Updated Review of Proximal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer or Cancer of the Gastroesophageal Junction.

Proximal gastrectomy (PG) has reemerged as a viable surgical option for managing proximal gastric cancer and gastroesophageal junction cancer, particularly for early-stage tumors, offering potential advantages over total gastrectomy (TG). This review examines the evolution of PG, emphasizing surgical techniques and outcomes. Although PG was initially abandoned due to postoperative complications such as reflux esophagitis, advances in reconstruction methods, such as the double-flap technique and double-tract reconstruction, have significantly improved patient quality of life and reduced complications.

Minimum resection length to ensure a pathologically negative distal margin and a larger remnant stomach for esophagogastric junction cancer.

Background: Ensuring a pathologically negative distal margin (DM) and preserving a larger remnant stomach is important for proximal gastrectomy (PG) in patients with esophagogastric junction (EGJ) cancer. However, the minimum DM length for ensuring negative margins has not been identified.

Methods: We enrolled patients undergoing PG or total gastrectomy for EGJ cancer.

Oncological impact of the preoperative combined assessment of skeletal muscle mass for patients undergoing curative gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

Purpose: We performed a combined assessment of skeletal muscle mass using the skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) and the psoas muscle index (PMI) to evaluate their association with the overall survival (OS) of gastric cancer patients after curative gastrectomy.

Methods: We analyzed, retrospectively, the computed tomography records of skeletal muscle mass of patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for pStage I-III gastric cancer between April, 2010 and April, 2016. We then compared OS as the primary outcome, stratifying patients according to their SMI or PMI, and investigated prognostic factors using multivariate analyses.

Post-radical gastrectomy long-term survival and etiologies of mortalities in older adult patients greater than 80 years of age with gastric cancer.

Background: Patients aged >80-years-old with gastric cancer are commonly excluded from clinical trials, and no consensus exists regarding surgical indications and outcomes in older patients. In this study, we analyzed the post-gastrectomy long-term survival and etiologies of mortality in older patients with gastric cancer.

Methods: Patients aged >80-years-old with pathological stages I-III primary gastric cancer who undergone radical gastrectomies, between May 2006 and March 2017, were included in the study.

Tritium transfer from seawater into marine organisms TFWT.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, has started tritiated water release into the Pacific Ocean. In order to reduce unreasonable rumor caused by tritium release, flounder, abalone, and sarggasum were exposed to tritium enriched seawater, and time dependent Tissues Free Water Tritium (TFWT) concentration was measured. Estimating the concentration of Organically Bound Tritium (OBT) is important to assess tritium impact because it has a longer biological half-life than TFWT.

Advantages of adjuvant chemotherapy using S-1 following minimally invasive gastrectomy for gastric cancer versus open surgery: a propensity score-matched analysis.

Background: It is essential to ensure optimal adherence to adjuvant chemotherapy regimens following gastric cancer surgery. However, treatment intensity for S-1 as adjuvant chemotherapy has not as yet been compared between minimally invasive (MI) and open (Open) surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively compared dose modification of adjuvant S-1 between MI and Open surgery in patients undergoing R0 gastrectomy for gastric or esophago-gastric junction cancer at the Cancer Institute Hospital Tokyo, Japan, during the period from 2012 to 2022, and receiving S-1 for pStage II or S-1 plus docetaxel for pStage III as adjuvant chemotherapy.

Atmospheric particulates over the northwestern Pacific during the late Holocene: Volcanism, dust, and human perturbation.

Mineral aerosols form a key component of Earth's dynamic biogeochemical systems, yet their composition and mass are variable in time. We reconstruct patterns in mineral aerosol flux from East Asia, the second largest global dust source, in a peat mire in northern Japan. Using geochemical fingerprinting, we show for the past ~3600 years that high but variable tephra flux dominated regional aerosol loads.

Safety of robotic double-flap technique following proximal gastrectomy in the introductory phase compared with laparoscopic procedure: a propensity score-matched analysis.

Background: Proximal gastrectomy (PG) is recommended for upper-third gastric cancer and esophagogastric junction (EGJ) cancer, preserving organ function while reducing postoperative symptoms. The double-flap technique (DFT) is one approach to minimize reflux after PG. However, laparoscopic PG with DFT (LPG-DFT) has drawbacks of increased complexity, such as hand sutures for anastomosis.

Effects of age and hearing loss on speech emotion discrimination.

Better communication with older people requires not only improving speech intelligibility but also understanding how well emotions can be conveyed and the effect of age and hearing loss (HL) on emotion perception. In this paper, emotion discrimination experiments were conducted using a vocal morphing method and an HL simulator in young normal hearing (YNH) and older participants. Speech sounds were morphed to represent intermediate emotions between all combinations of happiness, sadness, and anger.

