Complete remission of anaplastic thyroid carcinoma after concomitant treatment with docetaxel and radiotherapy.

Anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) although rare is the most lethal form of thyroid cancer. The mortality rate for ATC is very high, with a median survival time of only 5 months; the survival rate at 1 year after diagnosis is <20%. Management of ATC is extremely difficult and rife with uncertainties.

Two DNA invertases contribute to flagellar phase variation in Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain LT2.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium strain LT2 possesses two nonallelic structural genes, fliC and fljB, for flagellin, the component protein of flagellar filaments. Flagellar phase variation occurs by alternative expression of these two genes. This is controlled by the inversion of a DNA segment, called the H segment, containing the fljB promoter.

Strenuous physical labor is important as a cause of elevated alanine aminotransferase levels in Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C viremia.

To clarify the influence of lifestyle habits on the elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels deterioration of Japanese patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) viremia, we investigated the effects of smoking, drinking, and physical labor on the disease course of the residents living in a rural area of Kyushu, Japan. The data of patients with chronic HCV viremia and control subjects without HCV infection were analyzed retrospectively from 1986 to 1992 and prospectively from 1993 to 2000. In 2000, a questionnaire was given to 268 HCV-infected patients and 275 control subjects to survey for the lifestyle habits.

Efficacy of prolonged treatment following combination with ribavirin and interferon for chronic hepatitis type C: A pilot study.

The aim of the present study was to assess the efficacy of the prolonged interferon monotherapy following combination treatment. Seventy-six patients were enrolled. Of these, 7 were withdrawn while undergoing treatment with interferon combined with ribavirin, and 12 remained positive for HCV-RNA at the completion of the combination treatment.

Confirmation of nosocomial hepatitis C virus infection in a hemodialysis unit.

Objectives: To investigate a hepatitis C virus (HCV) outbreak in a hemodialysis unit and determine the source of transmission.

Methods: We have prospectively investigated the epidemiology of hemodialysis-related HCV infection in a single unit since 1989. In September 2000, acute hepatitis C (AH-C) was diagnosed in 5 patients by alanine aminotransferase elevation and HCV genotype 1b viremia without antibody to HCV.

Relationship of genotype rather than race to hepatitis B virus pathogenicity: a study of Japanese and Solomon Islanders.

The aim of this study was to determine the predominant hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype in the Solomon Islands and determine if there is any racial correlation between genotype and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) production in Japanese and Melanesian individuals. A total of 403 serum samples from 206 Melanesian HBV carriers in the Solomon Islands and 197 Japanese carriers from Fukuoka (n = 106) and Okinawa (n = 91) living in Japan in 2001 were tested. The HBV genotypes of 206 Melanesian subjects were 114 with genotype C (55.

Double point mutation in the core promoter region of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C may be related to liver deterioration in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Background And Aim: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C has a more severe pathogenesis than genotype B in Japan. We retrospectively investigated the relationship between HBV genotype and the core promoter (CP) (nt 1762 and 1764) and precore (PreC) (nt 1896) mutations of the HBV genome.

Methods: A total of 129 Japanese patients (42 genotype B and 87 genotype C) with chronic HBV infection, living in two different geographical areas in Japan, were evaluated (mean follow-up period 10.

A decrease in mother-to-child transmission of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Okinawa, Japan.

To investigate the chronologic change of mother-to-child transmission of human T lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-I) in Okinawa, Japan, the presence of antibody to HTLV-I was tested in 4,187 healthy residents between, 4,528 nursery school children, and 3,837 pregnant women between 1968 and 2000. The chronologic change of the feeding method and the length of the breast-feeding period among 1,117 healthy mothers from 1937 to 1995 were also obtained by interview. Age-adjusted prevalence of HTLV-I among healthy residents decreased from 9.

Second harmonic generation due to quadrupole interaction in a photonic crystal slab: angle dependence and symmetry of the unit cell.

We investigate second harmonic generation (SHG) from a photonic crystal slab consisting of centrosymmetric materials. The SHG signal is observed in the transmission direction when the incident laser excites the quasiwaveguide mode. As the SHG frequency approaches the exciton level, the SHG intensity increases resonantly.

A prospective comparison of the effect of interferon-alpha and interferon-beta treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C on the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma development.

To investigate differences in the effect of interferon (IFN) -alpha and IFN-beta treatment for hepatitis C on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development, we prospectively followed 351 consecutive patients (median age, 56.6 years; mean follow-up, 5.7 +/- 2.

Clinical outcomes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes B and C in Japanese patients with chronic HBV infection.

The aims of this retrospective survey were to determine the epidemiologic distribution of hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes and analyze the genotype-related clinical differences among Japanese patients with chronic HBV infection. The 158 surveyed patients with chronic HBV infection lived in Fukuoka and Okinawa were serially tested for serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg). Follow-up was for a period of 10.

TT-virus infection in Japanese general population and in hemodialysis patients.

To determine TT virus (TTV) prevalence and the persistence of viremia, we prospectively did cross-sectional and longitudinal studies using by the polymerase chain reaction to test the successive sera of 150 Japanese hemodialysis patients and compared these with those of 166 residents of a rural Japanese area endemic for hepatitis C virus (HCV). TTV DNA positivity was significantly higher in 50 (30.1%) of the residents than in 25 (16.

Increased frequency of IFN-gamma-producing peripheral CD8+ T cells with memory-phenotype in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

To identify the capacity for cytokine production and the phenotypic characteristics of peripheral CD8(+) T cells in patients with chronic hepatitis C, 31 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 22 healthy controls were studied at the single cell level by three-color flow cytometry. Whole blood was stained with surface CD8, intracellular interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), and interleukin-4 (IL-4), surface CD8, CD28, and intracellular IFN-gamma after stimulation with PMA plus ionomycin, and then surface CD8, CD45RA, and CD28. IFN-gamma-producing peripheral CD8(+) T cells were found frequently in patients than in controls (P < 0.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA level determined by second-generation branched-DNA probe assay as predictor of response to interferon treatment in patients with chronic HCV viremia.

Using first- and second-generation branched-DNA probe assays (1st- and 2nd-bDNA), we investigated the predictors of favorable clinical response to interferon (IFN) treatment in patients with chronic HCV viremia. A total of 122 patients (85 genotype lb and 37 genotype 2a) with chronic HCV viremia received 24-week IFN-alpha treatment. Patients with sustained clearance of serum HCV RNA by polymerase chain reaction at six months after IFN treatment were defined as having a sustained response (SR).