Geriatric nutritional risk index and newly developed scoring system as prognosis prediction for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma patients treated with lenvatinib.

In the current era of immune therapy, lenvatinib (LEN) continues to be vital for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) patients. This study investigates the importance of nutritional status in the prognosis of uHCC patients receiving LEN and evaluates a new prognostic scoring system that combines the geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) and systemic inflammatory response. From 2018 to 2022, 484 uHCC patients treated with LEN (384 males, median age 73).

Metabolic Syndrome and Somatic Composition: A Large Cross-sectional Analysis.

Background/aim: To elucidate the relationship between metabolic syndrome (Mets) and somatic composition [fat mass, fat-free (FF) mass, and fat to fat-free (F-FF) ratio] among health checkup recipients (7,776 males and 10,121 females).

Patients And Methods: We classified study subjects into four types considering Japanese criteria for Mets; Type A is for males with waist circumference (WC) <85 cm and females with WC <90 cm, Type B is for males with WC ≥85 cm and females with WC ≥90 cm, but without any metabolic abnormalities, Type C is for males with WC ≥85 cm and females with WC ≥90 cm and one metabolic disorder (pre-Mets), and Type D is Mets. We compared baseline characteristics among types of A, B, C, and D.

Ten new resin glycosides, ipoalbins I-X, from Ipomoea alba seeds.

Ipomoea alba L. (Convolvulaceae) is an annual vine native to tropical America that is cultivated primarily for ornamental purposes. Its seeds are used in traditional medicine as a laxative, and young shoots are consumed as food.

The tumor immune microenvironment and therapeutic efficacy of trastuzumab deruxtecan in gastric cancer.

Trastuzumab deruxtecan (T-DXd), an anti-HER2 antibody-drug conjugate with a topoisomerase I inhibitor connected by a cleavable linker, has been approved for patients with HER2-positive gastric or gastroesophageal junction tumors. This biomarker study assessed HER2 expression and immune cell infiltration in relation to the therapeutic response to T-DXd. This retrospective analysis included samples from patients treated with T-DXd in three clinical trials.

Highly Efficient Spectral Measurement Methods Using Newly Developed High-Throughput Magnetic Circularly Polarized Luminescence System.

Magnetic circularly polarized luminescence (MCPL) spectroscopy is widely used to evaluate the luminescence dissymmetry factor (g) for compounds. However, even for the same instrument and operating conditions, the measured g is affected by errors associated with sources such as baseline drift and spectral noise, and so the range of variation of g must be considered when comparing values, which requires multiple measurements for the same sample. Also, because many samples undergo photodegradation under excitation light, it is difficult to accumulate and average spectra for samples with weak MCPL signals to improve the signal-to-noise ratio.

The HSP90 Inhibitor Pimitespib Targets Regulatory T Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment.

Regulatory T (Treg) cells play key roles in cancer immunity by suppressing a range of antitumor immune responses and contributing to resistance to programmed death (PD)-1 blockade therapy. Given their critical roles in self-tolerance, local control of immunosuppression by Treg cells, such as in the tumor microenvironment (TME), has been intensively studied. Inhibition of heat shock protein 90 (HSP90), a chaperone with vital roles in regulating proteostasis in cancer cells, impedes cancer progression by interrupting oncogenic signaling pathways and potentially modulating antitumor immunity, but we have very little mechanistic insight into these immune modulatory effects.

Body Composition in Cases with Normal Alanine Aminotransferase Values in Medical Health Checkups.

Background And Aims: We aimed to clarify the relationship between alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and body composition in Japanese medical health checkups, especially in cases with ALT ≤ 30 IU/L (7569 men and 9497 women).

Methods: We categorized our study cohort into four groups: type A (ALT value ≤ 10 IU/L), type B (11 ≤ ALT value ≤ 20 IU/L), type C (21 ≤ ALT value ≤ 30 IU/L) and type D (ALT value > 30 IU/L (ALT over 30)). We retrospectively compared body composition-related parameters (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), fat (F) index, fatty liver index (FLI), fat-free (FF) index and F-FF ratio) among the four types.

Efficacy of durvalumab plus tremelimumab treatment for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma in immunotherapy era clinical practice.

Aim: Since the development of tremelimumab plus durvalumab (Dur/Tre) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), it has been used as not only an initial but also later line treatment in clinical practice. This study aimed to elucidate clinical prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) in Dur/Tre treatment cases.

