Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin associated with Merkel cell polyomavirus and immunosuppression. Although MCC incidence is rising worldwide, MCC has not been sufficiently investigated in Japan. This study aimed to determine MCC demographics in Japan, including incidence, age, sex, location, spontaneous regression, and pure/combined MCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBefore surgery and other invasive treatments, decisions must be made on whether to discontinue drugs and provide appropriate drug holidays especially for antithrombotic drugs, and this is made difficult by the large number of available drugs and associated guidelines. We have therefore developed an online application for perioperative drug discontinuation and resumption management, named Saga Application for Management of Drug Holidays in PeriOperative Periods (SAMPOP).Multidisciplinary medical staff at Saga University Hospital (SUH) worked together to build an evidence-based Perioperative Drug Discontinuation Management Database (PDDMD) and developed the user-friendly SAMPOP online application via preliminary verification at SUH.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Afatinib, a 2 generation epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI) used in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), causes diarrhoea in over 90% of patients. The association of genetic background with diarrhoea is poorly understood.
Patients And Methods: We evaluated the roles of four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1 (ABCB1) and ATP binding cassette subfamily G member 2 (ABCG2) genes-ABCB1 1236 C>T, 2677 G>T/A, and 3435 C>T, and ABCG2 421 C>A-on treatment-induced diarrhoea in 38 patients with NSCLC treated with afatinib.
In skin containing hair follicles, specialized epithelial structures known as "touch domes (TDs)" are located where the Merkel cells are clustered. We explored the histogenetic relationship between intraepidermal and dermal Merkel cell carcinomas (MCCs) and investigated which transformed progenitor cells can develop into intraepidermal MCC. We encountered an association between an extremely rare case of dermal and intraepidermal MCC with squamous cell carcinoma, which was examined using standard immunohistochemical methods with various epithelial, neuroendocrine, and TD markers including several immunohistochemical markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfatinib, a second-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, was designed to bind covalently to and irreversibly inhibit active ErbB family receptors. The major metabolites of afatinib in human plasma are adducts of afatinib covalently bound to plasma proteins via. the Michael addition reaction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe tyrosine kinase inhibitor ponatinib is extensively metabolized in the body, and consequently the development of specific immunoassays for pharmacokinetic studies and therapeutic drug monitoring of ponatinib is challenging. If two antibodies simultaneously recognize the entire structure of ponatinib, they could be utilized to establish an ultra-specific sandwich immunoassay for ponatinib, free of any interference from ponatinib metabolites. In this study, we created two types of anti-ponatinib polyclonal antibodies that recognize two different ponatinib epitopes, and sandwiched almost all structural components of ponatinib in these two antibodies in order to develop an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique not affected by any ponatinib metabolites.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAfatinib is an oral tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) approved for treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer. It is necessary to develop a simple quantification method for TKIs in order to facilitate therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) in clinical settings. This study sought to develop a simple and sensitive competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to quantify afatinib in plasma for routine pharmacokinetic applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsoriatic arthritis (PsA) is an inflammatory arthritis with as yet unclear pathophysiology. This retrospective, multicenter, cross-sectional study was conducted in 19 facilities in western Japan and aimed to identify patients' characteristics and factors that affect the results of treatment with biologic agents. Of 2116 patients with psoriasis, 285 (13.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMerkel cell carcinoma is a rare neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin that is associated with Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). The clinical appearance and demographic characteristics of this tumor have been described using the mnemonic AEIOU: asymptomatic, expanding rapidly, immune suppression, older than 50 years, and ultraviolet-exposed fair skin. In addition, MCC can be categorized based on morphology as pure MCC or combined MCC that exhibits neuroendocrine and other phenotypic elements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cellular origin of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is controversial. We previously hypothesized that MCC originates from hair follicle stem cells or Merkel cell (MC) progenitors residing within the hair follicle bulge. Examination of three cases of combined MCC led to the unexpected discovery that numerous keratin 20 (CK20)-positive MCs within the squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) component of combined MCC appeared morphologically normal with dendritic and oval shapes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but highly aggressive neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin, with frequent recurrences, metastasis, and a high mortality rate. For primary or locoregional MCC, a wide local excision followed by radiation therapy is the basic treatment modality for preventing recurrence at the primary site and involved lymph nodes. Cytotoxic chemotherapy has been commonly used to treat patients with metastatic MCC, but not as an adjuvant therapy for high-risk resected MCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but more lethal cutaneous cancer than melanoma. However, spontaneous regression of a number of MCC has been reported, although the cause of this regression remains unclear. In most cases, MCC regresses after a surgical procedure, for example, biopsy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) significantly changed the prognosis of patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and clinical trials demonstrated that TKIs can be discontinued in approximately 50% of patients after a period of deep molecular response (DMR). However, in some patients, TKI discontinuation leads to anxiety and depression. Here, we analysed the incidence of anxiety and depression in patients who stop TKI therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPsoriatic arthritis (PsA) is a spondyloarthritic condition mainly seen in patients with psoriasis. Psoriatic patients with plaques on the scalp, gluteal fold or nail lesions are known to develop PsA more frequently, but other markers for PsA have not yet been identified. To determine which psoriatic patients are at greatest risk of developing PsA, psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) patients who visited the Department of Dermatology, Fukuoka University Hospital in 2015 were enrolled.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe development of an immunoassay for a low-molecular-weight drug first requires the identification of specific antibodies that do not cross-react with the drug's metabolites. If two antibodies can simultaneously recognize the entire structure of the drug, we can then utilize them to establish an ultra-specific sandwich ELISA, free from interference due to the metabolic products of the drug. This paper reports an ultra-specific and sensitive sandwich ELISA for determination of the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib using two anti-imatinib antibodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMerkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare but aggressive cutaneous malignancy associated with the Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV). Multiple studies have shown that the incidence of MCC is higher among immunocompromised individuals than among the general population. In fact, immunosuppressed individuals account for approximately 10% of the MCC patient population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBRAF gene mutations have been observed in 30-50 % of malignant melanoma patients. Recent development of therapeutic intervention using BRAF inhibitors requires an accurate and rapid detection system for BRAF mutations. In addition, the clinical characteristics of the melanoma associated with BRAF mutations in Japanese patients have not been investigated on a large scale evaluation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLarge-cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNEC) is an uncommon and aggressive neuroendocrine tumor, found mainly in the lung. Although LCNEC has been reported in various organs, LCNEC of the skin is extremely rare, poorly recognized and probably underestimated. Here we report a case of LCNEC of the skin, focusing on the histopathological and ultrastructural findings in detail.
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