Proton beam therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: a comparison of three treatment protocols.

Background: Our previous results for treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with proton beam therapy revealed excellent local control with low toxicity. Three protocols were used to avoid late complications such as gastrointestinal ulceration and bile duct stenosis. In this study, we examined the efficacy of these protocols.

Bronchial diverticula detected by multidetector-row computed tomography: incidence and clinical features.

Purpose: Our aim was to investigate the incidence and characteristics of bronchial diverticula using multidetector-row computed tomography (MDCT) and to evaluate their association with smoking status.

Materials And Methods: Two radiologists retrospectively reviewed MDCT scans obtained between December 2007 and February 2008 with a 4-row or a 64-row MDCT scanner for 1122 consecutive patients. Bronchial diverticula were assessed for incidence, locations, and sizes.

Anti-diabetic effects including diabetic nephropathy of anti-osteoporotic trace minerals on diabetic mice.

Objective: In our previous study to evaluate the effects of soluble silicon (Si) on bone metabolism, Si and coral sand (CS) as a natural Si-containing material suppressed peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ (PPARγ), which regulates both glucose and bone metabolism and increases adipogenesis at the expense of osteogenesis, leading to bone loss. In this study, we investigated the anti-diabetic effects of bone-seeking elements, Si and stable strontium (Sr), and CS as a natural material containing these elements using obese diabetic KKAy mice.

Methods: Weanling male mice were fed diets containing 1% Ca supplemented with CaCO(3) as the control and CS, and diets supplemented with 50 ppm Si or 750 ppm Sr to control diet for 56 d.

Surgical resection of a primary pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma in bilateral lungs.

Pulmonary epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (PEH) is a rare pulmonary neoplasm that was initially described in 1975 as an intravascular bronchioloalveolar tumor. This report presents the case of a patient with multifocal primary pulmonary PEH (11 tumors) in the bilateral lungs. All of the tumors detected in the preoperative computed tomography scan were surgically resected.

[A case of complicated perioperative management of radical nephrectomy in a patient with a drug-eluting stent].

Drug-eluting stents (DES) are commonly used for coronary artery disease and patients with DES require antiplatelet therapy because of the risk of late stent thrombosis. Accordingly problems can occur in the perioperative period due to late thrombosis of a stent after discontinuation of antiplatelet therapy before surgery. A 64-year-old man was diagnosed as having a right renal tumor (T1aN0M0) and his performance status was 4.

Role of radiotherapy for local control of asymptomatic adrenal metastasis from lung cancer.

Introduction: Several studies have reported improved survival after adrenalectomy in patients with adrenal metastases from lung cancer. In this study, we evaluated the clinical results of radiotherapy performed for local control in patients with this disease.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 19 patients with adrenal metastasis from lung cancer, who were treated by radiation therapy between 1999 and 2008.

Subcarinal air cysts: multidetector computed tomographic findings.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the computed tomographic (CT) features of subcarinal air cysts, which may be related to bronchial diverticula.

Method: Seven patients with subcarinal air cysts were retrospectively identified. The following CT features were assessed: location, size, and marginal characteristics of subcarinal air cysts; number, location, and size of communication between the air cyst and bronchi if present; presence of bronchial diverticula in any other location; presence of the pulmonary lesion; and interval change of subcarinal air cysts on follow-up CT.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy for lung tumors at the pulmonary hilum.

Background And Purpose: High-dose irradiation to the pulmonary hilar region is generally considered to be of high risk in causing bronchial injury. The aim of this retrospective study is to investigate the safety and efficacy of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for patients with lung tumors in the pulmonary hilum.

Patients And Methods: 21 patients who underwent SBRT for lung tumors within 2 cm from a major bronchus were retrospectively analyzed.

Gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type (chief cell predominant type): proposal for a new entity of gastric adenocarcinoma.

Only a few cases of gastric adenocarcinoma of fundic gland type have been reported. Gastric adenocarcinoma with chief cell differentiation (GA-CCD) has been recently reported as a new variant of gastric adenocarcinoma. However, its clinicopathologic features are uncertain.

The Akt expression correlates with the VEGF-A and -C expression as well as the microvessel and lymphatic vessel density in breast cancer.

Akt activation has been found in various human cancers, while experimental studies have suggested that Akt plays an important role in the development of tumor angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. Immunohistochemical analyses for VEGF-C and Akt and the lymphatic endothelial specific marker D2-40 were performed on a series of 242 invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast, in which VEGF-A expression and microvessel density (MVD) had been determined previously. Lymphatic vessel density (LVD) was estimated in three hot spots.

Brain mechanisms supporting discrimination of sensory features of pain: a new model.

Pain can be very intense or only mild, and can be well localized or diffuse. To date, little is known as to how such distinct sensory aspects of noxious stimuli are processed by the human brain. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and a delayed match-to-sample task, we show that discrimination of pain intensity, a nonspatial aspect of pain, activates a ventrally directed pathway extending bilaterally from the insular cortex to the prefrontal cortex.

Malignant epithelioid angiomyolipoma in the kidney and liver of a patient with pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis: lack of response to sirolimus.

A 26-year-old woman with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) was hospitalized for the surgical excision of a giant abdominal tumor of right kidney origin. The pathological diagnosis of the tumor was conventional angiomyolipoma (AML). After 8 months, 2 liver tumors appeared and grew rapidly.

