Ten cases of resected solitary pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer.

Background: Because carcinomatous lymphangitis and carcinomatous pleuritis are the usual forms of metastasis associated with gastric cancer, resection of solitary pulmonary metastases arising from gastric cancer is rarely performed. To clarify the characteristics of pulmonary metastases from gastric cancer, we investigated patients who underwent resection of metastatic solitary lung tumors arising from gastric cancer.

Methods: Between October 2003 and October 2012, 10 patients underwent pulmonary metastasectomy for metastatic gastric cancer at our institution.

Efficacy of arginine supplementation for the treatment of air leakage.

Background: Recently, the role of the amino acid arginine in wound healing has been emphasized. We studied whether postoperative enteral arginine supplementation can contribute to the resolution of prolonged air leakage after lung resections.

Methods: 42 patients undergoing lung resection at our institutions from 2009 to 2012 were enrolled in this study.

Outcomes of surgery in lung cancer patients with schizophrenia.

Purpose: There are very few reports regarding the outcome of lung cancer surgery in patients with schizophrenia, and the clinical features of such patients are still unclear.

Methods: From 2004 to 2012, 11 lung cancer patients (six male, five female; mean age, 62.7 years) with schizophrenia underwent lung resections at our institutions.

Off-the-job training for VATS employing anatomically correct lung models.

We evaluated our simulated major lung resection employing anatomically correct lung models as "off-the-job training" for video-assisted thoracic surgery trainees. A total of 76 surgeons voluntarily participated in our study. They performed video-assisted thoracic surgical lobectomy employing anatomically correct lung models, which are made of sponges so that vessels and bronchi can be cut using usual surgical techniques with typical forceps.

Does pneumothorax occurrence correlate with a change in the weather?

Purpose: There has been speculation that weather changes correlate with the incidence of spontaneous pneumothorax, although this has not been verified. Moreover, there are no significant data available on the meteoropathic pneumothorax in Asia. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible correlation and to compare our results to those of the United States and Europe.

Left sleeve Basal segmentectomy for broncholithiasis.

Broncholithiasis is an uncommon pulmonary problem that may present with life-threatening complications. We report one case of broncholithiasis. A 49-year-old female presented with hemoptysis.

Thymidine phosphorylase levels and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase levels in non-small cell lung cancer tissues.

Thymidine phosphorylase (TP) and dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) are the major catabolic enzymes of 5-FU. In this study, we analyzed the concentration of TP and DPD in non-small cell lung cancer tissue by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We measured the TP and DPD levels in 25 adenocarcinoma tissues and 25 squamous cell carcinoma tissues.

Intentional limited resection for small peripheral lung cancer based on intraoperative pathologic exploration.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the adequacy of our intentional limited resection for small peripheral lung cancer based on intraoperative pathologic exploration.

Methods: Patients who had stage IA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with a maximum tumor diameter of 2 cm or less were candidates for limited resection. If bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) was suspected on computed tomography and intraoperative pathologic exploration revealed the lesion as BAC without foci of active fibroblastic proliferation (Noguchi type A and B), wedge resection was performed.

[Lung cancer combined with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias].

It is known that patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs) have an increased incidence of lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcome of surgical treatment and to establish the surgical strategy for lung cancer with IIPs. Twenty-five patients with lung cancer and IIPs who were admitted in our hospital from 1996 to 2004 were examined.

Generation, immunologic characterization and antitumor effects of human monoclonal antibodies for carcinoembryonic antigen.

We generated fully human mAbs (HmAbs) to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) using the KM mouse, which carries a human chromosome 14 fragment containing the entire Ig H chain loci and human kappa L chain segments in the mouse genome. Forty-six hybridoma clones producing HmAbs to CEA were thus obtained by fusing the P3-U1 mouse myeloma cells with splenocytes of the KM mice immunized with CEA. Among them, 22 clones produced HmAbs that reacted with CEA but not with 3 other CEA-related cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM) family members, CEACAM1, CEACAM6 and CEACAM8.

cDNA cloning and sequencing of a novel monoclonal antibody to carcinoembryonic antigen and construction of a mouse/human chimeric antibody.

