Japanese experience with hepatic resection of KRAS-mutated colorectal liver metastases.

RAS mutation is a well-known prognostic marker predicting patterns of recurrence and survival after resection of colorectal liver metastases (CLMs). However, there has been scarce evidence regarding the optimal choice of treatment for RAS -mutated CLMs. Indeed, RAS -mutated CLMs are at high risk of lung metastases which may preclude curative-intent treatment at the time of recurrence.

Usefulness of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging for diagnosis of depressed gastric lesions.

The usefulness of magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (ME-NBI) for the diagnosis of early gastric cancer is well known, however, there are no evaluation criteria. The aim of this study was to devise and evaluate a novel diagnostic algorithm for ME-NBI in depressed early gastric cancer. Between August, 2007 and May, 2011, 90 patients with a total of 110 depressed gastric lesions were enrolled in the study.

Cytokeratin 20 mRNA in peripheral venous blood of colorectal carcinoma patients.

A highly sensitive system was previously developed by us to detect the presence of colorectal carcinoma cells in blood in the form of cytokeratin 20 (CK20) mRNA. In the present study, we used an improved version of this system to analyse the peripheral blood of 28 patients with colorectal carcinoma, five patients with non-cancerous intestinal diseases and six normal controls for the presence or absence of CK20 mRNA and to investigate the relationship between the mRNA results and prognosis. All eight patients with recurrence were positive for CK20 mRNA, as were four patients in the Dukes' C stage with either distant metastasis or dissemination.

In vitro study on intrathecal use of 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd) for meningeal dissemination of malignant brain tumors.

We investigated 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdUrd) as a potential agent for intrathecal treatment of malignant brain tumors with meningeal dissemination. We examined the neurotoxicity of FdUrd in vitro using primary cultures of neurons from C57BL/6 mice (ED14). Tumoricidal activity was also studied in four glioma cell lines and one medulloblastoma cell line.

Regulation of complement-mediated swine endothelial cell lysis by a surface-bound form of human C4b binding protein.

Background: Human C4b-binding protein (C4bp) functions as a cofactor for factor I in the degradation of C4b and C3b and, in addition, accelerates the rate of decay of the C4b2a complex.

Methods: In this study, we constructed a surface-bound form of human C4b-binding protein (C4bp-PI) consisting of a short consensus repeat 1-8 of the alpha-chain of C4bp and a glycosyl phosphatidylinositol (GPI) of the decay-accelerating factor (CD55) and established stable swine endothelial cell (SEC) lines expressing C4bp-PI by transfection of cDNA. Amelioration of complement-mediated lysis by the transfectant molecules was tested as an in vitro hyperacute rejection model of swine to human discordant xenograft, using the lactate dehydrogenase assay.

Mitochondrial dysfunction in the senescence accelerated mouse (SAM).

Oxidative damage to DNA, proteins, and lipids in mitochondria caused by free radicals may be one factor in aging. Oxidative phosphorylation was estimated in liver mitochondria from senescence accelerated mice (SAMP8) and a senescence resistant substrain (SAMR1). The respiratory control ratio decreased in liver mitochondria of SAMP8 during aging, and it was estimated that at 18 months of age this respiratory control value suggested that it might be insufficient to provide ATP synthesis necessary for normal cell metabolism.

Effects of antihypertensive agents on circadian blood pressure in hypertensive patients with previous brain infarction.

To evaluate the effects of antihypertensive agents on the circadian blood pressure (BP) of patients with previous brain infarction, the ambulatory BP was measured non-invasively for 24 h before and after administration of antihypertensive agents. One hundred milligrams of acebutolol twice daily (n = 15) is effective in lowering the BP during the daytime, but has little effect during the night and the morning. Twenty milligrams of slow-release nifedipine twice daily (n = 14) produced a consistent reduction in the BP over the entire 24-h period and effectively blunted the rise in BP in the morning.

Effectiveness of tranilast on restenosis after directional coronary atherectomy.

Tranilast is an antiallergic drug used widely in Japan that also inhibits the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells. This pilot study was undertaken to determine the effectiveness of tranilast on restenosis after successful directional coronary atherectomy. After the procedure, 40 patients (56 lesions, tranilast group) were treated with oral tranilast for 3 months, and 152 patients (188 lesions, control group) did not receive tranilast.

Intentional limited resection for selected patients with T1 N0 M0 non-small-cell lung cancer: a single-institution study.

