Effectiveness and feasibility of concurrent chemoradiotherapy using simultaneous integrated boost-intensity modulated radiotherapy with and without induction chemotherapy for locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of chemoradiotherapy (CRT) using simultaneous integrated boost-intensity modulated radiotherapy (SIB-IMRT) in locally advanced pancreatic cancer (LAPC) patients.

Materials And Methods: Between January 2011 and May 2015, 47 LAPC patients received CRT using SIB-IMRT. Prior to SIBIMRT, 37 patients (78.

Clinical outcome of proton therapy for patients with chordomas.

Purpose: To investigate the clinical outcome of proton therapy (PT) in patients with chordoma.

Materials And Methods: Fifty-eight patients with chordoma treated with PT between June 2007 and December 2015 at the National Cancer Center, Korea, were retrospectively analyzed. The median total dose was 69.

Lung Cancer Epidemiology in Korea.

Purpose: The current study was undertaken to examine the trends in the lung cancer incidence, mortality, and survival after a diagnosis in Korea.

Materials And Methods: Lung cancer incidence data according to the histologic type and mortality data were obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry and the Statistics Korea, respectively. The age-standardized incidence and mortality rates were calculated, and the Joinpoint model and age-period-cohort analyses were used to describe the trends in the rates.

Prognostic Significance of ¹⁸F-FDG Uptake in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treated with Transarterial Chemoembolization or Concurrent Chemoradiotherapy: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.

Unlabelled: This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of (18)F-FDG uptake in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who had transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) or concurrent intraarterial chemotherapy with external-beam radiotherapy (CCRT) and to compare the prognosis between patients treated with TACE and those with CCRT according to (18)F-FDG uptake.

Methods: Two hundred fourteen intermediate-to-advanced-stage HCC patients without extrahepatic metastasis who underwent staging (18)F-FDG PET/CT before TACE (153 patients) or CCRT (61 patients) were recruited from 7 hospitals. Progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using an optimal cutoff value for tumor-to-normal liver uptake ratio (TLR).

Galectin-3 facilitates cell motility in gastric cancer by up-regulating protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1).

Background: Galectin-3 is known to regulate cancer metastasis. However, the underlying mechanism has not been defined. Through the DNA microarray studies after galectin-3 silencing, we demonstrated here that galectin-3 plays a key role in up-regulating the expressions of protease-activated receptor-1 (PAR-1) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) PAR-1 thereby promoting gastric cancer metastasis.

Development of microRNA-145 for therapeutic application in breast cancer.

MicroRNAs, small non-coding RNAs, are key regulators of tumorigenesis and cancer metastasis through inhibition of gene expression. Therefore, there is increasing interest in developing anti-cancer therapies using microRNAs. In this study, we determined the therapeutic potency of microRNA-145(miR-145) against breast cancer.

Improved prognostic value of standardized uptake value corrected for blood glucose level in pancreatic cancer using F-18 FDG PET.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of blood glucose level correction on pancreatic cancer prognosis predictions after curative resection using F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET).

Methods: We enrolled 43 patients with pancreatic cancer who underwent preoperative FDG PET. Patient outcomes were categorized according to cancer recurrence in the clinical period.

Unexpected small bowel intussusception caused by lung cancer metastasis on 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose PET-CT.

Small bowel metastasis from primary lung cancer is rare. We report the case of an unexpected small bowel intussusception caused by primary non-small cell lung cancer, which was primarily detected by 18 fluorine ((18)F)-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT). A 74-year-old man underwent FDG PET-CT for the diagnostic workup of a lung mass in the left upper lobe.

Detection of hepatic metastases using dual-time-point FDG PET/CT scans in patients with colorectal cancer.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the most useful parameter of dual-time-point 2-deoxy-2-[¹⁸F]fluoro-D: -glucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) for detection of hepatic metastases in patients with colorectal cancer.

Procedures: Thirty-nine patients had undergone a dual-time-point PET/CT scan and a subsequent histopathological confirmation for a workup of hepatic metastases. Detection rates were compared for visual analysis score, standardized uptake value (SUV), tumor-to-liver uptake ratio (TLR), and percent changes of the SUV and TLR.

Silencing of galectin-3 changes the gene expression and augments the sensitivity of gastric cancer cells to chemotherapeutic agents.

Galectin-3 is known to modulate cell proliferation and apoptosis and is highly expressed in human cancers, but its function in gastric cancer is still controversial. Here, we examined the role of galectin-3 in gastric cancer cells by silencing it with synthetic double-stranded siRNA. After silencing of galectin-3, cell numbers decreased and cell shape changed.

Galectin-3 increases gastric cancer cell motility by up-regulating fascin-1 expression.

Background & Aims: Galectin-3 is a beta-galactoside-binding protein that increases gastric cancer cell motility in response to integrin signaling and is highly expressed in gastric tumor cells. Galectin-3 induces cytoskeletal remodeling to increase cell motility, but the mechanisms of this process are not understood. We investigated the effects of galectin-3 on fascin-1, an actin-bundling protein.

Podoplanin expression identified in stromal fibroblasts as a favorable prognostic marker in patients with colorectal carcinoma.

Objective: The microenvironment of cancer plays a critical role in its progression. However, the molecular features of cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are less well understood than those of cancer cells. We investigated the clinicopathological significance of podoplanin expression in stromal fibroblasts in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

A new formula for predicting liver metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer: immunohistochemical analysis of a large series of 439 surgically resected cases.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish a new formula predicting liver metastasis in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: Nine previously reported predictive markers for liver metastasis and/or prognosis (COX-2, dysadherin, E-cadherin, beta-catenin, Ki-67, p53, laminin5gamma2, matrilysin and MUC-1) were immunohistochemically investigated in 439 consecutive patients with CRC. We tried to determine the combination of molecules which best predicted liver metastasis.

