Phase II study of intensified rituximab induction and maintenance for low grade B cell lymphoma.

Rituximab has markedly improved the outcomes of B cell lymphoma, and its maintenance has been shown to be beneficial in low grade B cell lymphoma (LGBCL). We conducted a multicenter, phase II trial of intensive rituximab induction and maintenance therapy for LGBCL to optimize the rituximab monotherapy. Patients with newly diagnosed or rituximab naïve relapsed LGBCL received 8 weekly rituximab as induction, then continued maintenance therapy with rituximab for 4 weeks at 6-month intervals.

Long-term effects of beta-blocker use on lung function in Japanese patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Background: Some recent studies have suggested that beta-blocker use in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with a reduction in the frequency of acute exacerbations. However, the long-term effects of beta-blocker use on lung function of COPD patients have hardly been evaluated.

Patients And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 31 Japanese COPD patients taking beta-blockers for >1 year and 72 patients not taking them.

A Host-Dependent Prognostic Model for Elderly Patients with Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma.

Background: Decision-making models for elderly patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) treated with rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) are in great demand.

Patients And Methods: The Society of Lymphoma Treatment in Japan (SoLT-J), in collaboration with the West-Japan Hematology and Oncology Group (West-JHOG), collected and retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of ≥65-year-old patients with DLBCL treated with R-CHOP from 19 sites across Japan to build an algorithm that can stratify adherence to R-CHOP.

Results: A total of 836 patients with a median age of 74 years (range, 65-96 years) were analyzed.

Three-Arm Randomized Trial of Sodium Alginate for Preventing Radiation-Induced Esophagitis in Locally Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy: The OLCSG1401 Study Protocol.

Concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT) is the standard of care for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC). However, this intensive therapy often causes severe esophagitis, which could deteriorate a patient's quality of life (QOL), leading to poor treatment compliance. Sodium alginate, approved in Japan for gastritis, is sufficiently highly viscous to remain in the esophageal mucosa, providing a protective effect in the esophagus.

Phase I/IIa Study of Low Dose Subcutaneous Interleukin-2 (IL-2) for Treatment of Refractory Chronic Graft Versus Host Disease.

Chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD) remains a major problem for long survivors after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Currently, corticosteroid therapy is effective for cGVHD as the first line therapy. However, prolonged therapy with corticosteroids causes various severe adverse events.

Contrasting roles for the receptor for advanced glycation end-products on structural cells in allergic airway inflammation vs. airway hyperresponsiveness.

The receptor for advanced glycation end-products (RAGE) is a multiligand receptor that belongs to the immunoglobulin superfamily. RAGE is reported to be involved in various inflammatory disorders; however, studies that address the role of RAGE in allergic airway disease are inconclusive. RAGE-sufficient (RAGE+/+) and RAGE-deficient (RAGE-/-) mice were sensitized to ovalbumin, and airway responses were monitored after ovalbumin challenge.

A case of systemic lupus erythematosus presenting with an acute abdomen: successful treatment with steroid.

Abdominal pain continues to pose diagnostic challenges for emergency clinicians. A 56-year-old Japanese woman was referred to our hospital due to severe abdominal pain which presented as occasional epigastric pain five months before and intermittent abdominal pain. She had a past history of ileus twice, for both of which laparotomy was performed without an alimentary tract resection.

A phase II study of cisplatin plus S-1 with concurrent thoracic radiotherapy for locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer: the Okayama Lung Cancer Study Group Trial 0501.

Background: Although cisplatin-based chemotherapy combined with thoracic irradiation (TRT) is a standard treatment for unresectable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), this treatment outcome has remained unsatisfactory. We had previously conducted a phase I trial of cisplatin plus S-1, an oral 5-fluorouracil derivative, and TRT, which were safe and effective.

Methods: In this phase II trial, 48 patients with stage III NSCLC received cisplatin (40mg/m(2) on days 1, 8, 29 and 36) and S-1 (80mg/m(2) on days 1-14 and 29-42) and TRT (60Gy).

Corticobasal degeneration initially developing motor versus non-motor symptoms: a comparative clinicopathological study.

Background: Clinical presentations of pathologically confirmed corticobasal degeneration (CBD) vary, and the heterogeneity makes its clinical diagnosis difficult, especially when a patient lacks any motor disturbance in the early stage.

Methods: We compared clinical and pathological features of four pathologically confirmed CBD cases that initially developed non-motor symptoms, including behavioural and psychiatric symptoms but without motor disturbance (CBD-NM), and five CBD cases that initially developed parkinsonism and/or falls (CBD-M). The age range at death for the CBD-NM and CBD-M subjects (58-85 years vs 45-67 years) and the range of disease duration (2-18 years vs 2-6 years) did not significantly differ between the groups.

Five pediatric cases of ictal fear with variable outcomes.

Purpose: Ictal fear is an uncommon condition in which fear manifests as the main feature of epileptic seizures. The literature has suggested that ictal fear is generally associated with poor seizure outcomes. We wanted to clarify the variability in seizure outcome of children with ictal fear.

Progressive supranuclear palsy presenting as primary lateral sclerosis but lacking parkinsonism, gaze palsy, aphasia, or dementia.

