Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP-L3%) is a recently described marker of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and its usefulness has been demonstrated in many studies. We evaluated the usefulness of serial measurement of AFP-L3% as a marker of prognosis and recurrence after treatment of small HCC.AFP-L3% was measured before and after initial treatment in 60 patients with small HCC (maximum diameter < or = 2 cm). AFP-L3% was taken as the ratio of AFP-L3 to total AFP and multiplied by 100%, and levels > or = 10% were considered positive. Outcomes and recurrence were compared between patients AFP-L3%-negative after initial treatment (Group A, n = 43) and patients who were AFP-L3%-positive after initial treatment (Group B, n = 17).Before treatment, AFP-L3% was positive in 14 (23.3%) of the 60 patients. The cumulative survival rate of Group A was significantly longer (p = 0.0091) than that of Group B. The recurrence rate was significantly higher in Group B (p = 0.0104) than in Group A. When recurrence was limited to intrahepatic metastasis, the recurrence rate was significantly higher in Group B (p = 0.0064). However, the recurrence rate of multicentric occurrence did not differ significantly between Groups A and B.Measurement of AFP-L3% after treatment may be useful for understanding prognosis and recurrence of HCC.
As part of a biomonitoring study of atmospheric particles for the development of a biological and environmental monitoring system in the beech (Fagus crenata Blume) forest ecosystem, we carried out elemental content and two-dimensional analysis of beech leaves by conventional PIXE and micro-PIXE. The beech leaves were collected from natural beech forests at eight locations in Japan. For conventional PIXE analysis of beech leaf samples, 27 elements were determined in total. Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn were found to be the important nutrient elements for plants at all sampling sites. According to radar chart analysis results for element (Mg, P, S, K, Ca, Mn, Fe, Cu and Zn) concentrations at each sampling site, K and P, Fe and Ca, and Zn and Cu showed relatively similar patterns. However, elements with a pattern similar to that of Mg, S, and Mn were not found. These elemental concentrations were largely different at beech leaf sampling sites. For micro-PIXE analysis of beech leaf samples from seven sampling sites (Soebetsu beech forest was excluded), scanning transmission ion microscopy (STIM) images and maps of Mg, Si, P, S, K, Ca, Mn and Fe were similar. In samples from Soebetsu beech forest, portions missing from the element distribution were observed. In particular, maps of Mg, Si, P, S, K and Ca were conspicuous. These analysis results may be important information for understanding the mechanism of plant metabolism.
Dormant cancer cells known as disseminated tumor cells (DTCs) are often present in bone marrow of breast cancer patients. These DTCs are thought to be responsible for the incurable recurrence of breast cancer. The mechanism underlying the long-term maintenance of DTCs remains unclear, however. Here, we show that Fbxw7 is essential for the maintenance of breast cancer dormancy. Genetic ablation of Fbxw7 in breast cancer cells disrupted the quiescence of DTCs, rendering them proliferative, in mouse xenograft and allograft models. Fbxw7-deficient DTCs were significantly depleted by treatment with paclitaxel, suggesting that cell proliferation induced by Fbxw7 ablation sensitized DTCs to chemotherapy. The combination of Fbxw7 ablation and chemotherapy reduced the number of DTCs even when applied after tumor cell dissemination. Mice injected with Fbxw7-deficient cancer cells survived longer after tumor resection and subsequent chemotherapy than did those injected with wild-type cells. Furthermore, database analysis revealed that breast cancer patients whose tumors expressed FBXW7 at a high level had a poorer prognosis than did those with a low FBXW7 expression level. Our results suggest that a wake-up strategy for DTCs based on Fbxw7 inhibition might be of value in combination with conventional chemotherapy for the treatment of breast cancer.
Abstract Dimer 2, trimer 3, hexamer 6, octamer 8, and decamer 10 of 4,4′′-diethynyl-4′,5′-dioctyl-o-terphenyl 1 were synthesized by using copper(II) acetate-mediated Eglington coupling reaction of 1 in pyridine or pyridine–methanol. Although dimer 2 and trimer 3 were formed as major products under high dilution conditions, large oligomers such as hexamer 6, octamer 8, and decamer 10 were obtained in moderate total yield under standard Eglington conditions. The MALDI-TOF MS and GPC behavior of large oligomers exhibit the formation of giant macrocycles 3 nm diameter and 2–4 nm long in one-pot procedure.
