Qualitative analysis of cancer telephone consultations: Differences in the counseling needs of Japanese men and women.

Objective: To analyze large-scale data obtained from telephone cancer consultations and clarify sex differences in the information sought by callers to guide future cancer survivor support.

Methods: We qualitatively analyzed 10,534 cases of telephone consultations with cancer patients. The relationships between callers' words and sex were visualized through a correspondence analysis, and the keywords extracted were visualized with a dependency relationship to the words "worry" and "anxiety," which had a high prevalence in the text data.

[Case of GIST of the rectum successfully treated with imatinib mesylate neoadjuvant therapy].

A 60-year-old man, with a high risk GIST of the rectum, suspected of the infiltration to the prostate and measuring 10 cm in diameter, underwent resection after neoadjuvant therapy of imatinib mesylate. Perineal approach was added because intraperitoneal dissection was not enough, however, the infiltration to the prostate was denied completely due to a reduction in the tumor size, thus total peritoneal resection was avoided. It seems that neoadjuvant therapy with imatinib mesylate is useful for resectability and for the preservation of the functions of ambient organs.

Overexpressed cyclo-oxygenase-2 in the background liver is associated with the clinical course of hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis patients after curative surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The probable role of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic liver diseases has been accepted to be relevant. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether overexpressed COX-2 in the background liver affects the clinical course of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related cirrhosis patients after curative surgery for HCC.

Methods: Twenty-nine clinical stage I HCC patients with HCV-related cirrhosis, who underwent curative surgery, were enrolled in the present study (22 men and seven women, age range 53-73 years; follow-up period; range 22-159 months, median 61 months).

Lateral lymph node dissection for lower rectal cancer.

Background/aims: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of lateral lymph node dissection (LLD) on overall survival, disease-free survival, and local recurrence for the patients with lower rectal cancer.

Methodology: From 1990 through 2000, 169 consecutive patients with T2 (TNM classification) or more advanced, extended lower rectal cancer (located below the peritoneal reflection) underwent curative resection at Kanagawa Cancer Center were reviewed. One hundred and forty-three patients who underwent LLD and the 26 patients who did not were entered in this study.

Clinicopathological features of skip metastasis in colorectal cancer.

Background/aims: Japanese general rules for the staging of colorectal cancer conventionally classify lymph node metastasis into three groups according to location with respect to the primary tumor. Skip metastasis, in which distant nodes are positive but regional nodes are negative, is often encountered but poorly understood. We studied the clinicopathological features of skip metastasis in colorectal cancer.

[A case of flat elevated type carcinoma in adenoma of the duodenum with gastric cancer].

Duodenal adenoma is rare, and there have been very few case reports of flat elevated type adenoma. We report a case of flat elevated type carcinoma in adenoma of the duodenum with gastric cancer. A 58-year-old man was referred to our hospital for gastric cancer.

A phase II Study of the global dose and schedule of capecitabine in Japanese patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

Background: Although the standard 3-week capecitabine regimen (1250 mg/m(2) twice daily for 2 weeks followed by a 1-week rest) has shown superior activity and improved safety over bolus 5-fluorouracil/leucovorin in two large randomized phase III trials in Europe and in the United States, only a 4-week regimen of capecitabine (828 mg/m(2) twice daily for 3 weeks) has been studied in Japan. Therefore, we performed a phase II study to investigate the 3-week regimen of capecitabine in Japanese patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC).

Methods: Previously untreated patients with MCRC received oral capecitabine 1250 mg/m(2) twice daily for 2 weeks.

Growth index, assessed with Ki-67 and ssDNA labeling; a significant prognosticator for patients undergoing curative resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Objectives: The aggressiveness and greater malignant potential of cancers are characterized by several biological phenomena such as accelerated growth invasiveness, and the ability to form distant metastasis. Thus, knowledge of such biological difference may be a more accurate prognosticator for cancer patients. Tumor growth depends on the degree of imbalance between cell production and loss.

Water-generated negative air ions activate NK cell and inhibit carcinogenesis in mice.

