Suppression Decreases 5-Fluorouracil-induced Apoptosis and Is Associated With Poor Prognosis in Gastric Cancer.

Background/aim: The development of new biomarkers to predict cancer patient prognosis is expected to aid in treatment selection, contributing to improved outcomes. In this study, we extracted a candidate gene associated with patient prognosis from a public database and investigated the molecular and biological functions and clinical significance of the gene in gastric cancer.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed The Cancer Genome Atlas database and identified the family with sequence similarity 32 member a (FAM32A) as a candidate gene.

Risk factors for early liver recurrence after pancreatic cancer resection.

Background: Liver recurrence after resection is one of the most common types of recurrence and is a risk factor for poor prognosis. The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for initial liver recurrence.

Methods: Total of 109 patients with resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who underwent resection between 2015 and 2022 were included.

Phase II randomized controlled trial to evaluate the supportive effect of Koujin (TJ-3020) powder in gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel-treated unresectable or recurrent pancreatic cancer.

Objectives: Gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel combination therapy (GnP) is a standard treatment for unresectable or recurrent pancreatic cancer. However, fatigue and malaise are frequent adverse effects. Recently, Kampo medicine containing ginsenoside has been reported to relieve cancer-related fatigue.

A case of successful conversion surgery for unresectable gallbladder cancer treated with durvalumab in combination with gemcitabine plus cisplatin.

We report a rare case of a patient with initially unresectable gallbladder cancer who underwent conversion surgery with durvalumab in combination with gemcitabine plus cisplatin and achieved an R0 resection. A 68 year-old woman was found to have gallbladder cancer and multiple enlarged lymph nodes around the suprapancreatic rim and hepatic hilum invading the proper hepatic artery on computed tomography. The diagnosis was cT3cN2cM0, cStage IVB.

A case of MSI-high pancreatic body-tail cancer successfully treated with radical resection after pembrolizumab.

A 72-year-old woman was diagnosed with unresectable pancreatic body-tail cancer (cT4N1M1, cStage IV) with para-aortic lymph node metastasis. She underwent six courses of gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel as first-line chemotherapy, 12 courses of oxaliplatin + irinotecan + levofolinate + fluorouracil as second-line chemotherapy, and five courses of albumin-suspended irinotecan + levofolinate + fluorouracil as third-line chemotherapy. After each chemotherapy regimen, the disease was determined to be progressive.

Novel choledochojejunostomy technique "T-shaped anastomosis" for preventing the development of postoperative cholangitis in pancreatoduodenectomy: A propensity score matching analysis.

Background: There have been few studies of countermeasures against postoperative cholangitis, a serious complication after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) that impairs quality of life.

Objective: To evaluate our recently developed, novel method of choledochojejunostomy with a larger anastomotic diameter, the "T-shaped anastomosis."

Methods: The study included 261 cases of PD.

Evaluating staging laparoscopy indications for pancreatic cancer based on resectability classification and treatment strategies for patients with positive peritoneal washing cytology.

Introduction: The prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in patients with positive peritoneal washing cytology (CY1) is poor. We aimed to evaluate the results of staging laparoscopy (SL) and treatment efficacy in CY1 patients based on a resectability classification.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 250 patients with PDAC who underwent SL before the initial treatment between 2017 and 2023 at the University of Toyama.

Efficacy of staging laparoscopy for resectable pancreatic cancer on imaging and the therapeutic effect of systemic chemotherapy for positive peritoneal cytology.

Background: The frequency and prognosis of positive peritoneal washing cytology (CY1) in resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (R-PDAC) remains unclear. The objective of this study was to identify the clinical implications of CY1 in R-PDAC and staging laparoscopy (SL).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 115 consecutive patients with R-PDAC who underwent SL between 2018 and 2022.

Is surgical resection justified for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma with distant abdominal organ metastasis? A position paper by experts in pancreatic surgery at the Joint Meeting of the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) & the Japan Pancreas Society (JPS) 2022 in Kyoto.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a typical refractory malignancy, and many patients have distant organ metastases at diagnosis, such as liver metastasis and peritoneal dissemination. The standard treatment for unresectable PDAC with distant organ metastasis (UR-M) is chemotherapy, but the prognosis remained poor. However, with recent dramatic developments in chemotherapy, the prognosis has gradually improved, and some patients have experienced marked shrinkage or disappearance of their metastatic lesions.

Laparoscopic distal pancreatectomy for pancreatic tail cancer in a 100-year-old patient.

We present the case of a 100-year-old man with no specific symptoms. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a 34 mm tumor in the pancreatic tail, which was diagnosed as pancreatic cancer by biopsy. CT and magnetic resonance imaging showed that the tumor was resectable, and there were no noncurative factors on staging laparoscopy (cT3N0M0: cStage IIA).

Repair using the pectoralis major musculocutaneous flap for refractory anastomotic leakage after total esophagectomy.

Background: The pectoralis major musculocutaneous flap (PMMF) is a pedicled flap often used as a reconstruction option in head and neck surgery, especially in cases with poor wound healing. However, applying PMMF after esophageal surgery is uncommon. We report here, the case of a successfully repaired refractory anastomotic fistula (RF) after total esophagectomy, by PMMF.

miR-877-3p as a Potential Tumour Suppressor of Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Background/aim: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are abnormally expressed and involved in the pathogenesis of various carcinomas. The present study aimed to identify novel miRNA genes associated with the pathogenesis and prognosis of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Materials And Methods: The miRNA profiling of 873 genes was performed using surgically resected oesophageal tissues from 35 patients with ESCC to identify candidate miRNAs.

