[Effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy using gemcitabine for resected pancreatic cancer].

Background: The aim was to evaluate the adjuvant chemotherapy using gemcitabine (GEM) for resected pancreatic cancer.

Methods: We investigated 69 patients who had undergone curative operations for pancreatic cancer. They were classified into two groups of patients using GEM (group A: 37) and patients with surgery alone (group B: 32) between 2009 and 1998.

Pancreaticoduodenectomies with a duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy anastomosis with and without a stenting tube showed no differences in long-term follow-up.

Background/purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term complications of pancreaticoduodenectomy with a duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy anastomosis without a stenting tube.

Methods: Patients were followed for at least 3 years after pancreaticoduodenectomy. They were classified into two groups: duct-to-mucosa pancreaticojejunostomy anastomosis with a stenting tube (group A: 24) and without a stenting tube (group B: 21).

Pancreatic schwannoma: a case report and literature review with special reference to imaging features.

Context: We report the imaging features of pancreatic schwannomas, a rare benign type of pancreatic tumor.

Case Report: A 66-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with a pancreatic tumor indicated in medical examinations. Computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) revealed a solid and cystic tumor, 3 cm in diameter, within the body of the pancreas.

Appraisal of the Imaizumi modification of the Beger procedure: the TWMU experience.

Background/purpose: We developed the Imaizumi modification of the Beger procedure, a duodenum-preserving pancreatic head resection. The Imaizumi modification allows for removal of more of the subtotal pancreatic head than in the conventional Beger procedure, including the intrapancreatic bile duct, for chronic pancreatitis with common bile duct stenosis. A retrospective study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the Imaizumi modification compared to a pylorus-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy (PPPD), based on the early and late postoperative results.

[A case of pathologic complete response of primary esophageal carcinoma treated with 5-FU/CDDP as neoadjuvant chemotherapy].

A 77-year-old man with advanced esophageal carcinoma and lymph node swelling of abdomen and mediastinum, underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) with 5-FU/CDDP. Adverse reactions were general fatigue and nausea of grade 3 and stomatitis of grade 2. Primary tumor and lymph node swelling revealed remarkable effectiveness after 1 course of NAC, so 2 courses of NAC were given.

Pancreaticojejunostomy of duct to mucosa anastomosis can be performed more safely without than with a stenting tube.

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of performing a pancreaticojejunostomy with a duct-to-mucosa anastomosis without a stenting tube.

Methods: One hundred twenty-one patients with pancreaticojejunostomy, classified into 2 groups of those with duct-to-mucosa anastomoses with stenting tubes (group A; n = 49) and without stenting tubes (group B; n = 72), were investigated. Outcomes, including complications and survival rates, are reported.

Bi-weekly irinotecan hydrochloride and cisplatin as a second-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of bi-weekly administered irinotecan (CPT-11) and Cisplatin (CDDP) as a second-line chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Methods: We included 22 patients who were resistant to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) -based chemotherapy. CPT-11 (80 mg/m (2)) and CDDP (25 mg/m(2)) were administered bi-weekly on days 1 and 15 of a 4-week-cycle, on an outpatient basis except for the first time.

Small-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater.

We report a patient (an 80-year-old woman) with anemia and fecal occult blood, who had an emergency operation for carcinoma of the cecum (well-differentiated adenocarcinoma without local lymph node metastasis). Postoperative magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, cholangiography, and upper gastroduodenal endoscopy showed a tumor of the ampulla of Vater, and pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy was performed. Histology of the resected tumor was that of small-cell carcinoma, and immunohistochemistry showed positive staining for neuron-specific enolase, chromogranin A, and synaptophysin, confirming the neuroendocrine nature of the tumor.

[Second-line chemotherapy with bi-weekly CPT-11 and cisplatin for recurrent colorectal cancer resistant to 5-FU based chemotherapy].

Second-line chemotherapy with bi-weekly CPT-11 and cisplatin (CDDP) was given to 19 patients with recurrent colorectal cancer resistant to 5-FU based chemotherapy. The 19 patients consisted of 18 men and 1 woman with a mean age of 61.3 years.

Indications for pancreatoduodenectomy in patients undergoing lymphadenectomy for advanced gallbladder carcinoma.

Background/purpose: Carcinoma of the gallbladder shows diverse patterns of spread. The most appropriate surgical procedures according to the depth and extent of the spread of the tumor are still controversial.

Methods: We investigated this surgical problem clinicopathologically, especially regarding the indications for pancreatoduodenectomy (PD), by retrospectively reviewing the clinical records of 216 patients who were surgically treated for advanced gallbladder carcinoma.

[A case of recurrent gallbladder cancer responding to combination chemotherapy of TS-1 and CDDP].

A 76-year-old man suffering from advanced gallbladder cancer after hepato-pancreaticoduodenectomy had cholangitis and serum elevation of CA19-9 2 years and 6 months after the operation. A recurrent tumor had been recognized from the hilar to the surrounding inferior vena cava, and stenosis of jejunum utilized for pancreaticocholedoco-jejunostomy. A bypass operation of jejunum was performed.

Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue-type lymphoproliferative lesion of the common bile duct.

Only a few cases of primary lymphoma of the common bile duct have been reported up to now. Here, we report a mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)-type lymphoproliferative lesion of the common bile duct with some considerations about MALT lymphoma and benign lymphoproliferation. The patient, a 71-year-old woman, was admitted to our hospital because of progressive epigastric pain.

[A case of gastric cancer with multiple liver metastasis responding to combination therapy of CPT-11 and CDDP].

A 63-year-old man suffering from advanced gastric carcinoma after distal gastric resection had multiple liver metastases 5 months after the operation. He underwent 3 courses of combination chemotherapy of 5-FU 600 mg/day with CDDP 50 mg/day, etoposide 100 mg/day and Leucovorin 30 mg/day for 5 days (FLEP), but progressive disease (PD) was noted. One additional course of combination chemotherapy with CPT-11 140 mg/day and CDDP 40 mg/day biweekly was performed and a complete response (CR) was noted.