Human metaphase chromosome consists of randomly arranged chromatin fibres with up to 30-nm diameter

Wako, T., Yoshida, A., Kato, J. et al. Human metaphase chromosome consists of randomly arranged chromatin fibres with up to 30-nm diameter. Sci Rep 10, 8948 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-65842-z

Clinical study of the prognostic factors in colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastasis

This study was aimed to clarify the prognostic factors in colorectal cancer patients with synchronous liver metastasis. Fifty-four patients were assessed to evaluate prognoses according to various clinico-pathological factors and therapeutic procedures. The patients' survival was significantly related to extrahepatic distant metastasis and therapeutic procedures. Regarding therapeutic procedures, the liver resection group showed significantly improved survival compared with the chemotherapy group, especially in liver metastasis Grade B. For colorectal liver metastases, it is clear that liver resection is the most effective treatment at present. Further improvement of patient prognoses is expected to be achieved by future research on combination chemotherapy

A case of transverse colon cancer with remarkable extramural invasion to stomach and jejunum

A 77-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital due to abdominal pain and body weight loss. A palpable mass the size of an infant's head was tender on palpation and identified as an epigastric lesion. Colonoscopic examination revealed stenosis of the transverse colon, although no intraluminal growth of the tumor was found. The histologic findings of the biopsy material were poorly differentiated and/or undifferentiated cells. Abdominal CT scan showed an irregular-shaped tumor with a diameter of 10cm invading the stomach and jejunum. We performed an operation under a diagnosis of extramurally growing cancer or malignant lymphoma of the colon. Partial resection of the transverse colon was done by distal gastrectomy and partial resection of the jejunum. Histologic examination of the operative specimens revealed moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma of the transverse colon, prominently proliferating into the surrounding tissues. The finding of a long stenotic lesion and extramural compression by colonography are characteristic of this tumor, based on a review of 43 literature reports in Japan

A Catalog of Genes Homozygously Deleted in Human Lung Cancer and the Candidacy of PTPRD as a Tumor Suppressor Gene

A total of 176 genes homozygously deleted in human lung cancer were identified by DNA array-based whole genome scanning of 52 lung cancer cell lines and subsequent genomic PCR in 74 cell lines, including the 52 cell lines scanned. One or more exons of these genes were homozygously deleted in one (1%) to 20 (27%) cell lines. These genes included known tumor suppressor genes, e.g., CDKN2A/p16, RB1, and SMAD4, and candidate tumor suppressor genes whose hemizygous or homozygous deletions were reported in several types of human cancers, such as FHIT KEAP1, and LRP1B/LRP-DIP CDKN2A/p16 and p14ARF located in 9p21 were most frequently deleted (20/74, 27%). The PTPRD gene was most frequently deleted (8/74, 1 1%) among genes mapping to regions other than 9p21. Somatic mutations, including a nonsense mutation, of the PTPRD gene were detected in 8/74 (11%) of cell lines and 4/95 (4%) of surgical specimens of lung cancer. Reduced PTPRD expression was observed in the majority (>80%) of cell lines and surgical specimens of lung cancer. Therefore, PTPRD is a candidate tumor suppressor gene in lung cancer. Microarray-based expression profiling of 19 lung cancer cell lines also indicated that some of the 176 genes, such as KANK and ADAMTS1, are preferentially inactivated by epigenetic alterations. Genetic/epigenetic as well as functional studies of these 176 genes will increase our understanding of molecular mechanisms behind lung carcinogenesis. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc

18FDG-PET at 1-Month Intervals Is a Better Predictive Marker for GISTs That Are Difficult to Be Diagnosed Histopathologically: A Case Report

Imatinib mesylate is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of c-KIT and PDGFRA. Imatinib mesylate is an effective drug that can be used as a first-choice agent for treatment of GISTs. Prior to treatment, molecular diagnosis of c-KIT or PDGFRA is necessary; however, in some types of GISTs, it is impossible to obtain a sufficient amount of specimen for diagnosis. An inoperable or marginally resectable GIST in a 79-year-old female was difficult to be diagnosed at a molecular pathological level, and hence, exploratory treatment was initiated using imatinib combined with 18FDG-PET evaluation at 1-month intervals. PET imaging indicated a positive response, and so we continued imatinib treatment in an NAC setting for 4 months. As a result, curative resection of the entire tumor was successfully performed with organ preservation and minimally invasive surgery. 18FDG-PET evaluation at 1-month intervals is beneficial for GISTs that are difficult to be diagnosed histopathologically

Comparison of Two Electrosurgical Modes for Endoscopic Submucosal Dissection of Superficial Colorectal Neoplasms: A Prospective Randomized Study

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is reportedly one of the standard treatment strategies for large superficial colorectal neoplasms in Japan because of its high en bloc resection rate. A few technical issues regarding ESD should be considered, one of which is the selection of the Endo-cut I mode versus the Swift-coagulation mode as the electrosurgical unit mode setting during submucosal dissection. We seek to determine which of these two modes is more suitable for submucosal dissections of colorectal tumors with regard to procedure time and safety

