Two autopsy cases of desmoplastic small round cell tumor

Desmoplastic small round cell tumor (DSRCT) is a rare aggressive malignant tumor. It is a refractory tumor and the median overall survival is very short. We report two autopsy cases of DSRCT, both of which were already advanced and metastasized at the first medical examination. Both cases showed typical DSRCT findings in terms of localization of the lesions, histopathology and genetics, but the rate of disease progression was quite different. Survival after initial symptoms in Case 1 was only 12 months. On the other hand, survival after primary hospitalization in Case 2 was 42 months. The Case 2 patient initially received chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic carcinoma, because a nodule of the pancreatic tail was found on computed tomography (CT) scan. After chemotherapy, tumor regression was observed on CT scan. It is thus implied that adoption of the regimen for pancreatic carcinoma might have been one of reasons of the long survival in Case 2.     

EGCG inhibits activation of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF)/IGF-1 receptor axis in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

The receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1)/IGF-1 receptor (IGF-1R) axis plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). EGCG inhibits activation of the various types of RTKs and that this is associated with inhibition of multiple downstream signaling pathways. In this study we examined the effects of EGCG on activity of the IGF/IGF-1R axis in HepG2 human HCC cells which express constitutive activation of this axis. The level of phosphorylated (i.e. activated) form of the IGF-1R protein (p-IGF-1R) was increased in a series of human HCC cell lines when compared with the Hc normal human hepatocytes. EGCG preferentially inhibited growth of HepG2 cells when compared with Hc cells. Treatment of HepG2 cells with EGCG induced apoptosis and caused a decrease in the p-IGF-1R protein and its downstream signaling molecules including the p-ERK, p-Akt, p-Stat-3, and p-GSK-3β proteins, both in the absence or presence of ligand stimulation. EGCG also decreased the levels of both IGF-1 and IGF-2 proteins and mRNAs, but increased the levels of the IGFBP-3 protein. These findings suggest that EGCG can overcome the stimulatory effects of IGFs on the IGF-1R dependent signaling pathway, thus expanding the roles of EGCG as an inhibitor of critical RTKs involved in HCC cell proliferation. These results provide further evidence that EGCG may be useful in the chemoprevention or treatment of liver cancer.     

Oxysterol binding protein‐related protein‐5 is related to invasion and poor prognosis in pancreatic cancer

In previous studies, the gene expression profiles of two hamster pancreatic cancer cells with different potentials for invasion and metastasis were analyzed. In the present study, we identified that one of the genes expressed strongly in the highly metastatic cell line is hamster oxysterol binding protein‐related protein (ORP)‐5. The aim of the present study was to clarify the relationship between ORP5 and invasion and poor prognosis of human pancreatic cancer. Invasion assays were carried out in both hamster and human pancreatic cancer cells by suppressing the ORP5 gene with short interfering RNA or inducing its expression by introducing an expression vector. To evaluate the relationship between ORP5 and the characteristics of human pancreatic cancer, 56 pancreatic cancer tissue specimens were analyzed and the ORP5 expression in each pancreatic cancer tissue specimen was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. In both the hamster and human pancreatic cancer cells, suppression of ORP5 significantly reduced the invasion rate of the cells and induction of ORP5 significantly enhanced the invasion rate of the cells. In the clinical sample, the median survival times of the patients with ORP5‐positive (n = 33) and ORP5‐negative (n = 23) cancer were 8.3 and 17.2 months, respectively (P = 0.02). Also, the 1‐year survival rates of patients with ORP5‐positive and ORP5‐negative cancer were 36.4 and 73.9%, respectively (P = 0.005). The ORP5 expression level was related to both invasion and poor prognosis in human pancreatic cancer. These findings suggest that the expression of ORP5 may induce cancer cell invasion, resulting in the poor prognosis of pancreatic cancer. (Cancer Sci 2008; 99: 2387–2394)     

A new medical education using a lung sound auscultation simulator called "Mr. Lung"