Coexistence of mucinous cystic neoplasm occurring in the head of the pancreas with annular pancreas: report of a case.

Mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN) of the pancreas are rare tumors that are almost exclusively located in the body or the tail of the pancreas. A 60-year-old woman with no history of pancreatic disease was referred to our hospital with a chief complaint of dull pain in the upper abdomen. Abdominal computed tomography showed a multilocular cystic mass of 7.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor versus IgG4-related sclerosing disease and inflammatory pseudotumor: a comparative clinicopathologic study.

Inflammatory pseudotumor (IPT) is a heterogeneous group of lesions occurring in various organs, which is histologically characterized by fibroblastic and myofibroblastic proliferation with inflammatory infiltrate. Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a neoplastic counterpart of IPT, which shows aberrant expression of ALK and its gene translocation. In contrast, the concept "immunoglobulin (Ig)G4-related IPT" in the lung, liver, and pancreas has recently been proposed as a member of IgG4-related sclerosing disease.

Phase I/II trial of hyperfractionated concomitant boost proton radiotherapy for supratentorial glioblastoma multiforme.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of postoperative hyperfractionated concomitant boost proton radiotherapy with nimustine hydrochloride for supratentorial glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

Methods And Materials: Twenty patients with histologically confirmed supratentorial GBM met the following criteria: (1) a Karnofsky performance status of >or=60; (2) the diameter of the enhanced area before radiotherapy was View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Temporal filtering of nociceptive information by dynamic activation of endogenous pain modulatory systems.

Endogenous pain control mechanisms have long been known to produce analgesia during "flight or fight" situations and to contribute to cognitively driven pain modulation, such as placebo analgesia. Afferent nociceptive information can also directly activate supraspinal descending modulatory systems, suggesting that these mechanisms may participate in feedback loops that dynamically alter the processing of nociceptive information. The functional significance of these feedback loops, however, remains unclear.

Addison's disease due to tuberculosis that required differentiation from SIADH.

A 77-year-old man was admitted to our hospital complaining of general fatigue. Serum sodium was 116 mEq/l and serum antidiuretic hormone (ADH) was elevated. Radiologic examination revealed nodules in the brain as well as in both adrenal glands.

Distinct patterns of brain activity evoked by histamine-induced itch reveal an association with itch intensity and disease severity in atopic dermatitis.

Background: Little is known about brain mechanisms supporting the experience of chronic puritus in disease states.

Objectives: To examine the difference in brain processing of histamine-induced itch in patients with active atopic dermatitis (AD) vs. healthy controls with the emerging technique of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) using arterial spin labelling (ASL).

Simultaneous occurrence of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return and major bronchial anomaly: computed tomography findings in 5 adult patients.

Objective: The objective of this study was to describe the computed tomography (CT) findings of 5 adult patients with a combination of partial anomalous pulmonary venous return (PAPVR) and major bronchial anomaly.

Methods: A computerized search of the radiological database records of 4886 consecutive patients who underwent chest CT from April 2005 to May 2007 described 2 patients with a combination of PAPVR and tracheal bronchus (TB). Three additional patients with a combination of PAPVR and TB or accessory cardiac bronchus (ACB) were obtained by reviewing the CT images of the patients initially diagnosed as having PAPVR, TB, or ACB at our institution during the same period.

Dietary soy protein isolate and its undigested high molecular fraction upregulate hepatic ATP-binding cassette transporter G5 and ATP-binding cassette transporter G8 mRNA and increase biliary secretion of cholesterol in rats.

Dietary soy protein isolate (SPI) and its undigested high molecular fraction (HMF) exhaustively digested with proteases, compared with casein (CAS), significantly reduced serum and liver cholesterol concentration in rats. Biliary excretion of cholesterol was significantly higher in rats fed SPI and HMF than in those fed CAS. Hepatic expression of ATP-binding cassette transporter G5 (ABCG5) and ATP-binding cassette transporter G8 (ABCG8) mRNA was significantly higher in rats fed SPI and HMF than in those fed CAS.

Unclassified epithelioid vascular tumor with hemangioendotheliomatous features and lymphatic differentiation.

Reported herein is an unusual vascular tumor that arose in the little finger of a 10-year-old boy. The tumor consisted of a vaguely demarcated nodular mass, which was located in the subcutaneous layer and measured 1 cm in diameter. Microscopic characteristic findings of this tumor were epithelioid nests, admixed with focal components with retiform features, intraluminal papillary tufts, and spindle cells.

Proton beam therapy for large hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To investigate the safety and efficacy of proton beam therapy (PBT) in patients with large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods And Materials: Twenty-two patients with HCC larger than 10 cm were treated with proton beam therapy at our institution between 1985 and 2006. Twenty-one of the 22 patients were not surgical candidates because of advanced HCC, intercurrent disease, or old age.

Roles of the insular cortex in the modulation of pain: insights from brain lesions.

Subjective sensory experiences are constructed by the integration of afferent sensory information with information about the uniquely personal internal cognitive state. The insular cortex is anatomically positioned to serve as one potential interface between afferent processing mechanisms and more cognitively oriented modulatory systems. However, the role of the insular cortex in such modulatory processes remains poorly understood.