Analysis of humidification of low-flow-oxygen therapy

低流量酸素吸入時の加湿について,アメリカのいくつかの学会が提唱するガイドラインでは,加湿には科学的根拠がないとしている｡このため,O大学医学部附属病院放射線部特殊検査室において,低流量酸素吸入時の加湿を廃止したが,廃止後,医療者や患者から加湿の要望が若干あった｡また,病院内の各部署から依頼をうける特殊検査室では,院内における加湿状況にばらつきがあり,明確な基準を確立する必要性を感じた｡我が国において,酸素加湿に対する基準やガイドラインは見当たらないため,国内外の文献をもとに,低流量酸素吸入時の加湿の必要性について考察した｡加湿の効果を,健常者や患者を対象として加湿の有無で比較調査した研究では,日本国内で酸素流量2L/分以下,アメリカで5L/分以下において自覚症状に有意差は認められず,加湿器を使用しなくても問題がないことが明らかにされていた｡日本国内で酸素流量を5L/分以下に設定して比較調査した研究は行われていなかった｡特記すべき点として,有意差は認められなかったものの,両群とも鼻･咽頭の乾燥感に関する訴えが多かったことが挙げられた｡これらの知見から,日本国内において,さらに酸素流量を増し,環境中の湿度を考慮した比較調査が必要であることと,鼻･咽頭の乾燥感への対策を考案することが,加湿の基準を確立する上で重要であると考える｡Guidelines proposed by several medical associations in the United States showed that there was no scientific evidence of the validity of humidification during the inhalation of low flow oxygen. Therefore we abolished the humidification in the division of special procedures of O University hospital. Afterwards, some medical staffs or patients requested humidification. Further there are patients from various departments where standardization of humidification is not identified. Thus we needed to standardize the humidification during the inhalation of oxygen in our division. We reviewed published reports regarding humidification during the inhalation of low flow oxygen because there were no standards or guidelines of the humidification in our country. As a result, we confirmed that there was no symptomatic difference during the inhalation of oxygen between with and without humidification if the flow volume was less than 2 L/min in our country, or equal and less than 5 L/min in foreign countries. On the other hand, we noticed that patients were likely to complain of dry sensation of nose and/or pharynx during the inhalation of oxygen with or without humidification. We think that reevaluation of necessity of humidification during higher volume of oxygen taking room humidity into consideration in our country the flow volume of oxygen depending on the change of its amount is now required. And it is important to. establish the way to prevent dry sensation during the inhalation of oxygen

PAX5 alterations in an infant case of KMT2A-rearranged leukemia with lineage switch

Lineage switch is a rare event at leukemic relapse. While mostly known to occur in KMT2A-rearranged infant leukemia, the underlying mechanism is yet to be depicted. This case report describes a female infant who achieved remission of KMT2A-MLLT3-rearranged acute monocytic leukemia, but 6 months thereafter, relapsed as KMT2A-MLLT3-rearranged acute lymphocytic leukemia. Whole exome sequencing of the bone marrow obtained pre-post lineage switch revealed two somatic mutations of PAX5 in the relapse sample. These two PAX5 alterations were suggested to be loss of function, thus to have played the driver role in the lineage switch from acute monocytic leukemia to acute lymphocytic leukemia

Feasibility study of first-line chemotherapy using Pemetrexed and Bevacizumab for advanced or recurrent nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer in elderly patients: TORG1015

BACKGROUND: The addition of bevacizumab to cytotoxic agents prolongs survival in patients with nonsquamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). To date, there is no evidence to suggest that treatment with a cytotoxic agent plus bevacizumab is more effective than a cytotoxic agent alone for nonsquamous NSCLC in elderly patients. We conducted a feasibility study of pemetrexed plus bevacizumab as a first-line treatment for advanced or recurrent nonsquamous NSCLC in elderly patients. METHODS: Major eligibility and exclusion criteria included: chemotherapy-naive status; non-fitness for bolus combination chemotherapy; stage III/IV or relapsed nonsquamous NSCLC; age ≥70; performance status 0–1; absence of brain metastasis; and no history of hemoptysis and thoracic irradiation. Pemetrexed (500 mg/m(2)) and bevacizumab (15 mg/kg) were administered intravenously on day 1, and repeated every 3 weeks thereafter. The primary endpoint was safety, and the secondary endpoints were objective response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and the percentage of patients who completed ≥3 cycles. RESULTS: From October 2010 to April 2012, a total of 12 patients were enrolled. No dose-limiting toxicity or treatment-related deaths were observed. Three patients achieved PR, and the ORR was 25 %. The median PFS and OS were 5.4 months (95 % CI 1.1–8.8 months) and 13.6 months (95 % CI 5.3–15.6 months), respectively. Seven of 12 patients (58 %) received ≥3 cycles. CONCLUSIONS: Pemetrexed plus bevacizumab in the treatment of elderly patients with nonsquamous NSCLC was well tolerated and shows promise as first-line treatment. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UMIN Clinical Trial Registry; UMIN000004263. Registered on 25 September, 2010

Differences in the histological findings, phenotypic marker expressions and genetic alterations between adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia and distal stomach

Adenocarcinoma of the gastric cardia (C-Ca) is possibly a specific subtype of gastric carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to clarify the differences in the clinicopathological characteristics between C-Ca and adenocarcinoma of the distal stomach (D-Ca), and also the differences in the expressions of gastric and intestinal phenotypic markers and genetic alterations between the two. The clinicopathological findings in 72 cases with C-Ca were examined and compared with those in 170 cases with D-Ca. The phenotypic marker expressions examined were those of human gastric mucin (HGM), MUC6, MUC2 and CD10. Furthermore, the presence of mutations in the APC, K-ras and p53 genes and the microsatellite instability status of the tumour were also determined. C-Ca was associated with a significantly higher incidence of differentiated-type tumours and lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) as compared with D-Ca (72.2 vs 48.2%, P=0.0006 and 72.2 vs 55.3%, P=0.0232, respectively). Oesophageal invasion by the tumour beyond the oesophago-gastric junction (OGJ) was found in 56.9% of cases with C-Ca; LVI in the area of oesophageal invasion was demonstrated in 61% of these cases. Also, LVI was found more frequently in cases of C-Ca with oesophageal invasion than in those without oesophageal invasion (82.9 vs 58.1%, P=0.0197). The incidence of undifferentiated-type tumours was significantly higher in cases with advanced-stage C-Ca than in those with early-stage C-Ca (5 vs 36.5%, P=0.0076). A significantly greater frequency of HGM expression in early-stage C-Ca and significantly lower frequency of MUC2 expression in advanced-stage C-Ca was observed as compared with the corresponding values in cases of D-Ca (78.9 vs 52.2%, P=0.0402 and 51.5 vs 84.6%, P=0.0247, respectively). Mutation of the APC gene was found in only one of all cases of C-Ca, and the frequency of mutation of the APC gene was significantly lower in cases of C-Ca than in those of D-Ca (2.4 vs 20.0%, P=0.0108). The observations in this study suggest that C-Ca is a more aggressive tumour than D-Ca. The differences in biological behavior between C-Ca and D-Ca may result from the different histological findings in the wall of the OGJ and the different genetic pathways involved in the carcinogenesis