Search

To clarify the details of mothers' employment status after the completion of their child's cancer treatment.A cross-sectional exploratory study.Data are collected from 62 mothers of childhood cancer survivors using self-report questionnaires. Fisher's exact test was used to determine the statistical significance of factors between the mothers who worked and those who did not work after their child's cancer treatment had been completed.Thirty-two mothers worked after the completion of their child's cancer treatment. There were significant differences in age, education level, employment status at the diagnosis and time elapsed since the diagnosis between the working mothers and non-working mothers. Twenty-two non-working mothers reported that they had some motivation to work, but the most common reason for not working was "To nurse or care for the child with cancer". Some mothers also stated that they did not work due to anxiety about cancer recurrence.

Introduction Thyroid storm is a rare life-threating condition. We report a case of thyroid storm after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma with inferior vena cava tumor thrombus. Case presentation A 76-year-old man with a left renal tumor and tumor thrombus extending into the inferior vena cava underwent left radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy. After the surgery, his postoperative course rapidly deteriorated, including central nervous system disturbance, fever, tachycardia, congestive heart failure, and hepatic manifestation. Thyroid function test revealed perioperative hyperthyroidism. Corticosteroids and inorganic iodide improved his condition, suggesting that he developed thyroid storm after surgery. He was discharged 5 months after surgery and has been free from disease recurrence for more than 2 years. Conclusion Thyroid storm after surgery is rare. However, this postoperative complication is important because it is fatal if not diagnosed and treated properly.

Although the routine use of immunohistochemistry has improved the accuracy of histopathologic diagnosis in clinical practice, new methods for discovering novel diagnostic markers are still needed. We sought new diagnostic markers for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) using a reverse translational approach with limited archival tissues from a very rare case. Total RNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues of a synchronous collision tumor consisting of MPM and pulmonary adenocarcinoma (PAC) was employed for gene expression profiling (GEP) analysis. Among the 54 genes selected by GEP analysis, we finally identified the following two candidate MPM marker genes: PHGDH and TRIM29. Immunohistochemical analysis of 48 MM and 20 PAC cases showed that both PHGDH and TRIM29 had sensitivity and specificity almost equivalent to those of calretinin (sensitivity 50% and 46% vs. 63%, and specificity 95% and 100% vs. 100%, respectively). Importantly, of the 23 epithelioid MMs, all 3 calretinin-negative cases were positive for TRIM29. These two markers may be diagnostically useful for immunohistochemical distinction between MPMs and PACs. This successful reverse translational approach based on FFPE samples from one very rare case encourages the further use of such samples for the development of novel diagnostic markers.

PZT (lead zirconate titanate)-glued bimorph deformable mirrors are widely used in hard x-ray regimes[1], however, they have not yet been used in soft X-ray regimes because they are less compatible for usage under high vacuum. Therefore, we have developed a glue-free bimorph deformable mirror, in which silver nanoparticles were employed to bond PZT actuators to mirror substrates[2]. In this study, we achieved a 2 nm figure error on an elliptical shape of a glue-free deformable mirror. We evaluated the figure change characteristics due to humidity and temperature increasing at the ultrafine figure error condition.

Objectives Although many studies have examined locomotive syndrome (LS) among elderly people, few studies have examined LS in young‐ and middle‐aged adults. This study aimed to provide basic data on the epidemiological characteristics of LS, including in young‐ and middle‐aged adults. Method We conducted a cross‐sectional survey of a nonrandom sample of 852 adults aged 18–64 (678 males, 174 females) working in five companies in Japan, between December 2015 and February 2018. LS stage was determined using the criteria proposed by the Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA). LS stage 0 was defined as No‐LS, and stages 1 and 2 were defined as LS. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the independent relationship between LS and sociodemographic, smoking, alcohol drinking (AD), frequency of breakfast consumption (FBC), dietary variety score (DVS), and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score after adjusting for age and sex. Results We found that 23.1% of participants were evaluated as LS, including 21.5% of males and 29.3% of females (P

The study aimed to investigate the clinical implications and natural history of primary intraparenchymal lesions in patients with neurofibromatosis type 2. Radiological findings of 15 neurofibromatosis type 2 cases were retrospectively collected. Twenty-seven primary intraparenchymal lesions were observed in 7 out of 15 patients (47%). Cortical/subcortical T2 hyperintense lesions and enlarged Virchow-Robin spaces were the most common findings in five and four patients, respectively. During the follow-up period (median 84 months), one new primary intraparenchymal lesion was identified and increased lesions were observed in two cases on contrast-enhanced MRI. Surgical resection was performed in one case pathologically diagnosed with atypical meningioma. Twenty-five other lesions without contrast enhancement presented no apparent growth during follow-up. Although most primary intraparenchymal lesions are benign, a subset of cases would present newly developed or increased lesions on contrast-enhanced MRI. Careful monitoring is necessary for such cases, and pathological confirmation should be considered.