Objectives: To comparatively evaluate lobectomy and limited resection for T1 N0 M0 non-small-cell lung cancer, we reviewed case series with concurrent nonrandomized controls.

Methods: Limited resection with curative intent was performed for 63 patients with T1 N0 M0 non-small-cell lung cancer over a 10-year period. These 63 patients included 46 patients who underwent a segmentectomy as an intentional limited resection.

[Neoadjuvant CYVADIC (cyclophosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin and dacarbazine) therapy for retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma: a case report].

Retroperitoneal leiomyosarcoma is often too large to be completely removed. We report a 67-year-old woman successfully treated with neoadjuvant CYVADIC (cyclosphosphamide, vincristine, adriamycin and dacarbazine). The tumor was removed with the right kidney and ureter and a part of the vena cava after 2 courses of CYVADIC.

Second primary cancers following non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Japan: increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.

We evaluated the risk of development of second primary cancers, with particular reference to subsequent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in 592 patients diagnosed as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), at Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases. During 1978-1994, 2,163 person-years of observation were accrued, and 27 of the patients developed a second primary cancer, yielding an observed-to-expected ratio (O/E) of 1.53 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.

A simple method for recovering the motile spermatozoa from extremely low quality sperm samples.

Recovery of motile spermatozoa from extremely low quality samples for use in the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure is difficult. To solve this problem we developed a simple method to recover the motile spermatozoa using a 3% polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) droplet. After depositing a sperm pellet into this slightly viscous droplet, motile spermatozoa readily swam out to the clear area while immotile spermatozoa dispersed to a lesser extent, so that motile and immotile cells became clearly separated from each other.

Possible association of infertility with sperm-specific abnormality of CD46.

Three infertile patients fulfilling normal or subnormal criteria on routine semen analysis showed abnormal sperm CD46 (membrane cofactor protein of complement) by SDS-PAGE/immunoblotting analysis using a panel of monoclonal antibodies. The sperm CD46 isoform has been reported to be associated with sperm-egg interaction. These three patients expressed normal CD46 isoforms on their lymphocytes and granulocytes.

Extended surgery--left upper abdominal exenteration plus Appleby's method--for type 4 gastric carcinoma.

Background: The prognosis after surgical treatment for type 4 gastric cancer, including linitis plastica, remains poor. The most frequent recurrence mode is retroperitoneal involvement. To remove the tumor and microinvasion surrounding the stomach, extended surgery, left upper abdominal exenteration plus the Appleby's method (LUAE + Apl), has been performed for type 4 cancers since 1983.

Characterization of a 34 kDa immunoreactive peptide with the anti protein kinase C antibody which can recognize part of the C4 region.

Among the immunoreactive peptides from hamster tissues with the antibody (Ab-1) which can recognize part of the C4 conserved region of protein kinase C (PKC), a peptide with 34 kDa (34 kDa species) is constitutively detected in the soluble and the nuclear but not in the particulate fractions. The partially purified 34 kDa species demonstrates no phospholipid-dependent or independent PKC activity and no phorbol 12,13 dibutyrate (PDBu) binding, and is not phosphorylated under the assay condition of PKC activity. The species inhibits the enzymic activity of the partially purified PKC from hamster brain in an uncompetitive manner with Ki of 200 +/- 23 nM.

Oxygen-dependent fragmentation of cellular DNA by nitric oxide.

Although active oxygen species and related metabolites, such as nitric oxide (NO), have been postulated to play important roles in the apoptosis of various cells, a precise mechanism leading to cell death remains to be elucidated. Recently we found that the lifetime of NO depends greatly on the concentration of environmental oxygen and that NO reversibly inhibits mitochondrial respiration and ATP synthesis; the inhibitory effect is stronger at physiologically low oxygen tension than under atmospheric conditions (Arch. Biochem.

Molecular cloning and sequence analysis of the cDNA for the mouse counterpart to adult hamster liver purified growth inhibitory factor.

A cDNA clone encoding the mouse counterpart to adult hamster liver purified growth inhibitory factor (PGIF) was isolated from a mouse liver cDNA library by using antibodies raised against PGIF and sequenced. It contained a single open reading frame with a coding capacity for a 323 amino acid protein. Sequence analysis showed that it shared high homology with rat- and human liver arginases: the cDNA clone was 92% identical for rat arginase at the nucleotide level and was 93% identical to it at the deduced amino acid level.