We report an autopsy case of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) that clinically showed only slowly progressive and symmetric upper motor neuron syndrome over a disease course of 12 years. A female patient initially exhibited dysarthria at the age of 65, followed by gait disturbance and dysphagia. Neurological examination at age 67 disclosed pseudobulbar palsy, spastic gait, hyperreflexia, and presence of bilateral Hoffmann and Babinski signs.

[Clinical effects of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain L-55-contained yogurt on symptoms of Japanese cedar pollen allergy].

Background: It has been reported that oral administration of Lactobacillus acidophilus strain L-55 (L-55) suppressed nasal symptom and antigen-specific IgE induced by antigen challenge in mice. We investigated clinical effects of L-55-contained yogurt on symptoms and IgE production in the patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis.

Method: The study was performed as a randomized double blind placebo-controlled trial.

Abnormalities of glycogenes in tonsillar lymphocytes in IgA nephropathy.

Glycosylation, which represents the most complex post-translational modification, plays a pivotal role during protein maturation, and is orchestrated by numerous glycosyltransferases. Aberrant O-glycosylation of serum and tonsillar IgA1 is presumed to be one of the pathogeneses of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). However, the synthesis of underglycosylated IgA1 in tonsils has not yet been characterized.

Deep skin infection of Scedosporium apiospermum in a patient with refractory idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Infection of Scedosporium apiospermum is very rare but is now emerging as an important cause of both localized and disseminated infections in immunocompromised patients. A 62-year-old woman, who had undergone steroid therapy for refractory idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and had a history of diffuse large B cell lymphoma, developed a deep skin ulcer complicated with lymphangitis. After culture study demonstrated the presence of S.

Coexistence of TDP-43 and tau pathology in neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation type 1 (NBIA-1, formerly Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome).

We report here an autopsy case of sporadic adult-onset Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, also known as neurodegeneration with brain iron accumulation type 1 (NBIA1), without hereditary burden. A 49-year-old woman died after a 27-year disease course. At the age of 22, she suffered from akinesia, resting tremor, and rigidity.

Non-localized Mycobacterium avium lung disease successfully treated with lobectomy and chemotherapy.

A 17-year-old boy presented with a large cavity and bilateral nodular opacities on his chest roentgenogram. Mycobacterium avium was identified in his sputum. According to the recommendations of the American Thoracic Society, he was not strongly recommended to undergo surgery because of non-localized lesions.

Successful treatment of KIT D816V-positive, imatinib-resistant systemic mastocytosis with interferon-alpha.

We describe a case of systemic mastocytosis associated with myelodysplastic syndrome. The bone marrow showed multifocal clusters of mast cells and myeloid dysplasia. Sequencing of the KIT DNA revealed a point mutation at codon 816 including a substitution of valine for aspartic acid (D816V).

The effect of adding rituximab to CHOP-based therapy on clinical outcomes for Japanese patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: a propensity score matching analysis.

We conducted a retrospective analysis to evaluate the impact on clinical outcomes of adding rituximab to cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (CHOP) treatment for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients in Japan. A propensity score method was used to compensate for the non-randomized study design. From January 2000 to December 2004, 378 patients who were newly diagnosed with DLBCL at 13 institutes were enrolled: 123 in the rituximab plus CHOP-based chemotherapy (R+) group, and 255 in the CHOP-based chemotherapy only (R-) group.

[Bilateral pneumothorax of an amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patient under mechanical ventilation].

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive and fatal disease. To support breathing of some patients with ALS in its severe condition, mechanical ventilation is indispensable. However, mechanical ventilation has been known to induce pneumothorax by the damage of lung cells in response to mechanical stretch.

Coexistence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Lewy body disease, and Alzheimer's disease pathology: an autopsy case showing typical clinical features of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

We report here an autopsy case of sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) without hereditary burden and with a clinical course typical of sporadic CJD. A 77-year old man developed memory disturbance, followed by gait disturbance and myoclonus. He died of bronchopneumonia 5 months after the disease onset.

A case of gastrocolocutaneous fistula as a complication of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy.

A rare complication of percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) is gastrocolocutaneous fistula which usually occurs after replacement of the PEG tube. As tube feeding is directly delivered to the transverse colon, patients typically present with a sudden onset of transient diarrhea within minutes after PEG tube feeding. A radiographic study using water-soluble contrast material via the PEG tube shows the tip of the tube in the transverse colon.

Dry small pleural dissemination of adenocarcinoma of the lung preoperatively detected by PET/CT: a report of two cases.

Dry pleural dissemination in non-small cell lung cancer, defined as solid pleural metastasis of lung cancer without pleural effusion, is a condition occurring in T4 lung cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET) has been reported to be useful for the diagnosis and staging of lung cancer. It has been reported that positive findings on PET scans of indeterminate pleural abnormalities at computed tomography (CT) are sensitive to malignancy.

Histiocytic sarcoma: identification of its histiocytic origin using immunohistochemistry.

We describe a 56-year-old woman with histiocytic sarcoma involving the bone marrow. The neoplastic cells proliferated diffusely and showed occasional erythrophagocytosis. Immunohistochemically, the neoplastic cells were positive for CD68, lysozyme, CD4 and CD163, but negative for B- and T-cell markers, S100 protein and epithelial markers.