Clinical features and treatment outcomes of Japanese head and neck cancer patients with a second primary cancer.

Aim: It has been well established that patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) have an elevated risk of developing a second primary cancer (SPC), owing to the common carcinogenic risk factors, including tobacco and alcohol consumption, and inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 genotype. Here we investigated the current state of SPC in Japanese HNC patients.

Methods: We retrospectively investigated the incidence and treatment outcomes of synchronous and metachronous SPCs among 434 newly diagnosed HNC patients.

Outpatient oral chemotherapy with S-1 for unresectable or distant metastatic head and neck cancer.

Background: This retrospective study evaluated the efficacy and safety of S-1 chemotherapy for unresectable or distant metastatic head and neck cancer. S-1 is an oral anticancer agent containing a combination of 2 modulators and tegafur, which is a pro-drug of 5-fluorouracil.

Patients And Methods: S-1 was orally administered to 27 patients with unresectable and/or distant metastatic head and neck cancer at a dose based on the patient's body surface area in an outpatient setting.

Comparison of voice quality after laser cordectomy with that after radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy for early glottic carcinoma.

Purpose Of The Study: The present study aimed to compare the voice quality after each type of cordectomy with that after radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for early glottic carcinoma.

Procedures: The GRBAS perceptive scale [consisting of 5 domains: grade (G), roughness (R), breathiness (B), asthenia (A), and strain (S)], aerodynamic tests and acoustic analyses, and the Voice Handicap Index questionnaire were evaluated for 58 laser cordectomy cases and 40 RT or CRT cases. Multiple comparison tests were conducted between each type of cordectomy and RT or CRT.

Identification of live hair cells in rat cochlear sections in culture with FM1-43 fluorescent dye.

Cochlear hair cells are presumed to live in culture for many days, yet they are difficult to identify in cultured tissues. We stained hair cells in cochlear sections with FM1-43 and cultured them in collagen matrix. Three rows of outer hair cells and a single row of inner ones were distinguished by staining with FM1-43.

Long-term staining of live Merkel cells with FM dyes.

Live Merkel cells in the skin and hair follicles are known to incorporate a fluorescence dye, quinacrine, which has been utilized to identify and dissect the cells for experiments. Quinacrine fluorescence of the cells is, however, quickly lost and quinacrine-stained Merkel cells soon become difficult to identify in tissue culture. To find dyes that remain in the cells for a long period of time, we tested many fluorescence dyes and found that FM dyes (such as FM1-43) are useful markers for live Merkel cells.