[Pre- and post-operative chemoradiation therapies for pancreatic cancers].

Due to a high incidence of local recurrence, the long-term outcome after resection of locally advanced pancreatic cancer is still pessimistic. Many previous reports showed that locoregional control was partly improved by intraoperative radiation or postoperative chemoradiation, while others suggested its insufficient effects for patients with R1- or R2-resections. Therefore some recent authors have recommended preoperative chemoradiation for more promising results in advanced pancreatic cancer.

Fibrosis in non-cancerous tissue is the unique prognostic factor for primary hepatocellular carcinoma without hepatitis B or C viral infection.

Background: The relationship between the state of non-cancerous tissues in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are negative for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb), and hepatitis C antibody (HCVAb) (NBNC-HCC) and the prognosis has not yet been resolved.

Methods: We examined the clinicopathological features of these patients and performed statistical analysis for the prognosis of recurrence following curative hepatic resection.

Results: Disease-free survival (DFS) revealed that only the degree of fibrosis was a significant prognostic factor (P = 0.

Population-based study of the relationship between hospital surgical volume and 10-year survival of breast cancer patients in Osaka, Japan.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among Japanese women; however, its outcome has never been analyzed in relation to hospital volume in Japan. We utilized data from the Osaka Cancer Registry for investigating correlations between hospital volume and 10-year survival of breast cancer patients. According to the total number of surgical procedures of breast cancer in each hospital during the period 1985-1991, we classified reporting hospitals in Osaka into four categories (high, medium, low, very low).

Ghrelin reduction after esophageal substitution and its correlation to postoperative body weight loss in esophageal cancer patients.

Background: Body weight loss is observed commonly after esophagectomy with gastric tube reconstruction in thoracic esophageal cancer patients. The functional and anatomical alteration of the stomach by this surgery should affect ghrelin secretion, a novel gastric hormone that upregulates body weight through appetite control and metabolic reaction.

Methods: Early-phase postoperative alteration of serum ghrelin was measured before and at day 3 and day 7 after surgery in 9 patients.

Patients with pancreatic intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms are at high risk of colorectal cancer development.

Background: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas has been recognized recently and is being diagnosed with increasing frequency. Although IPMN has a more favorable prognosis than standard invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the pancreas, recent reports suggest that IPMN patients are at higher risks of synchronous or metachronous primary cancers arising from various organs other than the pancreas (extrapancreatic cancers).

Methods: Records of 370 patients (69 of IPMN, 301 of IDC) who underwent surgery were used to assess risk factors for preoperative or postoperative extrapancreatic cancers.

Inactivation of Rho GTPases by p190 RhoGAP reduces human pancreatic cancer cell invasion and metastasis.

A number of small GTPases are involved in cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion, acting as molecular switches that cycle between GTP- and GDP-bound states. GTPase-activating proteins (GAPs) have been established as a major class of negative regulators of Rho GTPase signaling. To investigate the biological function of p190 RhoGAP toward RhoA in cancer cell invasion and metastasis, we generated a chimera made of the RhoGAP domain of p190 and the C-terminus of RhoA (p190-RhoA chimera), and transfected it into human pancreatic cancer cells, AsPC-1.

CD47 regulation of epithelial cell spreading and migration, and its signal transduction.

CD47 is an integrin-associated penta-transmembrane protein that possesses an immunoglobulin-like domain in its extracellular region. We have now investigated the role of CD47 in the regulation of epithelial cell spreading and migration. CD47 is colocalized with E-cadherin at cell-cell adhesion sites of epithelial cells.

The significance of surgical resection for pulmonary metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Pulmonary metastasis, which is the most common type of extrahepatic recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), has been considered unsuitable for surgical resection because most pulmonary metastases are multiple. Until now there have been few reports about surgical resection for pulmonary metastasis from HCC. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the significance of surgical resection for pulmonary metastasis from HCC.

Drug eruption due to bosentan in a patient with systemic sclerosis.

We present the case of a 60-year-old female patient with systemic sclerosis complicated by pulmonary hypertension. Ten days after the initiation of treatment with bosentan, high fever and skin eruptions were noted. In the previous reports, the frequency of drug-induced skin eruptions has not been well documented.

Preoperative chemotherapy for clinically node-positive patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

Lymph node metastasis is one of the strongest prognostic factors for patients with esophageal cancer. Whether neoadjuvant chemotherapy is effective for metastatic nodes and improves the prognosis of clinically node-positive patients is unknown. Seventy-seven patients with clinically node-positive esophageal cancer, who were given preoperative chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil, cisplatin and adriamycin) followed by surgery, were retrospectively analysed.

Prognosis of patients who develop cervical lymph node recurrence following curative resection for thoracic esophageal cancer.

Patients with esophageal cancer often display relapse at cervical nodes after surgery, but their prognosis and a suitable therapy remains unknown. We retrospectively reviewed the records for 35 patients who underwent esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy who then displayed relapse at the cervical lymph nodes alone between 1985 and 2003 in order to observe the prognostic factors for such patients. Median survival time from the date of recurrence for all 35 patients was 12 months with 1-year, 2-year, 3-year and 5-year survival rate of 47.

