Involvement of Fusobacterium Species in Oral Cancer Progression : A Literature Review Including Other Types of Cancer

Chronic inflammation caused by infections has been suggested to be one of the most important cause of cancers. It has recently been shown that there is correlation between intestinal bacteria and cancer development including metastasis. As over 700 bacterial species exist in an oral cavity, it has been concerning that bacterial infection may cause oral cancer. However, the role of bacteria regarding tumorigenesis of oral cancer remains unclear. Several papers have shown that Fusobacterium species deriving the oral cavities, especially, play a crucial role for the development of colorectal and esophageal cancer. F. nucleatum is a well-known oral bacterium involved in formation of typical dental plaque on human teeth and causing periodontal diseases. The greatest characteristic of F. nucleatum is its ability to adhere to various bacteria and host cells. Interestingly, F. nucleatum is frequently detected in oral cancer tissues. Moreover, detection of F. nucleatum is correlated with the clinical stage of oral cancer. Although the detailed mechanism is still unclear, Fusobacterium species have been suggested to be associated with cell adhesion, tumorigenesis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, inflammasomes, cell cycle, etc. in oral cancer. In this review, we introduce the reports focused on the association of Fusobacterium species with cancer development and progression including oral, esophageal, and colon cancers

Evaluation of contrast visual acuity in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Kazumi Oomachi1, Kazuha Ogata2, Takeshi Sugawara2, Akira Hagiwara2, Akira Hata1, Shuichi Yamamoto21Department of Public Health; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, JapanBackground: The purpose of this study was to determine visual acuity at different contrast levels under photopic and mesopic conditions in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.Methods: Sixty eyes of 31 normal controls, 92 eyes of 52 patients with retinitis pigmentosa without other ocular disorders (RP-1 group), and 20 eyes of 14 patients with retinitis pigmentosa with cataracts and without other ocular disorders (RP-2 group) were studied. Conventional visual acuity was measured using a conventional Landolt ring chart with 100% contrast and luminance of 150 cd/m2. All of the patients with retinitis pigmentosa had a decimal visual acuity better than 1.0. Contrast visual acuity was measured with the same Landolt ring chart with contrasts of 100% and 10% and under photopic (200 cd/m2) and mesopic (10 cd/m2) conditions. Decimal visual acuities were converted to logMAR units for the analyses.Results: The 100% contrast visual acuity and the 10% contrast visual acuity determined under both photopic and mesopic conditions were significantly poorer in both the RP-1 and RP-2 groups than in the controls. The differences between the conventional visual acuity and the 100% contrast visual acuity were significantly greater in the RP-1 and RP-2 groups than in the controls under both photopic and mesopic conditions. The differences between the 100% contrast visual acuity and the 10% contrast visual acuity were not significant among the three groups under photopic and mesopic conditions.Conclusion: Contrast visual acuities were greatly reduced in patients with retinitis pigmentosa with relatively well preserved conventional visual acuity, and the contrast visual acuity was largely influenced by ambient light levels in patients with retinitis pigmentosa. Although a longitudinal study for confirmation has to be performed, our findings indicate that contrast visual acuity is a better test to follow changes in visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.Keywords: retinitis pigmentosa, contrast visual acuity, photopic vision, mesopic visio

Psychological characteristics of Japanese patients with chronic pain assessed by the Rorschach test

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The increasing number of patients with chronic pain in Japan has become a major issue in terms of the patient's quality of life, medical costs, and related social problems. Pain is a multi-dimensional experience with physiological, affective, cognitive, behavioral and social components, and recommended to be managed via a combination of bio-psycho-social aspects. However, a biomedical approach is still the dominant method of pain treatment in Japan. The current study aimed to evaluate comprehensive psychological functions and processes in Japanese chronic pain patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The Rorschach Comprehensive System was administered to 49 in-patients with non-malignant chronic pain. Major variables and frequencies from the test were then compared to normative data from non-patient Japanese adults by way of the t-test and chi-square test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Patients exhibited high levels of emotional distress with a sense of helplessness with regard to situational stress, confusion, and ambivalent feelings. These emotions were managed by the patients in an inappropriate manner. Cognitive functions resulted in moderate dysfunction in all stages. Information processing tended to focus upon minute features in an inflexible manner. Mediational dysfunction was likely to occur with unstable affective conditions. Ideation was marked by pessimistic and less effective thinking. Since patients exhibited negative self-perception, their interpersonal relationship skills tended to be ineffective. Originally, our patients displayed average psychological resources for control, stress tolerance, and social skills for interpersonal relationships. However, patient coping styles were either situation- or emotion-dependent, and patients were more likely to exhibit emotional instability influenced by external stimuli, resulting in increased vulnerability to pain.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Data gathered from the Rorschach test suggested psychological approaches to support chronic pain patients that are likely to be highly beneficial, and we thus recommend their incorporation into the course of current pain treatments.</p

A Case Report of a Malignant Fibrous Histiocytoma in a T-cell Receptor β Chain and p53 Double-knockout Mouse

A subcutaneous tumor was found in the right abdomen of a 16-week-old male TCRβ and p53 double-knockout mouse. The tumor had indistinct borders with the surrounding tissue. The cut surface after formalin fixation was pale yellowish white, partially dark red and partly white. Histologically, the tumor was composed of three distinct regions. The first region showed pleomorphic cells arranged in sheets. The second region showed spindle cells arranged in interlacing fascicles. The final region contained a mixture of the above mentioned two types of cells. Furthermore, a small amount of collagen fibers, round cells, multinucleated giant cells, and cells with eosinophilic granules were observed between these tumor cells. Immunohistochemical examination and electron microscopy identified that the pleomorphic cells and spindle cells were histiocytes and fibroblasts, respectively, and that the round cells were undifferentiated mesenchymal cells. Based on these findings, the tumor was diagnosed as a malignant fibrous histiocytoma

Myelodysplastic syndrome accompanied by basophilia and eosinophilia with t(5;12)(q31;p13)

The t(5;12)(q31not, vert, similar35;p12not, vert, similar13) is rare among cytogenetically categorized myeloid diseases. Here we describe a case of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with basophilia followed by leukocytosis, basophilia, and eosinophilia with t(5;12)(q31;p13).A 44-year-old man was referred to Tsukuba University Hospital in August 2005, due to severe anemia and thrombocytopenia. Peripheral blood examination showed hemoglobin 4.5 g/dL, with mean corpuscular volume 109 fL, platelets 73 × 109/L, and white blood cells 4.9 × 109/L with 23% basophils, 3% eosinophils, and 0% blasts. Bone marrow was slightly hypocellular, with trilineage dysplasia. Cytogenetic examination of the bone marrow cells revealed a normal karyotype, 46,XY. A diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome–refractory anemia with excess blasts type 2 (MDS-RAEB2) was made according to the WHO classification