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Presents a study to measure the temperature dependence of the Faraday rotation spectra in Rh4+-substituted magnetic garnets. Methodology used to conduct study; Indication of findings; Discussion on results.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and chemoradiotherapy have been shown to extend postoperative survival, and preoperative therapy followed by esophagectomy has become the standard treatment worldwide for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The Japan Clinical Oncology Group 9907 study showed that NAC significantly extended survival in advanced ESCC, but the survival benefit for patients with clinical stage III disease remains to be elucidated. We compared the survival rates of NAC and upfront surgery in patients with clinical stage III ESCC. Consecutive patients histologically diagnosed as clinical stage III (excluding cT4) ESCC were eligible for this retrospective study. Between September 2002 and April 2007, upfront transthoracic esophagectomy was performed initially and, for patients with positive lymph node (LN) metastasis in a resected specimen, adjuvant chemotherapy using cisplatin and 5-fluororouracil every 3 weeks for two cycles was administered (Upfront surgery group). Since May 2007, a NAC regimen used as adjuvant chemotherapy followed by transthoracic esophagectomy has been administered as the standard treatment in our institution (NAC group). Patient characteristics, clinicopathological factors, treatment outcomes, post-treatment recurrence, and overall survival (OS) were compared between the NAC and upfront surgery groups. Fifty-one and 55 patients were included in the NAC and upfront surgery groups, respectively. The R0 resection rate was significantly lower in the NAC group than in the upfront surgery group (upfront surgery, 98%; NAC, 76%; P=0.003). In the upfront surgery group, of 49 patients who underwent R0 resection and pathologically positive for LN metastasis, 22 (45%) received adjuvant chemotherapy. In the NAC group, 49 (96%) of 51 patients completed two cycles of NAC. In survival analysis, no significant difference in OS was observed between the NAC and upfront surgery groups (NAC: 5-year OS, 43.8%; upfront surgery: 5-year overall surgery, 57.5%; P=0.167). Patients who underwent R0 resection showed significantly longer OS than did those who underwent R1, R2, or no resection (P=0.001). In multivariate analysis using age, perioperative chemotherapy, depth of invasion,LNmetastasis, surgical radicality, postoperative pneumonia, and anastomotic leakage as covariates, LN metastasis [cN2: hazard ratio (HR), 1.389; P=0.309; cN3: HR, 16.019; P=0.012] and surgical radicality (R1:HR, 3.949; P=0.009; R2 or no resection: HR, 2.912; P=0.022) were shown to be significant independent prognostic factors. In clinical stage III ESCC patients, no significant difference in OS was observed between NAC and upfront surgery. Although potential patient selection bias might be a factor in this retrospective analysis, the noncurative resection rate was higher after NAC than after upfront surgery. The survival benefit of more intensive NAC needs to be further evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Peritoneal venous shunts (PVSs) are widely used for palliating symptoms of refractory malignant ascites and are recognized as one of the practical methods. However, reliable clinical data are insufficient because most previous reports have been small studies from single centers. We conducted a retrospective, multicenter study to evaluate the safety and efficacy of radiologically placed PVSs in patients with malignant refractory ascites. Methods: A total of 133 patients with malignant ascites refractory to medical therapies were evaluated for patient characteristics, technical success, efficacy, survival times, adverse events, and changes in laboratory data. Results: PVSs were successfully placed in all patients and were effective (i.e., improvement of ascites symptoms lasting 7 days or more) in 110 (82.7%). The median duration of symptom palliation was 26 days and median survival time was 41 days. The most frequent adverse event was PVS dysfunction, which occurred in 60 (45.1%) patients, among whom function was recovered with an additional minimally invasive procedure in 9. Abnormalities in coagulation (subclinical disseminated intravascular coagulation) occurred in 37 (27.8%) patients, although only 7 (5.3%) developed clinical disseminated intravascular coagulation. Other major adverse events were gastrointestinal bleeding (9.8%), sepsis (3.8%), and acute heart failure (3.0%). PVS was least effective in patients with elevated serum creatinine, bloody ascites, or gynecologic tumor. Conclusions: Radiological PVS is a technically feasible and effective method for palliating the symptoms from refractory malignant ascites, but preoperative evaluation and monitoring the postprocedural complications are mandatory to preclude severe adverse events after PVS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of primary hormonal therapy for patients with localized and locally advanced prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with stage T1b–T3 prostate cancer who were not scheduled for radical prostatectomy were allocated into two groups: group 1 (73 men) received luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist monotherapy and group 2 (78 men) received LHRH agonist and chlormadinone acetate. Patients were followed using serum prostate specific antigen levels, prostate size and the detection of distant metastasis for 5 years. RESULTS The median (range) follow-up was 78 (63–87) months. The 5-year progression-free survival rate was significantly higher in group 2 (68%) than in group 1 (47%). However, the overall and cause-specific survival rate at 5 years were similar in both groups, at 72% and 93% in group 1, and 64% and 89% in group 2, respectively. CONCLUSION The overall survival rates of the both groups were no different from that of the normal Japanese population of the same age group. Although this study did not include an untreated group, i.e. watchful waiting, these results might indicate the usefulness of primary hormonal therapy in controlling localized and locally advanced prostate cancer. The 5-year observation period is still short and the study is continuing to determine the 10-year survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cyclin E and p27 play pivotal roles in cancer development and progression. We investigated whether the prognosis in cases of non-small cell lung cancer without lymph node metastases that underwent complete resection could be associated with tissue expression of cyclin E, p27, and Ki-67. Methods: Tumors from 62 patients at least 5 years after surgery were assessed by immunohistochemistry for expression of cyclin E, p27, and Ki-67. Disease-free survival (DFS) after surgery was used to evaluate disease prognosis. We also investigated the relationship between expression of these factors and postoperative recurrence. Results: In non-small cell lung cancer, p27-negative expression and pT factor were significantly unfavorable prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. The DFS rate in cyclin E-positive expression was significantly lower than in cyclin E-negative expression. Similarly, p27-negative expression and high Ki-67 expression correlated with a shortened DFS rate. In combinations of expression of cyclin E and p27, the cyclin E-negative/p27-positive group had a significantly higher DFS rate than did the other groups. According to histological type, there were correlations between the risk of postoperative recurrence and expression of these three biological factors, especially in adenocarcinoma. Conclusion: By analyzing the expression of cyclin E, p27, and Ki-67 of tumor cells, it was possible to extract the patient group for whom closer follow-up and postoperative treatment is necessary to improve survival rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidermal growth factor (EGF), a mitogenic polypeptide with a molecular weight of 6000, is excreted in human urine in nanomolar quantities. Recently, some reports showed that urothelial neoplasm was related to the concentration of EGF in urine. In this study, EGF concentration in urine was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 207 samples from 112 male patients (30–90 years old, median 66.2) who had previously been treated for bladder cancer. Then, we tried to clarify the significance of urinary EGF as a marker for recurrence of bladder cancer in comparison with urine cytology. The samples were collected on occasional follow up cystoscopy. Urine from nine age-adjusted males without urological disease was also measured to obtain normal control values. In 123 samples from patients without tumors, EGF concentrations in urine decreased with age. In 84 samples obtained from patients with recurrent tumor, EGF concentrations were significantly lower than those in 123 samples from patients without tumors (P < 0.001) Furthermore, EGF concentrations in longitudinal samples collected the same patients during tumor recurrence and at the times when no tumor was detected were measured in 56 patients. EGF concentrations in the samples collected during tumor recurrence was significantly lower than that in specimens collected when there was no tumor (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences between the same samples collected during tumor recurrence with regard to tumor grade, stage shape and number of tumors. However, EGF concentration in urine from patients with carcinoma in situ (CIS) was lower than that in specimens from patients without CIS. These results indicate the usefulness of determining the EGF concentration as a marker for detecting bladder cancer recurrence. Urine cytology was also examined in the same series and findings were compared with those of urinary EGF. On cytology, class IV and V were considered positive, and on urinary EGF, less than l0 ng/mgCr were considered positive. Sensitivity was 25% for cytology and 57% for urinary EGF, while specificity was 98% and 66%, respectively. The predictive positive value was 0.88 and 0.53, respectively. With the combined use of urinary EGF and cytology, the