Levodopa Prescription Patterns in Patients with Advanced Parkinson's Disease: A Japanese Database Analysis.

Prescription doses of levodopa in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease (PD) are generally lower in Japan than in the United States or Europe, although Japanese guidelines for the management of PD recommend increasing the dosage as the disease progresses. However, data regarding levodopa prescription practices in patients with advanced PD in the clinical setting are limited. This retrospective observational study analyzed patterns of drug use for patients with advanced PD in Japan using claims data from hospitalized patients in the Medical Data Vision Co.

Desire for Alternative Treatment Options in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis in Japan: Results of a Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study (AD-JOIN Study).

Introduction: Treatment satisfaction in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) has been investigated in several studies, but the desire for alternative treatment options is unclear and has not been previously evaluated. We conducted a cross-sectional, web-based survey aimed at evaluating the desire for alternative treatment options in adults with AD from a patient registry in Japan.

Methods: Main eligibility criteria were adults aged ≥ 18 years with AD who were receiving treatment with topical corticosteroids (TCS) and not systemic therapy.

Real-world treatment patterns and clinical outcomes in patients with AML in Japan who were ineligible for first-line intensive chemotherapy.

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) predominantly affects elderly adults, and its prognosis worsens with age. Treatment options for patients in Japan ineligible for intensive chemotherapy include cytarabine/aclarubicin ± granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (CA ± G), azacitidine (AZA), low-dose cytarabine (LDAC), targeted therapy, and best supportive care (BSC). The country's aging population and the evolving treatment landscape are contributing to a need to understand treatment pathways and associated outcomes.

Shared Decision-Making in Patients With Prostate Cancer in Japan: Patient Preferences Versus Physician Perceptions.

This article adds the Japanese perspective to our knowledge of shared decision-making (SDM) preferences by surveying patients with prostate cancer (PCA) and physicians in Japan. In 2015, 103 Japanese patients with PCA were asked about their SDM preferences by using an Internet-based 5-point-scale questionnaire. Concurrently, 127 Japanese physicians were surveyed regarding their perceptions of patient preferences on SDM.

Extent of intraluminal exfoliated malignant cells during surgery for colon cancer: Differences in cell abundance ratio between laparoscopic and open surgery.

Introduction: Laparoscopic colectomy with intracorporeal anastomosis is a minimally invasive surgical procedure for patients with colon cancer. However, there are often concerns about the presence of intraluminal exfoliated malignant cells in the intracorporeal anastomosis. This study investigated the relationship between colon cancer surgery and the incidence of intraluminal exfoliated malignant cells and several factors.

Patient Preferences and Urologist Judgments on Prostate Cancer Therapy in Japan.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the concordance of treatment preferences between patients and physicians in prostate cancer (PCa) in Japan. An internet-based discrete choice experiment was conducted. Patients and physicians were asked to select their preferred treatment from a pair of hypothetical treatments consisting of four attributes: quality of life (QOL), treatment effectiveness, side effects, and accessibility of treatment.

Treatment pathways of Japanese prostate cancer patients - A retrospective transition analysis with administrative data.

Background: Limited availability of real-world data that describe treatment patterns of Japanese prostate cancer (PCA) patients.

Methods: A biweekly transition analysis of PCA treatment was performed for patients with PCA diagnosis and a specific treatment between 2010 and 2015. To account for different cancer stages, two patient populations were analyzed.

Predictive factors for major postoperative complications related to gastric conduit reconstruction in thoracoscopic esophagectomy for esophageal cancer: a case control study.

Background: Regardless of developments in thoracoscopic esophagectomy (TE), postoperative complications relative to gastric conduit reconstruction are common after esophagectomy. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the predictive factors of major complications related to gastric conduit after TE.

Methods: From 2006 to 2015, 75 patients with esophageal cancer who underwent TE were evaluated to explore the predictive factors of major postoperative complications related to gastric conduit.

Hematologists' Preferences for First-line Therapy Characteristics for Multiple Myeloma in Japan: Attribute Rating and Discrete Choice Experiment.

