Two cases of colon cancer after resection of recurrence at peritoneal dissemination were for long-term survival with adjuvant chemotherapy

Generally the peritoneal dissemination of digestive cancer was difficult to control. The symptom of dissemination will decrease quality of life (QOL) for these patients. The diagnosis for the range of dissemination was difficult. Therefore, the decision of the treatment was wavered between an operation and chemotherapy. The effect of chemotherapy was controversial so the cure was inconsistent. We experienced with two recurrent colon cancer patients who underwent resection of peritoneal dissemination and adjuvant chemotherapy. Case 1 was a 62-year-old man. He was operated for left colectomy against descending colon cancer with perforation. After two years, the recurrence of peritoneal dissemination and short bowel obstruction appeared. He was performed short bowel resection and FOLFIRI chemotherapy after surgery. Case 2 was a 72-year-old woman. She was operated on sigmidectomy against sigmoid colon cancer. After three years, the recurrence of peritoneal dissemination at the anastomotic lesion appeared. She was performed low anterior resection (LAR) and S-1 chemotherapy after surgery. But after 3.5 years, the peritoneal dissemination at the anastomotic lesion appeared once more. We decided to have LAR operation and FOLFOX 4 chemotherapy. Both cases maintained a good QOL for a long time. The operation against peritoneal dissemination was one of the good treatments if the range of peritoneal dissemination was clearly restricted.     

Investigation of mechanisms mediating 8-OH-DPAT-induced impairment of spatial memory: involvement of 5-HT1A receptors in the dorsal hippocampus in rats

The purpose of this study was to identify mechanisms that mediate the impairment of spatial memory induced by 8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin (8-OH-DPAT), a 5-HT1A/5-HT7 receptor agonist, in the eight-arm radial maze in rats. WAY-100635 and NAN-190, 5-HT1A receptor antagonists, reversed the impairment of spatial memory induced by systemic injection of 8-OH-DPAT (1 mg/kg, i.p.). On the other hand, the alpha1-adrenoceptor antagonist prazosin and a selective 5-HT7 receptor antagonist SB269970 had no effect on 8-OH-DPAT-induced impairment of spatial memory. Bilateral microinjection of 8-OH-DPAT (4 microg/side) impaired spatial memory when injected into the dorsal hippocampus (DH). Contrastingly, spatial memory was unaffected by microinjections of 8-OH-DPAT into the other six areas examined: ventral hippocampus (VH), central amygdaloid nucleus (ACE), lateral hypothalamus (LH), nucleus accumbens (NAc), and dorsal (DR) and median (MR) raphe nucleus. Furthermore, NAN-190 significantly reversed the impairment of spatial memory induced by intra-DH injection of 8-OH-DPAT. These findings suggest that 5-HT1A receptors in the DH play an important role in the mechanisms underlying the 8-OH-DPAT-induced impairment of spatial memory in rats.     

Water durability of resin bond to precious metal alloys using adhesive resins containing adhesion promoting monomers

Adhesive resins for precious metals were prepared by adding an adhesion promoting monomer to MMA-PMMA/TBBO resin. Precious metal alloys bonded by the adhesive resin were thermocycled 0, 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 times in water between 4 and 60 degrees C, and tensile bond strengths were measured. Debonded metal surfaces after the tensile test were analyzed based on an area of cohesive failure. Three-way ANOVA revealed that all the three parameters--adherend, adhesive monomer, and number of thermal cycles--exhibited a significant influence on bond strength. Bond strength significantly decreased with increasing number of thermal cycles except for resin with 9,10-epithiodecyl 4-vinylbenzoate (EP8VB) to Au alloy. Mean bond strength of adhesive resin with 9,10-epithiodecyl methacrylate (EP8MA), EP8VB, or 3,4-epithiobutyl 2,2-bis(methacryloyloxymethyl)propionate (EP2BMA) exceeded 22 MPa after 4,000 thermal cycles. Analysis of debonded surfaces revealed the applicability of EP8MA, EP8VB, and EP2BMA as an adhesive monomer component of adhesive resin formulations.     