Negative ions are considered to have potential health benefits, but few studies have examined their effects in vivo. We studied water-generated negative ions (WNI) with respect to physical properties as well as immunologic activation and anti-tumor activity (inhibition of carcinogenesis and tumor growth) in mice. Electrically, generated negative ions (ENI) served as control.

[Multicenter comparative study of the recurrence-inhibitory effect of oral fluoropyrimidine drugs in patients with colorectal cancer following curative resection].

HCFU and UFT were reported effective in adjuvant chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. This investigation was planned as a randomized study to compare the usefulness of combination therapies with mitomycin C (MMC)+HCFU and MMC+UFT as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with colorectal cancer following curative resection, in terms of survival rate, recurrence rate, and adverse drug reactions. A total of 501 patients consisting of 252 patients with stage III/IV colon cancer (Colorectal Cancer Handling Rules, 4th Ed.

Expression of survivin mRNA associates with apoptosis, proliferation and histologically aggressive features in hepatocellular carcinoma.

The clinical impact of survivin on human cancer pathogenesis and prognosis has been investigated. To clarify the clinical effect of survivin on tumor behavior and prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the expression of survivin mRNA in 40 samples of HCC tissue and matched-adjacent liver tissue, as well as 7 healthy hepatic tissue samples were measured by a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The expressed level of survivin mRNA (log copies/microg total RNA) in healthy liver tissue was 1.

Prognostic impact of tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 in plasma of patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: Tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in plasma has been reported to be related to disease progression in patients with colorectal cancer. However, the prognostic significance of plasma TIMP-1 has not been clarified.

Patients And Methods: Concentrations of TIMP-1 protein were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in plasma samples of 87 preoperative patients who subsequently underwent resection, and prognosis was compared.

A phase II Japanese study of a modified capecitabine regimen for advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer.

This phase II study evaluated a modified Japanese capecitabine regimen as first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic colorectal cancer. Sixty patients received oral capecitabine 828 mg/m(2) twice daily for 3 weeks every 4 weeks. In the 56 efficacy-evaluable patients, the overall response rate was 26.

Serum alanine aminotransferase levels and survival after hepatectomy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis C virus-associated liver cirrhosis.

We examined whether sustained alleviation of inflammation as monitored by serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels was associated with longer survival in hepatectomized hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with hepatitis C virus-associated liver cirrhosis (HCV-LC). Thirty-four hepatectomized patients with HCV-LC and HCC as a single nodule, and for whom more than 5 years had elapsed after the hepatectomy, were studied. They had no histologic evidence of portal or hepatic vein invasion.

Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) is up-regulated in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the corresponding hepatitis liver.

Background/aims: Platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) is one of the angiogenic factors. The aim of this study was to examine the PD-ECGF concentrations in hepatocellular carcinoma, background liver, and normal liver tissues, and to elucidate their significance on clinicopathological outcomes.

Methodology: The concentration of PD-ECGF in the tissue extract was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

[Examination of percutaneous microwave coagulation and radiofrequency ablation therapy for metastatic liver cancer].

Percutaneous microwave coagulation therapy (PMCT) and radio frequency ablation therapy (RFA) as treatments for metastatic liver cancer were examined. PMCT or RFA was administered for 18 metastatic liver cancer lesions (primary lesion: 11 colon rectal cancer, one esophagus cancer, one thyroid cancer, one pancreatic cancer, one pheochromocytoma) in 16 patients from July 1999 to March 2002. RFA was performed 1 time for 12 minutes in principle, using a Cool-tip RF system from Radionics.

Cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA is up-regulated in cirrhotic or chronic hepatitis liver adjacent to hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unique in that its carcinogenesis is related to inflammatory changes and regenerative activities in the background liver. Although there are some data on cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 expression in HCC by immunohistochemical studies, little is known about the possible role of COX-2 in inducing hepatitis and/or carcinoma. To elucidate whether COX-2 is involved in a part of these processes, we attempted to examine COX-2 mRNA both in the adjacent non-tumoral liver and in HCC.