Predictive impacts of peritoneal washing cytology for surgical resection-intended pancreatic cancer cases: Establishment of planned staging laparoscopy criteria.

Background: Staging laparoscopy (SL) has been advocated for pancreatic cancer, mainly to evaluate the peritoneal washing cytology (CY) status, which seems to impact the prognosis of pancreatic cancer. To establish an optimal treatment strategy for CY positive (CY+) pancreatic cancer cases, real-world clinical data about CY status-depending surgical outcomes should be accumulated.

Methods: Peritoneal washing samples were collected from 183 consecutive patients who could be classified as either resectable or borderline resectable (BR) pancreatic cancer between January 2012 and December 2020.

High Preoperative Serum D-dimer Predicts Unfavorable Survival Outcomes for Pancreatic Cancer Patients.

Background/aim: Pancreatic cancer cells release certain tissue factors into the bloodstream. It is well known that pancreatic cancer progresses with thrombus formation. Because we routinely measure serum D-dimer levels in preoperative patients as a screening marker of deep venous thrombosis, we examined its association with high serum D-dimer in our cohort of pancreatic cancer resected cases.

Albumin-Globulin Ratio Indicates the Survival Outcome of Pancreatic Cancer Cases Who Underwent Preoperative Treatment and Curative Surgical Resection.

Background: The pretreatment albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) is a frequently used inflammation-associated factor that has been reported to have associations with the survival outcomes of various malignancies.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 162 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent preoperative treatment followed by curative surgery at Nagoya University Hospital between April 2010 and December 2020. Representative nutritional status indicators of neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) were calculated for each case.

Efficacy and feasibility of scheduled intravenous acetaminophen administration after pancreatoduodenectomy: a propensity score-matched study.

Purpose: The efficiency and safety of routine intravenous administration of acetaminophen after highly invasive hepatobiliary pancreatic surgery remain unclear. In particular, there have been no studies focusing on pancreatoduodenectomy. The present study clarified its clinical utility for patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy.

Comparison Between FOLFIRINOX and nal-IRI/FL as Second-line Treatment After Gemcitabine Plus Nab-paclitaxel for Pancreatic Cancer.

Background/aim: The regimen of nanoliposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (Nal-IRI/FL) was approved in Japan as second-line chemotherapy after gemcitabine-based treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in 2020. We examined the difference in outcome between patients treated with second-line folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) and those treated with nal-IRI/FL after first-line gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (GnP).

Patients And Methods: The outcomes of 34 patients with PDAC who received second-line FOLFIRINOX (n=21) or nal-IRI/FL (n=13) after GnP at our Department from January 2016 to June 2021 were reviewed retrospectively.

Downregulation of ROBO4 in Pancreatic Cancer Serves as a Biomarker of Poor Prognosis and Indicates Increased Cell Motility and Proliferation Through Activation of MMP-9.

Background: The axon guidance gene family, SLIT/ROBO pathway, controls neural network formation, which correlates with the development of several cancers.

Methods: We found through analysis of the public database that ROBO4, one of the axon guidance molecules among the SLIT/ROBO family, is significantly downregulated in primary pancreatic cancer tissues compared with adjacent normal tissues. We carried out transfection experiments using three pancreatic cancer cell lines (MiaPaCa-2, BxPC-3, and SW1990) and one pancreatic duct epithelial cell line (HPDE6c7).

Vessel invasion as a predictive factor for recurrence after surgery in stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

Background: Patients with early-stage lung cancer who underwent R0 resection often encounter disease recurrence, especially during the early phase; thus, it is deemed vital to determine the predictive factors for recurrence after surgery. In this study, we aimed to identify the independent variables associated with recurrence after complete surgical resection of pathological stage I lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 169 patients who underwent pulmonary resection for primary lung adenocarcinoma pathological stage I with curative intent lung cancer surgery from 2015 to December 2018 at our institution for information on the recurrence of the disease.

Impact of molecular surgical margin analysis on the prediction of pancreatic cancer recurrences after pancreaticoduodenectomy.

Background: Pancreatic cancer is one of the lethal cancers among solid malignancies. Pathological diagnosis of surgical margins is sometimes unreliable due to tissue shrinkage, invisible field cancerization and skipped lesions like tumor budding. As a result, tumor recurrences sometimes occur even from the pathologically negative surgical margins.

