[Effect of Japanese Traditional Medicine, Ninjin-Youei-To(TJ-108), on the Quality of Life of Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Outpatient Chemotherapy].

An increasing number of patients with lung cancer are undergoing outpatient chemotherapy, and thus, it is very important to maintain the quality of life(QOL)of these patients. Ninjin-Youei-To(TJ-108), a Japanese traditional medicine, has been reported to improve the QOL of patients with advanced cancer. However, the effect of TJ-108 in patients with lung cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy is unknown. Therefore, we conducted this study. To investigate factors influencing the QOL of these patients, we administered a QOL questionnaire,"The QOL Questionnaire for Cancer Patients Treated with Anticancer Drugs"(QOL-ACD)to 15 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Factors related to the overall QOL scores and other categories indicating"activity","physical condition","psychological condition","social relationship", and"face scale" were analyzed. No significant decrease in each of the evaluated factors was observed in this study.

[Ciliated Muconodular Papillary Tumor of the Lung].

A ciliated muconodular papillary tumor (CMPT) has been reported to be a low-grade malignant tumor or benign tumor, consisting of ciliated columnar cells and goblet cells with basaloid cell proliferation, occur in the peripheral lung. We present a case of CMPT in this report. A 42-year-old male was referred to our department due to a nodule detected in the peripheral left lower lobe of lung. The nodule was resected via wedge resection based on a suspected diagnosis of carcinoma. Intraoperative analysis of the frozen sections was suggestive of mucinous adenocarcinoma. A left lower lobectomy and mediastinal lymph node dissection were performed. The resected specimen was characterized as a papillary tumor with central fibrosis, proliferating along the alveolar walls, surrounded by mucous lakes, and consisting of ciliated columnar cells and goblet cells. Nuclear atypia was mild, and no mitotic activity was observed. Based on these findings, the tumor was finally diagnosed as CMPT. No recurrence has been noted for 24 months after surgery.

[Effect of Japanese Traditional Medicine, TJ-48, on the Quality of Life of Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Receiving Outpatient Chemotherapy].

An increasing number of patients with lung cancer are undergoing outpatient chemotherapy.It is very important to retain the quality of life (QOL) of these patients.Japanese traditional medicine, TJ-48, has been reported to improve the QOL of patients with advanced cancer. However, the effect of TJ-48 in patients with lung cancer undergoing outpatient chemotherapy is unknown. The present study was conducted to investigate the factors influencing the QOL of these patients. We used "The QOL questionnaire for cancer patients treated with anticancer drugs" (QOL-ACD) with 16 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The medical factors related to the overall QOL scores and other variables indicating "activity," "physical condition, "psychological condition,""social relationships," "psychological condition," and "face scale" were analyzed. Significant improvement was observed in the total QOL score, mainly owing to the improvement in the patients "physical condition."

[Nab-Paclitaxel with platinum chemotherapy as sixth-line therapy for a non-small cell lung cancer patient].

A 48-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital for sixth-line chemotherapy. A chest X-ray film and computed tomographic (CT) scan revealed a right-sided massive tumor with multiple lung tumors. Repeated treatment with carboplatin (AUC 6) on day 1 and nab-paclitaxel (100mg/m2) on days 1, 8, and 15, every 28 days were effective in this patient. Chemotherapy with nab-paclitaxel may be effective for patients with multi-recurrent adenocarcinoma.

[Pulmonary arteriovenous fistula with Rendu-Osler-Weber disease].

A 36-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for examination of a nodular shadow in the left lung. Chest 3-dimensional computed tomography (3D-CT) revealed a pulmonary arteriovenous fistula (PAVF) of 21 mm in diameter composed of the feeding artery (A4) and the draining vein (V4) in the left S4. Abdominal enhanced CT revealed multiple hepatic arteriovenous fistula. Brain CT revealed a cavernous hemangioma in right occipital cerebrum. He had a family history, habitual epistaxis, and oral telangiectasia and was diagnosed as Rendu-Osler-Weber disease (hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia:HHT). According to his family history, PAVF was likely to be a risk factor of brain infarction and abscess, and the wedge resection of the lingual lobe was performed to remove PAVF.

[Immunoglobulin G4-related inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung].

A 61-year-old man was pointed out a solitary nodule located in the left lung (S9) measuring 18 × 29 mm in size along with lymphadenopathy by chest computed tomography (CT). Positron emission tomography( PET) scan showed a positive sign corresponding to the nodule[ standardized uptake value (SUV) max 5.8]. No diagnostic material was obtained from the transbronchial tumor biopsy, since it was difficult to rule out malignancy, surgical biopsy was performed with sampling of mediastinal lymph nodes. Histopathological examination showed marked infiltration of inflammatory cells, many of which were demonstrated to be immunoglobulin (Ig) G4-positive plasma cells by immunohistochemical staining. Hence, IgG4-related inflammatory pseudotumor of the lung was diagnosed.