The majority of oligodendroglial tumors harbor mutations in the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) gene (TERT) promoter and the isocitrate dehydrogenase 1/2 (IDH1/2) gene (IDH1/2), as well as 1p/19q codeletion. Generally, TERT promoter mutations, C250T and C228T, are mutually exclusive. We present a case of oligodendroglioma harboring both C250T and C228T mutations in TERT promoter. A 38-year-old man presented with grand mal seizures and underwent a resection surgery for a left frontal lobe tumor. He was pathologically diagnosed as having oligodendroglioma and was carefully observed. At 48 years of age, he underwent another resection surgery due to tumor regrowth, with the pathological diagnosis of anaplastic oligodendroglioma. Genetic analysis of the initial tumor specimen revealed IDH1 R132H mutation and both C250T and C228T mutations in TERT promoter. Using mutation-specific primers, two mutations were considered to be distributed in different alleles. In the tumor specimen obtained during the second surgery, IDH1 R132H mutation was detected to be similar to that of the initial specimen; however, only C228T mutation was detected in TERT promoter. The 1p/19q codeletion was detected in both the initial and recurrent tumor specimens. According to the sequencing data from the two tumor specimens, although TERT promoter mutation has been considered to be an early genetic event in the tumorigenesis of oligodendroglial tumors, it is likely that the C250T and C228T mutations in TERT promoter are subclonally distributed in the same tumor specimen of the present case.

// Naoko Ishida 1 , Motoi Baba 1 , Yutaka Hatanaka 2, 3 , Kanako Hagio 1 , Hiromi Okada 2 , Kanako C. Hatanaka 3 , Kenichi Togashi 4 , Yoshihiro Matsuno 2, 3 and Hiroko Yamashita 1 1 Department of Breast Surgery, Hokkaido University Hospital, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8648, Japan 2 Department of Surgical Pathology, Hokkaido University Hospital, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8648, Japan 3 Research Division of Companion Diagnostics, Hokkaido University Hospital, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-8648, Japan 4 Roche Diagnostics K.K., Konan, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0075, Japan Correspondence to: Hiroko Yamashita, email: hirokoy@huhp.hokudai.ac.jp Keywords: breast cancer; estrogen receptor; PIK3CA; AKT Ser473; ERα Ser167 Received: June 27, 2017 Accepted: February 28, 2018 Published: April 03, 2018 ABSTRACT Although endocrine therapy is the most important treatment option in estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer, new strategies, such as molecular targeted agents together with endocrine therapy are required to improve survival. PIK3CA is the most frequent mutated gene in ER-positive early breast cancers, and PIK3CA mutation status is reported to affect activation of AKT and ERα. Moreover, recent studies demonstrate that patients had a better prognosis when tumors expressed ER, androgen receptor (AR), and vitamin D receptor (VDR). In this study, we examined expression of AR and VDR, phosphorylation of AKT serine (Ser) 473 (AKT phospho-Ser473) and ERα Ser167 (ERα phospho-Ser167) by immunohistochemistry in ER-positive, HER2-negative early breast cancer. PIK3CA gene mutations were also detected in genomic DNA extracted from tumor blocks. Correlations between these biological markers, clinicopathological factors and prognosis were analyzed. Levels of AKT phospho-Ser473 were significantly higher in premenopausal women than in postmenopausal women. In contrast, AR expression was significantly higher in postmenopausal women than in premenopausal women. PIK3CA mutations were detected in 47% in premenopausal women and 47% in postmenopausal women. Postmenopausal women with PIK3CA wild-type tumors had significantly worse disease-free survival than patients with PIK3CA mutant tumors. Low levels of AKT phospho-Ser473 and high levels of ERα phospho-Ser167 were strongly associated with increased disease-free survival in postmenopausal women. Evaluation of ERα activation, in addition to PIK3CA mutation status, might be helpful in identifying patients who are likely to benefit from endocrine therapy alone versus those who are not in postmenopausal ER-positive early breast cancer.