[Efficacy of uracil/tegafur (UFT) plus oral Leucovorin (LV) therapy for colorectal cancer in elderly patients].

BACKGROUND & AIMS: The uracil/tegafur (UFT) plus oral Leucovorin (LV) regimen is one of the standard chemotherapy modalities for colorectal cancer, and has been reported to have fewer side effects. In this study, we investigated the efficacy and toxicity of UFT/LV regimen in elderly patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects were twelve patients older than 70 years (median age, 76 years), who received a UFT/LV regimen for colorectal cancer between January 2004 and June 2005. Chemotherapy was attempted for metastatic colorectal cancer in seven patients and for postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in five patients. The response rate and toxicity were compared with those of patients younger than 70 years old. RESULTS: Four courses of chemotherapy, in median, were delivered. The regimen consisting of UFT 300 mg/m(2) was completed in all patients. One patient achieved a complete response and another patient a partial response, thus resulting in an overall response rate of 28.6%. Three patients experienced Grade 1 diarrhea, and seven patients had Grade 1 or 2 anemia. Grade 3 or 4 toxicity was not recognized in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with UFT/LV regimen is effective and well tolerated in elderly as well as younger patients.

[A case of postoperative liver metastasis from bile duct carcinoma responding to transarterial chemoembolization].

A 77-year-old man underwent pylorus-preserving pancreatoduodenectomy for bile duct carcinoma in October 2000. Histological diagnosis was moderately-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma, pT 2 (ss, pHinf 0, pPanc 1, pPV 0, pA 0), pN 0, and final Stage II. The patient was periodically observed after operation. In September 2003, follow-up abdominal CT examinations revealed a liver tumor, 89 x 62 x 60 mm in size, at the anterior segment. Transarterial chemoembolization with 5-FU, epirubicin, mitomycin C and superabsorbent polymer microsphere was initiated under the diagnosis of liver metastasis. After completion of 4 chemoembolizations, the tumor responded partially and diminished to 50 x 16 x 14 mm in CT and superparamagnetic iron oxide-enhanced MRI. Currently, the patient is free from any signs of relapse.

Bone marrow cells adopt the phenotype of other cells by spontaneous cell fusion.

Recent studies have demonstrated that transplanted bone marrow cells can turn into unexpected lineages including myocytes, hepatocytes, neurons and many others. A potential problem, however, is that reports discussing such 'transdifferentiation' in vivo tend to conclude donor origin of transdifferentiated cells on the basis of the existence of donor-specific genes such as Y-chromosome markers. Here we demonstrate that mouse bone marrow cells can fuse spontaneously with embryonic stem cells in culture in vitro that contains interleukin-3. Moreover, spontaneously fused bone marrow cells can subsequently adopt the phenotype of the recipient cells, which, without detailed genetic analysis, might be interpreted as 'dedifferentiation' or transdifferentiation.