Personalized therapy based on targetable genetic aberrations has become a standard therapy for cases of lung adenocarcinoma (LADC) harboring EGFR mutations and ALK fusions. The effects of such personalized therapy are significantly positive with a higher response rate and longer survival compared to conventional chemotherapy. Therefore, further identification of druggable genetic aberrations and the development of molecular targeting drugs for them are required. For LADC, several new targeted drugs against driver mutations in EGFR, KRAS, HER2, and BRAF; and driver fusions involving ALK, RET, and ROS1 have been developed, and clinical trials of these new targeted drugs are currently being conducted. On the other hand, personalized therapy against driver mutations has not well progressed in squamous cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. For those subtypes, immunotherapy might be an effective treatment strategy.

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Background: Single port laparoscopic surgery has been rapidly developing worldwide, with the potential for replacing conventional laparoscopic surgery.
Objective: Identification and evaluation of the safety, benefits and disadvantages of single port laparoscopic procedures through presentation of our experience.
Design: Retrospective review of surgical procedures and outcomes for two-hundred-fifty-eight consecutive cases of single port laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancers, between September 2009 and March 2015.
Main Outcomes: Descriptive analysis of patients’ background characteristics (age, sex and cancer location), operative details (type, duration, intra-operative bleeding volume, intra-operative complication, conversion to open surgery), and postoperative follow-up (complications within 30 days).
Results: Cases included ileocaecal resection (n=36), right hemicolectomy (n=54), transverse colectomy (n=21), left hemicolectomy (n=25), sigmoidectomy (n=33), high anterior resection (n=68), low anterior resection (n=24), and abdominoperineal resection (n=1). Patient group included 137 men, 121 women, with a median age of 71 years (range, 26-94). Operative details included a median duration of 234.5min (range, 90-541) and a median blood loss was 70ml (range, 0-2560). The median follow-up period was 253 days (range, 13-703), with 21 reported complications in 17 patients.
Conclusions: Single-port transumbilical laparoscopic surgery is feasible and safe provided that the surgery is performed by experienced surgeons, compared to multiport laparoscopic procedures for colorectal cancers.

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Background: Recently, galectin-3 was reported to induce in vitro secretion of metastasis-promoting cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-6, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1).
Materials and Methods: We investigated galectin-3 serum levels in 48 patients with colorectal carcinoma before treatment and 20 healthy volunteers in relation to angiogenetic factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), IL-6, G-CSF and sICAM-1.
Results: The serum levels of galectin-3 (3.1 ± 1.4 [healthy volunteers] vs. 9.5 ± 4.5 ng/ml[patients]), IL-6 (5.3 ± 4.2 vs. 12.9 ± 12.0 pg/ml), VEGF (270.4 ± 108.7 vs. 429.2 ± 410.5 pg/ml), G-CSF (93.6 ± 40.4 vs. 140.6 ± 83.0 pg/ml), and sICAM-1 (189.7 ± 61.0 vs. 297.5 ± 145.6 ng/ml) were significantly higher in the patients with colorectal carcinoma than in the healthy volunteers (P < 0.01, P < 0.01, P = 0.02, P = 0.01, and P < 0.01, respectively). Serum galectin-3 level correlated with the level of IL-6 (r = 0.360, P = 0.03), VEGF (r = 0.408, P < 0.01), and sICAM-1 (r = 0.474, P < 0.01). The patients with high serum galectin-3 (≥10 ng/ml) was associated with poorer prognosis than those with low galectin-3 (< 10 ng/ml) in all the patients (P = 0.047), and in the patients with stage III disease (P = 0.04).
Conclusions: The concentration of serum galectin-3 correlated with IL-6, VEGF, and sICAM-1, and was associated with poorer prognosis in patients with colorectal carcinoma.

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This clinical study is being conducted to verify the efficacy and safety of oxaliplatin combined with a fluoropyrimidine derivative as adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with stage III colon cancer, since few clinical data are available for Japanese patients. The mFOLFOX6 and XELOX regimens are being investigated. The primary endpoint is 3-year disease-free survival, while the secondary endpoints are safety, the completion rate of study therapy, 2-year disease-free survival, and overall survival. It is planned to enroll 130 patients.

