CXCL12 expression in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a rare malignant biliary neoplasm that causes a poor prognosis even after curative hepatectomy. Liver metastasis is the major recurrence pattern of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma; therefore, the prevention of liver metastasis is a desirable objective. The aim of this study is to identify gene(s) related to liver metastasis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and to examine the inhibitory effects on metastasis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma by controlling such gene(s).

Impact of Anatomical Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma With Microportal Invasion (vp1): A Multi-institutional Study by the Kyushu Study Group of Liver Surgery.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the value of anatomical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with microportal vascular invasion (vp1) between 2000 and 2010.

Background: Vascular invasion has been reported as a prognostic factor of liver resection for HCC. Anatomical resection for HCC has resulted in optimum outcomes of eradicating intrahepatic micrometastases through the portal vein, but opposite results have also been reported.

Surgical management of recurrent intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: predictors, adjuvant chemotherapy, and surgical therapy for recurrence: A multi-institutional study by the Kyushu Study Group of Liver Surgery.

Objectives of the present study were to identify predictors of the recurrence of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), and to evaluate the survival benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy and surgical treatment for ICC recurrence. A multi-institutional retrospective study was carried out in 356 patients with ICC who underwent curative surgery at one of 14 institutions belonging to the Kyushu Study Group of Liver Surgery. A total of 214 patients (60%) had recurrence.

Training for laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy.

In recent years, laparoscopic procedures have developed rapidly, and the reports of laparoscopic pancreatic resection including laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) have increased in number. Although LPD is a complex procedure with high mortality, the training system for LPD remains unestablished. Ensuring patient safety is extremely important, even in challenging surgeries such a LPD.

The Feasibility and Efficacy of Laparoscopic Extended Total Mesorectal Excision for Locally Advanced Lower Rectal Cancer.

Background/aim: Extended total mesorectal excision (ETME) is defined as en bloc resection of the adjacent organs outside the mesorectal fascia, that is indicated in cases with locally advanced lower rectal cancer (T4 tumor). The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic ETME (L-ETME) for locally advanced lower rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: The present study analyzed clinical outcomes and oncological outcomes of 11 consecutive patients who underwent L-ETME for cT4 lower rectal cancer in Nagasaki Medical Center between 2012 and 2015.

Predictors of portal and splenic vein thrombosis after laparoscopic splenectomy: a retrospective analysis of a single-center experience.

Purpose: Laparoscopic splenectomy (LS) has become the standard operative approach for splenectomy. Portal or splenic vein thrombosis (PSVT) is a serious and common complication after LS, and lethal complications of PSVT can occur when the portal vein is completely occluded by portal vein thrombosis (PVT). We aimed to clarify the predictors of PSVT after LS and to determine which of them were also predictors of PVT.

Adherence to Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy in Women With Breast Cancer: A Prospective Observational Study in Japanese Women.

Introduction: Nonadherence to adjuvant endocrine therapy has been poorly studied in Asian patients with breast cancer. We therefore assessed adherence to endocrine therapy among women with breast cancer in Japan.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study among Japanese women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

The long-term survival in primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma: a case report.

Background: Primary retroperitoneal mucinous cystadenocarcinoma (PRMC) is extremely rare, and its biological behavior, pathogenesis, optimum treatments, and prognosis remain to be elucidated. We herein report a case of PRMC with an 80-month follow-up.

Case Presentation: A 29-year-old woman was diagnosed with unknown retroperitoneal tumor with benign right ovarian cyst and uterine fibroids, and she underwent laparotomy.

Clinical and Oncological Outcomes of Laparoscopic Lateral Pelvic Lymph Node Dissection in Advanced Lower Rectal Cancer: Single-institution Experience.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic versus open surgery for total mesorectal excision (TME) with lateral pelvic lymph node dissection (LPLD) in advanced lower rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Forty-four patients who underwent TME with LPLD for lower rectal cancer (pStage II/III) between January 2008 and December 2014 were divided into two groups according to the type of surgical approach as follows: open LPLD group (OLD, n=17) and laparoscopic LPLD group (LLD, n=27).

Results: Operative time was comparable between the groups (p=0.

Anterior approach for right hepatectomy with hanging maneuver for hepatocellular carcinoma: a multi-institutional propensity score-matching study.

Background: This multi-institutional study aimed to assess the benefits of anterior approach for right hepatectomy with hanging maneuver (ARH-HM) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) compared with conventional right hepatectomy (CRH).

Methods: From January 2000 to December 2012, 306 patients with HCC ≥5 cm were divided into two groups: ARH-HM (n = 104) and CRH (n = 202).

Results: After one-to-one propensity score-matched analysis, 72 ARH-HM and 72 CRH patients presented comparable background factors.

Clinical and Oncological Outcomes of Laparoscopic Versus Open Surgery for Advanced Rectal Cancer.

Aim: To compare the clinical and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic and open approaches in patients with advanced rectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: In this study, 78 patients who underwent surgery for advanced middle and lower rectal cancer (pStage II - III) were divided into two groups according to type of surgical approach: laparoscopic surgery (LS group; n=40) and open surgery (OS group: n=38). The clinical outcomes and oncological outcomes were compared between the two groups.