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma presenting with systemic arterial embolism.

Acute arterial occlusion as a result of embolization from a malignant tumor is rare and infrequently reported. Recently a 70-year-old man initially presented with acute arterial occlusion of the left lower limb. He underwent embolectomy, and embolus was diagnosed as a squamous cell carcinoma histologically.

Beta-catenin mutations in pulmonary blastomas: association with morule formation.

To elucidate the contribution of beta-catenin gene mutation to the development of pulmonary blastomas, we analysed mutations in three well-differentiated fetal adenocarcinomas (WDFAs) and six biphasic pulmonary blastomas (BPBs). For comparison, eight clear-cell adenocarcinomas with fetal lung features were also examined. beta-Catenin gene mutations were found in all three WDFAs, two BPBs, and none of the clear-cell adenocarcinomas with fetal lung features.

Correlation of DNA hypomethylation at pericentromeric heterochromatin regions of chromosomes 16 and 1 with histological features and chromosomal abnormalities of human breast carcinomas.

Changes in DNA methylation status are not only important for regulating gene expression but are also suggested to induce chromosome instability. To reveal the correlation of DNA methylation status in heterochromatin regions with tumor histology and with chromosome alterations, DNA methylation status was examined by Southern blot analysis, and numerical and structural chromosome alterations, including the formation of der(16)t(1;16)/der(1;16), were examined by fluorescence in situ hybridization at the two loci in the pericentromeric satellite 2 regions of chromosomes 16 and 1 in 39 human breast carcinomas. DNA hypomethylation at the D16Z3 and the D1Z1 loci was detected in 31% (12 of 39) and 36% (12 of 33) of carcinomas, respectively, and mostly concurred.

Quantitative immunohistochemical evaluation of MIB-1 labeling index in adult soft-tissue sarcomas by computer-assisted image analysis.

We have found that the MIB-1 grade, based on tumor differentiation/histological type, necrosis and Ki-67 (MIB-1) score, is a valid and reproducible prognostic system for adult soft-tissue sarcomas. However, there are limited data available on Ki-67 labeling indices (LI) from adult soft-tissue sarcomas for testing the validity of quantitative image analysis. In this study, the records of 146 adult patients with soft-tissue sarcomas of the extremities and trunk were retrieved, and MIB-1 immunostaining was carried out for the grading.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor: consistent CD117 immunostaining for diagnosis, and prognostic classification based on tumor size and MIB-1 grade.

Gain-of-function c-kit gene mutations and immunoreactivity of the c-kit protein CD117 in many gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) seem to support the idea that GISTs form a biologically distinct entity. In this study, the clinicopathologic features of 171 cases of GIST at a single institution were investigated for accurate diagnosis, and their relative risk for mortality was estimated by multivariate analysis. A GIST was defined diagnostically as a mesenchymal spindle or epithelioid cell lesion arising in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract with consistent immunoreactivity for CD117.

Beta-catenin mutations in sporadic fundic gland polyps.

Fundic gland polyp (FGP) is the most common gastric polyp. It occurs sporadically or in association with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). FAP patients carry germline mutations of the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene, and previous studies have revealed frequent somatic mutations of the APC gene in FGPs associated with FAP.

Detection of numerical alterations of chromosome 1 in cytopathological specimens of breast tumors by chromogen in situ hybridization.

To investigate the effectiveness of chromogen in situ hybridization (CISH) in the diagnosis of breast tumors, numerical alterations of chromosome 1 were examined by CISH and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) methods, and the presence of der(16)t(1;16) was also examined by FISH in imprinted cytology specimens from resected tissues of 14 carcinomas and five non-malignant lesions. The modal signal counts of chromosome 1 were compared between the specimens processed by CISH and FISH for each case. Aneusomies of the long arm of chromosome 1 were detected in 10 (71%) carcinomas as the major clones by both methods.

Validity and reproducibility of histologic diagnosis and grading for adult soft-tissue sarcomas.

Soft-tissue sarcomas in adults show great variations in histologic type and grade. A valid and reproducible prognostication system is needed to select patients with soft-tissue sarcomas who could benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. This study was conducted to assess the validity and reproducibility of diagnosis of the histologic type, MIB-1 grade, and mitosis grade, as well as of the 3 components of these grading systems.

Proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma: a clinicopathologic study of 20 cases.

We studied the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features of 20 cases of proximal-type epithelioid sarcoma to identify prognostic factors. The 20 patients ranged in age from 13 to 80 years (mean, 40 y); 12 patients were male and 8 were female. The tumors presented as deep soft-tissue or subcutaneous masses on the inguinal region in five, the thigh in four, the vulva in three, the axilla in three, and one each in the flank, chest wall, back, hip and perineum.

Adult neuroblastoma of the retroperitoneum and abdomen: clinicopathologic distinction from primitive neuroectodermal tumor.

Adult neuroblastoma (ANB) is a rare and poorly recognized entity among a histologically defined group of small, round-cell tumors arising in the retroperitoneum and abdomen. Eight cases of ANB were compared with seven cases of primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) in these locations to identify clinicopathologic features that could be used to distinguish between the two lesions. The ANB study group included four men and four women 22-74 years of age (mean 38 years).

Prognostic significance of histologic grade and nuclear expression of beta-catenin in synovial sarcoma.

Synovial sarcoma, which has a wide spectrum of biologic behavior, warrants accurate grading to assess the patient's prognosis. We studied the clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical features of 44 cases of synovial sarcoma in patients treated primarily or secondarily at the National Cancer Center, Tokyo, to identify independent prognostic factors. There were local recurrences in 16 patients (36%), and 25 (57%) developed metastases, primarily to the lungs.