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Background: Although intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms (IPMNs) have become recognized as the most common cystic tumors of the pancreas, evaluations of the prognostic factors of invasive IPMN have not yet been firmly established. Furthermore, the significance of galectin-3 expression in the prognosis of IPMN has not yet examined.
Materials and Methods: We retrospectively examined galectin-3 expression immunohistochemically in 53 patients with IPMNs who underwent resection: 28 patients with non-invasive IPMN (including 3 patients with IPMN with carcinoma in situ component), and 25 patients with invasive IPMN.
Results: The intranuclear accumulation of galectin-3 (gal-3-INA) was more frequently encountered in patients with invasive IPMN than with non-invasive IPMN (P = 0.038). Incidences of background fibrosis and dilatation of the main pancreatic duct were higher in the high-galectin-3 expression group than in the low-galectin-3 expression group (P = 0.0041 and 0.006, respectively). Incidence of background fibrosis was also higher in patients with gal-3-INA than without gal-3-INA (P = 0.011). The presence of gal-3-INA was higher in the high-galectin-3 expression group than in the low-galectin-3 expression group (P = 0.014). The high-galectin-3- expression group and the patients with gal-3-INA had a significantly poorer prognosis than the low-galectin-3-expression group and those without gal-3-INA (P = 0.020 and P = 0.014, respectively). Multivariate analysis using a Cox regression model revealed that gal-3-INA was an independent prognostic factor (hazard ratio: 5.162, 95% confidential interval: 1.033-25.807, P = 0.046).
Conclusions: The presence of gal-3-INA is an independent prognostic factor for patients with invasive IPMN.

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Background and Aims: The significance of circulating galectin-3 in esophageal cancer has not yet been elucidated. The aim of this study was to identify the relationships between circulating galectin-3 and angiogenetic, nutritional, and inflammatory factors in patients with stage IV esophageal cancer.
Materials and Methods: We investigated the relationships between the level of circulating galectin-3 and angiogenetic factors, such as interleukin (IL)-6, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), and nutritional and inflammatory indicators in 11 patients with stage IV esophageal cancer.
Results: The concentration of galectin-3 in patients with stage IV esophageal cancer was significantly higher than in healthy volunteers. The amount of circulating galectin-3 correlated with the amount of serum IL-6 (r = 0.636, P < 0.05), VEGF (r = 0.721, P < 0.05), sICAM-1 (r = 0.745, P < 0.01), and C-reactive protein (r = 0.786, P < 0.05), as well as the lymphocyte count (r = −0.718, P < 0.05), and the neutrophil / lymphocyte ratio (r = 0.718, P < 0.05).
Conclusions: Galectin-3 may play a key role in progression of tumors by increasing the production of angiogenetic factors, leading to malnutrition by persistent systemic inflammation.

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Background and Aims: Several investigators have reported the significance of circulating galectin-3 in thyroid cancer patients. However, the precise meaning of circulating galectin-3 remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between serum galectin-3 levels and angiogenetic factors, and nutritional and inflammatory indicators in patients with thyroid cancer.
Materials and Methods: Sixty-one patients with thyroid tumors were enrolled, comprising 47 pre-treatment thyroid cancer patients and 14 patients with benign thyroid diseases. Galectin-3, interleukin (IL)-6, vascular endothelial growth factor, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF), soluble form of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), retinol binding protein, prealbumin, albumin, and transferrin were measured. C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) were also investigated.
Results: The amounts of circulating galectin-3 in benign disease and thyroid cancer were significantly higher than those of healthy volunteers (P < 0.001). Analysis of galectin-3 performance in distinguishing malignant disease from benign disease using a receiver operating characteristic curve revealed that the area under the curve was 0.555. There were statistically significant correlations between the circulating amount of galectin-3 and IL6, G-CSF, and sICAM-1. Serum galectin-3 showed statistically significant correlations with albumin, prealbumin, and transferrin. Circulating galectin-3 exhibited strong correlations with CRP, neutrophil count, lymphocyte count, and NLR.
Conclusions: Galectin-3 may be one of the key factors in the regulation of angiogenesis, inflammation, and nutrition.

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Date of correction: 2016/05/20

Correction: affiliation

There was an error in the affiliation number 3.

Details: Wrong : 3) Department of Surgery, Sakura Medical Center, School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Toho University

Right : 3)First Department of Surgery, Dokkyo Medical University

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