Possible induction by blood transfusion of immunological tolerance against growth of transplanted tumors in mice.

That blood transfusions aid kidney graft survival is well known. Our data show that blood transfusions, except for the red blood cell component, promote growth of transplanted tumors in mice. These clinical and experimental observations suggest that blood transfusions may induce some immunological tolerance.</p

A case of colon lipoma presenting with intussusception

　An 84-year-old man, who had been found to have a submucosal tumor in the ascending colon two years before, was admitted to our hospital for right lower quadrant abdominal pain and melena. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed intussusception in the ascending colon, resulting from a fat-density tumor. The intussusception was located by colonoscopy. Since the colonic tumor was enlarged in comparison with two years ago and had an ulcer at the top of the tumor, there was the possibility of malignancy and recurrence of intussusception. He underwent a laparoscopy-assisted right colectomy with lymph node dissection. Pathologically, the tumor of the ascending colon was a benign lipoma

A case of appendiceal diverticulum resected by laparoscopic surgery with preoperative diagnosis of appendiceal tumor

　Appendiceal diverticulum is rare. We encountered a case of appendiceal diverticulum with chronic appendicitis. A 56-year-old man presented to our hospital with right lower abdominal pain. An abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan showed swelling of the appendix body and the wall thickness of the base of the appendix. Due to the possibility of appendiceal tumor, we performed a laparoscopy-assisted ileocecal resection with lymph node dissection. The appendix had a diverticulum with chronic inflammation, but it did not have a neoplastic lesion

Cholelithiasis with a cholecystoduodenal fistula complicated with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria

　In cases of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), attention must be paid to potential complications such as thrombosis and hemolysis due to perioperative stress and infection from complement activation. Here we present the case of a 61-year-old Japanese woman with PNH. We made the diagnosis of PNH when she was 28 years old, and we administered repeated steroid medication and erythrocyte transfusion. The patient's cholecystocholedocholithiasis with a cholecystoduodenal fistula was diagnosed based on a survey of the right hypochondriac pain. We performed endoscopic nasobiliary drainage (ENBD) for the prophylaxis of perioperative infection, plus a cholecystectomy and fistulectomy. There were no complications, including hemolysis attack, infection, thrombosis with irrigation erythrocyte transfusion, steroid cover, or the need for heparin administration during the perioperative period. The reduction of the complement activation is necessary in the perioperative management of PNH patients. The prevention of the development of acidosis and hypoxemia, the selection of washed red blood cells, steroid use, appropriate infection measures and thrombosis prophylaxis are all important for the prevention of complications

Pathological complete response of advanced gastric cancer with pyloric stenosis to neoadjuvant S-1/CDDP chemotherapy: A case report

A 59-year-old man with epigastric discomfort and anorexia was referred to our hospital. Endoscopy revealed a type 3 advanced gastric cancer with pyloric stenosis diagnosed as a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma in the biopsy specimens. A gastrojejunal bypass operation was performed because of direct invasion to the pancreas. The patient was treated by three courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with S-1/CDDP. Follow-up abdominal CT scan revealed that the primary tumor had become smaller, suggesting that a partial response had been achieved. Distal gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy was performed. The histopathological examination showed no residual cancer cells in the primary lesion or dissected lymph nodes. Final chemotherapy efficacy was evaluated as Grade 3. The patient was treated with S-1 for one year after the gastrectomy and lymphadenectomy and has been followed up for 18 months without evidence of recurrence

Genetic Predisposition to Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—The prediction of genetic predispositions to ischemic stroke (IS) may allow the identification of individuals at elevated risk and thereby prevent IS in clinical practice. Previously developed weighted multilocus genetic risk scores showed limited predictive ability for IS. Here, we investigated the predictive ability of a newer method, polygenic risk score (polyGRS), based on the idea that a few strong signals, as well as several weaker signals, can be collectively informative to determine IS risk.Methods—We genotyped 13 214 Japanese individuals with IS and 26 470 controls (derivation samples) and generated both multilocus genetic risk scores and polyGRS, using the same derivation data set. The predictive abilities of each scoring system were then assessed using 2 independent sets of Japanese samples (KyushuU and JPJM data sets).Results—In both validation data sets, polyGRS was shown to be significantly associated with IS, but weighted multilocus genetic risk scores was not. Comparing the highest with the lowest polyGRS quintile, the odds ratios for IS were 1.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.33–2.31) and 1.99 (95% confidence interval, 1.19–3.33) in the KyushuU and JPJM samples, respectively. Using the KyushuU samples, the addition of polyGRS to a nongenetic risk model resulted in a significant improvement of the predictive ability (net reclassification improvement=0.151; P<0.001).Conclusions—The polyGRS was shown to be superior to weighted multilocus genetic risk scores as an IS prediction model. Thus, together with the nongenetic risk factors, polyGRS will provide valuable information for individual risk assessment and management of modifiable risk factors

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

Well-differentiated Endocrine Cell Carcinoma of Ileum Treated by Laparoscopy-assisted Surgery : A Case Report

A 72-year-old woman presented at our hospital with a 1-year history of intermittent right lower abdominal pain. Colonoscopic examination revealed a submucosal tumor with a pitted surface in the terminal ileum. Histopathological diagnosis of the carcinoid tumor was made following biopsy. Blood serotonin and urine 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid levels were normal, and carcinoid syndrome was not detected. Enhanced abdominal computed tomography scan and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography failed to detect multiple lesions, lymph node swelling or distant metastasis. Laparoscopy-assisted ileocecal resection with lymph node dissection was performed. The resected specimen showed a submucosal tumor with a pitted surface 11 x 11 mm in size, located at the terminal ileum. Histopathological examination revealed a well-differentiated endocrine cell carcinoma with an invasion depth to the muscularis propria. Immunohistochemical analysis showed the tumor cells to be chromogranin A and CD56-positive. The patient had no sign of recurrence for 16 months