Early prediction of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity by urinary vanin-1 in patients with urothelial carcinoma.

Cisplatin is a widely used anticancer drug, but its nephrotoxicity is a serious problem. To examine whether the novel biomarker, urinary vanin-1, could predict reduction in renal function after dosing of cisplatin. We conducted a prospective single-center pilot study of 24 patients with urothelial carcinoma who received cisplatin-based chemotherapy between 2012 and 2015.

External validation of risk classification in patients with docetaxel-treated castration-resistant prostate cancer.

Background: Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients have poor prognoses, and docetaxel (DTX) is among the few treatment options. An accurate risk classification to identify CRPC patient groups for which DTX would be effective is urgently warranted. The Armstrong risk classification (ARC), which classifies CRPC patients into 3 groups, is superior; however, its usefulness remains unclear, and further external validation is required before clinical use.

Involvement of magnitude of ambient temperature change in nonspecific effect in perceived placebo effect on lower urinary tract symptoms: study on switching of naftopidil in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Purpose: To determine if switching from one brand of the α1-adrenoceptor antagonist naftopidil (Avishot™) to another brand (Flivas™) under the same conditions causes the same changes in lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and quality of life (QOL) as the perceived placebo effect, and if ambient temperature as a nonspecific factor is related to those changes in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective study was carried out on 217 BPH patients who had received Avishot™ for more than 6 months and then were switched to Flivas™ at the same dose and timing. The two drugs contain the same principal ingredient and display the same pharmacokinetic properties.

Paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration associated with an onconeural antibody against creatine kinase, brain-type.

Onconeural immunity, a cancer-stimulated immune reaction that cross-reacts with neural tissues, is considered to be the principal pathological mechanism for paraneoplastic neurological syndromes (PNS). A common PNS is paraneoplastic cerebellar degeneration (PCD). We had encountered a PCD patient with urothelial carcinomas (UC) of the urinary bladder who was negative for the well-characterized PNS-related onconeural antibodies.

Hand-foot skin reaction is associated with the clinical outcome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sorafenib.

Background: To elucidate whether Hand-Foot skin reaction could become a biomarker of clinical outcome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma treated with sorafenib, we retrospectively examined the association between the Hand-Foot skin reaction and the clinical outcome in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib.

Methods: Thirty-six Japanese metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with sorafenib were enrolled and divided into the groups with or without Hand-Foot skin reaction. Patient characteristics, best tumor response, progression-free survival and adverse events were investigated and compared between these two groups.

Changes in peripheral blood immune cells: their prognostic significance in metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients treated with molecular targeted therapy.

Recently, novel molecular targeted agents markedly changed the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), with promising results. However, there is little understanding of how these agents affect immune cell populations in RCC, an immunogenic tumor. Therefore, we investigated the changes in the peripheral blood immune cells in 58 RCC patients during the first 4 weeks of treatment with sorafenib, sunitinib, everolimus, or temsirolimus and evaluated whether these changes were associated with clinical outcomes.

Single site mutations in the hetero-oligomeric Mrp antiporter from alkaliphilic Bacillus pseudofirmus OF4 that affect Na+/H+ antiport activity, sodium exclusion, individual Mrp protein levels, or Mrp complex formation.

Mrp systems are widely distributed and structurally complex cation/proton antiporters. Antiport activity requires hetero-oligomeric complexes of all six or seven hydrophobic Mrp proteins (MrpA-MrpG). Here, a panel of site-directed mutants in conserved or proposed motif residues was made in the Mrp Na(+)(Li(+))/H(+) antiporter from an alkaliphilic Bacillus.

[A case of primary urethral adenocarcinoma accompanied by vaginal wall infiltration in which the CA19-9 level was very high].

A 55-year-old woman had urinary frequency and a constant urge to urinate. Computed tomography confirmed a urethral tumor, and transurethral biopsy confirmed adenocarcinoma. She visited our hospital to undergo treatment, and we performed an anterior pelvic excenteration.

Single gene deletions of mrpA to mrpG and mrpE point mutations affect activity of the Mrp Na+/H+ antiporter of alkaliphilic Bacillus and formation of hetero-oligomeric Mrp complexes.

Mrp antiporters catalyze secondary Na(+)(Li(+))/H(+) antiport and/or K(+)/H(+) antiport that is physiologically important in diverse bacteria. An additional capacity for anion flux has been observed for a few systems. Mrp is unique among antiporters in that it requires all six or seven hydrophobic gene products (MrpA to MrpG) of the mrp operon for full antiporter activity, but MrpE has been reported to be dispensable.

Gastric diverticulum preoperatively diagnosed as one of two left adrenal adenomas.

A 47-year-old man was diagnosed with primary aldosteronism due to two left adrenal adenomas, suggested on computed tomography (CT) to be located at the upper and lower adrenal portion. However, adosterol scintigraphy revealed negligible uptake at the upper portion of the left adrenal. Laparoscopic left adrenalectomy was performed, but macroscopic examination of the specimen revealed only one adrenal tumor.

[Staging laparoscopy for advanced gastric cancer].

Staging laparoscopy was carried out for 12 cases of advanced primary gastric cancer to evaluate the condition of peritoneal seeding. Peritoneal seeding was indicated in five cases. Abdominal lavage sampling was positive in six cases.

[Pharmacological study on levofolinate in intraperitoneal leucovorin-5-FU chemotherapy].

We report the pharmacological findings on levofolinate after the intraperitoneal administration of leucovorin-5-FU. Levofolinate 300 mg/saline 500 ml and 5-FU 750 mg/saline 500 ml were administered intraperitoneally over 1.5 h.

[Pharmacokinetic study of CPT-11, SN-38 and SN-38 glucuronide in the ascites, plasma and bile after intraperitoneal administration of CPT-11].

We studied the pharmacokinetics of CPT-11 with intraperitoneal administration in a patient with a PTCD tube. The patient had advanced gastric cancer with peritoneal metastasis. CPT-11 was administrated in a dose of 40 mg and the intraperitoneal, plasma and bile levels of CPT-11, SN-38 and SN-38 glucuronide (SN-38 GLU) were measured periodically.

[A case report of intra-hepatic arterial infusion of mitomycin C with degradable starch microspheres for liver metastases of sigmoid colon carcinoma].

A 46-year-old man underwent polypectomy of sigmoid colon in January 1996. The adenocarcinoma invaded the submucosal layer, and sigmoidectomy and D2 lymph node dissection were performed one month later. Follow-up CT revealed liver metastases, and partial hepatectomy was performed in January 1998.