Advantage of pancreaticogastrostomy in detecting recurrent intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma in the remnant pancreas: a case of successful re-resection after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Recently there has been an increase in the number of case reports detailing the recurrence of cancer in the pancreatic remnants following surgical resection of intraductal papillary mucinous carcinoma (IPMC) of the pancreas. A case is presented here to indicate the advantage of pancreaticogastrostomy (PG) in terms of postoperative follow-up after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) for IPMC. A 68-year-old man underwent PD for IPMC of the pancreatic head, and the cut margin of the pancreatic duct was diagnosed as having no cancer but moderately dysplastic epithelium by an intraoperative frozen section of histology.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the eyelid arising from palpebral conjunctiva.

We reported a 58-year-old Japanese man with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the left upper eyelid arising from the palpebral conjunctiva. The tumor had been incised by a former doctor under the diagnosis of chalazion. Histopathological examination of the relapsed tumor revealed atypical squamous cells invading towards the eyelid skin from the epithelium of palpebral conjunctiva.

Daily versus intermittent application of high-concentration tacalcitol ointment in combination with low-dose cyclosporin for psoriasis vulgaris.

In this study, we aimed to compare the clinical effectiveness of highly-concentrated tacalcitol ointment daily versus intermittent application in patients with psoriasis vulgaris who simultaneously took a low dose of cyclosporin. All the patients in both groups showed significant improvements, and the patients in the intermittent application group obtained more patient satisfaction in cost performance. The treatment cost of low-dose cyclosporin and intermittent application of highly-concentrated tacalcitol ointment was less than half of that of high-dose cyclosporin and daily application of highly-concentrated tacalcitol ointment.

Factors affecting the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer undergoing salvage surgery after definitive chemoradiotherapy.

Background And Objectives: Although salvage surgery after definitive chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is common, the safety and indication has not yet been established.

Methods: We retrospectively compared the mortality and morbidity of 24 patients who underwent salvage surgery with those of historical controls treated with neoadjuvant CRT followed by planned esophagectomy during the same period, and analyzed the prognostic factor of salvage surgery.

Results: Preoperative serum albumin (3.

Clinical significance of the second cycle response to cisplatin-based chemotherapy as preoperative treatment for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Background: Repeating two cycles of cisplatin-based chemotherapy is standard protocol for preoperative treatment for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the second cycle of chemotherapy is often less effective than the first.

Methods: Forty-six patients with advanced ESCC underwent two (41) or one (5) cycle of chemotherapy, consisting of cisplatin, adriamycin, and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), followed by surgery.

Compound heterozygosity in sibling patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa associated with a mild phenotype.

We describe two cases of a 3-year-old Japanese boy and his 1-year-old sister presenting recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa; a relatively mild phenotype. Blistering and scarring were limited to the acral region, and some fingernails and toenails were lost. PCR-RFLP and DNA sequencing analyses revealed compound heterozygotes for a splice-site mutation (6573 +1GtoC) and a nonsense mutation (E2857X) in the type VII collagen gene (COL7A1).

Adult-onset Still's disease with prurigo pigmentosa-like skin eruption.

A 34-year-old woman with adult-onset Still's disease (AOSD) developed prurigo pigmentosa-like lesions on her chest and upper back in addition to the typical rash of AOSD. A biopsy specimen taken from the upper back showed characteristic features of prurigo pigmentosa. The eruption and fever subsided immediately after the administration of 40 mg/day prednisolone, but arthralgia persisted even after intravenous pulse methylprednisolone therapy in combination with immunosuppressive drugs.

Fucosylated haptoglobin is a novel marker for pancreatic cancer: a detailed analysis of the oligosaccharide structure and a possible mechanism for fucosylation.

Changes in oligosaccharide structures have been reported in certain types of malignant transformations and, thus, could be used for tumor markers in certain types of cancer. In the case of pancreatic cancer cell lines, a variety of fucosylated proteins are secreted into their conditioned media. To identify fucosylated proteins in the serum of patients with pancreatic cancer, we performed western blot analyses using Aleuria Aurantica Lectin (AAL), which is specific for fucosylated structures.

Plasma D-dimer levels show correlation with number of lymph node metastases in patients with esophageal cancer.

Background: Systemic activation of hemostasis and fibrolysis has been shown to be related to tumor progression in patients with malignancies such as lung cancer and colorectal cancer, but there has been no report of these clotting abnormalities in esophageal cancer. We investigated the clinical importance of measuring plasma levels of D-dimer (DD), which is a marker of the hypercoagulable stage, in preoperative patients with esophageal cancer.

Study Design: Preoperative plasma DD levels were measured in 96 patients with primary esophageal cancer who were scheduled for esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy without preoperative treatment at our hospital.

Childhood bullous pemphigoid successfully treated with diaminodiphenyl sulfone.

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is an acquired autoimmune blistering disease which predominantly affects the elderly. It is rare in children and infants. We reported a 14-year-old girl presenting with a month history of relapsing tense bullae on the face and extremities.