[A response to erlotinib hydrochloride in the case of post-operative recurrent thymoma].

A 43-year-old female was diagnosed with a recurrence of thymoma 6 years after the operation. Eight kinds of systemic chemotherapy were undergone for over 6 years. As the 9th chemotherapy, erlotinib hydrochloride was prescribed and the tumor decreased in size about 8 weeks later.

[A case of lung cancer with malignant pleural effusion obtained a long-time survival after intra-operative hyperthermo-chemotherapy].

A 68-year-old female diagnosed as lung cancer with malignant effusion was treated with partial resection and intra-operative hyperthermo-chemotherapy. In such cases like carcinomatous pleuritis without disseminations, a limited operation and hyperthermo-chemotherapy with distilled water could be successful.

Gene expression profiles and microsatellite instability in uterine corpus endometrioid adenocarcinoma.

Aim: We examined corpus cancer to identify whether there are distinctive patterns of global gene expression and microsatellite instability, and to gain molecular understanding of its carcinogenesis and progression.

Methods: Thirty endometrioid corpus cancer tissue samples (21 of G1 and nine of G2/3) were analyzed by cDNA microarray based on 637 cancer-associated genes and by a polymerase chain reaction method for microsatellite instability.

Result: Of the 30 cases, 10 (33%) were recognized as having microsatellite instability.

Usefulness of narrow-band imaging for detecting the primary tumor site in patients with primary unknown cervical lymph node metastasis.

Objective: We sometimes experienced patients with primary unknown cervical lymph node metastasis. In such cases, if computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, laryngoscopy and gastrointestinal endoscopy cannot detect a primary site, there is no other effective method to identify a possible primary tumor. We investigated whether narrow-band imaging can detect a possible primary tumor in such.

NSAIDs and colorectal cancer prevention.

This article discusses the merits and limits of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitors, for colorectal cancer prevention. The suppressive effect of NSAIDs on colorectal tumors has been recognized since as early as 1981. The chemopreventive effect of NSAIDs on colorectal tumors in relationship to the inhibition of prostaglandin synthesis is reviewed first.

Identification of somatic APC mutations in recurrent desmoid tumors in a patient with familial adenomatous polyposis to determine actual recurrence of the original tumor or de novo occurrence.

A 25-year-old female with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) presented with an abdominal tumor just below the scar due to a colectomy performed 15 months previously. This tumor (tumor A) measured 7 cm in diameter, was diagnosed as a desmoid tumor of the abdominal wall, and was excised. Despite the subsequent administration of sulindac (300 mg daily for 1 year), a desmoid tumor recurred at the same site.

Application of PDT for Uterine Cervical Cancer.

We have been performing PDT using Excimer Dye Laser (EDL) or YAG-OPO laser, a type of low power laser, both of which have a considerably higher degree of tissue penetration even when compared to PDT using Argon Dye Laser (ADL).PDT is a relatively simple procedure without any bleeding and does not require anesthesia since it causes no pain. PDT is performed 48 h after intravenous injection of 1.

[Two cases of radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for control of liver metastases from breast cancer].

We present two cases of liver metastases from breast cancer treated by radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for elongation of life. Case 1: A 50-year-old woman was treated by left mastectomy (stage IIIa) in December 2002. In April 2004, she was treated with a combination therapy of weekly paclitaxel and trastuzumab for multiple liver metastases, left supraclavicular lymph node metastases, and multiple bone metastases.

Does a selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor (tiracoxib) induce clinically sufficient suppression of adenomas in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis? A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Background: There have been few placebo-controlled randomized double-blind studies of the clinical effects of selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors on the regression of colorectal tumors. This study was designed to examine the regressive effect of a selective COX-2 inhibitor, tiracoxib (JTE-522), on colorectal polyps in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP), and its safety.

Methods: Sixty-one patients with FAP diagnosed by Japanese criteria were assigned randomly to receive placebo or JTE-522, at either 150 mg or 200 mg, once daily orally for 26 weeks.

Combination therapy of intraarterial 5-fluorouracil and systemic interferon-alpha for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma with portal venous invasion.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with portal venous invasion (PVI) has a very poor prognosis, with a median survival of 3 months and virtually no survival at 1 year. The combination of intraarterial 5-fluorouracil (FU) and systemic interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) was recently reported to be effective against HCC with PVI, but these were small pilot studies.

Methods: One hundred and sixteen patients with HCC with PVI received IFNalpha (5,000,000 U intramuscularly on Days 1, 3, and 5 of each week of treatment) and 5-FU (500 mg into hepatic artery on Days 1-5 of the first and second week of each 4-week cycle).

A clinical overview of familial adenomatous polyposis derived from the database of the Polyposis Registry of Japan.

