[Retracted] Alteration of p53-binding protein 1 expression as a risk factor for local recurrence in patients undergoing resection for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Following the publication of this paper, the Journal was alerted by an investigation committee of Niigata University to the fact that the paper had been identified as a duplicate publication, which had already been published. Therefore, in accordance with the rules of Niigata University Fraud Investigation committee, a request was made that the paper be retracted. After having been in contact with the authors, they agreed with the decision to retract the paper.

Current State of and Problems Related to Cancer of the Intestinal Tract Associated with Crohn's Disease in Japan.

Background/aim: Cancer of the intestinal tract (small and large intestine) associated with Crohn's disease has a low incidence but can be fatal if it develops. Thus, the key question is how to deal with this type of cancer. The current study surveyed major medical facilities that treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) surgically in Japan in order to examine the clinical features of cancer of the intestinal tract associated with Crohn's disease and explore ways to deal with this cancer in the future.

Phase I/II trial of irinotecan and S-1 combination chemotherapy as a second-line treatment for advanced colorectal cancer.

Background: This study attempted to determine the therapeutic dosage of irinotecan and S-1 (IRIS) as a second-line treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: S-1 was administered on days 1-14 of a 28-day cycle. Irinotecan was administered on days 1 and 15.

Familial juvenile polyposis syndrome with a novel SMAD4 germline mutation.

Juvenile polyposis syndrome (JPS) is a dominantly inherited disorder characterized by the development of numerous juvenile polyps (JPs) of the gastrointestinal tract, and associated with a mutation of the SMAD4 or BMPR1A gene. Here, we report a mother-daughter case of familial JPS. A 29-year-old female patient with severe iron deficiency anemia and hypoproteinemia had numerous polyps in the stomach and a few polyps in the ileum and colon that were detected endoscopically.

Clinicopathological features of benign biliary strictures masquerading as biliary malignancy.

Discrimination between benign and malignant biliary strictures is difficult, with 5.2 to 24.5 per cent of biliary strictures proving to be benign after histological examination of the resected specimen.

Reexpansion Pulmonary Edema following Laparoscopy-Assisted Distal Gastrectomy for a Patient with Early Gastric Cancer: A Case Report.

We report here a case of reexpansion pulmonary edema following laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for early gastric cancer. A 57-year-old Japanese woman with no preoperative comorbidity was diagnosed with early gastric cancer. The patient underwent LADG using the pneumoperitoneum method.

Perioperative immunological differentiation in liver cirrhotic patients who underwent living related liver transplantation.

Background/aims: Liver cirrhotic patients are immunological compromised hosts. Preoperative status in cirrhotic patients affects postoperative infection complications. This study investigates the perioperative immunological changes in the differentiation by MELD score.

Heterotopic pancreas autotransplantation with spleen for uncontrollable hemorrhagic pseudocyst and disabling pain in chronic pancreatitis.

Background/aims: In this study, we report on a heterotopic segmental pancreatic autotransplantation (HPAT) with spleen for alcoholic chronic pancreatitis with uncontrollable hemorrhagic pseudocyst and complete portal venous obstruction. The patient was a 72-year-old man who had an alcoholic chronic pancreatitis with severe abdominal pain and hemorrhagic pseudocyst. The first bleeding from a pseudoaneurism of the gastro-duodenal artery (GDA) to the cyst of pancreas head was stopped by interventional radiology (IVR) at our hospital on May 2010.

Catheter-directed continuous thrombolysis following aspiration thrombectomy via the ileocolic route for acute portal venous thrombosis: report of two cases.

Although acute portal venous thrombosis (PVT) is a potentially life-threatening complication that occurs after hepatobiliary surgery with portal vein (PV) reconstruction or splenectomy, no effective or universal treatments have yet been established. Transjugular or transhepatic catheter-directed thrombolysis has recently been reported to be effective for treating acute PVT. However, the efficiency of this treatment for complete PV occlusion might be limited because a poor portal venous flow prevents thrombolytic agents from reaching and dissolving thrombi.

"Extended" radical cholecystectomy for gallbladder cancer: long-term outcomes, indications and limitations.

Aim: To delineate indications and limitations for "extended" radical cholecystectomy for gallbladder cancer: a procedure which was instituted in our department in 1982.

Methods: Of 145 patients who underwent a radical resection for gallbladder cancer from 1982 through 2006, 52 (36%) had an extended radical cholecystectomy, which involved en bloc resection of the gallbladder, gallbladder fossa, extrahepatic bile duct, and the regional lymph nodes (first- and second-echelon node groups). A retrospective analysis of the 52 patients was conducted including at least 5 years of follow up.

Successful laparoscopic division of a patent ductus venosus: report of a case.

Patent ductus venosus (PDV) is a rare condition of a congenital portosystemic shunt from the umbilical vein to the inferior vena cava. This report presents the case of an adult patient with PDV, who was successfully treated with laparoscopic shunt division. A 69-year-old male was referred with hepatic encephalopathy.

Early DNA damage response in residual carcinoma in situ at ductal stumps and local recurrence in patients undergoing resection for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background/purpose: The aim of this study was to clarify the association between the DNA damage response mediated by p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) in residual carcinoma in situ at ductal stumps and local recurrence in patients undergoing resection for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of 11 patients with positive ductal margins with carcinoma in situ. To evaluate the early DNA damage response, the nuclear staining pattern of 53BP1 was examined by immunofluorescence.

Regional lymphadenectomy for gallbladder cancer: rational extent, technical details, and patient outcomes.

Aim: To define the rational extent of regional lymphadenectomy for gallbladder cancer and to clarify its effect on long-term survival.