A 47-Year-Old Man with Advanced Distal Pancreatic Carcinoma and an Initial Partial Response to Chemotherapy Requiring Celiac Axis Reconstruction of the Common Hepatic Artery and Left Gastric Artery.

BACKGROUND Distal pancreatectomy with en bloc celiac artery resection (DP-CAR) is a curative surgical method for locally advanced pancreatic body cancer; however, arterial reconstruction remains controversial in this procedure. This report presents the case of a 47-year-old man with advanced distal pancreatic carcinoma and initial partial response to chemotherapy who required celiac axis reconstruction of the common hepatic artery and left gastric artery. CASE REPORT A 47-year-old man had loss of appetite.

Comparison Between FOLFIRINOX and nal-IRI/FL as Second-line Treatment After Gemcitabine Plus Nab-paclitaxel for Pancreatic Cancer.

Background/aim: The regimen of nanoliposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (Nal-IRI/FL) was approved in Japan as second-line chemotherapy after gemcitabine-based treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in 2020. We examined the difference in outcome between patients treated with second-line folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) and those treated with nal-IRI/FL after first-line gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (GnP).

Patients And Methods: The outcomes of 34 patients with PDAC who received second-line FOLFIRINOX (n=21) or nal-IRI/FL (n=13) after GnP at our Department from January 2016 to June 2021 were reviewed retrospectively.

Downregulation of ROBO4 in Pancreatic Cancer Serves as a Biomarker of Poor Prognosis and Indicates Increased Cell Motility and Proliferation Through Activation of MMP-9.

Background: The axon guidance gene family, SLIT/ROBO pathway, controls neural network formation, which correlates with the development of several cancers.

Methods: We found through analysis of the public database that ROBO4, one of the axon guidance molecules among the SLIT/ROBO family, is significantly downregulated in primary pancreatic cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. We carried out transfection experiments using three pancreatic cancer cell lines (MiaPaCa-2, BxPC-3, and SW1990) and one pancreatic duct epithelial cell line (HPDE6c7).

Transcriptomic profiling on localized gastric cancer identified CPLX1 as a gene promoting malignant phenotype of gastric cancer and a predictor of recurrence after surgery and subsequent chemotherapy.

Background: Localized gastric cancer (GC) becomes fatal once recurring. We still have room for improving their prognoses.

Methods: Transcriptomic analysis was done on surgically resected specimens of 16 patients with UICC stage III GC who underwent curative gastrectomy and adjuvant oral fluoropyrimidine monotherapy.

Serum Carboxypeptidase Activity and Genotype-Stratified CA19-9 to Detect Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer.

Background And Aims: Serum diagnostic markers of early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) are needed, especially for stage I disease. As tumors grow and cause pancreatic atrophy, markers derived from pancreatic parenchyma such as serum carboxypeptidase A (CPA) activity lose diagnostic performance. We evaluated, with CA19-9, serum CPA as a marker of early pancreatic cancer.

Blockade of CHRNB2 signaling with a therapeutic monoclonal antibody attenuates the aggressiveness of gastric cancer cells.

Here, we evaluated the therapeutic potential of antibodies (Abs) targeting cholinergic receptor nicotinic beta 2 subunit (CHRNB2) in gastric cancer. To investigate the effects of these Abs on malignant phenotypes in vitro and in mouse xenograft models, we generated gene knockouts through genome editing, performed RNA interference-mediated knockdown of gene expression, and ectopically expressed CHRNB2 in gastric cancer cells. The effects of anti-CHRNB2 Abs on the proliferation of cancer cells were evaluated both in vitro and in vivo.

G-protein subunit gamma-4 expression has potential for detection, prediction and therapeutic targeting in liver metastasis of gastric cancer.

Background: The liver is the most common site for haematogenous metastasis of gastric cancer, and liver metastasis is fatal.

Methods: We conducted a transcriptomic analysis between metastatic foci in the liver, primary tumour and adjacent tissues from gastric cancer patients with metastasis limited to the liver. We determined mRNA expression levels in tumour tissues of 300 patients with gastric cancer via quantitative RT-PCR.

Hepatic metastasis of gastric cancer is associated with enhanced expression of ethanolamine kinase 2 via the p53-Bcl-2 intrinsic apoptosis pathway.

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) with hepatic metastasis has a poor prognosis. Understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in hepatic metastasis may contribute to the development of sensitive diagnostic biomarkers and novel therapeutic strategies.

Methods: We performed transcriptome analysis of surgically resected specimens from patients with advanced GC.

Therapeutic monoclonal antibody targeting of neuronal pentraxin receptor to control metastasis in gastric cancer.

Background: Controlling metastasis is essential for improving the prognosis of patients with gastric cancer (GC). Here, we aimed to identify a molecule required for GC metastasis and to investigate its potential utility as a target for the development of therapeutic antibodies (Abs).

Methods: Transcriptome and bioinformatics analyses of human GC cell lines identified the neuronal pentraxin receptor (NPTXR) as a candidate molecule.

Establishment of Peritoneal and Hepatic Metastasis Mouse Xenograft Models Using Gastric Cancer Cell Lines.

Background/aim: Establishment of mouse xenograft models is necessary for oncological research and depends on the characteristics of the cell lines and the immune system of the host. In this study, we describe the development of mouse xenograft models using human gastric cancer (GC) cell lines.

Materials And Methods: MKN1 stably-expressing luciferase (MKN1-Luc), N87, KATO III, MKN45 stably-expressing luciferase (MKN45-Luc), NUGC4, and OCUM-1 human GC cell lines were injected intraperitoneally into mice to establish peritoneal metastasis models.