[Tuberculosis prevention measure in medical and correlated facilities].

Tuberculosis (TB) infection of healthcare workers in medical and correlated facilities is serious issue. For the prevention of TB transmission in the facilities, there are five important matters which are management of work environment, self protection manner, TB infection screening, a system for infection control, and TB education. The air containing TB nuclei must be exhausted from the work space mechanically, the workers should wear N95 mask at high risk places, regular chest X-ray examination and periodically QuantiFERON test for healthcare workers should undergo, the infection control committee must be active and TB education course for healthcare workers must be held annually.

Phase I/II study of docetaxel and S-1, an oral fluorinated pyrimidine, for untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

The purpose of this phase I/II study is to evaluate a new combination chemotherapy consisting of docetaxel and S-1 as front-line therapy for patients with untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The treatment included docetaxel on day 1 and oral S-1 at a fixed dose of 40mg/m(2) administered twice daily on days 1-14 and repeated every 3 weeks. In phase I, docetaxel at escalating doses of 40 (level 0), 50 (level 1) and 60mg/m(2) (level 2) was administered starting from level 1.

Risks of chest X-ray examination for students.

Chest X-ray (CXR) examination is considered essential for health checkups of students;thus, it is important to objectively assess the CXR for a better understanding of the appropriate X-ray exposure dose, and the risks such an examination entails. Accordingly, we performed a multi-institutional study regarding students' CXR exposure, during a 6year-period from 2002 (partially including 2001) to 2007, with the collaboration of national, municipal, and private universities and colleges in Japan. A glass badge was worn by the students at the time of CXR screening examination.

Lung cancer screening--comparison of computed tomography and X-ray.

Recent studies on lung cancer screening with CT disclosed a discrepancy between its efficiency in detecting early lung cancer and a lack of proof for decreasing mortality from lung cancer. The present study, in a city in Japan where an X-ray screening program is provided, bi-annual CT screening was performed for X-ray screening negative subjects for 4 years. Ten patients with lung cancer were detected among 22,720 person-year subjects (0.

Phase II study of weekly irinotecan and cisplatin for refractory or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer.

Even with the standard first-line chemotherapy, advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) recurs in most cases. The purpose of this study is to develop a new chemotherapeutic regimen for patients with NSCLC that has relapsed or was refractory to previous chemotherapy. Patients with proven NSCLC refractory or recurrent after previous single-regimen chemotherapy, PS of 0-2, age of 15 years or older, adequate organ functions and measurable lesions were treated with irinotecan at 60 mg/m(2) and cisplatin at 25 mg/m(2) with 1000 ml hydration on day 1.

Assessment of the homogeneous efficacy of carbon ions in the spread-out Bragg peak for human lung cancer cell lines.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the radiosensitivities and homogeneous efficacy in the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) for lung cancer cell lines exposed to carbon ions.

Materials And Methods: The dose-dependent survival rates of seven cell lines exposed to carbon ions, fast neutrons, and photons were obtained using colony-forming assays in vitro. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of carbon ions and fast neutrons to photons was determined by comparing the doses at the 10% and 1% survival levels.

5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine sensitizes hepatoma and pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and pancreatic cancer are at the forefront of chemotherapy-resistant tumors with poor prognosis. Even with innovative treatment regimens, response rates remain low and the duration of response is short. We examined whether the suppression of DNA methylation was capable of enhancing the sensitivity of hepatoma and pancreatic cancer cell lines to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU).

Acute-onset autoimmune hepatitis resembling acute hepatitis: a case report and review of reported cases.

We report a 54-year-old Japanese man, whose ALT level was 1689 IU/L, without increased gamma-globulin level or autoantibodies. He could not be diagnosed as autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) using scoring systems, and his liver function became normalized after steroid treatment. Recently, AIH with acute presentation of disease and acute-onset AIH without bridging fibrosis have been increasingly reported but cases without the character of increasing gamma-globulin level or autoantibodies before immunosuppressive treatment are extremely rare.

