Primary undifferentiated carcinoma of the ureteral stump; a case report

A 72-year-old man referred our hospital with the chief complaint of macroscopic hematuria. He had undergone simple left nephrectomy for left renal stone when he was 27-years-old. His urine cytology showed class IIIb. They were 4 times. We performed random biopsy of the bladder and retrograde pyelography of the right But they were no positive findings for the cause of hematuria and for the existence of malignancy. After 2 months, he had macroscopic hematuria again. Cystoscopic re-examination revealed a fibrin out of the residual left ureteral orifice. Computed tomographic scan showed a perivesical mass. The diagnosis was the carcinoma of the ureteral stump. We performed ureterectomy. The pathological study revealed the undifferentiated carcinoma. This case is the first report of the undifferentiated carcinoma occurred on the residual ureteral stump in the Japanese literature.     

Evaluation of newly developed oxygen meters with multi-channels and disposable oxygen electrode sensors for antimicrobial susceptibility testing

The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability of new oxygen meters with multi-channels and disposable oxygen electrode sensors (DOX-96) on the antimicrobial susceptibility testing of clinical bacterial isolates. The oxygen amount in the wells of 96-well plates was converted into current through electrodes. Bacterial inoculation decreased the oxygen amount in the wells because viable bacteria consume the oxygen. On the other hand, a failure of bacteria to consume oxygen was observed in the presence of potent antimicrobial agents, representing a serious arrest of bacterial metabolism usually leading to stasis or death. Based on these results, the minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by DOX-96 (MICdox). The MICdox showed good agreement with MIC measured by the standard broth microdilution method (98.2%). DOX-96 was also useful for turbid samples such as Mueller-Hinton broth containing 0.1% lipid emulsion. The MICdox in turbid samples showed good agreement with those in clear samples (100.0%). These results indicate that the newly developed DOX-96 is very useful in antimicrobial susceptibility testing even in turbid clinical samples such as colloidal products and turbid biological components.     

Characteristics of plasma DNA and its application for detection of K-ras gene mutation

DNA diagnosis is useful and significant for clinical oncology, but its use is limited due to a difficulty in preparing tumor-derived DNA materials. To overcome this problem, we investigated the characterization of plasma DNA and it application to successfully detecting K-ras mutation at codon 12 in normal persons, hematopoietic neoplasms, and solid tumors. The range of plasma DNA in each group was 15.8 +/- 5.2 ng/ml, 43.3 +/- 29.8 ng/ml, and 26.8 +/- 17.0 ng/ml, respectively. The ranges in patients with solid tumor were gradually decreased to the normal level of around 15 ng/ml in 3 weeks postoperatively. Plasma DNAs consisted of about 200 bp DNA fragmentation and were convenient for PCR amplification of K-ras gene. The mutation at codon 12 by PCR-RFLP analysis was detected in 13(27%) of 49 patients with solid tumors such as pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, and gastric cancer. The diagnostic specificity was 100%. Serial observations by the PCR-RFLP analysis revealed disappearance of the mutant K-ras about 7 days after successful curative surgery in a patient with gastric cancer.     

Genetic Relationship between Blood and Nonblood Isolates from Bacteremic Patients Determined by Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis

A total of 148 isolates from 55 bacteremic patients were examined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Genetically different nonblood strains were isolated from 13.9% of patients with bacteremia caused by gram-positive cocci and 42.1% with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteremia, indicating that antibiograms of a single nonblood P. aeruginosa isolate are not always informative for treatment of bacteremia.     

Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing of Bilophila wadsworthia Isolates Submitted for Routine Laboratory Examination

MICs of antibiotics against Bilophila wadsworthia isolates were measured by agar and broth microdilution with pyruvic acid and by Etest. The inoculum size influenced greatly agar dilution. Despite discrepancies in MICs depending on the measurement method used, clindamycin consistently showed potent activity. Broth microdilution and Etest appear to be candidates for laboratory susceptibility testing.     

