Although ovarian cancer is generally unilateral, a few cases of bilateral ovarian cancer have been reported, most of which originate from metastases of unilateral ovarian cancer. However, synchronous primary bilateral ovarian cancer (SBOC), comprising two different histological types of ovarian cancer, is extremely rare, with limited reports on its clinical course and prognosis. Herein, we report the case of a 56-year-old postmenopausal Japanese woman with stage IVB SBOC with combined left ovarian clear cell and right ovarian mucinous carcinomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Splenic cord capillary hemangioma is a rare benign vascular lesion classified as a splenic hamartoma. On the other hand, non-islet cell tumor hypoglycemia (NICTH) is one of the rare causes of spontaneous hypoglycemia and is considered to be one of the paraneoplastic syndromes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of a splenic cord capillary hemangioma with NICTH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung cancer is one of the most common malignant diseases in the world, and its prognosis is generally poor. Cancer and metastasis involve numerous biological steps, including angiogenesis in both the primary and metastatic sites. Although various molecules that are involved in both tumor neovascularization (angiogenesis) and invasion have been identified, little is known about how these molecules interact in cancerous microenvironments.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThrombospondin (TSP)-2 is known to be an endogenous negative regulator of vascularization in human cancer. However, it is unclear whether TSP-2 expression is related to neovascularization and prognosis in non-small cell lung cancer. In this study, we quantitatively examined the expression of TSP-2 mRNA by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 102 pulmonary adenocarcinomas.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThrombospondin (TSP) 2 interacts with matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and matrix serine proteases such as plasminogen activator (PA). Malignant melanoma is an aggressive human neoplasm showing aggressive metastatic features. We examined the effects of TSP2 gene introduction in the human malignant melanoma cell line A375.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall cell carcinoma of the gallbladder is very rare, but shows high malignant potential with frequent metastasis. Chemotherapeutic regimens for the treatment of gallbladder small cell carcinoma have not yet been established. In this study, we examined in vivo chemosensitivity tests for the GB-04-JCK human gallbladder small cell carcinoma, which were previously established as a serial-transplantable xenograft in nude mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCopper-transporting P-type adenosine triphosphatase (ATP7B) is reportedly associated with platinum drug resistance in various solid carcinomas. However, the impact of ATP7B on platinum drug resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains unknown. We investigated ATP7B expression in nine human NSCLC xenografts using real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunohistochemistry, and examined the relationship between the expression level of ATP7B and in vivo cisplatin (CDDP) sensitivity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEfficient reproduction using natural mating and reproduction technology [in vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer (ET)] was investigated in IRS2 deficient mice with C57BL/6JJcl genetic background (Irs2(-/-) mice) as a typical type 2 diabetes model. From the results using various combinations of Irs2(-/-) and Irs2(-/+) mice, the combination of female Irs2(-/+) x male Irs2(-/-) was found to be more efficient than other combinations. In applications of reproduction technology using IVF and ET, the combination of female Irs2(-/+) x male Irs2(-/-) involves the possibility of Irs2(-/-) production by repeats using female Irs2(-/+) mice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe extracellular matrix protein thrombospondin (TSP) plays an important role in a variety of biological processes, including cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. The biological role of TSP-2 in invasion and metastasis is poorly understood, while it is known that TSP-1 regulates a proteolytic cascade that allows tumor cells to invade and metastasize. In this study, we examined the role of TSP-2 in tumor cell invasion and its association with proteolytic proteins, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) and the plasminogen/plasmin system, including urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA), in the human pancreatic cancer cell line PANC-1.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe studied the impact of "IVF - ET" on the glucose tolerance test (GTT), insulin tolerance test (ITT) and adiponectin to investigate differences in the phenotypes of B6J- Irs2(-/-) mice. The B6J-Irs2(-/-) mice (KO-Nat group) were prepared by natural mating. Other mice were produced by IVF-ET used ICR strain recipients and surrogate mothers (KO-IVF group).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe calcium-binding protein, S100A4, with an inverse association of E-cadherin, is known to correlate with prognosis in various cancers. In this study, we investigated the expression of the S100A4 and E-cadherin status in relation to the clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic cancer. The expression status of these two proteins was examined in 72 specimens of primary pancreatic carcinoma with immunohistochemistry.