[Bevacizumab with platinum chemotherapy as 6th-line treatment in a case of non-small-cell lung cancer].

A 64-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for 6th-line chemotherapy. Chest X-ray film and computed tomographic (CT) scan showed right-sided pleural thickening with multiple lung tumors. Repeated treatment with carboplatin (AUC 6), paclitaxel (200 mg/m(2)) and bevacizumab (150 mg/kg) on day 1 every 21 days was effective for this patient. Chemotherapy with bevacizumab may be effective for patients with multi-recurrent adenocarcinoma.

[Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone associated with resection of pulmonary squamous cell carcinoma].

Syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) shows various symptoms based on hyponatremia and brings catastrophic outcome occasionally. A 75-years-old man was found to have an abnormal shadow of the right lung on chest X-ray. Bronchoscopic examination showed that the abnormal shadow was aterectasis caused by the squamous cell carcinoma of middle lobe bronchus, and middle and lower lobectomy of the right lung was performed. On the postoperative day 2, suddenly the serum sodium concentration decreased to 116 mEq/l and serum osmolarity also decreased to 246 mOsm/l. Inspite of hyponatremia, the urine sodium level elevated to 73 mEq/l. So the urine osmolarity elevated to 752 mOsm/l, too. In addition to these data, edema and dehydration were absent, and both renal and adrenal function were normal. So we diagnosed that this abnormal conditions-hyponatremia with corresponding serum hypoosmolality and an inappropriately high urinary osmolality due to continued sodium excretion was induced by SIADH. Fluid restriction and antibiotics therapy for pneumonia resulted in an appropriate rise in the serum sodium level to 138 mEq/l on the postoperative day 21. To avoid catastrophic outcome in the cases of hyponatremia after surgery, it is important to remember that hyponatremia may be induced by SIADH.

[Mediastinal granular cell tumor arising from the left recurrent nerve; report of a case].

Granular cell tumor is found in various organs but is rare in the mediastinum. We report a case of 36-year-old woman with a granular cell tumor in the left upper mediastinum. She was admitted to our hospital because of hoarseness. Laryngoscopic examination revealed left vocal cord paralysis. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a 3.0 x 2.0 cm well circumscribed tumor at the left side of the trachea in the left upper mediastinum. As hoarseness was suspected to be attributable to the mediastinal tumor, tumor resection was performed. It was found that the tumor involved the left recurrent nerve. The tumor was completely excised with combined resection of the left recurrent nerve. Histopathologically, the tumor consisted of cells with eosinophilic granules and S-100 protein positive materials in the cytoplasm, and diagnosed a granular cell tumor.

[Pyopneumopericardium caused by perforation of gastric ulcer; report of a case].

Pyopneumopericardium caused by transdiaphragmatic perforation of gastric ulcer is very rare. A 60-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of chest pain with high fever. The chest computed tomography (CT) revealed hydropneumopericardium. The patient was diagnosed as purulent pericarditis. So emergent pericardiectomy and pericardial drainage were performed to relieve cardiac tamponade. Two findings enabled us to diagnose the causation of pyopneumopericardium as gastropericardial fistura. The first finding was that endoscopic examination of upper gastrointestinal tract revealed a deep peptic ulcer in the dome of gastric fundus. The second finding was that a dye solution which was injected into the pericardial cavity via the drainage tube leaked out into the gastric cavity through the ulcer. This patient improved successfully by the treatment of intravenous hyperalimentation including antibiotics and omeprazole. We think that expedient diagnosis and surgical drainage are essential for successful patient outcome.

The sequential model of Barrett's esophagus and adenocarcinoma induced by duodeno-esophageal reflux without exogenous carcinogens.

BACKGROUND: The experiment was designed to sequentially examine the histogenesis of Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma induced by duodenal reflux without exogenous carcinogens. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Wistar male rats, 200 in all, each weighing approximately 250 g were used. The totally gastrectomized animals were reconstructed by Schlatter's method to produce duodeno-esophageal reflux (n = 100), for comparison with no reflux, Roux-en-Y reconstruction (n = 100). The excised esophagus was histopathologically examined every 10 weeks after surgery until 50 weeks. RESULTS: Among the animals with reflux, Barrett's epithelium developed near esophago-jejunostoma 10 weeks after surgery and subsequently spread upward. Columnar dysplasia was first identified in the zone of Barrett's epithelium at 20 weeks, simultaneously with adenocarcinoma. As the incidence of Barrett's esophagus increased over time, the incidence of both dysplasia and adenocarcinoma also increased. Adenocarcinoma developed in the area of columnar dysplasia. CONCLUSION: The temporal progression from Barrett's esophagus to columnar dysplasia and adenocarcinoma is induced by duodeno-esophageal reflux. Columnar dysplasia is a morphological marker for adenocarcinogenesis.