Is breast cancer the same disease in Asian and Western countries?

Unlabelled: A mini-symposium was held in Montreal, Canada, at the International Surgical Week for the Breast Surgical International in 2007 addressing the question whether breast cancer is the same disease in Asian and Western countries. Numerous investigators from Asian and Western countries presented the epidemiologic and clinical outcome data of women with breast cancer. Although there are significant similarities, the striking difference is that the peak age for breast cancer is between 40 and 50 years in the Asian countries, whereas the peak age in the Western countries is between 60 and 70 years.

Phase II study of weekly paclitaxel for advanced or metastatic breast cancer in Japan.

Background: The efficacy and safety of weekly paclitaxel was evaluated in Japanese women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer.

Patients And Methods: Paclitaxel was given by single weekly intravenous infusion at 100 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 36 of a 49-day cycle to women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer not responding to other chemotherapy.

Results: A total of 69 enrolled patients received a median of 3 (range 1-13) cycles of treatment.

Phase III study to evaluate the use of high-dose chemotherapy as consolidation of treatment for high-risk postoperative breast cancer: Japan Clinical Oncology Group study, JCOG 9208.

A randomized controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) as consolidation of the treatment of high-risk postoperative breast cancer. Patients under 56 years of age with stage I to IIIB breast cancer involving 10 or more axillary lymph nodes were eligible. The primary endpoint was relapse-free survival (RFS).

[Improving the surgeon's image: introduction].

The number of medical students who aspire to become surgeons has been decreasing in recent years. With a vicious spiral in the decreasing number and the growing deterioration of surgeons' working conditions, there is fear of deterioration of surgical care and subsequent disintegration of overall health care in Japan. The purpose of this issue is to devise a strategy for improving surgeons' image and their working conditions to attract future medical students.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of hormone receptors in breast cancer: which scoring system is suitable for highly sensitive procedures?

To evaluate hormone receptors immunohistochemically, standardized staining procedures and scoring systems are required. The authors previously reported that highly sensitive procedures affected basic factors for technical validation. The aim of the present study was to show the characteristics of scoring systems for highly sensitive procedures.

Prophylactic hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy for the prevention of liver metastasis in patients with colon carcinoma: a randomized control trial.

Background: The liver is the most frequent site of recurrence after curative resection in patients with colon carcinoma. For liver metastasis, a high response rate can be achieved with hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) chemotherapy. In the current study, the authors administered 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) as adjuvant chemotherapy by HAI to patients with colon carcinoma without liver metastases and studied its effects on recurrence in the liver and survival.

Combination of trastuzumab and vinorelbine in metastatic breast cancer.

Background: Since the clinical introduction of trastuzumab (Herceptin) for metastatic breast cancers that overexpress human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), this anticancer agent has played an important role in breast cancer treatment. We examined the effects of trastuzumab and vinorelbine (Navelbine) as a second- or third-line therapy in 24 patients whose HER2-positive tumors did not respond to or relapsed after administration of trastuzumab alone or in combination with taxane.

Methods: Trastuzumab was administered at 2 mg/kg (loading dose 4 mg/kg) once weekly and vinorelbine at 25 mg/m(2) once weekly.

[A case of advanced gastric cancer with multiple liver metastases responding to TS-1 and CDDP].

A 44-year-old male presented to our hospital with abdominal pain. The upper endoscopy revealed advanced gastric cancer. On the abdominal CT, there was evidence of multiple, massive liver metastases.

Recurrence patterns after curative resection of colorectal cancer in patients followed for a minimum of ten years.

Background/aims: To investigate the recurrence patterns and interval from initial surgery in patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer followed for a minimum of 10 years.

Methodology: We retrospectively reviewed 418 patients who had undergone curative resection for colon cancer (n = 246) or rectal cancer (n = 169). Follow-up periods ranged from 10 to 23 years.

Proliferative, infiltrative, and metastatic activities in colorectal tumors assessed by MIB-1 antibody.

MIB-1 antibody staining discriminates the cells in phases other than G0 of the cell cycle. The current study examined the proliferative activity assessed by MIB-1 antibody in colorectal adenoma, primary lesions of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) to investigate the relation between the histologic atypia, the proliferative, infiltrative, and metastatic activities. The MIB-1 antibody positive rate was immunohistologically determined in primary lesions in 311 patients, 22 having adenoma or carcinoma in situ, 207 invasive CRC without distant metastasis, and 82 invasive CRC with distant metastasis.

Gastrointestinal cytomegalovirus infection in collagen diseases.

Cytomegalovirus infection of the gastrointestinal tract is a rare serious complication in patients with collagen diseases receiving immunosuppressive agents. We report 3 such cases diagnosed by endoscopy followed by proper treatment. The patients include 38 and 53 years old females with systemic lupus erythematosus.

