Internal Temperature of Neonatal Endotracheal Tube Predicted by Infrared Thermography: A Neonatal Bench Study.

Introduction: Neonatal ventilators are managed by monitoring the inspiratory gas temperature with a probe placed outside the incubator, although the temperature decreases as the gases passe through the ventilator circuit extension tube and endotracheal tube (ETT). There are no established methods for measuring the internal temperature of the ETT. This bench study aimed to investigate the feasibility of using infrared thermography (IRT) to predict the internal temperature of the ETT.

Home transfusions are implemented using diverse approaches in Japan.

Background And Objectives: Japan's ageing society has increased the need for home healthcare, including home transfusions. We hence aimed to elucidate the purpose and utilization of home transfusions in Japan, which has not been clarified to date.

Materials And Methods: Clinics throughout Japan that provide home care and have experience in performing blood transfusions were surveyed.

Contribution of toxicological pathology to occupational health: lung carcinogenicity of fibrous and particulate substances in rats.

In this review, we focus on the rat pulmonary carcinogenicity of two solid substances, fibrous multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and particulate indium tin oxide (ITO). Inhalation exposure to MWNT-7, a type of MWCNTs, and ITO induced lung carcinogenicity in both male and female rats. Toxicity to the alveolar epithelium is induced by macrophages undergoing frustrated phagocytosis or frustrated degradation of engulfed particles (referred to as frustrated macrophages).

Management system of home transfusion in Japan: A nationwide survey in 2019.

Background And Objectives: In Japan, there are various opinions on the pros and cons of home transfusion because of safety concerns. We hence aimed to elucidate the safety and availability of home transfusion in Japan, which has not been clarified to date.

Materials And Methods: Clinics throughout Japan that provide home care and have experience in performing blood transfusions were surveyed.

Identification of biomarkers for personalized peptide vaccination in 2,588 cancer patients.

Peptide‑based cancer vaccines have failed to provide sufficient clinical benefits in order to be approved in clinical trials since the 1990s. To understand the mechanisms underlying this failure, the present study investigated biomarkers associated with the lower overall survival (OS) among 2,588 patients receiving personalized peptide vaccination (PPV). Survival data were obtained from a database of 2,588 cancer patients including 399 patients with lung, 354 with prostate and 344 with colon cancer.

Lung carcinogenicity of inhaled multi-walled carbon nanotube in rats.

Background: Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) constitute one of the most promising types of nanomaterials in industry today. With their increasing use, the potential toxicity and carcinogenicity of MWCNT needs to be evaluated in bioassay studies using rodents. Since humans are mainly exposed to MWCNT by inhalation, we performed a 104-week carcinogenicity study using whole-body inhalation exposure chambers with a fibrous straight type of MWCNT at concentrations of 0, 0.

Metastasis of colon cancer to the thyroid and cervical lymph nodes: a case report.

The incidence of thyroid metastasis among colorectal cancer patients is extremely rare. We report a case of colonic adenocarcinoma metastasis to the thyroid gland with treatment of lung and liver metastases, in a 61-year-old woman with a history of colon cancer. She showed a thyroid mass related to a 3-month history of hoarseness.

[Background data of spontaneous tumors in F344/DuCrlCrlj rats].

Introduction: We investigated the 2-year survival rate and incidence of spontaneous tumors in F344/DuCrlCrlj rats used in carcinogenicity studies of chemical substances. Records for animals used in the control groups of carcinogenicity studies which were conducted during the last 10 years were obtained from the database of the Japan Bioassay Research Center (JBRC). Six hundred ninety-nine males and 550 females were used in 14 and 11 inhalation studies, respectively, and 500 animals of each sex were used in 10 male and 10 female oral studies.

Management of peripheral neuropathy induced by nab-paclitaxel treatment for breast cancer.

Nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-PTX) is a key drug used in breast cancer treatment which often causes chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). No effective approach for CIPN control has been established to date. This study assessed a new approach to CIPN integrating two concepts: compression therapy using stockings and sleeves, and medication therapy using selected prophylactic drugs, including goshajinkigan, which we named the "3S" approach.

A phase II study of a personalized peptide vaccination for chemotherapy-resistant advanced pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancers with a median survival time (MST) of <6 months in chemotherapy-resistant patients. Therefore, the development of novel treatment modalities is needed. In the present study, a phase II study of personalized peptide vaccination (PPV) was conducted, in which vaccine antigens were selected and administered based on the pre-existing IgG responses to 31 different pooled peptides, for 41 chemotherapy-resistant advanced pancreatic cancer patients.

Humoral immune responses to CTL epitope peptides from tumor-associated antigens are widely detectable in humans: a new biomarker for overall survival of patients with malignant diseases.

Both cellular and humoral immune responses are crucial to induce potent anti-tumor immunity, but most of currently conducted peptide-based cancer vaccines paid attention to cellular responses alone, and none of them are yet approved as a therapeutic modality against cancer patients. We investigated humoral immune responses to CTL epitope peptides derived from tumor-associated antigens in healthy donors and patients with various diseases to facilitate better understanding of their distribution patterns and potential roles. Bead-based multiplex assay, ELISA, and Western blotting were used to measure immunoglobulins reactive to each of 31 different CTL epitope peptides.

Immunological evaluation of personalized peptide vaccination in refractory small cell lung cancer.

Since the prognosis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) remains poor, development of new therapeutic approaches, including immunotherapies, would be desirable. In the current study, to evaluate immunological responses in refractory SCLC patients, we conducted a small scale phase II clinical trial of personalized peptide vaccination (PPV), in which vaccine antigens are selected based on pre-existing host immunity. Ten refractory SCLC patients, who had failed to respond to chemo- and/or chemoradiotherapies (median number of regimens, 2.

