Acute Urinary Retention Induced by Chemical Meningitis Which Occurred Due to a Ruptured Dermoid Cyst.

Meningitis retention syndrome (MRS), a rare complication of aseptic meningitis, can present with acute urinary retention. The rupture of a dermoid cyst, which is a benign intracranial tumor, can sometimes induce chemical meningitis. We herein present a case of chemical meningitis and acute urinary retention that was induced by the rupture of a dermoid cyst.

Evaluation of gefitinib efficacy according to body mass index, body surface area, and body weight in patients with EGFR-mutated advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: In patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutated, advanced, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), common gefitinib-sensitive EGFR mutations that predict a greater response to therapy include the exon 19 deletion and L858R point mutation. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether body surface area (BSA), body weight (BW), and body mass index (BMI) affect gefitinib efficacy in such patients.

Methods: The medical charts of 138 consecutive patients with advanced NSCLC harboring sensitive EGFR mutations, who underwent gefitinib treatment, were reviewed.

Familial Mediterranean fever with P369S/R408Q exon3 variant in pyrin presenting as symptoms of PFAPA.

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) can be classified into typical and incomplete/atypical types. Periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, cervical adenitis (PFAPA) syndrome-like symptoms have been found in atypical type carrying P369S-R408Q mutations in the responsible gene MEFV. A 28-year-old female with recurrent fever and her young sisters and mother, all of whom had tonsillectomy for tonsillitis, carried heterozygous alterations involving E148Q/P369S/R408Q.

First-line gefitinib treatment in elderly patients (aged ≥75 years) with non-small cell lung cancer harboring EGFR mutations.

Purpose: The efficacy of gefitinib [an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitor] in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and EGFR mutation has not been elucidated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy and feasibility of gefitinib in elderly chemotherapy-naive patients with NSCLC harboring sensitive EGFR mutations.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical effects of gefitinib as a first-line treatment for elderly (≥75 years) NSCLC patients with EGFR mutations (exon 19 deletion or exon 21 L858R mutation).

The effects of concomitant GERD, dyspepsia, and rhinosinusitis on asthma symptoms and FeNO in asthmatic patients taking controller medications.

Background: Losing the sense of smell, which suggests eosinophilic rhinosinusitis, is a subjective symptom, sometimes reported in asthmatic patients taking controller medication. Upper abdominal symptoms, suggesting gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or functional dyspepsia, occur also in these patients. However, the relationship between these symptoms, concomitant with asthma, and the intensity of eosinophilic airway inflammation remains obscure.

Oxidative stress potentially enhances FcεRI-mediated leukotriene C4 release dependent on the late-phase increase of intracellular glutathione in mast cells.

Cysteinyl leukotrienes (cysLTs), which include leukotriene C4 (LTC4), are the predominant class of LTs synthesized by mast cells. CysLTs can induce many of the abnormalities seen in asthma. LTC4 is generated by the conjugation of LTA4 with reduced glutathione (GSH) by LTC4 synthase.

Enhancement of radiosensitivity by dual inhibition of the HER family with ZD1839 ("Iressa") and trastuzumab ("Herceptin").

Purpose: The aims of this study were twofold: (1) to examine the effects of dual inhibition of 2 members of the HER family, the epidermoid growth factor receptor (EGFR) and HER2/neu, by gefitinib (ZD1839) and trastuzumab on radiosensitivity; and (2) to explore the molecular mechanism of radiosensitization especially focusing on the survival signal transduction pathways by using A431 human vulvar squamous carcinoma cells expressing EGFR and HER2/neu.

Methods And Materials: The effects of inhibitors on the radiation-induced activation of EGFR and/or HER2/neu, and the intracellular proteins that are involved in their downstream signaling, were quantified by the Western blot. Radiosensitizing effects by the blockage of EGFR and/or HER2/neu were determined by a clonogenic assay.

[Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)].

Radiotherapy plays an important role in the management of cancer patients, and half of the patients with malignant tumors are treated with radiotherapy in the United States. In Japan, the necessity of radiation therapy has come to be widely acknowledged in cancer treatment, and more and more cancer patients are being treated with radiation. External beam radiation is the most-used radiotherapy at the present time.

Assessment of psychological responses in patients about to receive radiotherapy.

Purpose: Radiotherapy is considered to be associated with psychological distress. We assessed the mental status, anxiety, and the factors associated with these in cancer patients about to receive radiotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Hospitalized patients about to receive radiotherapy participated.

A patient with classic severe primary hyperparathyroidism in whom both Tc-99m MIBI scintigraphy and FDG-PET failed to detect the parathyroid tumor.

A 24-year-old woman was admitted to our department for further examination of hypercalcemia, a high level of intact parathyroid hormone (PTH) and a right parathyroid tumor. She complained of bone pain throughout her body and was unable to walk due to systemic cystic osteofibrosis, including a brown tumor of the left lower extremities. Neck ultrasonography (US) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a tumor 2 cm in diameter in the upper side of the right thyroid lobe.

Primary central nervous system lymphoma in Japan 1995-1999: changes from the preceding 10 years.

Purpose: Previously, we conducted a nationwide survey of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) treated between 1985 and 1994 in Japan. In the present study, we conducted further investigations of PCNSL patients treated between 1995 and 1999 to clarify possible changes with time in the clinical features, treatment, and outcome of this disease.

Methods: Thirteen Japanese institutions were surveyed, and data on 101 patients with histologically-confirmed PCNSL were collected.

Induction chemotherapy followed by hyperfractionated radiotherapy with concurrent chemotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to improve tumor control, the survival rate and organ preservation for locally advanced head and neck cancer by using induction chemotherapy followed by hyperfractionated radiotherapy and concurrent chemotherapy.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-five patients with stage III-IVB head and neck cancer were treated with this protocol. Induction chemotherapy consisted of cisplatin and fluorouracil and concurrent chemotherapy consisted of carboplatin and doxifluridin.

Radiotherapy with concurrent docetaxel for advanced and recurrent breast cancer.

Background: Docetaxel has shown remarkable radiosensitizing properties in vitro. In this study we investigated whether the addition of docetaxel to radiotherapy enhanced tumor response in patients with advanced or recurrent breast cancer.

Methods: A total of 35 patients were enrolled in this study.

[A case of recurrent breast cancer with chronic renal failure treated on an outpatient basis].

We report a case of recurrent breast cancer with chronic renal failure in a 58-year-old female. She could be treated on an outpatient basis under good general condition for most of her remaining life by chemoradiotherapy in combination with hemodialysis. Modification of the chemoradiotherapy procedures and collaboration of medical staff including the doctor in charge of home medical care and her family was indispensable in keeping her hospital stay as short as possible.