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The clinical significance of many RAS-family mutations in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of mutations on an exon basis (i.e., mutations in KRAS exons 2, 3 and 4 and in NRAS) with clinicopathological features and prognosis in CRC. We performed a retrospective cohort study of the medical records and frozen tissue samples of 268 consecutive patients with stage I-III CRC who underwent curative resection at a single institution in 2014–2018. The RAS mutation rate was significantly associated with age and histology. Patients with KRAS exon 2 mutations exhibited shorter RFS compared to those with KRAS wild-type, KRAS exon 3 mutations, KRAS exon 4 mutations and NRAS mutations (73.0% vs. 85.5%, 86.7%, 85.7%. p = 0.031). Age and histology were independent risk factors for RAS mutations. RAS mutations were independent prognostic factors with respect to RFS in patients with stage I–III CRC. In stage I–III CRC patients, KRAS exon 2 mutations have the worst prognosis, while RAS wild type, RAS exon 3 mutations, RAS exon 4 mutations and NRAS mutations have better prognoses.

Background and objectives Most guidelines of colorectal cancers (CRCs) recommend evaluating the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level during postoperative surveillance to detect tumor recurrence, which originates from postsurgery residual tumor cells. We hypothesized that the postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA level may be the most accurate biomarker to predict tumor recurrence, and we evaluated the prognostic significance of the postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA level in patients with stage II and III CRCs. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 150 Stage II-III CRC patients who had undergone curative surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. Preoperative, postoperative, and postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA levels were evaluated, and their associations with recurrence-free survival (RFS) were assessed. Results The Kaplan-Meier curves showed that a high preoperative CEA level, high postoperative CEA, and high postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA were associated with poor RFS (p = .001, .0001, and .001, respectively). The multivariate analysis demonstrated that high postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA was an independent factor for poor RFS (HR 2.55, 95% confidence interval: 1.08-6.05, p = .033), whereas high preoperative and postoperative CEA levels were not. Conclusions The serum levels of postadjuvant chemotherapy CEA were a strong prognostic biomarker in patients with Stage II-III CRCs who had undergone surgery followed by adjuvant chemotherapy.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a major cancer, and its precise diagnosis is especially important for the development of effective therapeutics. In a series of metabolome analyses, the levels of very long chain fatty acids (VLCFA) were shown to be elevated in CRC tissues, although the endogenous form of VLCFA has not been fully elucidated. In this study we analyzed the amount of nonesterified fatty acids, acyl-CoA species, phospholipids and neutral lipids such as cholesterylesters using liquid-chromatography–mass spectrometry. Here we showed that VLCFA were accumulated in triacylglycerol (TAG) and nonesterified forms in CRC tissues. The levels of TAG species harboring a VLCFA moiety (VLCFA-TAG) were significantly correlated with that of nonesterified VLCFA. We also showed that the expression level of elongation of very long-chain fatty acids protein 1 (ELOVL1) is increased in CRC tissues, and the inhibition of ELOVL1 decreased the levels of VLCFA-TAG and nonesterified VLCFA in CRC cell lines. Our results suggest that the upregulation of ELOVL1 contributes to the accumulation of VLCFA-TAG and nonesterified VLCFA in CRC tissues.

Background/aim The prognosis of colorectal cancer is reported to differ depending on the tumor site, and clinical differences depending on the site of occurrence have gained attention. The aim was to compare nutrition index and inflammatory markers according to the site of colon cancer. Patients and methods We retrospectively analyzed 272 cases of stage I-III colon cancer (55% males, 45% females). The clinical characteristics, nutrition index and inflammatory markers were compared between patients with right colon cancer (RCC, n=119) and those with left colon cancer (LCC, n=153), and the relapse-free survival was then compared. Results RCC was associated with older age (p=0.03), female gender (p=0.003), higher T stage (p=0.01), elevated platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR) (p=0.009), and elevated CONUT score (p=0.028). The prognostic values differed between RCC and LCC (RCC: CONUT score, p=0.04, LCC: PLR, p=0.02). Conclusion RCC was associated with an elevated CONUT score and PLR. In RCC, the CONUT score was an independent recurrence factor, and in LCC, the PLR was an independent recurrence factor.

