After the introduction of new chemotherapeutic agents, including oxaliplatin and irinotecan, chemotherapy can induce tumor down-staging in patients with initially unresectable colorectal liver metastases (CRLM), which thus allows for hepatic resection. Recently, the application of thermal ablation, especially radiofrequency ablation (RFA), has been extended from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to CRLM. However, randomized trials show little evidence to support the clinical efficacy of RFA for CRLM. We herein evaluate the clinical efficacy and the role of thermal ablation for CRLM in this era of effective chemotherapy. Non-randomized retrospective studies have demonstrated the effects of RFA alone for CRLM without new chemotherapeutic agents. The three- and five-year survival rates of RFA alone for CRLM ranged from 42% to 57%, and 21% to 37%, respectively. The local recurrence rate was between 9% and 15%. In contrast, the five-year survival rates after RFA with perioperative chemotherapy of irinotecan- or oxaliplatin-based regimens ranged from 34% to 54%. The local recurrence at the site of RFA ranged from 29.7% to 42.5%. After the introduction of new chemotherapeutic agents, RFA with perioperative chemotherapy of irinotecan- or oxaliplatin-based regimens may improve the survival in patients with CRLM compared to RFA alone. However, the rate of local recurrence of RFA with perioperative chemotherapy was similar to that after RFA alone. The three- and five-year survival rates of RFA in combination with hepatic resection for CRLM ranged from 38% to 47%, and 47% to 68%, respectively. The rate of local recurrence at the site of RFA was between 5 and 17.4%, respectively.
In our study, hepatic resection combined with RFA after the FOLFOX regimen resulted in excellent local control rates (2.5% recurrence per tumor).
In this era of new and more effective chemotherapy, combining RFA with chemotherapy or hepatic resection for CRLM can extend the indications of surgical resection and further improve patient survival.

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Molecular chaperones of HSP70 family members usually work together with HSP40/DNAJ family members in protein biogenesis and protein homeostasis. In mammals, approximately 50 members of the HSP40/DNAJ family are identified so far. Here, we isolated a cDNA clone of DnaJB7, one of the HSP40/DNAJ family members, and examined the properties of DnaJB7 protein in vivo and in vitro . Since the DnaJB7 gene in the human genome has no obvious heat shock element (HSE), DnaJB7 could not be induced by heat shock in HeLa cells. While overexpressed DnaJB7 in HeLa cells was distributed to both the cytoplasm and nucleolus at normal temperature, upon heat shock it accumulated in the nucleolus, where it co-localized with Hsp70. This localization pattern was very similar to that of Hsp40 (DnaJB1). Direct interaction of Hsp70 with DnaJB7 in HeLa cells was demonstrated by immunoprecipitation. Also, DnaJB7 could stimulate the ATPase activity of Hsp70. Hsp70 had molecular chaperone activity in suppressing aggregation of heat denatured luciferase, and DnaJB7 could facilitate the chaperone activity of Hsp70. In murine tissues, DnaJB7 was highly expressed in the stomach and faintly in pancreas, uterus and ovary. These results suggest that DnaJB7 is a stomach-enriched co-chaperone of Hsp70.

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A case of lung cancer with chest wall invasion treated by preoperative thermo-chemo-radiotherapy revealed a histologically complete response after complete resection is reported.
A 55-year-old male was diagnosed as primary lung cancer originating from the right upper lobe, cT3N0M0, stage IIB. The tumor invaded the right chest wall accompanied with obstructive pneumonia at its dorsal side and was rapidly growing. Thus, preoperative thermo-chemo-radiotherapy was performed. He was treated with conventional irradiation with a 10 MV X-ray, a total dose of 40 Gy, and concurrent chemotherapy with cisplatin (CDDP) and vinorelbine (VNR). Hyperthermia was applied within 30 min after each radiotherapy with a RF-capacitive heating apparatus (Thermotron RF-8, Ymamamoto Vinyter, Osaka, Japan), 40 min/time, once a week, for a total of 4 times. The tumor revealed necrotic change on CT images after thermo-chemo-radiotherapy and was completely resected. No viable cancer cells were observed in the histological examination (Ef 3). Even 17 months later, there was no recurrence.

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