Oncolytic vesicular stomatitis virus for treatment of orthotopic hepatocellular carcinoma in immune-competent rats

Tumor-targeted replicating viruses are being developed as a novel class of oncolytic agents. Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a negative-strand RNA virus with inherent specificity for replication in tumor cells due to their attenuated antiviral responses. VSV as an oncolytic virus is particularly appealing for its exceptionally rapid replication rate in tumor cells, such that the oncolytic effects could be maximally manifested before the onset of potentially neutralizing antiviral immune responses in the host. To easily monitor VSV replication, we have rescued a recombinant VSV (rVSV) vector expressing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene (rVSV-GFP). Using this GFP-expressing virus, we have demonstrated the oncolytic potential of VSV against human and rat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We found that rVSV-GFP replicated efficiently in cultured human and rat HCC cells, whereas normal human and rat hepatocytes were refractory. When a single dose of the vector was injected intratumorally into large orthotopically implanted HCC in immune-competent rats, rVSV-GFP effectively and selectively replicated throughout the solid tumor mass without apparent hepatotoxicity, caused tumor destruction, and inhibited tumor growth, which led to significant prolongation of animal survival. Our results show that VSV is an effective oncolytic agent against HCC in immune-competent hosts and warrants further development for future therapy in patients with HCC.     

Influence of periosteum on donor healing after harvesting hard palate mucosa

The authors report the influence of periosteum on healing of palatal defect based on more than 10 years of experience of harvesting hard palate mucosa. Between June of 1991 and May of 2001, the authors harvested 80 hard palate mucosae as graft material for skin and mucosa defects. All grafts were harvested from the center of the hard palate. Patients ranged in age from 10 to 82 years old. Of 80 mucosae, 54 were harvested with periosteum, and periosteum was not retained in the defect bed. The other 26 mucosae were harvested without periosteum, which was therefore retained in the defect bed. The healing time increased depending on the defect size in both groups of patients retaining and not retaining periosteum. There was a significant relationship between the defect size and healing time in both groups (Spearman's rank correlation test, p < 0.0001 in both groups). In the two groups, there was no significant relationship between patient age and healing time in the patients with defect smaller than 1.99 cm or larger than 2.00 cm2. There were no significant differences in the rate of patients with pain and bleeding between the groups retaining and not retaining periosteum. In the group not retaining the periosteum, all 54 patients showed a flat or atrophic smooth surface at more than 6 months after epithelization and had no discomfort. However, 17 patients showed flat or atrophic smooth surface in the group retaining the periosteum and the remaining 9 patients showed hypertrophy at more than 6 months after epithelization, with accompanying discomfort. The rate of the patients with hypertrophy in the group of patients retaining periosteum was significantly high as compared with that in the group of patients not retaining periosteum (p = 0.000013, Fisher's exact test). In 26 patients retaining periosteum, the age of the patients with hypertrophic surface was significantly younger than that of the patients with flat or atrophic surface (p = 0.0010, Welch's -test), and the defect size in the patient with hypertrophic surface was significantly smaller than that of the patients with flat or atrophic surface (p = 0.0028, Welch's t-test). In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the existence of periosteum in the palate donor bed does not contribute to reduced healing time or reduced pain. Rather, retaining the periosteum caused hypertrophy of the donor site, leading to discomfort, especially in young patients with a comparatively small defect.     

Clear cell carcinoma of the pancreas: an adenocarcinoma with unusual phenotype of duct cell origin

Although clear cell carcinoma has been found in various organs, only six cases have been reported in the pancreas. Moreover, the histogenesis of clear cell carcinoma of the pancreas remains controversial. We report a case of clear cell carcinoma of the pancreas in a 61-year-old woman, with an unusual pheno- or genotype detected by histochemical, immunohistochemical, and K-ras oncogene analyses. Histologically, the pancreatic tumor was predominantly composed of clear cell nests with scanty fibrous stroma and scattered duct-like structures. Neither clear cell nor duct-like components of the tumor showed mucin production. Immunohistochemical analysis of neoplastic cells showed a positive reaction to antibodies against cytokeratins 8 and 19, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, and -1-antitrypsin, and showed no reaction to antibodies against carcinoembryonic antigen, neuroendocrine markers, trypsin, amylase, and HMB45. K-ras analysis revealed no mutation at codon 12 in either clear cell or duct-like components. The patient has had no recurrence as yet. The pancreatic carcinoma in our patient may be of duct cell origin, but the results of histochemical, immunohistochemical, and gene analyses and patients outcome were unusual compared with those of previous cases.