The recurrent risk of stage I colorectal cancer (CRC) is not clear, and the data regarding appropriate post-operative surveillance schedules in stage I CRC are scarce. We aimed to stratify stage I CRC based on the recurrence risk and evaluate optimal post-operative surveillance durations based on this stratification. We retrospectively analyzed the cases of 6607 stage I CRC patients from 24 institutions. To assess the patients’ clinicopathological factors that impact recurrence-free survival (RFS), we performed univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox proportional hazards models. We divided the patients into classes based on their numbers of factors that were associated with poor RFI in the multivariate analysis. Recurrence occurred in 3.9% patients. The multivariate analysis revealed the independent factors for poor RFS: rectal cancer, T2 depth, presence of lymphatic invasion, high level of pre-operative carcinoembryonic antigen, and absence of D2–3 lymphadenectomy. We also divided the patients into three classes based on their numbers of these risk factors; the 3-year and 5-year RFS rates were 99.3% and 99.1% in the no-risk patients, 97.4% and 96.5% in the patients with 1–2 risks, and 92.1% and 90.0% in the patients with 3–5 risks, respectively. In the patients with no risk and in the patients with 1–2 risks after 3 years post-surgery, ≤ 1% recurrence occurred. Thus, post-operative surveillance may be omitted in these populations. Our new classification properly stratified the recurrence risks of stage I CRC patients, and may help reduce unnecessary post-operative surveillance.

The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) score is a marker of nutrition and is associated with poor survival in various kinds of cancers. However, no reports have yet compared risk factors for colorectal cancer recurrence using a nutritional index. We assessed the predictive value of the CONUT score compared with the modified Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS) and Prognostic Nutritional Index (PNI) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. We performed a retrospective cohort study of the medical records of 336 consecutive patients with stage I-I I I CRC who underwent curative resection at a single institution in 2012–2017. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). The low CONUT score group exhibited higher RFS and longer OS compared to the high CONUT score group (82.2% vs. 63.3%, p = 0.002 and 95.5% and 86.2%, p = 0.005, respectively). The Akaike’s information criterion values of each index for RFS and OS were superior in CONUT score (723.71 and 315.46, respectively) compared to those of PNI (726.95 and 316.52) and mGPS (728.15 and 318.07, respectively). The CONUT score was found to be a good predictor of RFS and OS in patients with resectable CRC.

Background: It was reported that in surveillance colonoscopy (SC), targeted and random biopsies detected similar proportions of neoplasias. However, that study was conducted by experienced endoscopists familiar with colitic cancer. We report two cases of disseminated colitic cancer in patients who had undergone SC. Case Presentation: Case-1: A 69-year-old Japanese man first suffered from ulcerative colitis (UC) in 1979. Annual SCs had been performed since 1998. In 2017, colonoscopy confirmed a cancer in the ascending colon. A laparoscopy-assisted anal-preserving total proctocolectomy was performed in 2018. Histological findings showed the cancer reaching serosa and lymph node metastasis. Peritoneal dissemination occurred 1 year after the surgery. Two years after the first surgery, an ileostomy was created due to bowel obstruction caused by peritoneal dissemination. Case-2: A 77-year-old Japanese man was diagnosed with UC at another hospital in 2010. SCs were performed annually since 2011. In April 2019, he developed frequent bowel movements, bleeding, and weight loss. Colonoscopy revealed stenosis at the rectum and sigmoid colon. The biopsy revealed adenocarcinoma. Laparoscopy-assisted surgery was performed in July 2019. The yellow ascites was aspirated and submitted for lavage cytology, which revealed signet-ring cell carcinoma. Many white nodules were found in the peritoneum and were diagnosed as peritoneal dissemination. A colostomy was performed. Chemotherapy was administered. Five months have passed since the operation, and the patient is alive. Conclusion: Chromoendoscopy had not been performed in either patient. It is advisable to use chromoendoscopy when a target biopsy is performed.

