All issues
Volume 56, Issue 1+2
Displaying 1-5 of 5 articles from this issue
- |<
- <
- 1
- >
- >|
Original Contribution
-
YUTAKA OGATA, TERUO SASATOMI, YOSHITO AKAGI, NOBUYA ISHIBASHI, SHINJIR ...2009 Volume 56 Issue 1+2 Pages 1-7
Published: September 30, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: January 26, 2010
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe anti-angiogenic efficacy of chemotherapy would seem to be optimized by administering comparatively lower doses of drugs on a more frequent (daily, several times a week, or weekly) or continuous schedule, with no extended interruptions – sometimes referred to as ‘metronomic’ chemotherapy. This phase I study was performed to determine the recommended dosage (RD) of metronomic chemotherapy using oral fluoropyrimidine S-1 plus weekly irinotecan (CPT-11) in patients with previously untreated advanced or recurrent colorectal cancer. Patients received first-line chemotherapy consisting of 80 mg/m2 of S-1 given on days 3 to 7, 10 to 14, and 17 to 21 with escalating dosages of CPT-11 (from 40 mg/m2) administered intravenously on day 1, 8, and 15 of a 28-day cycle. Standard patient eligibility criteria were used. Based on the concept of metronomic chemotherapy, dose limiting toxicity (DLT) was defined any toxicity that resulted in skipping of CPT-11 administration, or more than 5 days suspension in S-1 administration, in addition to the conventional criteria. If the maximum tolerated dosage (MTD) was defined as the maximum dosage at which no suspension of CPT-11 or S-1 administration occurred, the RD was considered to be the dosage one rank lower than the MTD. On the other hand, in the present study the MTD was defined as the dosage at which at least one suspension of CPT-11 or S-1 administration occurred, the MTD was considered to be the RD. Two of the first 3 patients at level 4 received 60 mg/m2 of CPT-11 and 80 mg/m2 of S-1 experienced a suspension in CPT-11 administration, thus level 4 was defined as the MTD and RD. Sixty mg/m2 of CPT-11 and 80 mg/m2 of S-1 were the indicated RD for the following phase II study of metronomic chemotherapy.View full abstractDownload PDF (591K) -
TAKUMI KAWAGUCHI, RYOKO KURUMATSU, TATSUYA IDE, EITARO TANIGUCHI, MINO ...2009 Volume 56 Issue 1+2 Pages 9-15
Published: September 30, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: January 26, 2010
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSIn patients with chronic liver diseases, thrombocytopenia is a common manifestation which interferes with antiviral therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV), and with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treatment. While thrombopoietin-receptor agonist is expected to improve thrombocytopenia for patients with chronic liver diseases in 2-3 weeks, there is still a lack of fundamental data about short-term variations in the natural course of platelet count in cirrhotic patients, and the impact of thrombocytopenia on antiviral therapy for HCV-infected patients and patients being treated for HCC. The aims of this study are to investigate sequential changes in platelet count and the impact of thrombocytopenia on antiviral therapy and HCC treatment in patients with chronic liver diseases. A total of 726 chronic liver disease patients were enrolled in this study. Changes of platelet count were examined during a 4-week follow-up. Risk of discontinuation or reduction of peginterferon dosage was evaluated in HCV patients with moderate thrombocytopenia (5-10×104/μL). Risk of platelet transfusion or splenectomy was evaluated in HCC patients with severe thrombocytopenia (<5×104/μL). No significant changes of platelet count were observed in cirrhotic patients with thrombocytopenia during a 4-week follow-up. The rate of discontinuation or reduction in dosage of peginterferon was 85.2% (23/27) in patients with moderate thrombocytopenia. Risk of discontinuation or reduction of peginterferon dosage was 3.4-times higher in HCV patients with thrombocytopenia than in those without thrombocytopenia. In HCC patients with severe thrombocytopenia, the frequency of platelet transfusion or splenectomy during HCC treatment was 57.9% (22/38). Risk of platelet transfusion or splenectomy in HCC patients with thrombocytopenia was 57.9-times higher than in those without thrombocytopenia. In conclusion, we demonstrated no significant variation in the short-term natural course of platelet count in cirrhotic patients. In chronic liver disease patients with moderate and severe thrombocytopenia, about 85% of patients treated with peginterferon, and 60% of patients receiving HCC treatments suffered from thrombocytopenia-related limitations, respectively.View full abstractDownload PDF (622K) -
YUKA SATOU, TATSUYA ISHITAKE, HIDEO ANDO, KAORI NAGATOMI, MICHIKO HOSH ...2009 Volume 56 Issue 1+2 Pages 17-23
Published: September 30, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: January 26, 2010
