HDR-brachytherapy for accelerated partial breast irradiation: Long-term experience from a Japanese institution.

Purpose: We investigated the long-term oncological outcome of high-dose-rate (HDR) multicatheter interstitial brachytherapy (MIB) for adjuvant accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) after breast conserving surgery in Japanese patients.

Material And Methods: Between June 2002 and October 2011, 86 breast cancer patients were treated at National Hospital Organization Osaka National Hospital (trial number of the local institutional review board, 0329). Median age was 48 years (range, 26-73 years).

Characteristics of Pain During MRI-Guided Focused Ultrasound Thalamotomy.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging-guided focused ultrasound (MRgFUS) has become popular as an incisionless mode of neurosurgical treatment. However, head pain during sonication is common and its pathophysiology remains poorly understood.

Objective: To explore the characteristics of head pain occurring during MRgFUS thalamotomy.

Monitoring expiratory carbon monoxide to study the effect of complete smoking cessation on definitive radiation therapy for early stage glottic carcinoma.

Background: Previous studies reported that cigarette smoking during radiation therapy was associated with unfavorable outcomes in various cancers using medical interviewing or monitoring of cotinine. Here, we evaluated the effect of smoking cessation on definitive radiation therapy for early stage glottic carcinoma by monitoring expiratory carbon monoxide (CO).

Material And Methods: We enrolled 103 patients with early glottic carcinoma (T1N0/T2N0 = 79/24) who underwent conventional radiotherapy between 2005 and 2016.

Semaphorin 7A promotes EGFR-TKI resistance in EGFR mutant lung adenocarcinoma cells.

Although responses to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKIs) are initially positive, 30%-40% of patients with EGFR-mutant tumors do not respond well to EGFR-TKIs, and most lung cancer patients harboring EGFR mutations experience relapse with resistance. Therefore, it is necessary to identify not only the mechanisms underlying EGFR-TKI resistance, but also potentially novel therapeutic targets and/or predictive biomarkers for EGFR-mutant lung adenocarcinoma. We found that the GPI-anchored protein semaphorin 7A (SEMA7A) is highly induced by the EGFR pathway, via mTOR signaling, and that expression levels of SEMA7A in human lung adenocarcinoma specimens were correlated with mTOR activation.

Predictors of Delirium in Corticosteroid-Treated Patients with Advanced Cancer: An Exploratory, Multicenter, Prospective, Observational Study.

Background: Corticosteroids are often used to treat fatigue and anorexia, but occasionally produce delirium. Information on the predictors of delirium in corticosteroid-treated cancer patients remains limited.

Objective: To identify potential factors predicting the development of delirium in corticosteroid-treated cancer patients.

C-reactive protein, symptoms and activity of daily living in patients with advanced cancer receiving palliative care.

Background: The association between C-reactive protein (CRP) level, symptoms, and activities of daily living (ADL) in advanced cancer patients is unclear.

Methods: Secondary data analysis of a multicenter prospective cohort study consisted of 2426 advanced cancer patients referred to palliative care settings was conducted to examine the cross-sectional relationships between CRP level, symptoms, and ADL disabilities. Laboratory data, symptoms, ADL, and manual muscle testing (MMT) results were obtained at baseline.

A prospective, multicenter cohort study to validate a simple performance status-based survival prediction system for oncologists.

Background: Survival prediction systems such as the Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), which includes the Palliative Performance Scale (PPS), are used to estimate survival for terminally ill patients. Oncologists are, however, less familiar with the PPS in comparison with the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS). This study was designed to validate a simple survival prediction system for oncologists, the Performance Status-Based Palliative Prognostic Index (PS-PPI), which is a modified form of the PPI based on the ECOG PS.

Simulation of the modulation transfer function dependent on the partial Fourier fraction in dynamic contrast enhancement magnetic resonance imaging.

The image characteristics in dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) depend on the partial Fourier fraction and contrast medium concentration. These characteristics were assessed and the modulation transfer function (MTF) was calculated by computer simulation. A digital phantom was created from signal intensity data acquired at different contrast medium concentrations on a breast model.

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).

Efficacy and Safety of Regorafenib or TAS-102 in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Refractory to Standard Therapies.

