Single-Fraction Palliative High-Dose-Rate Brachytherapy for Symptom Management in a 97-Year-Old Patient With Dementia.

Delivering cancer treatment to elderly patients with dementia is often challenging. We describe performing palliative surface mold brachytherapy (SMBT) in an elderly patient with advanced dementia for pain control using music therapy to assist with agitation. The patient was a 97-year-old Japanese woman with advanced dementia.

HDR-brachytherapy for accelerated partial breast irradiation: Long-term experience from a Japanese institution.

Purpose: We investigated the long-term oncological outcome of high-dose-rate (HDR) multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy (MIB) for adjuvant accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) after breast conserving surgery in Japanese patients.

Material And Methods: Between June 2002 and October 2011, 86 breast cancer patients were treated at National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital (trial number of the local institutional review board, 0329). Median age was 48 years (range, 26-73 years).

Efficacy of Combination Therapy with Lenvatinib and Radioactive Iodine in Thyroid Cancer Preclinical Model.

Patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) usually have good prognosis, while those with advanced disease have poor clinical outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the antitumor effects of combination therapy with lenvatinib and I (CTLI) using three different types of DTC cell lines with different profiling of sodium iodide symporter (NIS) status. The radioiodine accumulation study revealed a significantly increased radioiodine uptake in K1-NIS cells after lenvatinib treatment, while there was almost no uptake in K1 and FTC-133 cells.

A comparison of HER2/neu accumulations of Ga-67-labeled anti-HER2 antibody with chemically and site-specifically conjugated bifunctional chelators.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAb) developed to target specific cancers have achieved considerable success to date. To further enhance therapeutic efficacy, monoclonal antibodies may be conjugated with a cytotoxic drug or radioisotope. We present the development of a new method based on site-specific conjugation (SSC) for targeting HER2.

Combination therapy with lenvatinib and radiation significantly inhibits thyroid cancer growth by uptake of tyrosine kinase inhibitor.

Although surgical treatment cures >90% of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients, the remaining patients, including advanced DTC cases, have poor clinical outcomes. These patients with inoperable disease have only two choices of radioactive iodine therapy and tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as lenvatinib, which have a high incidence of treatment-related adverse events and can only prolong progression free survival by approximately 5-15 months. In this study, we investigated the antitumor effects of combination therapy with lenvatinib and radiation (CTLR) for DTC.

A Novel Approach for Investigating Upper Airway Hyperresponsiveness Using Micro-CT in Eosinophilic Upper Airway Inflammation such as Allergic Rhinitis Model.

Airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) has been proposed as a feature of pathogenesis of eosinophilic upper airway inflammation such as allergic rhinitis (AR). The measurement system for upper AHR (AHR) in rodents is poorly developed, although measurements of nasal resistance have been reported. Here we assessed UAHR by direct measurement of swelling of the nasal mucosa induced by intranasal methacholine (MCh) using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT).

[Improvement in Hyperglysemia Following Unilateral Adrenalectomy for ACTH-Independent Macronodular Adrenal Hyperplasia (AIMAH) : A Case Report].

Adrenal corticotropin (ACTH) -independent macronodular adrenal hyperplasia (AIMAH) is a rare cause of Cushing's syndrome. Bilateral adrenalectomy is the treatment of choice, but lifetime steroid replacement is essential. Here we report a case of AIMAH whose hyperglycemia was improved following unilateral adrenalectomy.

Discovering EEG resting state alterations of semantic dementia.

Objective: Diagnosis of semantic dementia relies on cost-intensive MRI or PET, although resting EEG markers of other dementias have been reported. Yet the view still holds that resting EEG in patients with semantic dementia is normal. However, studies using increasingly sophisticated EEG analysis methods have demonstrated that slightest alterations of functional brain states can be detected.

Neuropsychological Evaluation and Cerebral Blood Flow Effects of Apolipoprotein E4 in Alzheimer's Disease Patients after One Year of Treatment: An Exploratory Study.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is affected by apolipoprotein E (ApoE); however, its effects assessed by means of cognitive tests and by neuroimaging have not been sufficiently studied.

Methods: We administered the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAS) and single-photon emission computed tomography imaging in patients with AD medicated with donepezil at baseline and after 1 year. Patients were classified as with or without ApoE4 and we evaluated the progress of AD.

[Feasibility and Safety of Dexmedetomidine Sedation in Transarterial Embolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma with Hepatitis C-Related Cirrhosis].

Background: Dexmedetomidine (Precedex®)is an agonist of a2-adrenergic receptors in certain parts of the brain. It was approved for "procedural sedation in the non-intubation in under local anesthesia" in June 2013 in Japan. However, because of metabolism delay, dexmedetomidine has to be administered carefully to patients with liver dysfunction.

The effect of radiation exposure on multidrug resistance: in vitro and in vivo studies using non-small lung cancer cells.

Background: Technetium-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc MIBI) is a substrate with the same uptake kinetics as doxorubicin. Multidrug resistance (MDR) is a mechanism that impedes chemotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). We examined the effect of radiation exposure on MDR in NSCLC and the synergy between an MDR modulator, GG918, and radiation, using (99m)Tc MIBI in vitro and doxorubicin in vivo.