Background: Mouse monoclonal antibody F33-104 recognizes an epitope which is present on the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) molecule but not on the other CEA family member proteins, and which seems to be of potential value for immunotherapy of CEA-expressing cancers. However, an inherent problem in its in vivo application is the human anti-mouse antibody response.

Materials And Methods: To reduce its immunogenicity in humans, we cloned and sequenced the V region genes of heavy and light chains of F33-104 using the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method, and then constructed a mouse/human chimeric antibody, designated Ch F33-104, by fusing the F33-104 VH and V kappa genes to human C gamma 1 and C kappa genes, respectively.

Immunotherapy and gene therapy of cancer using antibodies or their genes against tumor-associated antigens.

The purpose of this article is to review the current significance of anti-tumor-associated antigen (TAA) antibodies in the therapy of cancer. Current data suggest that antibodies or their genes against TAAs can be used in order to increase the tumor specificity of various therapeutic approaches against cancer, thereby enhancing the tumoricidal effect of each treatment while reducing the side-effects.

Significance of tumor-associated antigens in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer: an overview.

An enormous effort using a wide variety of approaches has been undertaken over the last three decades to transform both basic and clinical research into improved diagnoses and therapies of cancer. This brief overview summarizes the significance of tumor-associated antigens (TAAs) in the diagnosis and therapy of cancer. Current data suggest that immunotherapy and gene therapy using antibody-recognized TAAs as their targets are promising, whereas those using T cell-recognized peptide epitopes of TAAs as their targets remain controversial regarding their efficacy, mainly due to general losses of HLA molecules in tumor cells.

Preparation of recombinant MK-1/Ep-CAM and establishment of an ELISA system for determining soluble MK-1/Ep-CAM levels in sera of cancer patients.

The MK-1 antigen, also termed as Ep-CAM, is a membrane glycoprotein that is overexpressed on the majority of tumor cells of epithelial origin and thereby can be used as a target of immunodetection and immunotherapy of cancer. It has previously been shown that several type-I transmembrane proteins, including E-cadherin, ErbB-2 and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), may be useful as tumor markers because they are released into the circulation of many cancer patients. To address the question of whether MK-1, the same type-I membrane protein, is also released into the sera, we developed a sandwich-type enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) system by preparing a recombinant MK-1 protein and two anti-MK-1 monoclonal antibodies with different epitope specificities.

Opposite effects of thrombospondin-1 via CD36 and CD47 on homotypic aggregation of monocytic cells.

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), an extracellular matrix protein, has a multimodular structure and each domain specifies a distinct biological function through interaction with a specific ligand. In this study we found that exogenously added TSP-1 inhibits phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)/LPS-induced homotypic aggregation of human monocytic U937 cells, whereas the 70-kDa fragment of TSP-1 generated by the proteolytic cleavage of the intact molecule promotes the homotypic aggregation. The aggregation was also inhibited by anti-CD47 mAb or the 4N1K peptide, of which sequence is derived from the CD47-binding site of TSP-1 and absent in the 70-kDa fragment.

Targeted sonodynamic therapy of cancer using a photosensitizer conjugated with antibody against carcinoembryonic antigen.

The goal of this study was to develop a strategy for the selective destruction of cancer cells by ultrasonic irradiation in the presence of an antibody-conjugated photosensitizer. To this end, a photoimmunoconjugate (PIC) was prepared between ATX-70, a photosensitizer of a gallium-porphyrin analogue, and F11-39, a high affinity monoclonal antibody (MAb) against carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), which is often overexpressed in various carcinoma cells. This conjugate, designated F39/ATX-70, retained immunoreactivity against purified CEA and CEA-expressing cells as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, flow cytometry and immunofluorescence microscopic analysis.

Thrombospondin-1 differentially regulates release of IL-6 and IL-10 by human monocytic cell line U937.

We investigated possible regulatory effects of thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), a multifunctional extracellular matrix protein, on cytokine release from macrophages. Immobilized TSP-1 enhanced IL-6 release from the human monocytic U937 cells stimulated with phorbol myristate acetate and LPS, whereas it inhibited IL-10 release. The 70-kDa fragment of TSP-1 containing the type 1 repeats showed the same regulatory effects.