Objective The accuracy of identifying a CRT-response by a pre-operative radiological examination is limited, and another approach is necessary. We constructed endoscopic image-based radiomics classifiers to predict the response of locally advanced rectal cancers (LARCs) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NA-CRT). Design: We enrolled 90 patients who had undergone NA-CRT followed by surgery. We selected 5,255 pre- and post-CRT endoscopic images of the tumors and extracted 860 texture features from each image. Using the extracted texture features, we applied 12 machine learning models to construct radiomics classifiers. The performances of the radiomics classifiers to predict a pathological complete response (pCR) and a CRT-response (good or not) were evaluated with a double cross-validation technique by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC). Results In the prediction of pCR using pre-CRT images, the cubic support vector machine (SVM) model showed the highest AUROC of 0.816 in the image-basis analysis, and the AUROC of 0.904 in the patient-basis analysis. In the prediction of pCR using post-CRT images, the quadratic SVM model showed the highest AUROC (0.839) in the image-basis analysis, and the AUROC of 0.958 in the patient-basis analysis. The Gaussian SVM model demonstrated the best performances to predict a CRT-response in both pre- and post-CRT images with AUROCs of 0.792 and 0.841 in the image-basis analysis and 0.857 and 0.950 in the patient-basis analysis, respectively. Conclusion Our endoscopic image-based radiomics classifiers demonstrated robust performances to predict the CRT-response of LARCs and may contribute to the patients' management.

Purpose: T The world is becoming longer-lived, and the number of elderly colorectal cancer patients is increasing. It is very important to identify simple and inexpensive postoperative predictors in elderly colorectal cancer patients. The geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) is a marker of systemic nutrition and is associated with poor survival in various kinds of cancers. A few reports have investigated recurrence factors using preoperative GNRI with CRC patients. This study aimed to investigate whether preoperative GNRI is associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) in elderly patients with CRC.Methods: This study retrospectively enrolled 259 patients with StageⅠ-Ⅲ CRC who were more than 65 years old and underwent curative surgery at a single institution in 2012–2017. We classified them into low GNRI (RFS: ≤90.5, OS ≤101.1) group and high GNRI (RFS:>90.5, OS >101.1) group.Results: Multivariable analyses showed low GNRI group was an independent risk factor for 3-year RFS (P = 0.006) and OS (P = 0.001) in the patients with CRC. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed 3-year RFS and 3-year OS were significantly worse in the low GNRI group than in high GNRI group (p = 0.001, 0.0037).Conclusion: A low-preoperative GNRI was significantly associated with a poor prognosis in elderly CRC patients.

It has been shown that nutritional status correlates with survival in patients with various kinds of cancers. Besides, cancer causes inflammation which has been suggested to stimulate cancer progression. Therefore, inflammation status also has shown to reflect prognosis of cancers. In this study, we evaluated several kinds of nutritional and inflammation parameters in preoperative blood samples and constructed new risk model predicting a survival in patients with CRC (colorectal cancers). We retrospectively examined 286 patients with stage I-III CRC who had undergone curative resection in Teikyo University Hospital between 2013 to 2017. The association between overall survival (OS) and preoperative body mass index, albumin (Alb), cholesterol (Chol), and lymphocyte count, white blood cell count (WBC), neutrophil count (Neu), platelet count (Plt), C-reactive protein (CRP) were examined using Kaplan-Meier curve and log rank test. and eventually Alb, Chol, Neu, Plt, and CRP were shown to correlate with OS. Alb, Chol, Neu, Plt, and CRP were shown to correlate with OS. We constructed a new risk model (NIS: nutrition inflammation status) using these factors, and compared its usefulness with known models such as CRP-albumin ratio (CAR), Glasgow prognostic score (GPS), prognostic nutritional index (PNI), and neutrophil lymphocyte ratio (NLR). NIS prepared using nutritional indicators and inflammatory findings was useful as a new model for predicting overall survival in patients undergoing curative resection for CRC, compared with known models.

