Pyogenic spondylitis following endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer.

A man in his 80s who had a history of diabetes mellitus and aortic valve replacement was referred to our hospital for treatment of early gastric cancer and underwent endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD). Three days after ESD, the patient presented with low back pain and fever (38.7°).

Direct clipping using underwater inversion method for colonic diverticular bleeding.

Video 1Endoscopic direct clipping using an underwater inversion method for diverticular bleeding in the descending colon.

Association of the Low-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol/High-density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio with Glecaprevir-pibrentasvir Treatment.

Objective The change in serum lipid levels by direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment for chronic hepatitis C varies depending on the type of DAA. How the lipid level changes induced by glecaprevir-pibrentasvir (G/P) treatment contribute to the clinical outcome remains unclear. We conducted a prospective observational study to evaluate the effectiveness of G/P treatment and the lipid level changes.

[Primary biliary cholangitis complicated by primary hepatic extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue].

An 89-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital owing to liver dysfunction and ascites. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed hepatomegaly and heterogeneous density in the liver. 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) /CT revealed diffuse accumulation of FDG throughout the liver.

Serum HER2 as an adjunct to assess HER2 status for advanced gastric cancer: A prospective multicenter trial (SHERLOCK).

Background: Intratumoral human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) heterogeneity of gastric cancer can be an obstacle to accurate HER2 assessment. Serum HER2, concentrations of the HER2 extracellular domain shed into the bloodstream, has a potential to compensate HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) but has not been scrutinized in gastric cancer. This study sought to explore the clinical utility of serum HER2 in gastric cancer.

Development of hypertension within 2 weeks of initiation of sorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma is a predictor of efficacy.

Background: Sorafenib is an agent that inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor and is associated with onset or worsening of hypertension in some patients. We conducted a retrospective analysis of whether the development of hypertension during sorafenib treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma could be a predictor of anti-cancer efficacy.

Methods: The study included 38 patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma who had received sorafenib for at least 1 month between January 2010 and December 2012.

Irinotecan as the key chemotherapeutic agent in second-line treatment of metastatic gastric cancer after failure of first-line S-1 or S-1/CDDP therapy.

Background: S-1, an oral fluoropyrimidine, is one of the standard chemotherapeutic agents for the treatment of metastatic gastric cancer(MGC). However, the most effective second-line regimen after failure of treatment with first-line agents such as S-1 is yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to investigate the various second-line chemotherapy regimens in MGC patients.

Upregulation of BNIP3 by 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to hypoxia-mediated cell death.

Background: Pancreatic cancer cells often show resistance to hypoxia-mediated apoptosis, but the molecular mechanism underlying that resistance remains unknown. The purpose of the present study, therefore, was to examine the role of epigenetic gene alteration in the resistance to hypoxia-mediated apoptosis among pancreatic cancer cells.

Methods: Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to examine the expression of five genes associated with hypoxia-mediated apoptosis (PUMA, Caspase-8 [CASP8], APAF-1, BNIP3, and BNIP3L) in a panel of pancreatic cancer cell lines.

[A case of gastric mucosal bridge with Behçet's disease].

A 69-year-old man visiting our hospital with an epigastralgia and tarry stool was diagnosed as having Behçet's disease on the basis of repetitious aphthous stomatitis, erythema nodosum and arthralgia in 1991. The next year, he suffered from double active ulcers in the antrum of the stomach, and he had been operated on for intestinal perforation. In 1994, endoscopic examination revealed the gastric mucosal bridge between the double ulcers.