Purpose: With the progress being made in the treatment of multiple myeloma and other complex cancers, a variety of clinical research and treatment options are being pursued. This study uses a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to estimate treatment characteristic preferences of hematologists in Japan.

Methods: A 2-stage process was applied within this study.

A comparison of overall survival with 40 and 50mg/m pegylated liposomal doxorubicin treatment in patients with recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer: Propensity score-matched analysis of real-world data.

Background: In clinical practice, 40mg/m of pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD40) has been used as an initial dosage for treating recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) instead of the recommended dose of 50mg/m (PLD50). However, no robust evidence is available to support the use of PLD40. This post-hoc study aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of initial PLD dosages in propensity score (P-score)-matched dataset.

Association of early PSA decline and time to PSA progression in abiraterone acetate-treated metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer; a post-hoc analysis of Japanese phase 2 trials.

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated an association between prostate-specific antigen (PSA) kinetics and predictive value for treatment outcomes. Abiraterone acetate (AA) is a newly approved cytochrome-P450C17 inhibitor for treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), and few studies have evaluated PSA kinetics using AA so far. Results of a study evaluating PSA kinetics in the beginning of AA and enzalutamide responded chemotherapy-treated patients suggested different trends between the drugs.

Predictive factors for 24 weeks sustained virologic response (SVR24) and viral relapse in patients treated with simeprevir plus peginterferon and ribavirin.

Background: Simeprevir with peginterferon and ribavirin has been used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis caused by genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (HCV). We explored the predictive factors for sustained virological response (SVR) and viral relapse using datasets from four Japanese phase 3 studies (CONCERTO).

Methods: We used a multiple logistic regression model.

Similar metabolic responses to calorie restriction in lean and obese Zucker rats.

Calorie restriction (CR), which is thought to be largely dependent on the neuroendocrine system modulated by insulin/insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and leptin signaling, decreases morbidity and increases lifespan in many organisms. To elucidate whether insulin and leptin sensitivities are indispensable in the metabolic adaptation to CR, we investigated the effects of CR on obese Zucker (fa/fa) rats and lean control (+/+) rats. CR did not fully improve insulin resistance in (fa/fa) rats.

Pituitary growth hormone suppression reduces resistin expression and enhances insulin effectiveness: relationship with caloric restriction.

Caloric restriction (CR) retards various age-dependent disorders, increases lifespan, and improves insulin activity in laboratory animals. Recently, adipocytes were found to act together as an active endocrine organ that produces various hormones called adipocytokines. The peripheral and central activities of these adipocytokines have been suggested to mediate the anti-aging effects of CR.

Treatment of neurodegenerative CNS disease in Langerhans cell histiocytosis with a combination of intravenous immunoglobulin and chemotherapy.

Background: In rare cases, patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) develop neurodegenerative CNS disease (ND-CNS-LCH). Management of ND-CNS-LCH has not been established.

Methods: We treated five pediatric patients with a combination of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) and chemotherapy (steroid +/- vinblastine +/- 6-mercaptopurine +/- methotrexate).

A case with tracheo-innominate artery fistula. Successful management of endovascular embolization of innominate artery.

Tracheo-innominate artery fistula (TIF) is known as a fatal complication after tracheostomy. We report a 9-year-old girl with early hypoxic encephalopathy who had a tracheo-innominate artery fistula with exsanguinating hemorrhage from her tracheostoma 10 months after tracheostomy. After temporary control of bleeding, embolization of the innominate artery was performed.

[A case of brain metastasis of small cell lung cancer improved with nogitecan hydrochloride (topotecan) after prophylactic irradiation].

A 55-year old woman was treated with chemoradiotherapy for limited type small cell lung cancer. She was then treated with prophylactic cranial irradiation. However, local recurrence and metastatic brain tumors were detected after a year.

Characteristic perforin gene mutations of haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis patients in Japan.

Perforin gene (PRF1) mutations appear to occur in about 30% of patients with haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH). We tested perforin expression and gene mutations in 14 HLH patients and six patients with Epstein-Barr virus-associated HLH (EBV-HLH) in Japan. Five of the 14 HLH patients had perforin abnormalities.