Background/Aim: To evaluate the benefits of the addition of oxaliplatin (OX) to fluoropyrimidine (FP)-based neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for patients with locally advanced rectal cancers (LARCs). Patients and Methods: We performed retrospective analyses comparing the pathological complete response (pCR) rate, overall survival (OS), recurrence-free survival (RFS), and local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) between FP-based and FP+OX-based CRT groups and for patients who had completed the CRT. Results: One hundred patients were included in the analyses: the pCR rate, OS, RFS, and LRFS were similar between these groups. The FP+OX group showed significantly more frequent incompleteness of the CRT compared to the FP group (p=0.049). Among the patients who had completed the CRT, the FP+OX group demonstrated significantly improved LRFS compared to the FP group (p=0.048). Conclusion: The addition of OX to an FP regimen in neoadjuvant CRT for LARC may reduce local recurrence in patients who have achieved good compliance to CRT.

A 47-year-old male patient without a documented past medical history was referred to Sanno Hospital because of constipation and abdominal pain, which he had had for more than 5 years. Abdominal X-ray and CT scan showed an enlarged ascending colon from the cecum to the transverse colon, without apparent mechanical obstruction. The patient was diagnosed with chronic idiopathic colonic pseudo-obstruction, and because his symptoms were resistant to medication, surgical treatment was required. Laparoscopic subtotal colectomy was performed without any complications. Constipation was relieved, and the patient began defecating 2-3 times a day without medication. Pathological specimens showed that Meissner's plexus and Auerbach's plexus had decreased and that there were fewer ganglion cells-findings consistent with chronic idiopathic intestinal pseudo-obstruction.

Background The term “mesenteric inflammatory veno-occlusive disease (MIVOD)” is used to describe an ischemic injury resulting from phlebitis or venulitis that affects the bowel or mesentery in the absence of arteritis. MIVOD is difficult to diagnose because of its rarity and frequent confusion with other diseases. The incidence and etiology of MIVOD remain unclear; only a few cases have been reported. We describe a case of the successful surgical management of a patient with MIVOD with characteristic images. Case presentation A 65-year-old Japanese man visited a hospital with the chief complaint of abdominal pain in January 2018. CT showed edema and thickening of the intestinal wall from the descending colon to the rectum. The patient was admitted to the hospital. Suspected diagnoses were enteritis, ulcerative colitis, amyloidosis, vasculitis, malignant lymphoma, and venous thrombus, but no definitive diagnosis was obtained. The patient was transferred to our hospital for the treatment of stenosis (located from the descending colon to the rectum) and bowel obstruction. An emergency transverse colostomy was performed. The sigmoid colon and mesentery were too rigid and edematous to resect. Colonic hemorrhage occurred 2 weeks after the surgery. With radiology intervention, coiling for the arteriovenous fistula in the descending colon was performed, and hemostasis was obtained. A colonoscopy at 6 months post-surgery showed neither ulceration nor stenosis in the rectum, indicating that the rectum could be preserved in the next surgery. However, severe stenosis in the descending and sigmoid colon remained unchanged. Ten months after the transverse colostomy, we performed a subtotal colectomy and ileorectal anastomosis, and an ileostomy was created. The sigmoid colon and mesentery were not so rigid compared to the first surgery’s findings, and we were able to resect intestine and mesentery. Histopathology revealed phlebitis and venulitis, fibrinoid necrosis, and normal arteries, meeting the diagnostic criteria for MIVOD. Postoperatively, the patient showed no recurrence for 8 months. Conclusion Clinicians should consider MIVOD when examining a patient with intestinal ischemia. When MIVOD is suspected, the patient is indicated for surgery based on an accurate diagnosis and good prognosis.

High neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammation and is associated with poor survival in localized or metastatic cancer. Preoperative NLR in colorectal cancer reportedly correlates with recurrence-free survival and is useful as a recurrence prediction factor. No reports have yet investigated recurrence factors using postoperative NLR. This study assessed the predictive value of NLR preoperatively and on the first (NLR1) and seventh day (NLR7) postoperatively in patients with stage II colorectal cancer. We performed a retrospective cohort study involving patients undergoing colorectal resection at a single institution between January 2012 and December 2016; we used medical records of 176 consecutive patients with stage II colorectal cancer undergoing curative tumor resection. NLRs as well as clinical, histopathologic, and laboratory data were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with recurrence-free survival (RFS). Univariate analysis revealed that elevated NLR, NLR7, and lymphatic invasion were significantly associated with decreased RFS (p

Angiotensin signaling is suggested to be involved in tumorigenesis, tumor proliferation, and metastases. In colorectal cancer (CRC), it was demonstrated that angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) may reduce the risk of CRC; however, their impact on tumor recurrence remains unknown. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the impact of ACEIs/ARBs on tumor recurrence in CRC patients. We retrospectively investigated the clinicopathological data of 461 stage I–III CRC patients. We divided the patients into those who took an ACEI and/or ARB (the ACEI/ARB+ group) and those who did not (the ACEI/ARB− group), and we compared the two groups’ recurrence-free survival (RFS) using a Kaplan-Meier curve analysis and log rank test. We also examined the impact of AGTR1 expression on tumor recurrence, using two public CRC datasets. The Kaplan-Meier curves showed a trend toward improved RFS in the ACEI/ARB+ group versus the ACEI/ARB− group (p = 0.063). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that the RFS was significantly better in the ACEI/ARB+ group versus the ACEI/ARB− group in the patients with left-sided CRC (p = 0.030) and those with stage I CRC (p = 0.009). Consistent with these findings, the AGTR1 expression was higher in the left-sided versus right-sided colon (p = 0.048). High AGTR1 expression levels were associated with poor RFS in the GSE39582 dataset’s stage I–III CRC patients (p

Liquid biomarkers for the early detection of resistance to chemotherapy are important for improving prognosis. This study investigated the usefulness of plasma exosomal microRNA-125b (ex-miRNA-125b) for the early detection of resistance to modified fluorouracil, leucovorin and oxaliplatin (mFOLFOX6)-based first-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced or recurrent (advanced/recurrent) colorectal cancer (CRC). First, ex-miRNAs associated with resistance to mFOLFOX6-based chemotherapy were profiled via miRNA microarray analysis. In this analysis, ex-miR-125b exhibited the greatest upregulation in patients with progressive disease (PD) compared with the findings for patients with stable disease (SD) and healthy controls. Next, another 55 patients with advanced/recurrent CRC who received mFOLFOX6-based first-line chemotherapy underwent a validation study of ex-miR-125b. Blood samples were collected before and during treatment until tumor progression. Ex-miRNA levels were measured via TaqMan microRNA assays. Patients with CRC had significantly higher ex-miR-125b levels than healthy controls. In patients with partial responses, ex-miR-125b levels at the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) judgment point were significantly lower than those measured before treatment. In patients with SD, ex-miR-125b levels did not differ before and during treatment. In patients with PD, ex-miR-125b levels at the RECIST judgment point were significantly higher than those measured before treatment. These changes in ex-miR-125b levels were significantly different between groups even 1 month after the initiation of chemotherapy. Progression-free survival (PFS) was significantly worse in patients with high baseline ex-miR-125b levels than in those with low levels. In the Cox analysis, baseline ex-miR-125b levels and KRAS mutation were indicated to be independent prognostic factors for PFS. The present results suggest that plasma ex-miR-125b levels may be useful for the early detection of resistance to mFOLFOX6-based first-line chemotherapy. Furthermore, ex-miR-125b before chemotherapy is a predictive biomarker for PFS in patients with advanced/recurrent CRC.