State of hepatitis C viral replication enhances activation of NF-kB- and AP-1-signaling induced by hepatitis B virus X.

We examined the effect of hepatitis B virus X (HBx) on NF-kB- and AP-1- mediated transcription in human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines, Huh-7 with or without subgenomic hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA. Expression of HBx in Huh-7 cells with HCV resulted in 4.9 times increased NF-kB-activation and 3.

Amantadine inhibits hepatitis A virus internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation in human hepatoma cells.

The effect of six drugs (amantadine, glycyrrhizin, ribavirin, ursodeoxycholic acid, alcohol, and IFN) on HAV RNA translation from the HAV internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) was investigated using a bicistronic reporter construct containing HAV IRES as intragenic spacer. Huh-7 cells and derivatives were transfected with in vitro transcripts, and the reporter gene activity was determined. IFN suppressed both cap-dependent and HAV IRES-dependent translation, while amantadine specifically inhibited HAV IRES-dependent translation.

Prevalence of obesity in patients with acute hepatitis; is severe obesity a risk factor for fulminant hepatitis in Japan?

Background/aims: The prevalence of obesity in acute convalescent hepatitis and fulminant hepatitis has not been reported. The aim of this study was to investigate whether obesity affected the disease severity in Japanese patients with acute hepatitis.

Methodology: 31 non-severe acute hepatitis (NS-AH) and 24 severe acute hepatitis and 14 fulminant hepatitis patients (S-AH) between January 1995 and December 2001 were analyzed retrospectively.

Individually different "weights" of quality of life assessment in patients with advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer.

Background And Objective: The structure of quality of life (QOL) assessment was investigated by estimating subject-specific as well as population-averaged "weights" for four domains (functional, physical, mental, and psychosocial) relative to global QOL.

Methods: Among 583 eligible patients with advanced nonsmall-cell lung cancer in two phase III trials, 377 completed QOL questionnaires at baseline, and during treatment. A random coefficients model was applied, using the global QOL score and scores for the four domains as response and explanatory variables, respectively.

[Pulmonary toxisity].

Pulmonary toxicities, with special reference to interstitial pneumonia, due to cancer chemotherapy and/or chest irradiation were reviewed. Two sorts of mechanism of development of the interstitial pneumonia are considered; one is directly cytotoxic action to pneumocytes and/or pulmonary capillary endothelium and the other is an allergic mechanism against anticancer drug or its derivatives. The risk factors of cancer therapy induced interstitial pneumonia are an aged, poor performance status, and underlying interstitial pulmonary diseases.

[Problems about tuberculin skin test raised from consultations and countermeasures--influence to the interpretation of tuberculin skin test in case of the stoppage of BCG revaccination abolition and the introduction of induration measurement].

Since people have very limited access to informations on TB, Chiba Anti-TB Association started "Chiba Kekkaku Dial 110", free TB consultation service through telephone, fax and e-mail, since October 1997. We received 1453 consultations during three years by September 2000. The most frequent consultations was about tuberculin skin test (TST) that amounted to 383, 26.

Peripheral pulmonary diseases: evaluation with endobronchial US initial experience.

Endobronchial ultrasonography (US) with 4.5-F small-caliber US probes, combined with bronchoalveolar lavage technique, was evaluated in autopsied lungs and 22 patients with various pulmonary interstitial or alveolar diseases. Several different echoic patterns were found that may reflect changes due to pathologic alteration of lung parenchyma.

[The current status and problems of the intestinal tuberculosis through a review of the Annual of the Pathological Autopsy Cases in Japan].

From 1997 to 1999 the incidence rate of tuberculosis increased and extrapulmonary tuberculosis has also increased during the same period. Among various types of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, intestinal tuberculosis is one of the diseases difficult to diagnose. Recently doctors could not make appropriate diagnosis of intestinal tuberculosis because they did not pay much attention to tuberculosis.