A reduced brain and liver FDG uptake

Purpose : To investigate whether or not the physiological brain and liver FDG uptake are decreased in patients with highly accelerated glycolysis lesions. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 51 patients with malignant lymphoma. We compared the FDG uptake in the brain and liver of the patients with that in a control group. In 24 patients with a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) to treatment, we compared the brain and liver uptake before and after treatment. Results : The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and total glycolytic volume (TGV) of the brain as well as the SUVmax and mean standardized uptake value (SUVmean) of the liver in malignant lymphoma patients were 13.1 ± 2.3, 7386.3 ± 1918.4, 3.2 ± 0.5, and 2.3 ± 0.4, respectively ; in the control group, these values were 14.9 ± 2.4, 8566.2 ± 1659.5, 3.4 ± 0.4, and 2.5 ± 0.3, respectively. The SUVmax and TGV of the brain and the SUVmean of the liver in malignant lymphoma patients were significantly lower than the control group. The SUVmax and TGV of the brain after treatment were significantly higher than before treatment. Both the SUVmax and SUVmean of liver after treatment were higher than before treatment, but not significant. Conclusion : A decreased physiological brain and liver FDG uptake is caused by highly accelerated lesion glycolysis

New methyl threonolactones and pyroglutamates of Spilanthes acmella

[Objective] Spilanthes acmella is a medicinal plant that distributed in the tropical and subtropical regions with rich source of therapeutic and medicinal constituents. The main constituents, "spilanthol” and “ acmellonate”, are used to reduce the pain associated with toothaches and induce saliva secretion. It is also used traditionally as treatment of rheumatism, tongue paralysis, antipyretic, sore throat, and gum infections [1]. It contains phytosterols, essential oils, sesquiterpenes, α and β-bisabolenes and cadinenes, flavonoid glucoside and a mixture of long chain hydrocarbons. In recent years, other bioactive metabolites have been isolated as vanillic acid, trans-ferulic acid, trans-isofcrulic acid, scopolelin, 3-acetylaleuritolic acid and β-sitostenone[2], [Methods] The aerial parts of Spilanthes acmella were collected in Purwodadi, Indonesia, then extracted with methanol. The obtained methanol extract was concentrated and partitioned with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and 1-butanol. [Results] On investigation of the 1-butanol layer of this plant, a new methyl threonolactone glucoside (1), a new methyl threonolactone fructofuranoside (2) and two new pyroglutamates (3, 4) along with 2-C-methyl-D-threono-1,4-lactone (5), 2-deoxy-D-ribono-1,4-lactone (6), methylpyroglutamate (7), dendranthemoside A (8), dendranthemoside B (9), ampelopsisionoside (10),icariside B2 (11), benzyl-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-( l-6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (12) and chicoriin (13) were isolated by various chromatographic techniques such as silica gel, ODS column chromatography and HPLC. The structures of these compounds were determined as follows by spectrometric analysis (UV, IR, ID- and 2D-NMR, and HR-ESI-MS)

New Isolinariins C, D and E, Flavonoid Glycosides from Linaria japonica

Three new flavonoid glycosides named isolinariins C, D and E (1–3), two known flavonoid glycosides (4,5) and three known flavonoids (6–8) were isolated from the whole plant of Linaria japonica. The structures of these compounds were determined mainly by spectroscopic analyses. The bioactivities of these isolated compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory activities against human cell line A549, collagenase, and advanced glycation end product (AGE) formation. Among the isolated compounds, isolinariins C, D and E (1, 2 and 3) showed inhibition toward AGE formation (IC50 values of 34.8, 35.0 and 19.5 µM, respectively). And linariin (4), pectolinarin (5) and luteolin (8) were found to be active against collagenase with IC50 values of 79.4, 78.6 and 40.5 µM, respectively, without significant cytotoxicity at these concentrations

Observer agreement for the diagnosis of intestinal acute graft‑vs.‑host disease based on the presence of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum

Intestinal graft‑vs.‑host disease (GVHD) is a serious complication of allo‑hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo‑HSCT). Villous atrophy in the terminal ileum is considered a useful diagnostic indicator for GVHD. However, the inter‑ and intra‑observer agreement regarding the ileocolonoscopic findings indicative of acute intestinal GVHD, i.e., villous atrophy in the terminal ileum, are currently insufficient in multiple institutions. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the incidence of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum to diagnose acute intestinal GVHD and determine the inter‑ and intra‑observer agreement regarding this result for experienced endoscopists from multiple institutions. Consecutive patients who underwent allo‑HSCT were referred to our institution between May 2008 and September 2015. A total of 54 patients underwent total ileocolonoscopy after allo‑HSCT due to suspected intestinal acute GVHD. Subsequently, three observers from different institutions evaluated the cases for the presence of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum. In this study, the pathology results were a gold standard to evaluate the predictive value of ileocolonoscopy detection. Definitive pathological and non‑pathological GVHD was diagnosed in 22 and 32 cases, respectively. The results of examining whether villous atrophy could predict GVHD were as follows. For three observers (A, B and C), the sensitivity of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum was 86.4, 77.3 and 79.2%, respectively, whereas the specificity was 62.5, 62.5 and 86.7%, respectively. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of villous atrophy for GVHD were as follows: The PPV of appearance was 61.3, 58.6 and 82.6%, respectively, whereas the NPV was 87.0, 80.0 and 83.9%, respectively. Kappa coefficients for the inter‑observer reliability were 0.85, 0.63 and 0.63 for observers A and B, A and C, and B and C, respectively. The intra‑observer kappa coefficient was 0.88 for observer A, 0.73 for observer B and 0.75 for observer C. A substantial observer agreement was achieved for the analysis of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum and the agreement for the predictive histological diagnosis was also excellent. Based on the results of the present study, identification of villous atrophy in the terminal ileum was a clinically effective diagnostic parameter, even if different endoscopists were involved in the diagnosis at multiple institutions. The present study was registered as a trial with the University Hospital Medical Information Network (UMIN; registration no. UMIN000025390)