The increased incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) has necessitated the development of novel prognostic and predictive factors from which new diagnostic tests could evolve. Evidence suggests the KRAS gene represents such a factor; its mutations are considered to be early indicators of CRC progression. This study assessed the prognostic impact of specific known KRAS codon 12/13 mutations on survival in patients with CRC. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue blocks or sections from primary were obtained from patients registered between 2014 and 2016 for genomic DNA extraction. KRAS gene was analyzed by direct sequencing or Luminex assay. The primary endpoint was the frequency of KRAS gene mutations and the secondary endpoints were differences in KRAS mutation rates by various stratification factors. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to investigate relationships between KRAS mutation rates and patient background factors. Sequencing of 200 CRC primary tumor samples demonstrated 74 (37.5%) with KRAS mutations in codons 12 (77%; 57/74) and 13 (23%; 17/74), all of which were TNM stages I–III. Tumors with KRAS mutations were more frequently located in the right side of the colon. Multivariate analysis indicated that G12V or G12C mutations were associated with poor prognosis [hazard ratio (HR) = 3.77, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.54–8.39 and HR = 6.57; 95% CI, 1.90–17.7, respectively] in terms of recurrence-free survival. KRAS codon 12G-to-V or G-to-C mutations are independent prognostic factors in patients with stage I–III CRC.

Background: The number of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients is increasing in Japan and other countries. Selective depletion of myeloid lineage leucocytes by adsorptive granulocyte and monocyte apheresis (GMA) with an Adacolumn (JIMRO, Takasaki, Japan) was introduced as a nonpharmacologic treatment strategy in UC patients in 2000. GMA has been reported to be effective in clinical trials; however, the effect of concomitant prednisolone (PSL) on GMA needs to be clarified. Methods: Thirty-nine patients with active UC were treated with GMA at our institute between June 2009 and September 2018. All patients received GMA therapy once or twice a week with the Adacolumn. Conventional medication was to be continued during the whole GMA treatment course. The clinical response was retrospectively evaluated. Results: According to the partial Mayo score, remission was 33.3%, significant efficacy 25.6%, effective 25.6%, and no response 15.4%. The average partial Mayo score was 6.2 ± 1.4 at entry and significantly declined to 1.8 ± 1.8 after GMA sessions (p < 0.0001). The average number of bowel movements was 9.5 ± 5.6 at entry and significantly declined to 3.0 ± 2.8 after GMA sessions (p < 0.0001). In a comparison between the group treated with concomitant PSL and the group without PSL, the change in partial Mayo score or the number of bowel movements from entry to after GMA sessions was not significantly different. Among 24 patients treated by GMA with concomitant PSL, 75% (18/24) became steroid free. Conclusions: The effect of GMA with concomitant PSL and that of GMA without PSL were not different, and GMA was effective irrespective of PSL administration. The present study showed that GMA had efficacy and led many UC patients treated by PSL to be steroid free with no safety concern in the real world, although there is the possibility of recruitment bias due to the retrospective nature of the study.

BACKGROUND Primary volvulus of the small intestine associated with chylous ascites is very rare, with only four reported cases. In this paper, we report a new case of primary volvulus associated with chylous ascites. CASE PRESENTATION The patient was a 70-year-old man. After experiencing bloating and abdominal pain for several hours, he called an ambulance and underwent an emergency examination at our hospital. Abdominal distension, pressure pain, and rebound tenderness were observed throughout his entire abdomen. The patient had a history of hypertension for which he was receiving oral treatment. Abdominal contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed an edematous change in the intestinal membrane and volvulus of the small intestine. As findings suggestive of ischemia were observed in part of the intestines, emergency surgery was performed on the day of admission. Open surgery revealed approximately 500 mL of chylous ascites in the abdominal cavity. The small intestine had twisted 180° in a counter-clockwise direction at the root of the superior mesenteric artery, and the mesentery appeared milky white with edematous changes extending 75 to 240 cm from the ligament of Treitz. There was no evidence of intestinal necrosis; therefore intestinal resection was not performed. The volvulus of the small intestine was corrected. Moreover, because there was no other underlying disease observed, surgery was completed. The ascites collected during surgery revealed high levels of triglycerides at 332 mg/dL, and chylous ascites was diagnosed. An abdominal CT performed on the third day after surgery showed an improvement in intestinal edema, and primary volvulus of the small intestine associated with chylous ascites was diagnosed. Postoperative progress was good, and the patient was discharged on hospital day 10.

