Soft palatal melanosis, a simple predictor for neoplasia in the upper aerodigestive tract in Japanese alcoholic men.

Soft palatal melanosis can be detected by visual inspection during routine physical examination or even personally in a mirror. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between squamous cell neoplasia in the upper aerodigestive tract (UAT) and soft palatal melanosis. We reviewed digitized records of high-quality endoscopic images of the soft palate of 1786 Japanese alcoholic men who underwent endoscopic screening.

Predictors of response to corticosteroids for dyspnea in advanced cancer patients: a preliminary multicenter prospective observational study.

Purpose: Although corticosteroids can relieve dyspnea in advanced cancer patients, factors predicting the response remain unknown. We aimed to explore potential factors predicting the response to corticosteroids for dyspnea in advanced cancer patients.

Methods: In this preliminary multicenter prospective observational study, we included patients who had metastatic or locally advanced cancer, were receiving specialized palliative care services, and had a dyspnea intensity of ≥3 on a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) (worst during the last 24 h).

Predictors of responses to corticosteroids for anorexia in advanced cancer patients: a multicenter prospective observational study.

Purpose: Although corticosteroids are widely used to relieve anorexia, information regarding the factors predicting responses to corticosteroids remains limited. The purpose of the study is to identify potential factors predicting responses to corticosteroids for anorexia in advanced cancer patients.

Methods: Inclusion criteria for this multicenter prospective observational study were patients who had metastatic or locally advanced cancer and had an anorexia intensity score of 4 or more on a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS).

Unmet Learning Needs of Physicians in Specialty Training in Palliative Care: A Japanese Nationwide Study.

Background: Despite the urgent need for a quality training system in palliative care, learning needs among physicians in palliative care specialty training have not been systematically explored in Japan.

Aim: To clarify unmet learning needs among Japanese physicians in specialty training in palliative care and the potential solutions they favor to meet those needs.

Design: A Japanese nationwide survey.

Treatment Recommendations for Respiratory Symptoms in Cancer Patients: Clinical Guidelines from the Japanese Society for Palliative Medicine.

Background: Respiratory symptoms, dyspnea, cough, and death rattle, are common and distressing in advanced cancer patients. Palliation of respiratory symptoms is important to improve quality of life in cancer patients and their families/caregivers. Currently published clinical guidelines for the management of these respiratory symptoms in cancer patients did not cover the topics comprehensively or were not based on formal process for the development of clinical guidelines.

Phase II trial of panitumumab with irinotecan as salvage therapy for patients with advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer (TOPIC study).

Little is known about the clinical impact of salvage panitumumab with irinotecan for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients. The present study conducted a single-arm, multicenter phase II trial for mCRC with skin toxicity prevention program. The subjects were mCRC patients with wild-type KRAS, who showed resistance to fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan.

Predictors of Responses to Corticosteroids for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Advanced Cancer Patients: A Multicenter, Prospective, Observational Study.

Context: Although corticosteroids are widely used to relieve cancer-related fatigue (CRF), information regarding the factors predicting responses to corticosteroids remains limited.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify potential factors predicting responses to corticosteroids for CRF in advanced cancer patients.

Methods: Inclusion criteria for this multicenter, prospective, observational study were patients who had metastatic or locally advanced cancer and had a fatigue intensity score of 4 or more on a 0-10 Numerical Rating Scale (NRS).

Abnormal Corneal Lesions Induced by Trastuzumab Emtansine: An Antibody-Drug Conjugate for Breast Cancer.

Purpose: To report a case of atypical corneal lesions presumably induced by trastuzumab emtansine, an antibody-drug conjugate that is designed to selectively deliver cytotoxic agents to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer cells.

Case: A 64-year-old Japanese woman developed bilateral corneal epithelial abnormalities that originated from the limbus. The corneal lesions covered the superior area in the right eye and both superior and inferior areas including the visual axis in the left eye.

Multicenter cohort study on the survival time of cancer patients dying at home or in a hospital: Does place matter?

Background: Although the place of death has a great influence on the quality of death and dying for cancer patients, whether the survival time differs according to the place of death is unclear. The primary aim of this study was to explore potential differences in the survival time of cancer patients dying at home or in a hospital.

Methods: This multicenter, prospective cohort study was conducted in Japan from September 2012 through April 2014 and involved 58 specialist palliative care services.

Glasgow prognostic score predicts prognosis for cancer patients in palliative settings: a subanalysis of the Japan-prognostic assessment tools validation (J-ProVal) study.

Purpose: The Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), which uses C-reactive protein and albumin levels, is a good predictor of prognosis in cancer patients undergoing anti-tumor therapy. The objective of this study was to investigate the correlation between GPS and survival among cancer patients in palliative settings, as findings in such populations have not been well described.