We investigated the rate of occurrence and the risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C patients who received interferon therapy.We followed 413 chronic hepatitis C patients for more than 6 years after interferon therapy and assessed the following patient characteristics: age, sex, platelet count, response to interferon, hepatitis C virus RNA level, hepatitis C virus genotype, liver histology, and changes in serum alanine aminotransferase levels.Hepatocellular carcinoma was found in 21 patients after interferon therapy. The factor most related to the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma was changes in serum alanine aminotransferase levels (univariate analysis, P < 0.0001; multivariate analysis, P = 0.0013), followed by age (univariate analysis, P = 0.0003; multivariate analysis, P = 0.0029). A significant difference was observed in the platelet count and response to interferon based on univariate analysis alone (P = 0.0096, P = 0.0241, respectively), however no significant differences were noted in the other factors. The course of serum alanine aminotransferase levels following interferon therapy rather than the eradication of hepatitis C virus was found to be the factor most profoundly involved in liver carcinogenesis.Even if interferon therapy fails to eradicate the hepatitis C virus, maintaining low serum alanine aminotransferase levels post-interferon therapy would reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis C.
Accompanied by prescriptions spreaded in wide area, there could be a problem of the use of abbreviated drug names as a serious factor which may cause a medication error.In this study, investigation on recognition of abbreviation for drug name by pharmacists was carried out, and further, the result was compared with the abbreviation written in prescriptions.111 abbreviated drug names were selected from books, Chozaishishin and Chozaigyomushishin, which were frequently used by pharmacists and students of pharmacy.96 pharmacists in 4 institutions, and 42 novice intern pharmacists in the University of Tokyo Hospital participated in recognition test.The average percentages of correct answer in pharmacists and resident pharmacists were 43.8 and 19.8, respectively, and the well-recognized abbreviations were only 9 words. Especially, aq.armen.for apricot kernel water was recognized as 8 incorrect drug names. There was a significant difference in the extents of recognition for abbreviated drug names between age groups (p<0.05).As abbreviated drug names in prescriptions, there were 25 words in selected 111 words.
Abstract Background The diagnostic criteria for lateral lymph node metastasis in rectal cancer have not been established. This research aimed to investigate the risk factors for lateral lymph node metastasis and develop machine learning models combining these risk factors to improve the diagnostic performance of standard imaging. Method This multicentre prospective study included patients who underwent lateral lymph node dissection without preoperative treatment for rectal cancer between 2017 and 2019 in 15 Japanese institutions. First, preoperative clinicopathological factors and magnetic resonance imaging findings were evaluated using multivariable analyses for their correlation with lateral lymph node metastasis. Next, machine learning diagnostic models for lateral lymph node metastasis were developed combining these risk factors. The models were tested in a training set and in an internal validation cohort and their diagnostic performance was tested using receiver operating characteristic curve analyses. Results Of 212 rectal cancers, 122 patients were selected, including 232 lateral pelvic sides, 30 sides of which had pathological lateral lymph node metastasis. Multivariable analysis revealed that poorly differentiated/mucinous adenocarcinoma, extramural vascular invasion, tumour deposit and a short-axis diameter of lateral lymph node ≥ 6.0 mm were independent risk factors for lateral lymph node metastasis. Patients were randomly divided into a training cohort (139 sides) and a test cohort (93 sides) and machine learning models were computed on the basis of a combination of significant features (including: histological type, extramural vascular invasion, tumour deposit, short- and long-axis diameter of lateral lymph node, body mass index, serum carcinoembryonic antigen level, cT, cN, cM, irregular border and mixed signal intensity). The top three models with the highest sensitivity in the training cohort were as follows: support vector machine (sensitivity, 1.000; specificity, 0.773), light gradient boosting machine (sensitivity, 0.950; specificity, 0.918) and ensemble learning (sensitivity, 0.950; specificity, 0.917). The diagnostic performances of these models in the test cohort were as follows: support vector machine (sensitivity, 0.750; specificity, 0.667), light gradient boosting machine (sensitivity, 0.500; specificity, 0.852) and ensemble learning (sensitivity, 0.667; specificity, 0.864). Conclusion Machine learning models combining multiple risk factors can contribute to improving diagnostic performance of lateral lymph node metastasis.
