Effect of a Device-Free Compressed Shell Fixation Method on Hepatic Respiratory Movement: Analysis for Respiratory Amplitude of the Liver and Internal Motions of a Fiducial Marker

Purpose

Suppression of respiratory movement of the liver would be desirable for high-precision radiation therapy for liver tumors. We aimed to investigate the effect of our original device-free compressed shell fixation method and breathing instruction on suppression of respiratory movement. The characteristics of liver motion based on the movement of a fiducial marker were also analyzed.

A case of diaphragmatic hernia incarceration after a heart transplant operation

We report a case of a diaphragmatic hernia after a heart transplant operation. A 43-year-old woman, who underwent orthotropic heart transplantation for hypertrophic cadiomyopathy two year earlier, presented with vomiting and epigastric pain. A computed tomography scan showed that the stomach and transverse colon were dislocated in the left thoracic cavity. We diagnosed left diaphragmatic hernia incarceration and performed laparoscopic repair of the diaphragmatic hernia. A 12 × 8 cm diaphragmatic defect was found intraoperatively on the ventrolateral aspect of the left diaphragm, and the stomach with volvulus had herniated into the thorax through the defect. The hernia was considered to be iatrogenic. The diaphragmatic defect was large, and the diaphragm was thinning. We closed the defect by mesh repair. Laparoscopic mesh repair of the diaphragmatic hernia could be performed safely and with minimal invasiveness.     

Integrin α11 in non–small cell lung cancer is associated with tumor progression and postoperative recurrence

Integrins are transmembrane proteins that mediate cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix. Integrin α11 (ITGA11) is not expressed in normal alveolar epithelial cells and is a known receptor for collagen. While integrin α11β1 overexpression in the tumor stroma has been associated with tumor growth and metastatic potential of non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), little is known about the role of ITGA11 in tumor cells. Thus, we examined the RNA expression of ITGA11 by quantitative RT‐PCR in 80 samples collected from NSCLC patients who had undergone surgical resection and analyzed the clinical outcomes. We found that high expression of ITGA11 was associated with lower recurrence‐free survival in all NSCLC patients (P = 0.043) and in stage I NSCLC patients (P = 0.049). These results were consistent with in silico analyses of the Cancer Genome Atlas database. We also analyzed cell proliferation, migration and invasion capacity in lung cancer cell lines after overexpression of ITGA11. Overexpression of ITGA11 in lung cancer cell lines had little effect on cell proliferation but resulted in increased migration and invasion capacity. Our findings suggest that ITGA11 plays a significant role in cancer migration and invasion, leading to higher recurrence. ITGA11 expression may be a predictor of poor prognosis in patients with surgically resected NSCLC.