A case of malignant peritoneal mesothelioma suggesting the utility of combining double-contrast radiography and endoscopy with computed tomography for diagnosis.

A 68-year-old woman presented with abdominal pain, weight loss, and vomiting. Enhanced computed tomography (CT) showed slightly increased density in the mesentery and edema of the third portion of the duodenum and proximal jejunum. Little ascites, but no primary lesion, lymph node metastases, or distant metastases, were observed.

Detection of disseminated cancer cells in bone marrow of gastric cancer using real time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

Bone marrow is a prognostically relevant indicator organ for micrometastasis. In the present study, real time quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to detect disseminated gastric cancer cells in bone marrow. We compared CEA, CK18 and CK20 expression using four gastric cancer cell lines and three normal tissue cell lines in order to select the most appropriate marker for detection of disseminated gastric cancer cell in bone marrow.

Clinical significance of micrometastasis in bone marrow of patients with gastric cancer and its relation to angiogenesis.

BACKGROUND: Detection of micrometastasis is an important problem of clinical significance for a better understanding and control of tumor progression, which will improve patients' survival time.METHODS: To identify micrometastases in bone marrow, an immunocytochemical assay for epithelial cytokeratin protein was performed in 106 patients with primary gastric cancer. Also, in 40 of the 106 patients, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and intratumoral vessel density were examined by an immunohistochemical staining method.

Clinical application of hyperthermia combined with anticancer drugs for the treatment of solid tumors.

Background: Hyperthermia is one of the modalities used to treat various forms of malignancies, including esophageal, stomach, or rectal cancers.

Methods: The basic mechanism of synergism between hyperthermia and anticancer drugs, as well as the clinical result of hyperthermia for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancy, was reviewed.

Results: Hyperthermia exerts a cytotoxic effect in combination with various mechanisms.

[Colorectal cancer in spouses of colorectal cancer patients].

Married couples share home environments and life style for years. In the case of colorectal cancer, an association with insulin resistance was reported. We determined the presence of the insulin-resistance syndrome (IRS, 1 or more of the following: body mass index of > 25 kg/m2, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia) in 84 colorectal cancer patients, of whom 61 patients (73%) had IRS.