The clinical situation of familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) in Japan has changed in the period since the last analysis of data of the Japanese Polyposis Center. To reevaluate our data and elucidate the changes we analyzed the records of the 1390 FAP patients in 900 families registered with the Polyposis Committee of the Japanese Society for Cancer of the Colon and Rectum. In the 13-year period 1990-2003, clinical differences between men and women with FAP diminished.

Analysis of gene expression profiles associated with cisplatin resistance in human ovarian cancer cell lines and tissues using cDNA microarray.

Gene expression profiles were analyzed by using cDNA microarray for a cisplatin-sensitive cell line (KF), and three- and thirty-fold cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cell lines (KFr and KFrP200) both showing no p53 mutation within exon 5, 6, 7, 8 and no pglycoprotein overexpression. Expression of GST-pi mRNA increased as the level of resistance to cisplatin became high. Microarray analysis revealed that DNA repair associated genes, i.

Somatic mutation rate of the APC gene.

Background: Somatic inactivation of the wild-type APC gene is involved in the development of adenoma of familial adenomatous polyposis. This situation is also true in sporadic adenomas. It is of biological interest to know the somatic mutation rate of the APC gene.

Telomerase activity in gynecological tumors.

The aim of this study was to define the clinical implications of semi-quantitative telomerase activity in gynecological tumors by comparing the telomerase activity of cancerous lesion and the adjacent non-cancerous lesion. In 118 cases of gynecologic tumors, including 41 uterine cervical tumors, 43 uterine body tumors and 34 ovarian tumors, telomerase activities were determined using TRAPeze telomerase detection kit for the extension reaction of the telomere sequence and the PCR reaction for amplification of the sequence, and using fluorecence-based telomere repeat amplification protocol (F-TRAP) method for the detection. In all gynecologic cancers examined, telomerase activity of the cancerous lesion was significantly higher than that of the non-cancerous lesion.

Genetic aberrations detected by comparative genomic hybridization in ovarian clear cell adenocarcinomas.

Genetic abnormalities were detected by comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) in 12 ovarian clear cell adenocarcinomas. DNA sequence copy number abnormalities (CNAs) occurring in more than 20% of the cancers included increased copy numbers of 8q11-q13, 8q21-q22, 8q23, 8q24-qter, 17q25-qter, 20q13-qter and 21q22-qter and reduced copy numbers of 19p. Increases in copy numbers of 8q11-q13, 8q21-q22, 8q23 and 8q24-qter occurred more frequently in disease-free patients than in recurrent/non-surviving patients (p < 0.

Development of invasive adenocarcinoma in a long-standing diverted ileal J-pouch for ulcerative colitis: report of a case.

We report a case of a 50-year-old male with ulcerative colitis who developed well-differentiated adenocarcinoma in the ileal J-pouch, which had been defunctioning for 18 years. The extension of the carcinoma in the pouch suggested that it had recently appeared in the pouch. Monitoring by endoscopic examination and biopsy or pouch excision seems to be an appropriate action if a pouch is out of the fecal stream.

Somatic mutation of the APC gene in thyroid carcinoma associated with familial adenomatous polyposis.

We report the existence of both germline and somatic mutations of the APC gene in thyroid carcinomas from familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) patients. One papillary thyroid carcinoma from a 210-year-old woman, with germline mutation of the APC gene (TCA to TGA at codon 1110), showed a somatic mutation of AAAAC deletion between codons 1060 and 1063. Another somatic mutation of CAG to TAG at codon 886 was also found in one of multiple thyroid carcinomas from a 26-year-old woman with attenuated FAP and germline mutation at codon 175 (C deletion).

[Cancer-associated gene abnormalities and chemosensitivity].

One of the most important clinical issues in cancer chemotherapy is the presence of intrinsic resistance or the appearance of acquired resistance against chemotherapy. As for intrinsic resistance, we had to perform direct chemo-sensitivity testing, or had to rely on the knowledge empirically acquired from randomized clinical trials. However, molecular or genetic markers associated with chemo-sensitivity have been reported recently.

[CGH (comparative genomic hybridization)].

Comparative Genomic Hybridization (CGH) is a powerful new method which allows genome-wide mapping of regions with DNA sequence copy number changes (both increases and decreases) in a single experiment without previous knowledge of the locations of the regions of abnormality. CGH is based on in situ hybridization of differentially labeled total genomic tumor DNA and normal DNA to normal human metaphase chromosomes. After hybridization copy number variations among the sequences in the tumor DNA are detected by measuring the tumor/normal fluorescence intensity ratio for each locus in the target chromosomes.

[Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for early cervical cancer].

The incidence of carcinoma in situ (CIS) and dysplasia of the uterine cervix has been increasing among young women in recent years. Most of these patients want to preserve their fertility. Also, to accommodate high-risk patients with complications, elderly patients, and those who refuse surgery, we perform PDT as a method to preserve fertility.