sensitivity, specificity and predictive positive value were 68%, 64% and 0.92, respectively. In conclusion, urinary EGF seems to be a useful marker for detecting bladder cancer recurrence if performed in addition to cytology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerical aberrations of chromosomes 7 and 9 of exfoliated cells from the urinary tract were examined using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). To minimize contamination with inflammatory, squamous and normal transitional cells all samples were stained using Giemsa's solution and clusters of transitional cells were selected for FISH analysis. Samples collected from 21 patients who had cystoscopic monitoring for bladder cancer were used in this study. Cystoscopy was positive in seven patients and five biopsy-proven transitional cell carcinomas were identified. Among the patients with cancer recurrence, numerical chromosomal aberrations were detected in four cases (sensitivity: 80%) and positive cytology in two cases. This preliminary pilot study shows FISH can be a useful tool for the detection of recurrence during a follow up of bladder cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I-insulin was covalently crosslinked to its receptor on human placental membrane fractions with disuccinimidyl suberate. The I-insulin crosslinked receptor was solubilized with Triton X-100 and used as a probe to determine autoantibodies to the insulin receptor in sera from patients with insulin resistance (type B syndrome). When the solubilized I-insulin: receptor complex was incubated with these sera and then with anti-human IgG serum, the complex was precipitated as a function of the amount of anti-receptor serum. Unlabelled insulin at concentrations ⩽10 μg/ml did not affect immunoprecipitation of the complex, suggesting that a subpopulation of anti-receptor antibodies recognizes determinants outside the insulin binding region of the receptor molecule. I-insulin: receptor complex was precipitated also by the addition of anti-insulin antibodies. The effect of anti-insulin antibody was eliminated by the addition of excess unlabelled insulin. The immunoprecipitation assay using I-insulin crosslinked receptor was sensitive and convenient for detecting anti-receptor antibodies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insulin binding and degrading activities were solubilized by a nonionic detergent. Triton X100, from guinea pig kidney particulate fractions (100,000 × g pellet). The solubilized insulin binding activity appeared as a single peak on Sepharose 6B gel filtration with a Stokes radius of 73 A. The pI of the solubilized insulin binding activity determined by flat-bed isoelectric focusing was 5.6. On the other hand, the Stokes radius of the solubilized molecule with insulin degrading activity was 54 Å by the same column with a pI of 5.2. More than 98% of the insulin binding activity could be adsorbed to a column of concanavalin A-agarose, while about 94% of the insulin degrading activity could not be adsorbed to this column. These results strongly suggest that the macromolecule for the insulin binding activity is not identical to that for the insulin degrading activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives To assess the validity of the prophylactic use of pirarubicin ([2′R]-4-O-tetrahydropyranyl-doxorubicin) immediately after transurethral resection of bladder tumour (TURBT), using pharmacodynamic studies. Patients and methods The study included 20 consecutive patients with superficial bladder cancer. Pirarubicin (30 mg/50 mL or 30 mg/100 mL, 10 patients each) was instilled immediately after TURBT and retained in the bladder for 1 h. Blood samples were obtained before and at 15, 30, 60 and 120 min after the instillation. After retaining the drug for 1 h all the intravesical fluid was collected and assayed for pirarubicin. Results The plasma pirarubicin concentration in those receiving either dose was below detectable levels at any time after instillation. The mean recovery rate of pirarubicin in the drained fluid was 73%. Conclusion The intravesical instillation of pirarubicin immediately after TURBT caused no detectable plasma concentration and few systemic side-effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the abstract of the study 'Substitution effect of Y3+ with Ca2+ in YBa2Cu3O7-δ,' by H.A. Mook.

We evaluated the effects of 4'-epi-Adriamycin (EPI), a derivative of Adriamycin (ADR), in intravesical instillation chemotherapy. The patients received two courses of three daily instillations of 50-80 mg EPI dissolved in 30 ml physiological saline on 3 consecutive days, with an interval of 4 days between courses. Full evaluation was possible in 33 of 35 patients with superficial bladder tumors treated with EPI. Complete response was observed in 4 cases and partial response in 14 cases, giving a response rate of 55%. Side effects such as pollakiuria and pain on micturition occurred in 9 cases. EPI appears to be an effective agent for intravesical instillation chemotherapy in patients with superficial bladder tumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]