We developed a lung sound auscultation simulator "Mr. Lung" in 2001. To improve the auscultation skills of lung sounds, we utilized this new device in our educational training facility. From June 2001 to March 2002, we used "Mr. Lung" for our small group training in which one hundred of the fifth year medical students were divided into small groups from which one group was taught every other week. The class consisted of ninety-minute training periods for auscultation of lung sounds. At first, we explained the classification of lung sounds, and then auscultation tests were performed. Namely, students listened to three cases of abnormal or adventitious lung sounds on "Mr. Lung" through their stethoscopes. Next they answered questions corresponding to the portion and quality of the sounds. Then, we explained the correct answers and how to differentiate lung sounds on "Mr. Lung". Additionally, at the beginning and the end of the lecture, five degrees of self-assessment for the auscultation of the lung sounds were performed. The ratio of correct answers for lung sounds were 36.9% for differences between bilateral lung sounds, 52.5% for coarse crackles, 34.1% for fine crackles, 69.2% for wheezes, 62.1% for rhonchi and 22.2% for stridor. Self-assessment scores were significantly higher after the class than before. The ratio of correct lung sound answers was surprisingly low among medical students. We believe repetitive auscultation of the simulator to be extremely helpful for medical education.     

Molecular Analysis of edicinally-Used Chinese and Japanese Curcuma Based on 18S rRNA Gene and trnK Gene Sequences

ＧｅｎｕｓＣｕｒｃｕｍａｏｆｔｈｅｆａｍｉｌｙＺｉｎｇｉｂｅｒａｃｅａｅｃｏｎｓｉｓｔｓｏｆａｂｏｕｔ 70ｓｐｅｃｉｅｓｉｎｔｈｅｗｏｒｌｄ ,ｏｆｗｈｉｃｈｍｏｒｅｔｈａｎｔｅｎａｒｅｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｅｄｏｒｃｕｌｔｉｖａｔｅｄｉｎＣｈｉｎａ[1] ａｎｄＪａｐａｎ[2 ] .ＳｅｖｅｒａｌｈｅｒｂａｌｄｒｕｇｓｕｓｅｄｆｒｅｑｕｅｎｔｌｙａｒｅｄｅｒｉｖｅｄｆｒｏｍｔｈｅＣｕｒｃｕｍａｓｐｅｃｉｅｓ.ＩｎＣｈｉｎａ ,“Ｊｉａｎｇｈｕａｎｇ”ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｒｈｉ ｚｏｍｅｏｆＣｕｒｃｕｍａｌｏｎｇａ ,“Ｐｉａｎｊｉａｎｇｈｕａｎｇ”ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｓｌｉｃｅｄｒｈｉｚｏｍｅｏｆＣ .ｗｅｎｙｕｊｉｎ ,“Ｅｚｈｕ”ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｒｈｉｚｏｍｅｓｏｆＣ .ｐｈａｅｏｃａｕｌｉｓ,Ｃ .ｗｅｎｙｕｊｉｎｏｒＣ .ｋｗａｎｇｓｉｅｎｓｉｓ,ａｎｄ“Ｙｕｊｉｎ”ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｔｕｂｅｒｓｏｆＣ .ｗｅｎｙｕｊｉｎ ,Ｃ .ｌｏｎｇａ ,Ｃ .ｋｗａｎｇｓｉｅｎｓｉｓｏｒＣ .ｐｈａｅｏｃａｕｌｉｓａｒｅｉｎｕｓｅ .[3] ＩｎＪａｐａｎ ,“Ｇａｊｕｔｓｕ”ｆｒｏｍｔｈｅｒｈｉｚｏｍｅｏｆＣ .ｚｅｄｏａｒ...     

P-Glycoprotein Is Positively Correlated with p53 Protein Accumulation in Human Colorectal Cancers

To explore the relationship between mutant p53 and Pgp expression, we have examined the levels of both proteins in human colorectal adenocarcinomas. Serial frozen sections of 40 surgical samples were stained with an anti-Pgp (MRK16) and two different anti-p53 protein antibodies (Abs), PAb421 and Pabl80l. Nineteen (47.5%) of 40 samples examined were positive for Pgp, and 18 (45%) of 40 were positive for p53. The samples that stained positively with PAb421 also stained positively with Pahl80l. Pgp expression was detected in 13 (76.5%) of 17 samples that were positive for p53 using PAb421 and in 15 (83.3%) of 18 samples that were positive for p53 using Pabl80. Thus, we found that p53 and Pgp were co-expressed in a significant number of samples ( P < 0.002). There was no relationship between Pgp or p53 protein accumulation and histologic grade or stage. The present results demonstrate that Pgp expression is closely associated with p53 protein accumulation in human colorectal cancers. These data provide evidence to support the idea that mutant p53 activates the MDR1 gene in vivo .