The stability of dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase activity in colorectal cancer tissue after resection.

Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) is the first and rate-limiting enzyme in the catabolism of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). DPD activity in tumor tissue may consequently serve as a predictive factor for sensitivity to 5-FU. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the stability of DPD activity over time in resected colorectal cancer tissue.

[Prospects for standardization of surgical treatment for breast cancer].

Surgical treatment of breast cancer in general guided cancer surgery in the direction of extensive radical operations until two decades ago. More recently, the trend has been toward conservative, less-extensive surgery. Moreover, breast cancer has become a model case for establishing standardization of surgical care of cancer.

Gastric tube cancer after esophagectomy for esophageal squamous cell cancer and its relevance to Helicobacter pylori.

Background/aims: Improvement of surgical skills and postoperative management has allowed longer postoperative survival for patients with esophageal cancer, among those some develop gastric tube cancer. We analyzed the characteristics of such patients we encountered as well as of reported cases of Japan. Furthermore, we investigated if Helicobacter pylori plays a role in carcinogenesis of the gastric tube in our cases.

Heterogeneous gene alterations in primary breast cancer contribute to discordance between primary and asynchronous metastatic/recurrent sites: HER2 gene amplification and p53 mutation.

The aim of the present study was to clarify differences in genetic events between primary breast cancers and asynchronous metastatic/recurrent lesions, by examining HER2 gene amplification and p53 mutation. The subjects were 44 breast cancer patients with asynchronous metastasis or recurrence. Synchronous metastases were excluded.

Sentinel lymph node detection with Tc-99m tin colloids in patients with esophagogastric cancer.

Background: The aim of this study was to determine by radioisotope use whether the sentinel lymph node concept is applicable to esophagogastric cancers. In addition, we examined radioactivities of hot nodes and compared them with the sensitivity of a gamma probe.

Methods: The subjects were 44 patients, 23 with esophageal cancer and 21 with gastric cancer.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of hormone receptor for routine practice of breast cancer: highly sensitive procedures significantly contribute to the correlation with biochemical assays.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of hormone receptors for breast cancer has been performed parallel to biochemical assays. Recently, immunohistochemistry has tended to substitute the biochemical method in Japan. To clarify the factors concerned and problems to be resolved, we reviewed our evaluation system for hormone receptors by immunohistochemistry from 1990.

Risk of lymph node and distant metastases in patients with early invasive colorectal cancer classified as Haggitt's level 4 invasion: image analysis of submucosal layer invasion.

Purpose: Tumor invasion in patients with early invasive colorectal cancer has been classified into four levels proposed by Haggitt. Level 4 invasion into the submucosa has been defined as a risk factor for lymph node metastasis; however, the false-positive rate remains high. This study was designed to determine risk factors for lymph node and distant metastases in addition to Haggitt's Level 4 invasion.

[Current surgical treatment of breast cancer in Japan and its rationale: foreword].

This is a foreword to a collection of articles specially dedicated to describing the present status of local treatment of breast cancer patients in Japan, which continues to be a source of controversy in the midst of collaborative efforts between surgeons, pathologists, and medical and radiation oncologists. Surgical treatment of breast cancer consisting of procedures on the breast parenchyma and on lymph nodes do not appear to have reached the expected technical perfection. A variety of surgical procedures are performed under the name of breast-conserving surgery with widely varied rates of application ranging from 20-85% depending upon the institution.

Tracheal agenesis: a case report.

Tracheal agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly which results inevitably in immediate respiratory distress after delivery. Since the first report of the case in 1900, more than 150 cases reported in the Japanese and world literature. Attempts to save these children have failed to permit survival although a slight prolongation of life was achieved in some.

Evaluation of esophageal cancer by positron emission tomography.

Background: A retrospective study was performed to determine the indications for positron emission tomography (PET) using [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in patients with esophageal cancer, including those with early cancer, and to investigate whether the tumor-to-normal ratio (T/N ratio) could be used as a substitute for the standardized uptake value (SUV).

Methods: Thirty-six patients were included in the study. Thirty-one patients who had 36 biopsy-proven lesions (35 squamous cell carcinomas and one small cell carcinoma) underwent PET study prior to treatment.

[Endoscopic surgery for breast diseases: the present state of art and outlook for the future].

Endoscopic breast surgery (EBS) is still not in common use today, mainly because of the lack of intracavitary operative maneuvers in breast surgery. It has been shown, however, that in experienced hands, the therapeutic benefits of EBS include not only improved natural esthetic outcomes but also less morbidity with faster recovery. Endoscopic partial/total mastectomy, axillary dissection, and breast reconstruction can be performed through an axillary incision with an additional periareolar incision depending on the situation, as safe alternatives to conventional operative procedures for early breast cancer.