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSThe purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of different vibration frequencies on wakefulness level. Subjects were 7 healthy male university students aged 21.9±1.6 years (mean). All students were non-smokers. Three exposure conditions were used (10 Hz vibration, 20 Hz vibration, and no vibration). Whole-body vertical vibration was applied to subjects sitting on a car passenger seat using a whole-body vibration shaker (CV-300, Akashi) at a single frequency (10 or 20 Hz) at an acceleration level of 0.3 ms-2 r.m.s. for 24 min. The objective wakefulness level based on EEGs was evaluated in terms of the alpha attenuation coefficient (AAC) obtained by the Alpha Attenuation Test (AAT). As parameters of psychological stress, salivary 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) and homovanillic acid (HVA) were used. The subjective wakefulness level was evaluated using a questionnaire based on the Kwansei Gakuin Sleepiness Scale (KSS), which is a scale developed for the Japanese based on the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS). The KSS score, representing the subjective wakefulness level, decreased after the exposure irrespective of the exposure condition, but the decrease was not significant. The AAC, representing the objective wakefulness level, significantly decreased only after vibration exposure (10 Hz/20 Hz) but did not differ between the two vibration frequencies. No significant changes were observed after exposure to whole-body vibration in MHPG or HVA as parameters of vibration-related stress. The AAC decreased after exposure to whole-body vibration (10 Hz/20 Hz), suggesting a decrease in the wakefulness level. However, no differences were observed in the influence of the two different vibration frequencies test.View full abstractDownload PDF (692K) -
EIJI NAKAMURA, HIDETOSHI AKASHI, SHINICHI HIROMATSU, ATSUHISA TANAKA, ...2009 Volume 56 Issue 1+2 Pages 25-32
Published: September 30, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: January 26, 2010
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSWe investigated the changes of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -9 in the peripheral blood samples of patients undergoing endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), and the effect of azelnidipine on plasma MMP-9 levels in those patients. Levels of MMP-9 were measured in 22 patients who underwent EVAR for AAAs, and results were compared between a group receiving 16 mg azelnidipine daily (n=12) and a control group without azelnidipine (n=10). Measurements were taken preoperatively, and at 1 month and 3 months, postoperatively. Patients without endoleaks after EVAR showed a significant decrease in mean plasma MMP-9 levels (preoperative value: 39.5±14.3 ng/mL, after 1 month: 25.0±12.6, after 3 months: 28.2±10.2 ng/mL; P=0.004). In contrast, no significant decreases in mean plasma MMP-9 levels were observed in the patients with endoleaks after EVAR (preoperative value: 37.5±9.0 ng/mL, after 1 month: 26.8±8.4, after 3 months: 38.5±15.7 ng/mL; P=0.219). Moreover, among patients without endoleaks, those receiving azelnidipine showed a significantly greater decrease in the mean plasma MMP-9 levels for 3 months postoperatively (preoperative value: 47.7±13.2 ng/mL, after 1 month: 26.6±12.8, after 3 months: 26.1±11.4 ng/mL; P‹0.001) compared with the control group without endoleaks (preoperative value: 31.3±10.5 ng/mL, after 1 month: 33.4±12.1, after 3 months: 30.3±9.1 ng/mL; P=0.792). These results showed that azelnidipine treatment in patients without endoleak after EVAR was associated with a significant decrease in mean plasma MMP-9 levels for 3 months postoperatively.View full abstractDownload PDF (613K)
Case Report
-
MIKI TAKENAKA, MAKI TANAKA, MAKOTO ISOBE, RIN YAMAGUCHI, MASAMICHI KOJ ...2009 Volume 56 Issue 1+2 Pages 33-37
Published: September 30, 2009
Released on J-STAGE: January 26, 2010
JOURNAL FREE ACCESSAngiosarcoma of the breast is a rare non-epithelial tumor and that accounts for less than 0.1% of primary malignancies of the breast. The disease has a relatively higher occurrence among young people, and its prognosis (3-year-survival of only 38%) is extremely poor compared to breast cancer. Here we present a case of an 87-year-old woman who had undergone bilateral breast augmentation with silicone injections in her youth. Although she became aware of a tumor in her right breast, she waited 8 years before seeking treatment. She felt the tumor growing and experienced swelling and pain, but she ended up declining therapy at that time. Two years later she was brought to our hospital by ambulance for continuous bleeding from the same tumor of the breast, which by that time was over 11 cm in diameter. We performed emergency mastectomy. The histological diagnosis was angiosarcoma of the breast with silicone granuloma.View full abstractDownload PDF (1578K)
- |<
- <
- 1
- >
- >|