8 research outputs found
The Development of a New Setup for Video-assisted Thoracic Surgery
In order to accomplish video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) in a much easier and safer
way, especially for assistant operators, we have developed a new display system for VATS.
The original thoracoscope has been designed for this new system. The monitor is fixed at
approximately 10 cm away from the surface of the chest wall just above the operative field.
In using this procedure, the operator and assistants can see the patient and the monitor at
the same time. According to this new idea, the previous problem in the area of hand–eye
coordination and the three-dimensional understanding of this procedure can be improved
compared to the image of the conventional thoracoscopy, because it is not necessary for the
operator and assistants to look up at the monitors. When the thoracoscopy was placed in an
adequate position to resect the target pathology, this new system led to good and easy handling
of instruments, as it was with the standard thoracotomy
Synchronous Quadruple Lung Cancer Treated Curatively by Photodynamic Therapy
A 54-year-old male was diagnosed as having synchronous quadruple early stage lung
cancer. All four tumors showed the same histologic type of in-situ or microinvasive
squamous cell carcinoma, but existed independently in different bronchi. Photodynamic
therapy of these four lesions was successfully performed by fiberoptic bronchoscopy
because of the patient's poor pulmonary function. The patient is alive and well 51
months later
ESR Spectroscopy of Singlet Oxygen Generated by Protoporphyrin IX in Aqueous Surfactant Solutions.
Effects of oral administration of N-acetyl-L-cysteine: a multi-biomarker study in smokers
N-Acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC) has been shown to exert cancer-protective mechanisms and effects in experimental models. We report here the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase II chemoprevention trial with NAC in healthy smoking volunteers. The subjects were supplemented daily with 2 x 600 mg of oral tablets of NAC (n = 20) or placebo (n = 21) for a period of 6 months, and internal dose markers [plasma and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid cotinine, urine mutagenicity], biologically effective dose markers [smoking-related DNA adducts and hemoglobin (Hb) adducts], and biological response markers (micronuclei frequency and antioxidants scavenging capacity) were assessed at both pre- and postsupplementation times (T(0) and T(1), respectively). Overall, the internal dose markers remained unchanged at T(1) as compared with T(0) in both NAC and placebo groups. When quantifying the biologically effective dose markers, we observed an inhibitory effect of NAC toward the formation of lipophilic-DNA adducts (5.18 +/- 0.73 versus 4.08 +/- 1.03/10(8) nucleotides; mean +/- SE; P = 0.05) as well as of 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine adducts in BAL cells (3.9 +/- 0.6 versus 2.3 +/- 0.2/10(5) nucleotides; P = 0.003). There was no effect of NAC on the formation of lipophilic-DNA adducts in peripheral blood lymphocytes or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-DNA adducts in mouth floor/buccal mucosa cells or 4-aminobiphenyl-Hb adducts. Likewise, quantification of the biological response markers showed an inhibitory effect of NAC on the frequency of micronuclei in mouth floor and in soft palate cells (1.3 +/- 0.2 versus 0.9 +/- 0.2; P = 0.001) and a stimulating effect of NAC on plasma antioxidant scavenging capacity (393 +/- 14 versus 473 +/- 19 microM Trolox; P = 0.1) but not on BAL fluid antioxidant scavenging capacity. We conclude that NAC has the potential to impact upon tobacco smoke carcinogenicity in humans because it can modulate certain cancer-associated biomarkers in specific organ