Personalized peptide vaccination in patients with refractory non-small cell lung cancer.

Since the prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor, the development of novel therapeutic approaches, including cancer vaccines, is highly desirable. In the current study, we conducted a phase II study of personalized peptide vaccination (PPV), in which a maximum of 4 peptides were selected based on pre-existing humoral immune responses and administered subcutaneously (weekly for 6 consecutive weeks and bi-weekly thereafter) in refractory NSCLC patients. Forty-one refractory NSCLC patients (4 stage IIIb, 22 stage IV and 15 recurrent), who had failed to respond to chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy (median number of regimens, 3; median duration, 10 months), were enrolled.

[Current status and prospects of cancer vaccine therapy].

Cancer vaccine is proceeding to a promising therapy against cancer since 1990 when expression cloning method of tumor associated antigens was reported. Clinical trials showed immunological therapies contribute to prolonged survival in patients with cancers, such as prostate cancer and melanoma, so that FDA approved a dendritic cell vaccine in USA, and peptide vaccines are developing energetically in recent years in Japan. Peptide vaccines have advantages immunologically and economically as a cancer vaccine spreads all over the world, because CTL epitope peptides of tumor associate antigen has a highly antigen-specificity, and can be synthesized uniformly in large quantities for easy handing agents.

Phase I clinical study of a personalized peptide vaccination available for six different human leukocyte antigen (HLA-A2, -A3, -A11, -A24, -A31 and -A33)-positive patients with advanced cancer.

The majority of peptide-based cancer vaccines under development are for human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A2- or -A24-positive patients. To overcome this limitation, we conducted a phase I clinical study of peptide vaccines designed for cancer patients with six different HLA-A types. Eligible patients were required to have failed prior standard cancer therapies and to be positive for the HLA-A2, -A24 or -A3 (A3, A11, A31 and A33) supertype.

Characteristics of severe adverse events after peptide vaccination for advanced cancer patients: Analysis of 500 cases.

The purpose of this study was to investigate severe adverse events (SAEs) after therapeutic peptide vaccination for advanced cancer patients. We investigated SAEs following personalized peptide vaccinations in 500 advanced cancer patients, including 174 prostate, 74 colon, 51 pancreatic and 43 gastric cancer patients. The number of vaccination cycles varied widely, from 3 to 112.

Short GC-rich RNA similar to miR 1909 and 1915 folds in silico with the 5'-UTR and ORF of Notch and responders: potential for the elimination of cancer stem cells.

Novel therapeutic approaches to eliminate cancer stem cells (CSCs) are being developed. This development is imperative as CSCs are resistant to drugs; they divide activated by ligands on the epithelium or on neighboring cancer cells. Specific commands for division originate from Notch-1 ligands.

Assessment of immunological biomarkers in patients with advanced cancer treated by personalized peptide vaccination.

To investigate immunological biomarkers to predict overall survival of advanced cancer patients under treatment with personalized peptide vaccination, correlations between overall survival and biomarkers, including cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) responses to the vaccinated peptides, were investigated in 500 advanced cancer patients who received personalized peptide vaccination from October 2000 to October 2008. The best clinical response was assessed for in 436 patients, 43 patients (10%) had partial response, 144 patients (33%) had stable disease and 249 patients (57%) had progressive, with a median overall survival of 9.9 months.

A phase II study of personalized peptide vaccination combined with gemcitabine for non-resectable pancreatic cancer patients.

We evaluated the safety of, and clinical and immune responses to personalized peptide vaccination with gemcitabine (GEM) as the first line therapy in patients with non-resectable pancreatic cancer. Pre-vaccination peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and plasma were prepared to examine cellular and humoral responses to 14 and 16 peptides in human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A24+ or -A2+ patients, respectively. Only the reactive peptides (maximum of 4) were administered weekly at 3 mg/peptide.

Created Gli-1 duplex short-RNA (i-Gli-RNA) eliminates CD44 Hi progenitors of taxol-resistant ovarian cancer cells.

Notch and Hedgehog activate cell-cycle progression of adult and cancer stem cells. Notch is activated by DLL and Jag presents on neighboring cells. We investigated the effects of density of the Notch-activating ligand, Jag-1, and targeting Gli-1, in activation of division of paclitaxel/taxol-resistant, (PTX Res) ovarian cancer cells SKOV3 (SKOV3).

Immunological evaluation of personalized peptide vaccination monotherapy in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer.

We previously reported that personalized peptide vaccine (PPV) therapy in combination with leutenizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH) analog and estramustine phosphate in certain cases is safe and capable of inducing both immune responses and clinical responses for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) patients. In the present study, PPV monotherapy was given to CRPC patients. Twenty-three patients with metastatic CRPC were treated with PPV without any additional treatment modalities, including LH-RH analogs.

Immunological evaluation of personalized peptide vaccination in combination with UFT and UZEL for metastatic colorectal carcinoma patients.

To investigate the safety and immunological responses of personalized peptide vaccination in combination with oral administration of UFT and UZEL for metastatic colorectal carcinoma (mCRC), fourteen patients were enrolled in the present study. Peptides were determined based on the presence of peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte precursors and IgG in each patient. A maximum of four peptides were subcutaneously administered weekly with UFT (300 mg/m2 day(-1)) and UZEL (75 mg/day) for 4 weeks, followed by 1 week of rest.

Kampo medicine, based on traditional medicine theory, in treating uncured glossodynia: efficacy in five clinical cases.

Glossodynia, or tongue pain, is resistant to conventional therapies. Kampo medicines were evaluated in patients suffering from incurable glossodynia. Patients were diagnosed by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) theory in order to determine the appropriate herbal prescriptions.