Longitudinal time-dependent effects of irradiation on multidrug resistance in a non-small lung cancer cell line.

Multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer is known to decrease the therapeutic efficacy of chemotherapy. The effects of irradiation on MDR in cancer cells remain unclear. Tc-99m methoxyisobutylisonitrile (MIBI) exhibits the same ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter kinetics as the chemotherapeutic compound doxorubicin.

Radiation dose of nurses during IR procedures: a controlled trial evaluating operator alerts before nursing tasks.

Purpose: To compare radiation exposure of nurses when performing nursing tasks associated with interventional procedures depending on whether or not the nurses called out to the operator before approaching the patient.

Materials And Methods: In a prospective study, 93 interventional radiology procedures were randomly divided into a call group and a no-call group; there were 50 procedures in the call group and 43 procedures in the no-call group. Two monitoring badges were used to calculate effective dose of nurses.

Comparison of Tc-99m GSA scintigraphy and CT volumetry for evaluation in portal vein embolization.

Purpose: To determine the correlation of the rate of change of each future remnant liver (FRL) before and after portal vein embolization (PVE), by CT volumetry and Tc-99m galactosyl human serum albumin scintigraphy (GSA scintigraphy).

Material And Methods: From December 2007 to July 2012, ten patients underwent PVE before hepatic resection. CT volumetry and GSA scintigraphy were performed before and after PVE.

Diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging of the head and neck using 3-T MRI: Investigation into the usefulness of liquid perfluorocarbon pads and choice of optimal fat suppression method.

Purpose: To investigate whether image quality can be improved using liquid perfluorocarbon pads (Sat Pad) and clarify the optimal fat-suppression method among chemical shift selective (CHESS), water excitation (WEX), and short TI inversion recovery (STIR) methods in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the head and neck using 3-T magnetic resonance imaging. Correlations between results of visual inspection and quantitative analysis were also examined.

Material And Methods: This study was approved by our Institutional Review Board and informed consent was waived.

Apolipoprotein C-II is a potential serum biomarker as a prognostic factor of locally advanced cervical cancer after chemoradiation therapy.

Purpose: To determine pretreatment serum protein levels for generally applicable measurement to predict chemoradiation treatment outcomes in patients with locally advanced squamous cell cervical carcinoma (CC).

Methods And Materials: In a screening study, measurements were conducted twice. At first, 6 serum samples from CC patients (3 with no evidence of disease [NED] and 3 with cancer-caused death [CD]) and 2 from healthy controls were tested.

Intra-arterial infusion of thrombin: animal experiments.

Purpose: Thrombin inhibits cadherin on vascular endothelial cells, rapidly and reversibly increasing endothelial permeability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of trans-arterial infusion with thrombin.

Material And Methods: Ten rabbits with right thigh tumor were randomly divided into two groups: A thrombin group and a control group.

An investigation of the early detection of radiation induced apoptosis by 99mTc-Annexin V and 201thallium-chloride in a lung cancer cell line.

This study aims to investigate the efficacy of in vitro Thallium-201 Chloride (Tl-201) and in vitro and in vivo Tc-99m HYNIC-coupled Annexin V (TAV) in the early detection of radiation induced apoptosis, a proxy indicator of radiation therapy (RT) efficacy. In vitro Tl-201 and TAV accumulation and efflux in non-small cell lung cancer were measured post irradiation at 5 different gamma ray doses. The replication rates (RR) of the cell lines were also measured.

Does vertebroplasty affect radiation dose distribution?: comparison of spatial dose distributions in a cement-injected vertebra as calculated by treatment planning system and actual spatial dose distribution.

Purpose. To assess differences in dose distribution of a vertebral body injected with bone cement as calculated by radiation treatment planning system (RTPS) and actual dose distribution. Methods.

Identification of genes associated with progression and metastasis of advanced cervical cancers after radiotherapy by cDNA microarray analysis.

Purpose: To identify a set of genes related to the progression and metastasis of advanced cervical cancer after radiotherapy and to establish a predictive method.

Methods And Materials: A total of 28 patients with cervical cancer (15 stage IIIB, 13 stage IVA patients) who underwent definitive radiotherapy between May 1995 and April 2001 were included in this study. All patients were positive for human papillomavirus infection and harbored the wild-type p53 gene.

Scheme for creating a subcutaneous tunnel to place an indwelling implantable central venous access system in the forearm.

We report a method that we have devised in which a secure subcutaneous tunnel is prepared during the placement of an indwelling central venous reservoir in the forearm. Subjects included 69 cases in which a procedure for implanting an indwelling reservoir in the forearm was performed between June 2006 and May 2007. For the subcutaneous tunnel, a 22-G Cathelin needle was advanced from the puncture site, turning toward the subcutaneous pocket side to the deep subcutaneous area.

[A case of normal-tension glaucoma with impaired eye movements in a young patient].

Background: We report a case of normal-tension glaucoma(NTG) with impaired eye movements in a young patient.

Case: A 22-year-old man with enlarged optic disc cuppings and visual field defects was suspected to have NTG, and was found, upon examination, to have impaired eye movements. Intraocular pressure recordings, including diurnal variation, were under 21 mmHg.