Metastatic renal cell carcinoma complicated with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage: a rare adverse effect of sunitinib.

We report the case of a 67-year-old man with metastatic papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who developed bloody sputum after the administration of sunitinib. Chest computed tomography revealed diffuse ground-glass opacity lesions, and bloody bronchoalveolar lavage fluid was obtained by flexible bronchoscopy. The abnormal shadows promptly regressed after withdrawal of sunitinib.

Correlation between HLA alleles and EGFR mutation in Japanese patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Introduction: The identification of activating mutations in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene is one of the most intriguing recent discoveries in the field of lung cancer research, and they are more commonly found in adenocarcinoma occurring in females, never/light smokers, and East Asian patients. Why such certain patients are susceptible to the development of EGFR-mutant tumors is currently unknown.

Methods: This study evaluated the medical records of 437 patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung who underwent a surgical resection.

Results of surgical resection for patients with large cell carcinoma of the lung.

Purpose: The clinical features of large cell carcinoma (LCC) of the lung have remained unclear due to the low incidence of the disease. This study investigated the clinicopathological features and the surgical outcome in patients with LCC.

Subjects: This study clinicopathologically evaluated 975 patients who had undergone a resection for non-small cell carcinoma between 1994 and 2007.

Comparative study for the virulence of Mycobacterium avium isolates from patients with nodular-bronchiectasis- and cavitary-type diseases.

Mycobacterium avium (Mav) lung infections, called nodular-bronchiectasis (NB)-type M. avium complex (MAC) disease, are globally increasing. To elucidate whether there are unusual populations of Mav, causing NB-type disease rather than cavitary (CA)-type disease, we compared the virulence of Mav isolates from patients with NB-type (NB-Mav) and those from CA-type (CA-Mav) diseases, based on intracellular growth in various types of human cells.

Polymorphisms and functional differences in aryl hydrocarbon receptors (AhR) in Japanese field mice, Apodemus speciosus.

Dioxins, which are unintentionally generated toxic pollutants, exert a variety of adverse effects on organisms. The majority of these effects, which include teratogenesis, immunosuppression, tumor promotion, and endocrine disruption, are mediated through aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), a ligand-activated transcription factor. Genetic variations in AhR result in different survivability under exposure to dioxin contamination, which might affect the genetic structure of wildlife populations through differential susceptibility to dioxin exposure.

Time trends of surgical outcome in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: A surgical resection is a potentially curative treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study investigated the time trends of the surgical outcome in patients with NSCLC.

Methods: This study clinicopathologically evaluated 1487 patients who had undergone a resection for NSCLC between 1979 and 2008 during the five periods of 1979-1988, 1989-1993, 1994-1998, 1999-2003, and 2004-2008.

Loose interaction between glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase and phosphoglycerate kinase revealed by fluorescence resonance energy transfer-fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy in living cells.

Loose interaction between the glycolytic enzymes glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) and phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK) was visualized in living CHO-K1 cells by fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET), using time-domain fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy. FRET between active tetrameric subunits of GAPDH linked to cerulean or citrine was observed, and this FRET signal was significantly attenuated by coexpression of PGK. Also, direct interaction between GAPDH-citrine and PGK-cerulean was observed by FRET.

Association between lymphangiogenesis-/micrometastasis- and adhesion-related molecules in resected stage I NSCLC.

Background: The purpose of this study was to clarify the role and clinical significance of lymphangiogenesis/micrometastases and adhesion molecules in resected stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: Immunohistochemical (IHC) staining was used to analyze the protein expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), VEGF, E-cadherin, alpha-catenin, beta-catenin, and gamma-catenin in paraffin-embedded tumor samples from 117 well-characterized stage I NSCLC patients and to compare the protein expression, clinical variables and survival outcome. As a micrometastatic parameter in lymph nodes (LNs), cytokeratin (CK) staining was performed.

Mediastinal metastasis from a fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma: Report of a case.

Fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FL-HCC) is an uncommon clinicopathological variant of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The etiology of FL-HCC is unknown, but FL-HCC is not associated with hepatic viruses or alcohol. Hepatocellular carcinoma usually occurs in cases of chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis, whereas FL-HCC predominantly occurs in a normal liver and in younger adults.

[Long-term survival after surgical resection of bone metastasis from lung cancer].

Background: The prognosis of patients with bone metastasis from primary lung cancer is poor, and the effective treatment for bone metastasis had not been established. We report a case of more than 6 years survival after a surgical resection of rib metastasis.

Case: A 56-years-old woman underwent right lower lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection for lung cancer (well differentiated adenocarcinoma, pT1N0M0, stage IA) in another hospital in July 1995.

Comprehensive molecular analyses of lung adenocarcinoma with regard to the epidermal growth factor receptor, K-ras, MET, and hepatocyte growth factor status.

Background: The mutation and amplification of oncogenic genes are associated with carcinogenesis and tumor growth. The purpose of this study was to clarify the role of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), K-ras, MET, and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) status in lung adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Tumor specimens were collected from 183 patients who underwent a complete resection for adenocarcinoma of the lung from 2003 to 2007 in our department.

Congenital tracheoesophageal fistula in an elderly patient with thoracic empyema.

A congenital tracheoesophageal fistula is rare in elderly patients. An adult case of congenital tracheoesophageal fistula complicated with thoracic empyema was successfully treated by surgery. A 74-year-old woman was admitted with severe coughing and fever.

Analysis of transmission characteristics of long period gratings in tapered optical fibers.