A comparison of the physical demands generated by playing different opponents in basketball friendly matches.

This study aimed to compare the physical demands of playing opponents of different skill levels in basketball. Eighteen men's college basketball players wore accelerometers to measure the relative accumulated acceleration load (AAL), estimated equivalent distance, and frequencies of sprint, jump, and exertion events during games against professional teams (Pro), teams at the same competition level (Collegiate), and teams comprising intra-team members in practice games (Scrimmage). Internal responses were calculated using the relative rating of perceived exertion (sRPE).

Improving Auditory Filter Estimation by Incorporating Absolute Threshold and a Level-dependent Internal Noise.

Auditory filter (AF) shape has traditionally been estimated with a combination of a notched-noise (NN) masking experiment and a power spectrum model (PSM) of masking. However, there are several challenges that remain in both the simultaneous and forward masking paradigms. We hypothesized that AF shape estimation would be improved if absolute threshold (AT) and a level-dependent internal noise were explicitly represented in the PSM.

Clinical predictors of early postoperative recurrence after radical esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer.

Purpose: Esophagectomy for esophageal cancer has a high incidence rate of early postoperative recurrence and death. This study aimed to identify the clinical and pathological features in early recurrence cases and to confirm the usefulness of prediction using these factors for effective adjuvant therapy and postoperative surveillance.

Methods: One hundred and twenty five patients who developed postoperative recurrence after undergoing radical esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer were classified into two groups as follows: those with early recurrence at ≤ 6 months and those with nonearly recurrence at > 6 months after surgery.

Multiple episodes of ice loss from the Wilkes Subglacial Basin during the Last Interglacial.

The Last Interglacial (LIG: 130,000-115,000 years ago) was a period of warmer global mean temperatures and higher and more variable sea levels than the Holocene (11,700-0 years ago). Therefore, a better understanding of Antarctic ice-sheet dynamics during this interval would provide valuable insights for projecting sea-level change in future warming scenarios. Here we present a high-resolution record constraining ice-sheet changes in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin (WSB) of East Antarctica during the LIG, based on analysis of sediment provenance and an ice melt proxy in a marine sediment core retrieved from the Wilkes Land margin.

Evaluation of Endoscopic Response Using Deep Neural Network in Esophageal Cancer Patients Who Received Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

Background: We previously reported that endoscopic response evaluation can preoperatively predict the prognosis and distribution of residual tumors after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). In this study, we developed artificial intelligence (AI)-guided endoscopic response evaluation using a deep neural network to discriminate endoscopic responders (ERs) in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) after NAC.

Method: Surgically resectable ESCC patients who underwent esophagectomy following NAC were retrospectively analyzed in this study.

Effects of let-7a microRNA and C-C chemokine receptor type 7 expression on cellular function and prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: C-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CCR7) participates in chemotactic and metastatic responses in various cancers, including in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The microRNA (miRNA) let-7a suppresses migration and invasion of various types of cancer cells by downregulating CCR7 expression.

Methods: The expression levels of CCR7 and let-7a were measured in the cell lines, tumor, and peritumoral tissues of ESCC patients.

Comparison of hand-sewn and circular stapled esophagogastric anastomoses in the neck after esophagectomy for thoracic esophageal cancer: a propensity score-matched analysis.

Esophagectomy is a highly invasive surgical procedure; however, anastomotic leakage is one of the major surgical complications that should be prevented. Institutions have their own inherited or specialized anastomosis methods. The superior anastomosis procedure remains unknown despite the many studies to determine the optimal method.

A retrospective 5-year survival analysis of surgically resected gastric cancer cases from the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association nationwide registry (2001-2013).

Background: The nationwide registry of the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association collected data of surgically resected cases of gastric cancer between 2001 and 2013. These retrospective analyses aimed to delineate tumor characteristics, surgical history, and survival distribution.

Methods: Data from 254,706 patients with primary gastric cancer were included.

Effect of Postoperative Oral Intake Status on Sarcopenia Six Months After Esophageal Cancer Surgery.

Purpose: In patients with esophageal cancer, skeletal muscle mass has been reported to decrease progressively after surgery and be independently associated with a poor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to investigate perioperative changes in dysphagia, oral intake status, and nutritional status and identify factors related to sarcopenia 6 months after esophagectomy.

Methods: A total of 134 patients who underwent radical resection for thoracic esophageal cancer between March 2016 and July 2019 were analyzed retrospectively.