[Small cell lung cancer complicated by opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome].

Opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome, one of the paraneoplastic neurological syndromes involving several neurological symptoms that result from "remote effects" of cancer, is a rare disease characterized by opsoclonus, cerebellar ataxia and myoclonus of the trunk and extremities. A 53-year-old man was admitted with dizziness and difficulty walking. Medical examinations led to a diagnosis of opsoclonus myoclonus syndrome.

[A case of primary lung cancer with cervical tuberculous lymphadenitis].

A 66-year-old woman was admitted due to right cervical lymphadenopathy and an abnormal chest radiograph. Acid-fast bacilli smear of fine needle aspiration from a right cervical lymph node was positive. Histopathological examination of the specimen obtained by percutaneous right cervical lymph node biopsy showed necrotizing epithelioid granulomas and no malignant cells.

[A case of pulmonary eosinophilic granuloma that remitted after cessation of smoking].

A 43-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of productive cough and an abnormal chest radiograph. He had smoked one pack of cigarettes per day for 23 years. Chest radiograph on admission showed diffuse reticulo-linear infiltrates, most prominent in both upper lung fields.

Involvement of IL-10 and Bcl-2 in resistance against an asbestos-induced apoptosis of T cells.

To analyze the possibility that immunological alteration in asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) such as asbestosis (ASB) and malignant mesothelioma (MM) may affect the progression of cancers, a human adult T cell leukemia virus-immortalized T cell line (MT-2Org) was continuously exposed to 10 mug/ml of chrysotile-B (CB), an asbestos. After at least 8 months of exposure, the rate of apoptosis in the cells became very low and the resultant subline was designated MT-2Rst. The MT-2Rst cells were characterized by (i) enhanced expression of bcl-2, with regain of apoptosis-sensitivity by reduction of bcl-2 by siRNA, (ii) excess IL-10 secretion and expression, and (iii) activation of STAT3 that was inhibited by PP2, a specific inhibitor of Src family kinases.