The methylthioadenosine phosphorylase gene is frequently co-deleted with the p16INK4a gene in acute type adult T-cell leukemia

Adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) is a retrovirus-associated leukemia with poor prognosis and often has deletions of the p16^INK4a and p15^INK4b genes on chromosome 9p21. The gene for methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), a purine and methionine metabolic enzyme, resides approximately 100 Kb telomeric to the p16^INK4a gene and is frequently co-deleted with the tumor suppressor gene in a variety of cancers. This enzyme deficiency can be exploited for selective chemotherapy with de novo purine synthesis inhibitors and/or methionine depletion. To determine whether ATL can be a candidate for selective chemotherapy based on genetic alterations on chromosome 9p21, we analyzed the MTAP gene in 41 samples from ATL patients (27 acute type and 14 chronic type ATL) and 3 cell lines established from ATL patients. Five samples from the acute type had deletions of the MTAP gene (4 total deletions and 1 partial deletion of exons 6–8). The MTAP gene was always co-deleted with p16^INK4a. No deletion of the MTAP gene was detected in samples from the chronic type. Of 3 cell lines, 2 showed partial deletions of exons 5–8 of the MTAP gene, and 1 lost all exons. The p16INK4a gene was deleted in all cell lines. In conclusion, deletions of the MTAP gene were found in 5 of 27 acute type ATL samples. Acute type ATL with MTAP deficiency can be a good candidate for selective chemotherapy by depleting purines and/or methionine. Int. J. Cancer 75:51–56, 1998.© 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Birth Cohort Effects on Incidence of Lung Cancers: A Population-based Study in Nagasaki, Japan

Smoking prevalence remains high (around 60%) among Japanese males, but smoking initiation among males born in the 1930s decreased by approximately 10% due to economic difficulties following World War II. The present study was designed to examine whether this temporary decline in smoking initiation influenced the subsequent incidence of lung cancers, especially adenocarcinoma. Trends of lung cancer incidence by histological type in both sexes were investigated using data from the population-based cancer registry in Nagasaki, Japan, from 1986 through 1995. During this period, 5668 males and 2309 females were diagnosed as having lung cancer, and the overall incidence of lung cancers among both sexes remained stable. However, males aged 55–59 years showed a decrease in the age-specific incidence of adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell carcinoma ( P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). In birth cohort analyses, the incidence of adenocarcinoma and squamous-cell carcinoma was lower in the 1935–1939 birth male cohort than in the successive cohorts. The incidence of lung cancers among females with low smoking prevalence did not change with birth cohort. The low smoking initiation among the 1935–1939 birth male cohort appeared to have resulted in a decreased incidence of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma among middle-aged Japanese males. The present study suggests that smoking prevention has an effect in reducing the incidence of lung adenocarcinoma, as well as squamous-cell carcinoma, among smokers.     

Resection of a cardiac tumor extending into the inferior vena cava presenting as Budd-Chiari syndrome

This report describes the successful treatment of a case of cardiac adenocarcinoma with the clinical presentation as Budd-Chiari syndrome. Complete surgical excision of the atriocaval mass was success-fully achieved under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. Histopathological diagnosis of this tumor was tubular adenocarcinoma with positive immunostaining by carcinoembrionic antigen. Subsequent systemic search could not detect any evidence of extra-cardiac primary site and distant metastatic lesion. A 2-year follow-up without any adjuvant therapy revealed no sign of recurrence.     

Human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 infection worsens prognosis of hepatitis C virus-related living donor liver transplantation

Severe and life-threatening donor-transmitted human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infections after solid organ transplantation have been reported. However, in HTLV-1-infected recipients, graft and patient survival were not fully evaluated. A total of 140 patients underwent living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Of these, 47 of 126 adult recipients showed indications of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related liver disease. The HTLV-1 prevalence rate was 10 of 140 recipients (7.14%) and three of 140 donors (0.02%). In HCV-related LDLT, graft and patient survival was worsened by HTLV-1 infection in recipients (seven cases). The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates in the HCV/HTLV-1-co-infected group were 67%, 32%, and 15%, respectively, and the corresponding rates in the HCV-mono-infected group were 80%, 67%, and 67%, respectively. Only the 5-year survival rates were statistically significant (P=0.04, log-rank method). HTLV-1 infection in recipients is also an important factor in predicting survival in HTLV-1 endemic areas.     

Effect of human lymphoblast interferon in adult T-cell leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Four patients with adult T-cell leukemia (ATL) and 4 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were treated with alpha-type interferon (Human Lymphoblastoid Interferon: HLBI). Treatment regimen consisted of 3 to 12 million units (MU) of HLBI given intramuscularly once daily. The total dose varied from 36 to 520 MU. Complete remissions were obtained in one of 4 patients with ATL and one of 3 patients with B-cell lymphoma. A partial remission was yielded in one patient with B-cell lymphoma. An overall response rate (CR + PR) was 37.5%. Toxicity included flu-like symptoms, myelosuppression, G-I tract symptoms, fatigue, high fever and hepatic disturbance. On the basis of this study, we have concluded that HLBI is effective for the treatment of ATL and B-cell lymphoma.