexponential decay model. The purpose of this study is to examine the non-monoexponential character of the diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging signal attenuations of breast cancers, estimate the fast and slow diffusion components, and compare them with the extra- and intracellular component information obtained from the pathological specimens. Twenty-two subjects having breast cancers underwent diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging using six b-values up to 3500 s/mm(2) and the signal attenuations were analyzed using the biexponential function.

Management of T1 colorectal carcinoma with special reference to criteria for curative endoscopic resection.

Background And Aim: In guidelines 2010 for the treatment of colorectal cancer from the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum (JSCCR), the criteria for identifying curable T1 colorectal carcinoma after endoscopic resection were well/moderately differentiated or papillary histologic grade, no vascular invasion, submucosal invasion depth less than 1000 µm and budding grade 1 (low grade). We aimed to expand these criteria.

Methods: A total of 499 T1 colorectal carcinomas, resected endoscopically or surgically, were analyzed.

A huge metastatic liver tumor from leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava: report of a case.

Leiomyosarcoma of the inferior vena cava (IVC) is a rare malignant tumor, and only a few cases of the resection of IVC leiomyosarcomas with synchronous liver metastases have been reported. This report describes a female patient who initially presented with a solitary, huge liver tumor and a retroperitoneal tumor. Following our preoperative diagnosis of primary liver cancer with a retroperitoneal lymph node metastasis, the patient underwent combined resection of both tumors.

A case of HER-2-positive recurrent breast cancer showing a clinically complete response to trastuzumab-containing chemotherapy after primary treatment of triple-negative breast cancer.

We report a case of HER-2-positive recurrent breast cancer showing a clinically complete response to trastuzumab-containing chemotherapy 6 years after primary treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. The primary tumor was negative for HER-2 as determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) (1+, and ratio, 1.1), but examination of the recurrent lymph node metastasis showed positivity for HER-2 by FISH (ratio, 5.

Good's syndrome-associated pure red cell aplasia with myelodysplastic syndrome.

We report a case of Good's syndrome-associated pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). In this case, effector memory T (T(EM)) cells were expanded in the bone marrow. It remains uncertain whether the development of MDS was caused by the basic marrow defects or radiation therapy.

Clinical validity of endoscopic submucosal dissection for submucosal invasive gastric cancer: a single-center study.

Background: The 2010 Japanese Gastric Cancer Association guidelines for the treatment of submucosal invasive gastric cancer (SM-GC) specify size 30 mm or less, differentiated-dominant histology, lack of vessel involvement, and submucosal invasion of less than 500 μm (SM1) as expanded criteria for curative endoscopic resection. Our purpose in this study was to confirm the validity of the expanded indications for curative endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) of SM-GC.

Methods: The study subjects were 173 patients with SM-GC resected by ESD at Hiroshima University Hospital between April 2002 and September 2010, including 99 patients for whom 3-plus years' follow-up information was available.

[Significant regression of a cavernous hepatic hemangioma to a sclerosed hemangioma over 12 years: a case study].

A sixties woman was found to have diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography with a tumor in the left lobe of the liver and was referred to our institution in 1998. Abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a typical, 70×45 mm cavernous hemangioma, which was followed up by annual MRI. In 2006, 8 years after the initial diagnosis, the MRI showed that the tumor had reduced to 30×15 mm.

Interferon-α/β receptor as a prognostic marker in osteosarcoma.

Background: A large-scale randomized trial of adjuvant interferon-α therapy for patients with osteosarcoma has been initiated as a joint protocol by the European and American Osteosarcoma Study Group. Because the expression of functional interferon-α/β receptor is necessary for interferon-α agents to interact with osteosarcoma cells, we examined the expression of interferon-α/β receptor in a series of osteosarcoma specimens.

Methods: Forty patients with high-grade resectable osteosarcoma, from whom surgical specimens had been obtained at the time of biopsy, were included in this retrospective study.

Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6) is a prognostic biomarker in patients with surgically resected nonsmall cell lung cancer.

By immunizing mice with a lung adenocarcinoma cell line, we previously established a murine IgG1 monoclonal antibody that recognizes a sialylated sugar chain designated Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6). KL-6 is a high-molecular-weight glycoprotein classified as a human MUC1 mucin. The aim of this study was to determine whether KL-6 expression in tumors correlates with circulating KL-6 levels and whether circulating KL-6 has any prognostic value in patients with surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Advantages of endoscopic submucosal dissection versus endoscopic oblique aspiration mucosectomy for superficial esophageal tumors.

Background And Aim: In the treatment of superficial esophageal tumors (SET), en bloc histologically-complete resection reduces the risk of local recurrence. Endoscopic oblique aspiration mucosectomy (EOAM) and endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) have been applied to resect SET. The aim of this study was to retrospectively determine whether ESD is more advantageous than EOAM for SET.

Biexponential Signal Attenuation Analysis of Diffusion-weighted Imaging of Breast.

Purpose: in vivo, the attenuation of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) signal at high b-values is sometimes nonlinear when plotted with semilogarithmic function and is fit well by a biexponential function. Previous reports have indicated that the fast and slow component fractions of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) can be derived by biexponential fitting and that these fractions correspond to the actual diffusion components in the extra- and intracellular space. In this study, we investigated the clinical utility of DWI for the breast by performing DWI using multiple b-factors on healthy volunteers and clinical subjects, analyzing the signal by fitting it with a biexponential equation, and comparing the fitting parameters of breast lesions.