[A case of pancreaticoduodenectomy after the placement of an expandable metallic stent].

This is a case report of a 75-year-old man who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy and received a placement of an expandable metallic stent (EMS) for palliation of the biliary stricture following diagnosis as middle bile duct carcinoma. At a local hospital, abdominal computed tomography revealed multiple low-density lesions with peripheral enhancement in the liver. After being diagnosed as metastatic liver tumor with cholangiocarcinoma, an EMS was inserted for palliation of the biliary stricture on the basis of the diagnosis as unresectable carcinoma due to the metastatic lesion.

[Quantification of circulating plasma DNA fragments as tumor markers in patients with esophageal and gastric cancer].

The quantity and quality of circulating DNA fragments was analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactions (qPCR) in plasma from patients with esophageal and gastric cancer, in order to assess their diagnostic value. Plasma was collected preoperatively from 24 patients with esophageal cancer 53 patients with gastric cancer and from 21 healthy controls. qPCR was performed using two primer sets for the BETA-actin gene, amplifying short (102 bp) and long (253 bp) segments.