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have established an inbred line of mice deficient in insulin receptor substrate 2 (IRS2) on a C57BL/6J Jcl genetic background (B6J-IRS2(-/-) mice) as an animal model for typical type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). We investigated the effect of age and sex on glucose tolerance and insulin resistance and on the activities of enzymes related to lipid metabolism in the liver and skeletal muscle of B6J-IRS2( -/-) mice. Glucose tolerance tests (GTT), insulin tolerance tests (ITT), and sampling for chemical analysis were performed at ages of 6,14, and 24 wk.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA loss or reduced expression of E-cadherin, the main cell-to-cell adhesion molecule, correlates with distant metastasis in various cancers. Recent studies have reported a close correlation between the expression of E-cadherin and that of S100A4, calcium-binding protein. In this study, we investigated the expression of E-cadherin and S100A4 status in relation to the clinicopathological parameters of pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe GB-04-JCK xenograft line of human gallbladder small cell carcinoma was established in nude mice by serial transplantation. The xenotransplantability has been maintained for more than 20 years. The carcinoma cells grew in a solid-sheet pattern and were found to have hyperchromatic nuclei, finely dispersed chromatin and inconspicuous nucleoli in the primary gallbladder tumor, as well as in the established xenograft GB-04-JCK The carcinoma cells also had Grimelius argyrophil granules, electron-dense neuroendocrine granules bounded by a single membrane.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) plays an essential role in tumor progression through stromal neovascularization in malignant solid tumors. Neuropilin (NRP) is considered to be the specific receptor for limited types of VEGF-A isoform, VEGF165. The clinicopathological implications of NRP are not well understood in colon cancer, while almost all colon cancers overexpressed VEGF-A.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTumor xenografts in immune-deficient mice (athymic nude mice and SCID mice) are well-established animal models for the study of human cancer. Several human melanoma cell lines were reported to metastasize in the immune-deficient mice models. However, metastatic rates were extremely low in spite of large numbers of injections of cancer cells, more than 1 x 10(6) cells/mouse.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlutamate cysteine ligase (GCL) plays an important role in the intracellular detoxification of cisplatin (CDDP). GCL is composed of a modifier or light chain subunit (GCLM) and a catalytic or heavy chain subunit (GCLC). Previously, we showed that the GCL subunits enhanced CDDP-resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) xenografts.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) has two kinds of isoforms depending on cellular binding domains. VEGF189 is the largest molecule with the strongest cellular binding ability, and is thought to be most potent for vascularization in various cancers. This study aims to clear the clinicopathological characteristics of VEGF189 in the pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCertain pulmonary adenocarcinomas show gastrointestinal differentiation with the expression of various mucins. The CDX homeobox gene, an intestine-specific transcription factor, is related to gastric carcinogenesis with MUC2 and MUC6 expression. The intestinal mucin MUC2 is expressed in the normal lung, while the gastric mucin MUC6 is not.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 20-year-old Japanese woman with an epidermal cyst on the back is described. Physical examination revealed a deep blue and round shaped cystic lesion measuring 10 min in diameter. A comedo-like keratotic plug also could be seen at the center.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA case of atypical benign fibrous histiocytoma is reported. A 62-year-old Japanese female visited our clinic because of an asymptomatic solitary lesion on the skin of the left leg. Physical examination revealed a polypoid mass lesion (2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHammerhead ribozymes are effective modulators of gene expression due to their simple structure, site-specific cleavage activity and catalytic potential. The K-ras oncogene is thought to play an important role in the growth of pancreatic cancer, because an activated (mutated) ras gene is found in approximately 90% of human pancreatic cancers. In this study, we designed a hammerhead ribozyme directed against K-ras mRNA at codon 25 [K-ras Rz (25)], and investigated its efficacy in a cultured human pancreatic carcinoma cell line, MIA PaCa-2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: To investigate histopathological characteristics of melanocytic lesions affecting mucous membranes in various anatomical sites. Particular attention was paid to elucidation of morphological characteristics of early phases of mucosal melanoma in order to contribute to effective detection of this highly malignant neoplasm in the curable stages.
Methods: A total of 87 melanocytic lesions of mucous membranes were investigated histopathologically.
Glutamate cysteine ligase (GCL) is a key enzyme in glutathione (GSH) synthesis, and is thought to play a significant role in the intracellular detoxification of anticancer drugs, especially of cisplatin (CDDP). GCL is composed of a modifier or light chain subunit (GCLM) and a catalytic or heavy chain subunit (GCLC). It was unclear whether the subunits are essential to CDDP-resistance.
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