Methods: A total of 152 patients with gallbladder cancer who underwent a minimum of "extended" portal lymph node dissection (defined as en bloc removal of the first- and second-echelon nodes) from 1982 to 2010 were retrospectively analyzed. Based on previous studies, regional lymph nodes of the gallbladder were divided into first-echelon nodes (cystic duct or pericholedochal nodes), second-echelon nodes (node groups posterosuperior to the head of the pancreas or around the hepatic vessels), and more distant nodes.

Histologic evaluation of intrahepatic micrometastases in patients treated with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal carcinoma liver metastasis.

In the present retrospective study, we tested the hypothesis that neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) as a treatment for patients with colorectal carcinoma liver metastases (CRLM) may reduce intrahepatic micrometastases. The incidence and distribution of intrahepatic micrometastases were determined in specimens resected from 63 patients who underwent hepatectomy for CRLM (21 treated with NAC and 42 without). In addition, the therapeutic efficacy of NAC was evaluated histologically.

Assessment of lymph node status in gallbladder cancer: location, number, or ratio of positive nodes.

Unlabelled: A BACKGROUND: Assessment of lymph node status is a critical issue in the surgical management of gallbladder cancer. The aim of this study was to compare the anatomical location of positive nodes, number of positive nodes, and lymph node ratio (LNR) as prognostic predictors in gallbladder cancer.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of 135 patients with gallbladder cancer who underwent a radical resection with regional lymphadenectomy.

Full-thickness cholecystectomy with limited lymphadenectomy for gallbladder cancer.

Aggressive radical resection is advocated for gallbladder cancer. However, this is a disease of the elderly and some patients have comorbid disease(s) and/or a debilitated condition that may preclude such an aggressive treatment strategy. Here, we describe a minimum radical procedure for gallbladder cancer, termed as "full-thickness cholecystectomy with limited lymphadenectomy".

Prospective observational study of imatinib therapy in Japanese patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors: long-term follow-up and second malignancy.

Objective: Limited data are available concerning long-term results of imatinib therapy in patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors. We aimed to clarify the long-term outcomes of imatinib therapy in Japanese patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors.

Methods: A prospective, observational study of imatinib therapy for unresectable and metastatic gastrointestinal stromal tumors was conducted in our institution.

Steroid-free living donor liver transplantation for HCV--a multicenter prospective cohort study in Japan.

This prospective, non-randomized, multicenter cohort study analyzed the safety and efficacy of a steroid-free immunosuppressive (IS) protocol for hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive living donor liver transplant (LDLT) recipients in Japan. Of 68 patients enrolled from 13 transplant centers, 56 fulfilled the inclusion/exclusion criteria; 27 were assigned the steroid-free IS protocol (Fr group) and 29 the traditional steroid-containing IS protocol (St group). Serum HCV RNA levels increased over time and were higher in the St group until postoperative day 90 (POD 14, p=0.

Intraoperative assessment of the resectability of hilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Major hepatectomy combined with extrahepatic bile duct resection has gained acceptance as a standard radical procedure for hilar cholangiocarcinoma. Here, we describe an operative technique, "taping of the right hepatic artery behind Calot's triangle", for assessing the resectability of hilar lesions for which left-sided hepatectomy is planned. Briefly, after retracting the gall-bladder anteriorly, the lateral peritoneum of the hepatoduodenal ligament is incised longitudinally (3-4cm in length) behind Calot's triangle and just to the left of the fissure of Ganz.

Portal vein infusion chemotherapy with gemcitabine after surgery for pancreatic cancer.

Purposes: Pancreatic cancer still has a poor prognosis even after curative resection because of the high incidence of postoperative liver metastasis. This study prospectively evaluated the feasibility and tolerability of portal vein infusion chemotherapy of gemcitabine (PVIG) as an adjuvant setting after pancreatic resection.

Methods: Thirteen patients enrolled in this study received postoperative chemotherapy with PVIG.

Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma invading adjacent structures found during esophagectomy.

Objectives: A treatment strategy for patients with esophageal carcinoma invading adjacent structures found during esophagectomy (surgical T4; sT4) has not been established and the role of esophagectomy remains controversial. The aims of this study were to assess the clinicopathological characteristics and to clarify the prognostic factors of patients who underwent esophagectomy for sT4 tumors.

Methods: A consecutive series of 76 patients who were found to have sT4 tumors was reviewed retrospectively.

Surgical outcomes of minor hepatectomy for locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma.

Background/aims: This study aimed to evaluate whether wedge resection or S4bS5 resection was the more beneficial hepatectomy procedure for patients with locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma.

Methodology: A retrospective analysis of 70 patients who underwent either wedge resection (n=58) or S4bS5 resection (n=12) for locally advanced gallbladder carcinoma without clinically evident liver metastases was conducted. Clinicopathological characteristics, histological features of hepatic invasion and surgical outcomes were analyzed.

Morphological features of early gallbladder carcinoma.

Background/aims: This study aimed to clarify the morphological features of early gallbladder carcinoma including tumors invading the lamina propria (pT1a) or muscular layer (pT1b).

Methodology: This retrospective study involved 299 patients with early gallbladder carcinomas, identified from a surgical pathology database covering 29 years from 1982 through 2010. The macroscopic appearance of the tumor was classified as protruding (n=107, 36%) or superficial (n=192, 64%).

Japanese case of Budd-Chiari syndrome due to hepatic vein thrombosis successfully treated with liver transplantation.

A 22-year-old Japanese woman was found to have severe esophageal varices and then suffered from hepatic encephalopathy. She was diagnosed with Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) due to hepatic vein (HV) thrombosis accompanied by portal vein thrombosis without inferior vena cava (IVC) obstruction. Latent myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) lacking the JAK2-V617F mutation was considered to be the underlying disease.