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Accurate predication of axillary node status by non-invasive diagnostic method would be of great value in cases of breast cancer. There have been few reports advocating digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as specifically advantageous for the detection of lymph node metastasis. IV (intravenous)-DSA was carried out on 42 patients with breast carcinoma using a DSA system with a matrix of 1024 x 1024 pixels. When a mass became stained in the axilla, it was considered to be metastatic. An immunohistochemical technique with JC70 antibody to platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecules was used to evaluate the microvascular density (MVD) of the axillary lymph nodes. IV-DSA achieved a 76.2% sensitivity, 85.7% specificity, and 81.0% accuracy. The average MVD with JC70 antibody was 97.7 +/- 44.4 in metastatic and 62.9 +/- 23.6 in nonmetastatic nodes. MVD was significantly higher in the cancerous than in the noncancerous regions within lymph nodes. The MVD was 105 +/- 38.4 in DSA-N(+) cases and was 57.8 +/- 21.9 in DSA-N(-) cases, and the difference was statistically significant. In conclusion, IV-DSA is a useful diagnostic modality for detection of axillary lymph node metastasis. This new modality predicts lymph node status by assessing the neovascularization of the lymph node.

Carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) are not only ingested from the environment but are also formed endogenously from precursors. It has been reported that nitrate, an NOC precursor, has an enterosalivary cycle and that the cycle increases the chance of exposure to NOCs. However, there is no information on the salivary excretion of NOCs. In the present study, the toxicokinetics of N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) in dogs was evaluated, focusing on the salivary excretion. Following intravenous injection of 2 mg/kg NDMA, the plasma concentration showed a monoexponential decline, and the total body clearance and apparent distribution volume were greatly in excess of the hepatic plasma flow and total body water, respectively. A high concentration of NDMA was immediately detected in the plasma after oral administration of the same dose, and the oral bioavailability was almost 100%. NDMA was rapidly excreted into the saliva after both treatments, and the concentration in saliva was higher than that in the plasma. These results suggest that NDMA also has an enterosalivary cycle: NDMA is partially excreted from blood into saliva, delivered into the gastrointestinal tract by swallowing the saliva, and then completely reabsorbed into the systemic circulation. This concept was also supported by kinetic analysis based on a compartment model. The enterosalivary cycle of NDMA cannot be ignored in the risk assessment of carcinogenesis.

Understanding the hemoglobin switching regulation mechanism in extremely premature infants is particularly important for understanding the extrauterine adaptation of the infants. In this study, we sought to identify factors influencing oxygen affinity in fetal blood and neonatal blood and obtained these results.Aging is required for hemoglobin switching. Switching in premature infants (27 to 32 weeks) is delayed at least 3 weeks in comparison with full-term infants.A delay in the switching of fetal hemoglobin to adult hemoglobin was confirmed in IUGR (intrauterine growth retardation) infants. However, there is a compensatory increase in 2, 3-DPG for adaptation after birth. A delay in 2, 3-DPG increase was observed in RDS (respiratory distress syndrome) infants, and oxygen affinity remained high.

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