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Background: The detection of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) in colorectal cancer (CRC) by liquid biopsy may have prognostic information. In this perioperative study, we evaluate if there is a relationship between mutant allele frequency (MAF) of Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog (KRAS) and tumor recurrence and how that could be useful in the early detection of recurrence. Methods: Among 304 cases of colorectal cancer surgery, ctDNA was sampled from the perioperative blood of 84 patients with CRC with KRAS mutation (exon 4 p.A146T, exon 4 p.A146V, exon 2 p.G12A, exon 2 p.G12C, exon 2 p.G12D, exon 2 p.G12S, exon 2 p.G12V, exon 2 p.G13D, exon 3 p.Q61H) and analyzed using the digital polymerase chain reaction system. The median observation period was 26 months. Results: Although the relationship between the perioperative MAF of KRAS and recurrence was not proved, tumor diameter, tumor depth, and stage were correlated with the preoperative MAF of KRAS (p = 0.034, p = 0.002, p = 0.008). However, tumor diameter, tumor depth, and stage did not correlate with MAF of KRAS at postoperative day 30. Conclusions: In this study, pathological tumor size, tumor depth, and stage were correlated with preoperative MAF of KRAS, but it was unreliable to predict recurrence by detection of ctDNA with KRAS mutation in the perioperative period of colorectal surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A heterozygous mutation of STAT3 causes autosomal dominant hyper immunoglobulin E (IgE) syndrome; however, there are still many unclear points regarding the clinical spectrum of this syndrome. Methods: In addition to a clinical description of patients in terms of pedigree, a genetic analysis, quantitation of peripheral blood Th17 and ex vivo IL‐17 production were carried out. Results: The proband, a 2‐year‐old boy (Patient 1) with early onset atopic dermatitis‐like eczema and recurrent bacterial infections, was suspected of autosomal dominant hyper immunoglobulin E syndrome on the basis of his symptoms and family history. His mother (Patient 2) also had skin eczema and recurrent bacterial infections, and his sister (Patient 3) had skin eczema. A novel STAT3 mutation (p.S476F) was detected in all three patients, but not in the father, who had no such symptoms. A significant decrease in peripheral blood Th17 subsets and IL‐17 production was found in all the patients. Curiously, all three patients carrying the p.S476F mutation in STAT3 lacked connective tissue signs such as distinctive facial features, retention of primary teeth, and joint hyperextensibility. Conclusions: Autosomal dominant hyper IgE syndrome should, perhaps, be considered even if patients lack connective tissue signs, as long as hypersensitivity to infection and skin manifestations with hyper IgE are present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transanal and transperineal endoscopic approaches are useful advanced surgical options for removing rectal and anorectal cancers. Intraoperative carbon dioxide (CO2) embolisms, however, have been increasingly reported as potentially fatal complications associated with surgery employing these approaches. We report our experience with a CO2 embolism that was detected because of a sudden drop in end‐tidal CO2 with decreasing saturation of percutaneous arterial oxygen during total pelvic exenteration using the transperineal endoscopic approach under pneumopelvis/pneumoperitoneum. Transesophageal echocardiography confirmed that it was a CO2 embolus. We reversed the pneumopelvis and pneumoperitoneum, which alleviated the cardiopulmonary problems, and the surgery then proceeded to achieve R0 resection. The patient was discharged without severe complications other than the CO2 embolism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We previously reported that mitochondrial transcription factor A (mtTFA) preferentially recognizes cisplatin-damaged DNA via physical interaction with p53 and is upregulated by treatment with cisplatin and fluorouracil (5-FU). The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether expression of mtTFA predicts the clinical outcome in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer treated with modified 5-fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin 6 (mFOLFOX6). Fifty-nine patients with metastatic lesions from colorectal cancer treated with mFOLFOX6 were included in this study. The subjects consisted of 25 women and 34 men with a median age of 62 years. The patients were treated with oxaliplatin (85 mg/m) plus leucovorin (200 mg/m) as a 2-h infusion on day 1, followed by 5-FU (400 mg/m) bolus and 46-h continuous infusion of 2400 mg/m. The expressions of mtTFA and p53 of resected primary tumors were examined by immunohistochemical analysis. Of the 59 patients, 33 (complete response 1, partial response 32) achieved a confirmed response to therapy. The positive cytoplasmic staining rate for mtTFA was 44.1% and that for p53 was 59.3%, respectively. Strong expression of mtTFA was detected in eight of 33 complete response/partial response (24.2%) and in 18 of 26 SD/PD (69.2%), indicating that mtTFA expression was significantly correlated with response to chemotherapy ( P < 0.01). Median overall survival was significantly longer in patients without mtTFA expression ( P = 0.0493). Multivariate analysis revealed that mtTFA expression significantly affected overall survival (hazard ratio 2.10, P = 0.036). Immunohistochemical study of mtTFA may be useful for predicting the clinical outcome of metastatic colorectal cancer patients treated with FOLFOX. ( Cancer Sci 2011; 102: 578-582) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the severe gastrointestinal (GI) involvement as a risk factor for Immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis. It discusses the definition of nephritis due to the presence of microscopic hematuria, showing positive faecal haemoglobin, logistic regression models for nephritis development and calculated likelihood.