Adverse events may occur in patients receiving preoperative radiotherapy (PRT) for rectal cancers. The aim of this study is to clarify the clinical and pathological features of the patients with PRT-related adverse events, and the significance of the adverse events on the clinical outcome. Seventy-five patients with T3 or T4 low rectal cancers curatively resected following PRT were studied. Thirty-one patients received radiotherapy, and 44 patients received chemoradiotherapy with tegafur-uracil and leucovorin. The total radiation dose was 50–50.4 Gy given in 25–28 fractions and the operation was performed 4–8 weeks after PRT. PRT-related adverse events were graded in accordance with the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v3.0. The most frequent adverse events were leukocytopenia and diarrhea, observed in 12% and 24% of patients, respectively. The majority of the leukocytopenia and diarrhea was grade 1–2 toxicity. Women experienced leukocytopenia more frequently than men (28% vs. 7%, p = 0.0317); however, no other predisposing factor for adverse events was recognized. Patients with leukocytopenia or diarrhea showed a better 5-year relapse-free survival rate than those without (94 ± 5% vs. 49 ± 9%, p = 0.00054), and the presence of these adverse events was an independent prognostic factor in a multivariate analysis. The presence of leukocytopenia or diarrhea was an independent predictor of a fair prognosis after curative operation following PRT, and thus these adverse events seem not to discourage oncologists and patients from considering PRT for rectal cancers.

Williams syndrome is rare and associated with physical anomalies and mental retardation. It is a disease resulting from a gene deletion of chromosome 7. The main concurrent medical conditions typically associated with Williams syndrome are heart defects such as supravalvular aortic stenosis, mental retardation, and unusual physical characteristics. It is also associated with colon diverticulosis and diverticulitis. In the present article, we report on 2 cases of diverticulitis in patients with Williams syndrome, in whom surgery was performed. In many cases of diverticulitis in patients with Williams syndrome, surgical treatment is indicated. It is important to take diverticulitis into consideration when examining a patient with Williams syndrome presenting with abdominal pain and consider surgical treatment if necessary.

がん性腹膜炎を伴う大腸がん再発症例に対しmodified oxaliplatin/l-LV/5-FU (mFOLFOX6)療法を行い, 腹水の消失, 腫瘍マーカーCA19-9の低下を認め, QOLの改善を得た１例の症例を報告する. 症例は62歳, 男性. 上行結腸がん・肝転移と診断され, 結腸右半切除, 肝右葉切除術を施行した. 外来にてTS-1を開始するも術後半年のCTにて大量の腹水貯留および腹膜播種を認め, がん性腹膜炎と診断. PS (performance status)がグレード3の状態であった. そのため, 腹水穿刺およびmFOLFOX6療法を減量し, 緩和的治療を施行した. 10コース後に腹水の消失が認められ, 腹部にあった硬結も消失し, PSはグレード1に回復した. 10カ月後の現在, mFOLFOX6療法の副作用である末梢神経障害ならびに転移性腫瘤の発現のため, CPT-11/l-LV/5-FU (FOLFIRI)療法に変更した. 経過は良好で腹部膨満もなく, 腹水も出現せず外来通院中である. Palliat Care Res 2008; 3(2): 316-320

