Effect of visual feedback during laparoscopic basic training using a box trainer with a transparent top.

Laparoscopic surgical training using a box trainer facilitates mastery of laparoscopic surgery. Few studies have investigated whether visualizing the surgical field in the box trainer improves performance of laparoscopic surgical procedures during laparoscopic training. An original box trainer equipped with a transparent top made of mesh covered with a latticed structure was developed and used for evaluation of novices during laparoscopic training.

A phase II, randomized study of aprepitant in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting associated with moderately emetogenic chemotherapies in colorectal cancer patients.

The present study aimed to study the efficacy of aprepitant in the prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients receiving moderately emetogenic chemotherapy (MEC) for colorectal cancer (CRC), and comprised a multicenter, phase II, open-label, randomized, parallel comparative study conducted as part of the Kagoshima aprepitant study for colon cancer in Japan. Patients with advanced or recurrent CRC were treated with standard MEC regimens (FOLFOX, XELOX or FOLFIRI) and received either standard chemotherapy [5-hydroxytryptamine-3 receptor antagonist (5-HTRA) + dexamethasone] or aprepitant regimen chemotherapy (5-HT RA + reduced-dose dexamethasone + aprepitant). The primary endpoint of the present study was the proportion of patients who achieved a complete response (CR) during the overall, acute, and delayed phases of the first planned chemotherapy cycle.

[Autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation for Japanese multiple myeloma patients: results of a feasibility study].

A feasibility study on high-dose therapy with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (HDT/PBSCT) was performed in Japanese patients with multiple myeloma (MM). Twenty evaluable patients younger than 65 years old with stage II/III MM were enrolled in this study. Three courses of VAD were used as initial chemotherapy.