[Effects of biochemical modulation chemotherapy with CDDP and 5-FU on metastatic brain tumor from lung cancer].

Fourteen cases of metastatic brain tumors from lung cancer underwent biochemical modulation chemotherapy with daily administration of small doses of CDDP (5 or 10 mg/day) and continuous infusion of 5-FU (300 mg/day) for three tow six weeks. All patients with metastatic brain tumors also underwent a total of 30 Gy of whole brain irradiation therapy. Of eleven patients who had metastatic brain tumors when chemotherapy started, complete and partial responses were shown in two patients each (36% response rate).

MR imaging evaluation of renal cell carcinoma.

Background: This study examines the minimally required imaging protocol needed for detection and staging of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: In 81 patients (21 women, 60 men; mean age = 62 years) with 85 RCCs, T1-weighted (T1WI), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted (Gd-T1WI), T2-weighted (T2WI), and gradient recalled echo-fast low flip angle shot (GRE/FLASH) images were evaluated alone and in combination. Surgical-pathological findings were available in all patients and were considered the standard of reference.

The CD46 transmembrane domain is required for efficient formation of measles-virus-mediated syncytium.

Two phosphatidylinositol (PI)-anchored versions of a measles virus (MV) receptor membrane cofactor protein (MCP; CD46) were generated by fusing the extracellular domain of MCP to the decay-accelerating factor (DAF; CD55) or its PI anchor. The PI-anchored forms of MCP expressed on Chinese hamster ovary cells, otherwise non-permissive to MV, conferred a smaller MV cytopathic effect than a wild-type MCP, a Ser/Thr-rich domain-deletion mutant and a cytoplasmic tail-deletion mutant of MCP. Therefore the differences in MV receptor properties between the two PI-anchored and three transmembrane forms were investigated.

[A case report of typical scleroderma accompanied with serum abnormalities characteristic of SLE during the course].

A 40-year-old woman had complained of cyanosis induced by cold exposure from the age of 26. When she was 32 years old, Raynaud's phenomenon occurred. She developed diffuse cutaneous sclerosis affecting the upper limbs, face and trunk, digital pitting scar, flexion contractures of hands, dilatation of lower esophagus and pulmonary fibrosis, and she was diagnosed as scleroderma.

Pneumostatic effect of gelatin-resorcinol formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde glue on thermal injury of the lung: an experimental study on rats.

Objective: Recently, the use of gelatin-resorcinol formaldehyde-glutaraldehyde (GRFG) glue has been reported in vascular surgery, especially in surgery for acute aortic dissection. However, reports concerning its use in lung surgery are quite rare. Although the strong adhesion and tensile strength of GRFG glue to fresh incisional wounds of the lung has been demonstrated experimentally, the effectiveness of this adhesive on thermal injury with severe tissue degeneration has not yet been reported.

[Clinical efficacy of lomefloxacin for associated infection in patients with hematological diseases].

We have studied the clinical effect of lomefloxacin (LFLX) for the documented infections in the patients with hematological disorders, and also analyzed the prophylactic usefulness of LFLX for the prevention of succeeding infection after the chemotherapy. Fifty five patients were entered in the trial, and 51 patients were eligible. Among 51 eligible patients, 40 patients were suffered from accompanied infections, and 11 patients were registered for the prophylaxis of the infection.

MDM2 gene amplification and expression in non-small-cell lung cancer: immunohistochemical expression of its protein is a favourable prognostic marker in patients without p53 protein accumulation.

MDM2 is an oncoprotein that inhibits p53 tumour-suppressor protein. Amplification of the MDM2 gene and overexpression of its protein have been observed in some human malignancies, and these abnormalities have a role in tumorigenesis through inactivation of p53 function. To determine the clinicopathological and prognostic value of MDM2 abnormalities in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), MDM2 gene amplification and its protein expression status were analysed in surgically resected materials.

bcl-2 oncoprotein in surgically resected non-small cell lung cancer: possibly favorable prognostic factor in association with low incidence of distant metastasis.

Background: The bcl-2 oncoprotein serves a regulatory function in permitting several cell types to die in an apoptotic process. Its overexpression probably plays a role in tumorigenesis and tumor development. The aim of this study was to determine the clinicopathological and prognostic significance of the bcl-2 oncoprotein in patients with nonsmall cell lung cancer (NSCLC).