Methods: Enrolled were 183 uHCC patients treated with Dur/Tre from 2023 to May 2024 (median age, 74 years; male patients, 152; Child-Pugh class A:B, 150:33; Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B:C, 59:124; initial line use, 64).

Safety and efficacy of endoscopic submucosal dissection with gel immersion technique for superficial esophageal neoplasms.

Background And Aim: Gel immersion (GI) endoscopy provides a good visual field in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD); however, its clinical outcomes are poorly understood. This study aimed to compare the treatment outcomes between esophageal gel immersion endoscopic submucosal dissection (GI-ESD) and conventional ESD (C-ESD) to determine the safety and efficacy of GI-ESD.

Methods: The data of 71 consecutive patients who underwent esophageal ESD between April 2021 and March 2023 at a Japanese tertiary center were retrospectively reviewed.

Risk of admission requirement among children with respiratory infection in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

Background: To evaluate the effect of the type and codetection of respiratory viruses on admission requirements among children with respiratory infections in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed patients with acute respiratory symptoms using FilmArray® Respiratory Panel between December 2020 and March 2024. The viruses were classified into eight groups: adenovirus, seasonal coronavirus, human metapneumovirus, human rhinovirus/enterovirus, influenza virus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, and severe acute respiratory virus coronavirus-2.

Lifestyle Habits of Patients with Acute Myocardial Infarction and Specificity by Age Group.

To date, only a few studies have assessed the dietary preferences, lifestyle habits, and risk factors of patients with acute myocardial infarction. This study aimed to investigate the dietary preferences and lifestyle habits of these patients to reflect on the implementation of an effective comprehensive diet therapy in the future.In total, 117 patients who were admitted to Fukuoka University Nishijin Hospital due to acute myocardial infarction from April 2014 to January 2020 were enrolled.

Severe Thrombocytopenia from Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab Combination Therapy in a Patient with HER2-Positive Metastatic Rectal Cancer.

Introduction: In recent years, trastuzumab and pertuzumab have been used in treatment protocols for patients with HER2-positive colorectal cancer. Although severe thrombocytopenia is an uncommon side effect of anti-HER2 antibody therapy, we present the first patient with HER2-positive metastatic rectal cancer who developed significant thrombocytopenia after trastuzumab and pertuzumab administration.

Case Presentation: The condition was identified as drug-induced immune thrombocytopenia associated with trastuzumab and pertuzumab.

Colonic Fishbone-Induced Perforation Involving a Penile Colorectal Carcinoma: A Case Report.

Introduction: Fishbone (FB) ingestion is a rare cause of gastrointestinal perforation. Herein, we report a case of FB-induced colonic perforation, in which the presence of a penile colonic carcinoma may have contributed to the development of the perforation.

Case Presentation: An 83-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with severe abdominal pain during bowel movement.

The effect modification of PM and ozone on the short-term associations between temperature and mortality across the urban areas of Japan.

Background: The acute effects of temperature and air pollution on mortality are well-known environmental factors that have been receiving more recognition lately. However, the health effects resulting from the interaction of air pollution and temperature remain uncertain, particularly in cities with low levels of pollution. This study aims to examine the modification effects of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.

Ferroelectric Smectic C Liquid Crystal Phase with Spontaneous Polarization in the Direction of the Director.

In the previous study, the existence of an unidentified ferroelectric smectic phase is demonstrated in the low-temperature region of the ferroelectric smectic A phase, where the layer spacing decreases with decreasing temperature. In the present study, the phase is identified by taking 2D X-ray diffraction images of a magnetically oriented sample while allowing it to rotate and constructed a 3D reciprocal space with the sample rotation angle as the third axis for the whole picture of the reciprocal lattice vectors originating from the smectic structure. Consequently, circular diffraction images are obtained when the reciprocal lattice vectors are evenly distributed on the conical surface at a certain inclination angle in the reciprocal space.

Fatty liver index and somatic composition in subjects receiving medical health checkup.

Aims: To elucidate the relationship between fatty liver index (FLI) and somatic composition among health checkup recipients (4533 men and 4877 women).

Methods: Fat (F) index, fat-free (FF) index, and fat mass to fat-free mass (F-FF) ratio was measured by bioimpedance analysis. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) loss was defined as FF index <18 kg/m in men and FF index <15 kg/m in women.