Background: Regorafenib and TAS-102 are novel antitumor agents for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) whose disease has progressed after standard therapies. In randomized trials, regorafenib and TAS-102 prolonged survival in patients with mCRC. However, the appropriate selection of regorafenib or TAS-102 in treatment strategy has not yet been established.

Adding items that assess changes in activities of daily living does not improve the predictive accuracy of the Palliative Prognostic Index.

Background: Changes in activities of daily living in cancer patients may predict their survival. The Palliative Prognostic Index is a useful tool to evaluate cancer patients, and adding an item about activities of daily living changes might improve its predictive value.

Aim: To clarify whether adding an item about activities of daily living changes improves the accuracy of Palliative Prognostic Index.

Prospective Validation of the Objective Prognostic Score for Advanced Cancer Patients in Diverse Palliative Settings.

Context: Prognostication is an essential part of palliative care to aid decision making and negotiate goals of care. The Objective Prognostic Score (OPS) is an easy-to-use prognosticating tool to predict survival among far-advanced cancer patients in palliative care units (PCUs) in Korea.

Objectives: This study aimed to prospectively validate the OPS for advanced cancer patients in the palliative care teams (PCTs), PCUs, and home-based palliative care (HPC) in Japan.

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).

Threshold doses and prediction of visually apparent liver dysfunction after stereotactic body radiation therapy in cirrhotic and normal livers using magnetic resonance imaging.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the threshold dose for focal liver damage after stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in cirrhotic and normal livers using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A total of 64 patients who underwent SBRT for liver tumors, including 54 cirrhotic patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 10 non-cirrhotic patients with liver metastases, were analyzed. MRI was performed 3-6 months after SBRT, using gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid-enhanced T1-weighted sequences.

Clinical Implications of C-Reactive Protein as a Prognostic Marker in Advanced Cancer Patients in Palliative Care Settings.

Context: Plasma C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are elevated in patients with advanced cancer.

Objectives: To investigate CRP as a prognostic marker in palliative settings.

Methods: This multicenter prospective cohort study comprised 2426 patients.

Effect of continuous deep sedation on survival in patients with advanced cancer (J-Proval): a propensity score-weighted analysis of a prospective cohort study.

Background: Continuous deep sedation (CDS) before death is a form of palliative sedation therapy that has become a focus of strong debate, especially with respect to whether it shortens survival. We aimed to examine whether CDS shortens patient survival using the propensity score-weighting method, and to explore the effect of artificial hydration during CDS on survival.

Methods: This study was a secondary analysis of a large multicentre prospective cohort study that recruited and followed up patients between Sept 3, 2012, and April 30, 2014, from 58 palliative care institutions across Japan, including hospital palliative care settings, inpatient palliative care units, and home-based palliative care services.

Survival prediction for advanced cancer patients in the real world: A comparison of the Palliative Prognostic Score, Delirium-Palliative Prognostic Score, Palliative Prognostic Index and modified Prognosis in Palliative Care Study predictor model.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of the Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP score), Delirium-Palliative Prognostic Score (D-PaP score), Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI) and modified Prognosis in Palliative Care Study predictor model (PiPS model).

Patients And Methods: This multicentre prospective cohort study involved 58 palliative care services, including 19 hospital palliative care teams, 16 palliative care units and 23 home palliative care services, in Japan from September 2012 to April 2014. Analyses were performed involving four patient groups: those treated by palliative care teams, those in palliative care units, those at home and those receiving chemotherapy.

[Examination of reducing misregistration for lower tube voltage of the mask image in CT angiography using subtraction method].

Computed tomographic angiography (CTA) has been used recently for the evaluation of intracerebral aneurysms, but it is difficult to use this technique to visualize aneurysms near the base of the skull because of the presence of bone. So, subtracted CTA has been used to separate vessels from bony structures. However, we see some misregistration when using subtraction method because of the patient moving, the disaccord of the X-ray tube orbit between the mask image and the live image, the expanding focus, and the bed bending.

Favorable response to trastuzumab plus irinotecan combination therapy in two patients with HER2-positive relapsed small-cell lung cancer.

Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) easily recurs with multidrug resistance phenotype. However, standard therapeutic strategies for relapsed-SCLC remain unestablished. Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) expression correlates with poor prognosis in extensive disease-SCLC.