A 67-year-old man was operated for sigmoid colon cancer. Histopathological examination revealed pT3 (SS), N0, M0, Stage Ⅱ cancer. In March 2005, abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed recurrences in the abdominal wall and associated localized dissemination. The patient underwent chemotherapy using TS-1 and CPT-11; however, the disease progressed. Therefore, surgery was performed to resect the recurrences. A re-recurrence developed during the adjuvant chemotherapy. The patient was operated 9 times for recurrences, which were macroscopically resectable, in addition to chemotherapy and radiation. It has been 3 years and 7 months since the last operation, and he is alive with no recurrence. Metachronous peritoneal seeding and distant metastasis developed, but we have observed that surgical resection of each recurrence can prolong patient survival. We conclude that surgical resection can become a treatment of choice for resectable metachronous peritoneal seeding from colon cancer.

結腸癌に対する機能的端々吻合 (functional end-to-end anastomosis; 以下, FEEA) 術後に, 腫瘍細胞のimplantationが原因と思われる吻合部再発を来した2例を経験したので報告する.症例1は68歳の男性で, 上行結腸進行癌に対してFEEAを用いた結腸右半切除術を施行. 3年4か月後, 大腸内視鏡検査にて吻合部に2型腫瘍を認め, 吻合部切除術を施行. 症例2は70歳の男性で, 横行結腸進行癌に対してFEEAを用いた結腸右半切除術を施行. 2年後, 内視鏡検査で吻合部に2型腫瘍を認め, 吻合部切除術を施行. 文献上, 本邦ではFEEA術後の吻合部再発が14例報告されている. 直腸癌手術時には吻合部再発予防として器械吻合前の腸管内洗浄が一般的であるが, 結腸癌に対するFEEAでも吻合前の腸管内洗浄や入念な消毒の必要性が示唆された. 今後, 効率的な洗浄・消毒法や手術手技の確立が望まれる.

We aimed to clarify the oncological significance of the number of lymph nodes in rectal cancers treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy.We studied 126 curatively operated patients with clinical T3-T4 and M0 rectal cancers. The number of lymph nodes and clinicopathological features were compared between the patients treated with surgery alone (OP group, n = 45) and those treated with preoperative chemoradiotherapy (50-50.4 Gy in 25-28 fractions with tegafur-uracil and leucovorin, CRT group, n = 81). Factors influencing lymph node count and its prognostic significance were analyzed.The CRT group had significantly fewer lymph nodes than the OP group (12.4 vs. 21.1, P0.0001). High histological regression of rectal lesions was significantly correlated with decreased lymph node count in the CRT group. In the OP group, the 5-year cancer-specific survival rate of the patients with 12 or more lymph nodes was significantly better than those with fewer than 12 lymph nodes (75.1% vs. 33.3%, P = 0.02); in the CRT group, on the other hand, these survival rates did not differ (84.5% vs. 77.5%, P = 0.6).The number of lymph nodes in rectal cancer was correlated with the response of primary rectal lesions to chemoradiotherapy, and was not associated with patient survival.

In patients with obstructive colorectal cancer, it is difficult to evaluate the oral site of the large bowel by colonoscopy. Instead of colonoscopy, previous studies have shown that computed tomography (CT) colonography is effective for detection of neoplastic lesions in the large bowel. In the present case, we carried out CT colonography and found superficial early cancer at the oral side of the obstructive cancer, and carried out surgical resection for both lesions. A 60-year-old man was admitted with complaints of abdominal pain and distension. Total colonoscopy could not be carried out because of the stricture of the lesion. To evaluate the proximal site of the large bowel, we carried out CT colonography, which showed a superficial lesion in the transverse colon suggestive of early cancer. He underwent surgery and an intraoperative colonoscopy of the transverse colon, which confirmed the findings of the CT colonography. The patient underwent R0 resection for both an advanced lesion and a superficial lesion. Pathological examination of the superficial lesion showed adenocarcinoma-invading submucosa. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged a week after the operation. The present case suggests the importance of CT colonography for patients with obstructive colorectal cancers to detect synchronous neoplastic lesions, including superficial early cancers.