Phase II trial in Japan of sequential administration of weekly paclitaxel followed by FEC as neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancer [KBCSG0206 trial: Kinki Breast Cancer Study Group (KBCSG)].

Objective: We conducted a phase II trial in Japan to evaluate the efficacy and tolerability of weekly paclitaxel followed by fluorouracil, epirubicin, and cyclophosphamide (FEC) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC).

Methods: Patients with clinical stage IIIA-IIIB breast cancer received NAC consisting of 12 once-a-week cycles of paclitaxel followed by 4 once-every-third-week cycles of FEC.

Results: Fifty patients with LABC were enrolled, 47 of whom were administered paclitaxel followed by FEC as NAC.

[Radio-frequency ablation therapy for metastatic liver tumors from colorectal carcinoma].

Unlabelled: Radio-frequency ablation therapy (RFA) as a treatment for metastatic liver tumors from colorectal carcinoma was examined.

Methods: Ten patients with a total of 30 liver metastases from colorectal carcinoma were treated using a Cool-tip RF system from March 2003 to December 2004.

Results: Patients had a mean age of 69.

[A case of T4 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in esophagogastric junction effectively treated by neoadjuvant FAP therapy].

A 59-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of vomiting and body weight loss. Upper GI series and upper digestive tract endoscopy revealed type 3 cancer lesion in the area from the lower thoracic esophagus to the middle gastric body. In the biopsy specimen squamous cell cancer was shown.

Influence of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers in postmenopausal breast cancer patients in Japan.

The effect of adjuvant tamoxifen treatment on bone mineral density (BMD) and bone turnover markers was studied in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. The relationship of tamoxifen's effect with the genetic polymorphisms of estrogen receptor (ER)-alpha and ER-beta gene was also studied. Twenty-one postmenopausal breast cancer patients were given tamoxifen (20 mg/day) as the adjuvant treatment after the surgery.