Methods: This was a subanalysis of a multicenter, prospective, cohort study in patients who were adults, diagnosed with advanced cancer, and first referred to palliative care service in Japan.

Androgen deprivation therapy prevents bladder cancer recurrence.

Although accumulating preclinical evidence indicates the involvement of androgen receptor signals in bladder cancer (BC) development, its clinical relevance remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the predictive role of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in BC recurrence in prostate cancer (PC) patients. We retrospectively reviewed 20,328 patients with PC diagnosed during 1991-2013 and identified 239 (1.

Independent validation of the modified prognosis palliative care study predictor models in three palliative care settings.

Context: Accurate prognostic information in palliative care settings is needed for patients to make decisions and set goals and priorities. The Prognosis Palliative Care Study (PiPS) predictor models were presented in 2011, but have not yet been fully validated by other research teams.

Objectives: The primary aim of this study is to examine the accuracy and to validate the modified PiPS (using physician-proxy ratings of mental status instead of patient interviews) in three palliative care settings, namely palliative care units, hospital-based palliative care teams, and home-based palliative care services.

Intratumoral gene expression of 5-fluorouracil pharmacokinetics-related enzymes in stage I and II non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with uracil-tegafur after surgery: a prospective multi-institutional study in Japan.

Objectives: This investigation was conducted to assess the use of the intratumoral mRNA expression levels of nucleic acid-metabolizing enzymes as biomarkers of adjuvant chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using uracil-tegafur in a multi-institutional prospective study.

Materials And Methods: 236 patients with a completely resected NSCLC (adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) of pathological stage IA (maximum tumor diameter of 2 cm or greater), IB, and II tumors were given a dose of 250 mg of uracil-tegafur per square meter of body surface area per day orally for two years after surgery. Intratumoral mRNA levels of thymidylate synthase (TS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD), orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT), and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) genes relative to an internal standard, β-actin, were determined using laser-capture microdissection and fluorescence-based real time PCR detection systems.

Cardiac arrest in a patient with polyarteritis nodosa.

Polyarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a rare necrotizing vasculitis that occurs in small- to medium-sized muscular arteries. A 71-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for an evaluation of a sustained fever and he later died of cardiac arrest. The autopsy revealed that the patient had PAN and severe coronary vasculitis with no signs of cardiac ischemia.

[A case of necrotizing fasciitis developed in a patient with recurrent rectal cancer treated with chemotherapy].

A fifty-two-year-old female with advanced rectal cancer underwent low anterior resection and hysterectomy. After local pelvic recurrence, she underwent radiation therapy(50 Gy in total), and then chemotherapy(XELOX+bevacizumab)was started. However, left femoral pain developed after the second course of chemotherapy, and necrotizing fasciitis associated with lower bowel perforation was found.

[A case of calcinomatous polyarthritis presenting rheumatoid arthritis-like polyarthritis as the initial symptom of gastric cancer].

We report a case of calcinomatous polyarthritis presenting rheumatoid arthritis-like polyarthritis as the initial symptom of gastric cancer. A 79-year-old male visited to our hospital with complaint of pain and swelling of multiple joints including bilateral hands, bilateral knees, elbows and small joints of fingers. He also complained of neck and back stiffness.

[Case of trimethoprim-induced hyperkalemia complicating ANCA-associated vasculitis].

A 76-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of severe anemia. Routine screening revealed a sigmoid adenocarcinoma, and he underwent sigmoidectomy. Post-operatively, he developed rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.

Thyroid storm with multiple organ failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation, and stroke with a normal serum FT3 level.

Thyroid storm is a rare disorder with a sudden onset, rapid progression and high mortality. We experienced a case of thyroid storm which had a devastating course, including multiple organ failure (MOF), severe hypoglycemia, disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and stroke. It was difficult to make a diagnosis of thyroid storm in the present patient, because she did not have a history of thyroid disease and her serum FT3 level was normal.

Lymph node metastasis from colon carcinoma at 11 years after the initial operation managed by lymph node resection and chemoradiation: A case report and a review of the literature.

Introduction: Lymph node metastasis from colorectal cancer after a disease-free interval (DFI) of >5years is extremely rare, and occurs in <0.6% cases.

Presentation Of Case: A 60-year-old man underwent low anterior resection for sigmoid colon cancer.

[Assessments of progression in non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer].

We retrospectively studied 463 patients with primary non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer diagnosed between 1999 and 2008 at two facilities (Kawasaki Municipal Ida Hospital and Yokohama Minami Kyosai Hospital). In this study, disease progression was defined as invasion to the muscle or further (upstage) and presence of metastasis (metastasis). We detected progression in 22 cases, including 18 upstages and 4 metastasis.