We report an analysis of the transmission characteristics of long period gratings written in a linearly tapered optical fiber. Such gratings are best analyzed by a coupled mode theory that includes several cladding modes simultaneously. However, the numerical solution needs to be modified to take into account the changing propagation constants along the length of the fiber.

[Case of inguinal hernia repair with transversus abdominis plane block and rectus sheath block].

Transversus abdominis plane block is effective for lower abdominal and inguinal operations, and rectus sheath block is effective for abdominal operations. Recently, ultrasound guided nerve block has been employed, and these techniques can be performed with ultrasound scanning. An 82-year-old man with severe coronary failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was scheduled for inguinal hernia repair.

Combined chemotherapy with carboplatin plus irinotecan showed favorable efficacy in a patient with relapsed small cell carcinoma of the prostate complicated with meningeal carcinomatosis.

We report the case of a 65-year-old man with recurrent prostate cancer who presented with meningeal carcinomatosis. In September 2007, he had been diagnosed with mixed type small cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma at clinical stage T4N1M1 (primary prostate tumor with multiple bone, liver, and lymph node metastases) and hormonal therapy had been administered. Following an increase in the level of pro-gastrin-releasing peptide (ProGRP), combined chemotherapy with cisplatin plus etoposide was implemented and showed efficacy in targeting the small cell carcinoma.

Sleeve lobectomy for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Purpose: A sleeve lobectomy for lung cancer is a procedure intended both for the maintenance of lung function and for radical treatment. We investigated the clinico-pathological features and treatment responses of lung cancer patients who underwent sleeve lobectomy in our department.

Subjects: Among the 984 patients with non-small cell lung cancer who underwent resection in our department between 1994 and 2007, the subjects were 24 patients in whom a sleeve lobectomy was performed.

Identification of ribosomal protein L19 as a novel tumor antigen recognized by autologous cytotoxic T lymphocytes in lung adenocarcinoma.

The purpose of the present study was to identify a novel tumor-specific antigen capable of inducing a specific cellular immune response in lung cancer patients. The co-culture of regional lymph node lymphocytes and the CD80-transfected autologous lung adenocarcinoma cell line H1224L resulted in a successful induction of bulk cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). CTL clone L7/8 was established by the limiting dilution method from these bulk CTLs and lysed H1224L but not autologous Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B cells or K562.

Lung cancer-associated tumor antigens and the present status of immunotherapy against non-small-cell lung cancer.

Despite recent advances in surgery, irradiation, and chemotherapy, the prognosis of patients with lung cancer is still poor. Therefore, the development and application of new therapeutic strategies are essential for improving the prognosis of this disease. Significant progress in our understanding of tumor immunology and molecular biology has allowed us to identify the tumor-associated antigens recognized by cytotoxic T lymphocytes.

Cancer of unknown primary site in which tumor marker-oriented chemotherapy was effective and pancreatic cancer was finally confirmed at autopsy.

We report a 47-year-old man with cancer of unknown primary site in whom pancreatic cancer was confirmed at autopsy. Although a primary lesion was not confirmed, we planned to perform tumor marker-oriented chemotherapy because pancreatic cancer was suspected as the primary lesion based on tumor markers and pathological findings from metastatic lymph node. Neither S-1 nor gemcitabine was effective.

Transactivation activity of LBP-1 proteins and their dimerization in living cells.

LBP-1 proteins form dimers and act as transcription factors that activate a number of genes related to cell growth and differentiation. LBP-1a and LBP-1c are localized in the cytoplasm when transiently expressed in cultured cells, but translocated into the nucleus after forming heterodimers with LBP-1b, which is a splicing variant of LBP-1a with an intrinsic nuclear localization signal (NLS). Here, we report that LBP-1b showed potent transactivation activity, and that forcibly expressed LBP-1a and LBP-1c in the nucleus essentially exhibited very little or no transactivation activity.

Cyclic AMP represses the hypoxic induction of hypoxia-inducible factors in PC12 cells.

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a master regulator for hypoxic activation of genes for angiogenesis, hormone synthesis, glycolysis and cell survival. In addition to hypoxic stimulus, various effectors and reagents were reported to affect HIF-1 activity. Here, we show that cyclic AMP (cAMP) down-regulates the HIF-1 activity in pheochromocytoma PC12 cells but not in Hep3B and HeLa cells.

Improved swimming pool achieves higher reproducibility and sensitivity to effect of food components as ergogenic AIDS.

A previously developed current swimming pool for mice has been used to evaluate many food components that enhance endurance exercise performance. In this article, to improve reproducibility, reliability and sensitivity of this assay system, we improved the spout part to generate a uniform current and divided the pool into six lanes to avoid physical interference between swimming mice. The stability of the current flow was assessed by measuring the surface current speed and water volume from the spout part.

Acquired resistance to gefitinib: the contribution of mechanisms other than the T790M, MET, and HGF status.

Background: Some types of somatic mutation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) are associated with a significant clinical response to a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). However, most of the patients with this type of sensitive mutations in their tumor show acquired resistance during the TKI treatment.

Methods: The mutations in exons 19-21 of the EGFR gene were examined in both the pre-treatment and the post-treatment gefitinib resistant tumors in 10 patients with lung adenocarcinoma.

Gefitinib and a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt to manage carcinomatous meningitis from non-small-cell lung cancer: report of two cases.

The prognosis of patients with carcinomatous meningitis from non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains poor, and the available treatment options for the lung cancer do not relieve the severe symptoms of this sequela. We report the successful treatment of two cases of carcinomatous meningitis caused by NSCLC, using gefitinib and a ventriculo-peritoneal (V-P) shunt. The first patient was a 43-year-old woman with pT1N0M0 adenocarcinoma.