Post-traumatic growth of family members of deceased cancer patients and related factors in Japan: A cross-sectional study.

Purpose: This study examines the post-traumatic growth (PTG) of bereaved families who care for cancer patients and related factors in Japan.

Methods: Participants included 1298 members of bereaved families of cancer patients (aged 20 or older). An anonymous self-administered questionnaire on PTG, coping, and social support was mailed to 496 bereaved families who provided written informed consent.

MeCP2 knockdown reveals DNA methylation-independent gene repression of target genes in living cells and a bias in the cellular location of target gene products.

MeCP2, a methyl-CpG binding domain (MBD) protein, is known to bind to methylated CpG sites via a conserved MBD, leading to transcriptional repression. However, studies in cell-free system for gene repression and MeCP2 binding have suggested that DNA methylation-independent repression also occurs in living cells. It has been difficult to characterize the target genes of MeCP2 because a limited number have been identified to date.

Japanese and North American/European patients with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome have different frequencies of some epigenetic and genetic alterations.

Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is an imprinting-related human disease. The frequencies of causative alterations such as loss of methylation (LOM) of KvDMR1, hypermethylation of H19-DMR, paternal uniparental disomy, CDKN1C gene mutation, and chromosome abnormality have been described for North American and European patients, but the corresponding frequencies in Japanese patients have not been measured to date. Analysis of 47 Japanese cases of BWS revealed a significantly lower frequency of H19-DMR hypermethylation and a higher frequency of chromosome abnormality than in North American and European patients.

Laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure for inguinal hernia in children: clinical outcome of 972 repairs done in 3 pediatric surgical institutions.

Background/purpose: In 1995, we developed laparoscopic percutaneous extraperitoneal closure (LPEC) to treat inguinal hernias in children. This study evaluated LPEC's safety, efficacy, and reliability in 3 hospitals.

Methods: In 2 hospitals, LPEC was the standard procedure used to repair inguinal hernias in children, and in 1 hospital, it was done optionally in girls.

Retrospective study on the effects of lipiodolization before a potentially curative hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastases: long-term results of a pilot study.

Background/aims: Lipiodolization, a selective regional cancer chemotherapeutic modality using lipiodol plus anticancer drugs, can prolong the survival time of patients with unresectable liver cancer. A preliminary study was conducted with adjuvant lipiodolization before a potentially curative hepatectomy for patients with metachronous colorectal liver metastases. The ultimate aim of this study was to improve the long-term survival after hepatectomy.