Sarcopenia as a risk factor of severe laboratory adverse events in breast cancer patients receiving perioperative epirubicin plus cyclophosphamide therapy.

Purpose: Sarcopenia has been reported to be associated with higher mortality and increased toxicity of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. However, evidence from Asian countries is scarce. Here, we investigated the association between sarcopenia and the frequency of severe laboratory adverse events due to perioperative chemotherapy in Japanese breast cancer patients.

Response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer judged by PERCIST - multicenter study in Japan.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate therapeutic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and predict breast cancer recurrence using Positron Emission Tomography Response Criteria in Solid Tumors (PERCIST).

Materials And Methods: Fifty-nine breast cancer patients underwent fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) before and after NAC prior to planned surgical resection. Pathological complete response (pCR) of the primary tumor was evaluated using PERCIST, while effects of clinicopathological factors on progression-free survival (PFS) were examined using log-rank and Cox methods.

[A Case of HER2-Positive Breast Cancer with Liver Metastases Showing Three Years of Complete Response to Combination Therapy with Trastuzumabplus Pertuzumab].

A 48-year-old woman with severe interstitial pneumonitis was diagnosed with right breast cancer(invasive ductal carcinoma, T1aN1M0, ER+, PgR-, HER2 3+)and underwent modified radical mastectomy.The patient was administered tamoxifen as adjuvant therapy.However, 1 year after the mastectomy, multiple liver metastases were found and the patient received 2 anti-HER2 agents, trastuzumab and pertuzumab.

The feasibility and efficacy of pure laparoscopic repeat hepatectomy.

Background: Repeat hepatectomy is often required for hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic tumors. However, this procedure is technically challenging, so laparoscopic repeat hepatectomy (LRH) has not been widely adopted. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of LRH compared with open repeat hepatectomy (ORH) and laparoscopic primary hepatectomy (LPH).

[Complete response in a case of advanced unresectable esophageal cancer treated by chemoradiation therapy and S-1+CDDP chemotherapy].

We report a 37-year-old woman who complained of chest discomfort as of August 2004, and was found to have advanced esophageal cancer in the upper thoracic area in December 2004.S he was diagnosed as Stage IVa (T4N1M0) because chest computed tomography (CT) indicated trachea invasion and lymph node metastasis. We diagnosed it to be a case of unresectable esophageal cancer, and she underwent chemoradiation therapy.

[A case of recurrent pancreatic cancer with lung metastasis responding to S-1 combined gemcitabine chemotherapy].

The patient was a 54-year-old male. In July 2004, he underwent resection of the pancreatic body tail region to treat pancreatic body tail cancer. On histopathological examination, the stump of the extirpated specimen was positive for tumor cells.

[A case of Stage IV non-operated advanced breast cancer with local recurrence thirteen years after initial therapy].

A 73-year-old woman underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and hormonal therapies for right advanced breast cancer (T4, N3, M1, Stage IV) in 1993. She obtained a complete response in pathological evaluation (pCR) in 1998. For adjuvant therapies, she had been treated with hormonal therapies for five years until 2003.

[A case of liver metastasis of breast cancer responding to trastuzumab plus weekly paclitaxel chemotherapy maintaining CR for 30 months].

In February, 19 9 8, a 48-year-old female patient underwent an operation for breast cancer. In November 2003, abdominal MRI revealed metastatic lesions in S 3 and S 5 of the liver, and chemotherapy (trastuzumab+weekly paclitaxel) was started, after which the metastatic lesions quickly reduced in size. No lesions could be detected by April 2004, and she was diagnosed as a complete response (CR).

[A case of advanced pancreatic cancer successfully treated by combined chemotherapy of S-1 and gemcitabine as second-line chemotherapy].

The patient was a 63-year-old man who suffered from advanced pancreatic cancer (T 4 N 3 M 0, Stage IVb). Palliative operation was performed for obstructive jaundice. He was treated with chemotherapy of gemcitabine (GEM) alone as first-line, and combined chemotherapy of GEM and S-1 as second-line.

[Weekly paclitaxel therapy effective for gastric cancer with obstructive jaundice due to peritoneal dissemination--a case report].

The patient was a 61-year-old man who suffered from advanced gastric cancer, and a distal gastrectomy was performed (T3N2P1CY1, Stage IV). He was treated with chemotherapy of TS-1 alone (100 mg/day, days 1-28 with two weeks rest). Six months later he complained of lumbago and appetite loss, then was admitted to the hospital with obstructive jaundice.

Phase II study on low dose gemcitabine plus oral chemotherapy with uracil-tegafur and cyclophosphamide in combination with radiotherapy against recurrent and advanced pancreatic cancer.

The present study assessed the anti-tumor effects and clinical benefits of intravenous (i.v.) or intra-arterial (i.

Ileocecal valve-preserving ileostomy after total proctocolectomy--a novel technique for ileostomy.

Background: Although ileoanal anastomosis has become popular for ulcerative colitis, in an emergency situation patients must undergo ileostomy.

Aim: A novel ileocecal valve-preserving ileostomy procedure was devised to reduce high output liquid loss.

Method: After total colectomy, the ascending colon was clamped and the terminal ileum and ileocecal valve were isolated from the cecum by dissection.

Problems in the N-classification of the new 1997 UICC TNM stage classification for gastric cancer: an analysis of over 10 years' outcome of Japanese patients.

Background: One of the major changes in the new TNM classification (5th edition, 1997) for gastric cancer was made in the classification of N category: the 5th edition employs the number of involved nodes and a minimum of 15 examined nodes is required for N0 classification. The validity of the new TNM classification was assessed by comparing the survivals according to the number of nodal involvement and especially the cut-off point of number of involved nodes and the problems in N0 classification in T1 were focused.

Patients And Methods: Between 1982 and 1999, a total of 641 patients underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer in our department.

Clinicopathological significance of abnormalities in Gadd45 expression and its relationship to p53 in human pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: The growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible 45 gene (GADD45a) is one of the downstream mediators of the p53 gene that stimulates DNA excision repair. The present study was designed to assess the clinicopathological significance of GADD45a and p53 in resectable invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs) of the pancreas.

Experimental Design: This study included 72 pancreatic IDC patients who received surgery between 1982 and 2001.

Implication of thymidylate synthase in the outcome of patients with invasive ductal carcinoma of the pancreas and efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy using 5-fluorouracil or its derivatives.

Thymidine synthase (TS) is a key enzyme in the synthesis of pyrimidine in the de novo pathway of DNA synthesis and a major target of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), but the implications of TS regarding human pancreatic cancer have not been reported. We assessed the expression of TS in invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) of the pancreas by immunostaining and evaluated its clinicopathological significance, especially its implications regarding the efficacy of chemotherapy with 5-FU or its derivatives. The expression of TS in the nuclei of pancreatic cancer cells in 72 primary lesions of resectable IDC and 30 distant metastases of unresectable IDC was examined by immunostaining using anti-TS polyclonal antibody and immunoreactivity was classified into three categories: negative (-), low (+) and high (2+).