[A case of sigmoid colon cancer with abdominal wall abscess].

A 63-year-old man was admitted for an abdominal mass. Computed tomography revealed an abscess (21 × 20 cm) in the abdominal wall and a tumor in the sigmoid colon. Thus, cancer of the sigmoid colon complicated by an abscess of the abdominal wall was diagnosed. The abscess was drained and transverse colostomy was performed with curative intent. After the intervention, chemotherapy (XELOX×3) was administered. Three months later, sigmoidectomy was performed and the stoma was closed. Macroscopic and microscopic examination of the resected specimen detected no remnants of cancer. In patients with advanced colon cancer and abdominal wall involvement, a two-stage operation and preoperative chemotherapy may be considered essential when curative resection is performed.

[Long-term survival of a patient with esophageal cancer with brain metastasis after multidisciplinary therapy - a case report].

A 70-year-old woman was admitted for difficulty in swallowing. Esophageal cancer (MtLt, type 3, T4N3M0, cStage IVa) was diagnosed in May 2010. The cancer was unresectable, and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) with TS-1 was initiated in June 2010, and a partial response (PR) was observed. After CRT, TS-1 was continued, but a brain metastasis was detected owing to the development of right hemiplegia in April 2012. Craniotomy and tumorectomy were performed, and the right hemiplegia improved. Pathological examination of the brain tumor indicated squamous cell carcinoma. Because of a recurrence of brain metastasis, a gamma knife procedure was performed in May 2012. Subsequently, several recurrences of brain metastases were diagnosed, and a total of 7 gamma knife procedures were performed up to January 2014. Although systemic chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil and cisplatin [FP], 5 courses)was administered, the patient showed progressive lung metastases in February 2013. The chemotherapy regimen was changed from FP to docetaxel (TXT), but the lung metastases continued to progress up to June 2013. The patient died in March 2014. Patients with esophageal cancer and metastases to the brain have poor prognosis, but the present patient survived approximately 2 years after first diagnosis of metastases to the brain after multidisciplinary therapy.

Modification of halogen specificity of a vanadium-dependent bromoperoxidase.

The halide specificity of vanadium-dependent bromoperoxidase (BPO) from the marine algae, Corallina pilulifera, has been changed by a single amino acid substitution. The residue R397 has been substituted by the other 19 amino acids. The mutant enzymes R397W and R397F showed significant chloroperoxidase (CPO) activity as well as BPO activity. These mutant enzymes were purified and their properties were investigated. The maximal velocities of CPO activities of the R397W and R397F enzymes were 31.2 and 39.2 units/mg, and the K(m) values for Cl(-) were 780 mM and 670 mM, respectively. Unlike the native enzyme, both mutant enzymes were inhibited by NaN(3). In the case of the R397W enzyme, the incorporation rate of vanadate into the active site was low, compared with the R397F and the wild-type enzyme. These results supported the existence of a specific halogen binding site within the catalytic cleft of vanadium haloperoxidases.