Laparoscopic decompression of a stricture of the celiac artery caused by the median arcuate ligament in a gastric cancer patient: A case of report.

Stricture of the celiac artery caused by the median arcuate ligament induces abdominal ischemic symptoms and aneurysm near the pancreatic head. However, the need to treat asymptomatic patients is unclear. We safely performed surgical decompression of a stricture of the celiac artery by MAL in an asymptomatic patient at the same time as gastrectomy for gastric cancer. After surgery, the stricture of the celiac artery had disappeared as demonstrated by CT scan and 3-D CT angiography.

CT Findings of Axillary Tuberculosis Lymphadenitis: A Case Detected by Breast Cancer Screening Examination.

We report the first description of CT findings of axillary tuberculous lymphadenitis confirmed by the pathological specimen. The breast cancer screening examination is one of the prime methods of detection of axillary tuberculous lymphadenitis. The most common site of axillary tuberculous lymphadenitis is the deep axilla. Screening mammography often fails to cover the whole axilla. The presence on the contrast-enhanced CT of unilateral multiple circumscribed dense nodes, some of which have large and dotted calcifications, might suggest tuberculous lymphadenitis in axillary region.

[Evaluation of patient dose from diagnostic X-ray using glass badges].

Radiography is used in medical practices based on the principles of justification and optimization. Patients' exposure doses should be kept as low as still allows for image quality that does not disturb the diagnostic processes. To optimize diagnostic radiological procedures, the international commission on radiological protection (ICRP) advocated the establishment of diagnosis reference levels (DRLs) in the new basic recommendation (Publication 103) in 2007 by stating that "The DRL should be expressed as a readily measurable patient-dose-related quantity for the specified procedure." In this context, a simple and standardized dosimetric method is needed to verify the adaptability of a radiation dose to the DRLs. As a measuring instrument that has good availability, high accuracy, and easy operability, we adopted the glass badge system, which has been used for individual exposure dose management. We evaluated the accuracy of the system as a tool of simplified dosimetry of diagnostic X-rays by comparing it to the standard dosimetry of an ionization chamber. In an energy range of 50 to 140 kV for X-ray exposure, the glass badge showed values within 7% of or closer to those measured by the standard ionization chamber. Moreover, the glass badge measurement was independent of the rectification modes of the X-ray tubes. In conclusion, glass badge measurement is feasible for verifying diagnostic X-ray doses in relation to DRLs and can be widely used in hospitals and clinics.

[A case of gastric cancer with multiple liver metastases effectively treated by hepatic arterial infusion of MMC, TS-1/CDDP therapy, and thermotherapy].

A 62-year-old man was revealed to have type 2 gastric cancer with synchronous liver metastasis. We considered liver metastasis to be a prognostic factor, and performed two courses of combination thermochemotherapy consisting of hepatic arterial infusion of MMC and TS-1 and thermotherapy. Partial response was observed in the liver metastases,but the primary lesion showed no changes; therefore, we performed four courses of combination thermochemotherapy consisting of TS-1/CDDP therapy and thermotherapy. By the end of three courses of this therapy,the primary lesion had cicatrized,and endoscopic biopsy revealed no cancer cells. These results suggest that gastric cancer,in which liver metastasis is considered to be a prognostic factor,can be effectively treated by combination therapy with hepatic arterial infusion therapy, followed by thermochemotherapy for the primary lesion.

Aberrant laminin beta3 isoforms downstream of EWS-ETS fusion genes in Ewing family tumors.

Ewing family tumors (EFTs) are associated with a chromosomal translocation resulting in a fusion of the amino-terminus of EWS with the DNA-binding domain of an ETS transcription factor. Although previous reports suggested that these chimeric proteins would act as aberrant transcription factors, their downstream targets have not been fully elucidated. To identify downstream targets of these EWS-ETS fusion proteins, we introduced EWS-ETS fusion constructs into a human fibrosarcoma cell line, HT-1080, by retroviral transduction. Here we report that the LAMB3 gene encoding the beta3 chain of basement membrane protein laminin-5 is induced to a significantly higher level in cells expressing EWS-ETSs than in cells expressing normal ETSs. Additionally through use of an antisense oligonucleotide for EWS-ERG in the W-ES EFT cell line, laminin beta3 protein was reduced coordinately with EWS-ERG fusion protein expression. Furthermore, we found small mRNAs were preferentially transcribed from the LAMB3 gene in EFT cell lines. Molecular cloning of the entire coding region shows that the alternative transcripts from different promoter(s) located within the intron 14, which encode small proteins, likely are major products of the LAMB3 gene in EFT cells. We show that the small isoforms conferred increased anchorage-independent proliferation to NIH3T3 cells. Together with previous studies showing that laminin-5 is involved in the invasive and malignant phenotype of several tumor types, our data suggest that the oncogenic effect of EWS-ETS may be mediated in part by upregulation of LAMB3 expression.