Total thyroidectomy versus thyroid lobectomy for papillary thyroid cancer: Comparative analysis after propensity score matching: A multicenter study.

Background: In patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC), the role of total thyroidectomy (TT) versus that of thyroid lobectomy (TL) has been controversial.

Methods: This retrospective study was approved by our institutional review board, and the requirement to obtain informed consent was waived. In total, 173 patients with 1- to 5-cm stage cN0 and cM0 PTC tumors treated by curative surgery from 1994 to 2008 were evaluated.

Portal Vein Embolization Followed by Right-Side Hemihepatectomy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients: A Japanese Multi-Institutional Study.

Background: Portal vein embolization (PVE) is useful to expand the indications of major hepatectomy; however, its oncologic effects are not fully understood. This study aimed to confirm the efficacy of preoperative PVE for hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Study Design: Between 2000 and 2012, five hundred and ten patients with hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing right-side hemihepatectomy were enrolled (PVE group, n = 162 and non-PVE group, n = 348).

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm in an annular pancreas: a case report.

Annular pancreas is a rare anomaly in which a ring of pancreatic tissue encircles the second portion of the duodenum. We herein report a case involving a 79-year-old Japanese man with an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas. Imaging studies showed that the pancreatic tissue encircled the descending part of the duodenum and that a 30-mm-diameter cystic tumor was present in the annular segment, leading to the diagnosis of pancreatic IPMN.

Multidisciplinary therapy for granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor producing carcinosarcoma of the esophagus: report of a case.

The granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF)-producing esophageal carcinosarcoma is extremely rare in esophageal cancer. In the present case, multidisciplinary therapy, which is surgical resection with preoperative chemotherapy, has been effectively treatment to granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor producing esophageal carcinosarcoma of the esophagus.

Hepatic inflammatory pseudotumor associated with xanthogranulomatous cholangitis mimicking cholangiocarcinoma.

Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a rare benign condition often misdiagnosed as malignancy. An 80-year-old man was referred to our clinic for an asymptomatic hepatic mass detected on plain abdominal CT. Abdominal ultrasonography identified the lesion as a poorly defined hypoechoic mass.

Prognostic Impact of Preoperative Lymph Node Enlargement in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma: A Multi-Institutional Study by the Kyushu Study Group of Liver Surgery.

Background: Although lymph node metastasis (LNM) has been considered an important prognostic factor for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), the impact of lymph node enlargement on the prognosis of ICC, and the accuracy of diagnosis of LNM, have not been fully clarified.

Methods: Using a chart review of 225 patients with ICC, we compared survival times between patients with and without lymph node enlargement, and we evaluated the accuracy of diagnosis of LNM. We also performed a multivariate analysis to determine the variables affecting overall survival in the study population.

A novel animal model for in vivo study of liver cancer metastasis.

Aim: To establish an animal model with human hepatocyte-repopulated liver for the study of liver cancer metastasis.

Methods: Cell transplantation into mouse livers was conducted using alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)-producing human gastric cancer cells (h-GCCs) and h-hepatocytes as donor cells in a transgenic mouse line expressing urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) driven by the albumin enhancer/promoter crossed with a severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mouse line (uPA/SCID mice). Host mice were divided into two groups (A and B).

Effects of intermittent 5-fluorouracil and low-dose cisplatin therapy on advanced and recurrent gastric cancer.

Background: Although combination therapy consisting of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin for the treatment of gastric cancer has been reported, no consistent regimen has been established. Our aim was to determine the optimal treatment schedule of this therapy, for patients with advanced or recurrent gastric cancer.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a phase II study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy consisting of intermittent 5-FU and low-dose cisplatin in 26 patients with advanced or recurrent gastric cancer.

A case of lupus-associated pancreatitis with ruptured pseudoaneurysms.

Pancreatitis is a relatively rare complication in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Herein we report a case of SLE with the initial development of acute pancreatitis, subsequently complicated by bleeding pseudoaneurysms. A 55-year-old Japanese woman was admitted to our hospital for the treatment of SLE.

mPGES-1 expression in non-cancerous liver tissue impacts on postoperative recurrence of HCC.

Aim: To investigate whether microsomal prostaglandin E synthase-1 (mPGES-1) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and in non-cancerous liver affects HCC prognosis after hepatectomy.

Methods: The relationship between patient clinical profiles, tumor factors, surgical determinants, and mPGES-1 expression and the recurrence-free survival rate were examined in 64 patients who underwent curative hepatectomy between March 2003 and December 2006.

Results: The scores for mPGES-1 expression were higher in well differentiated and moderately differentiated HCC tissues than in poorly differentiated HCC tissues (well differentiated, 5.

Vitamin D binding protein-macrophage activating factor inhibits HCC in SCID mice.

Background: A high incidence of recurrence after treatment is the most serious problem in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, a new strategy for the treatment of the disease is needed. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether vitamin D binding protein-macrophage activating factor (DBP-maf) is able to inhibit the growth of HCC.