Different Characteristics of Serum Alfa Fetoprotein and Serum Des-gamma-carboxy Prothrombin in Resected Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background/aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) mainly develops in the damaged liver from hepatitis C virus (HCV) or hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Japan. On the other hand, the occurrence of HCCs derived from the liver without viral infection has recently been increasing. Our aim was to identify characteristics specific to HCCs with virus-infected liver (HCC-BC) or those with non-B- and non-C-infected liver (HCC-NBNC), Patients and Methods: We collected preoperative serum α-fetoprotein (AFP) and Des-Gamma-Carboxy Prothrombin (DCP), also known as PIVKA-II values from surgically resected HCC cases during 1994-2017 in our department.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of circular RNA in resected hepatocellular carcinoma and background liver tissue.

Circular RNA (circRNA) is a type of non-coding RNA known to affect cancer-related micro RNAs and various transcription factors. circRNA has promise as a cancer-related biomarker because its circular structure affords high stability. We found using high-throughput sequencing that seven candidate circRNAs (hsa_circ_0041150, hsa_circ_0025624, hsa_circ_0001020, hsa_circ_0028129, hsa_circ_0008558, hsa_circ_0036683, hsa_circ_0058087) were downregulated in HCC.

A case of intrapulmonary lymphangioma surrounded by pulmonary hilar structures.

A 53-year-old man was referred to our hospital for examination of a nodule in the right hilar region observed on a chest roentgenogram. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 34 × 32-mm multilocular cystic mass with partial calcification adjacent to the hilar structures in the right upper lung lobe. The mass was resected using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery and identified as pulmonary cystic lymphangioma through postoperative histopathological analysis.

An outcome analysis of predictive factors for portal or splenic vein thrombosis after distal pancreatectomy.

Purposes: The aim of this study was to explore predictive factors for portal or splenic vein thrombosis (VT) that might cause serious problems after distal pancreatectomy (DP).

Methods: A total of 230 patients who underwent DP between 2008 and 2017 were retrospectively reviewed to identify predictive factors for portal or splenic VT.

Results: Ultimately, 164 patients were analyzed.

Extended pleurectomy decortication for Masaoka stage IVa thymoma with massive pleural and pericardial dissemination.

We herein report two cases of Masaoka stage IVa thymoma treated by radical resection via thymothymectomy followed by pleurectomy/decortication (PD). Case 1: a 52-year-old man was diagnosed with a type B1 thymoma. Resection of the right lobe of thymus, dissection of left upper mediastinum, and pleurectomy from anterior chest wall to descending aorta were performed via median sternotomy approach.

Comparison of non-invasive liver reserve and fibrosis models: Implications for surgery and prognosis for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: This study aimed to assess the clinical utility of preoperative evaluation of liver fibrosis using platelet-albumin-bilirubin (PALBI) grade, Fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4), and aspartate transaminase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and explore the clinical impact of these models with regard to perioperative risks and HCC prognosis.

Methods: Between January 2003 and December 2018, 305 consecutive patients who underwent hepatectomy for HCC were enrolled.

Results: The APRI showed the most robust diagnostic performance through each fibrosis stage among three models (PALBI, FIB-4, and APRI): fibrosis stage 3 (f3), area under the curve [AUC] = 0.

Perioperative and prognostic implication of albumin-bilirubin-TNM score in Child-Pugh class A hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aim: A reliable classification for predicting postoperative prognosis and perioperative risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is required to make a precise decision for HCC treatment. In the present study, we assessed the perioperative and prognostic importance of indocyanine green (ICG) testing, tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage, albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) grade, and ALBI-TNM (ALBI-T) score using consecutive resected HCC cases.

Methods: Between 1998 and 2011, 273 consecutive patients who underwent primary and curative hepatectomy for HCC were identified.

Clinical Implications of Lysyl Oxidase-Like Protein 2 Expression in Pancreatic Cancer.

Lysyl oxidase (LOX) family genes, particularly lysyl oxidase-like protein 2 (LOXL2), have been implicated in carcinogenesis, metastasis, and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in various cancers. This study aimed to explore the clinical implications of LOXL2 expression in pancreatic cancer (PC) in the context of EMT status. LOX family mRNA expression was measured in PC cell lines, and LOXL2 protein levels were examined in surgical specimens resected from 170 patients with PC.

A feasibility study of postoperative chemotherapy with S-1 and cisplatin (CDDP) for stage III/IV gastric cancer (CCOG 1106).

Background: The standard of care for stage II/III gastric cancer in Japan is D2 dissection followed by adjuvant S-1 monotherapy. Outcome of patients with stage III disease remains unsatisfactory, calling for a more intensive adjuvant chemotherapy regimen, for which evidence in advanced/metastatic cancer research suggests S-1/cisplatin (CDDP) as a candidate. Although S-1/CDDP was poorly tolerated postoperatively in the previous trial, compliance was dramatically improved by insertion of one cycle of S-1 monotherapy, which delayed administration of CDDP by 6 weeks.