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Background : Thrombocytosis has been reported in many types of malignancies and has been studied as a prognostic factor. In the present study, we examined the incidence of thrombocytosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in order to evaluate the prognostic value of thrombocytosis. Methods : One hundred and ninety-six patients treated by radical nephrectomy for RCC were enrolled in this study. We divided the patients into a normal platelet count group and a thrombocytosis group according to the presurgical platelet count. The two groups were compared pathologically and clinically, including prognosis.Results : Thrombocytosis was present in 16 patients (8.2%). Platelet counts had normalized after nephrectomy in all patients with thrombocytosis. There was no correlation between histological type or grade and thrombocytosis. However, there were correlations between thrombocytosis and tumor size and tumor stage. Patients with thrombocytosis had a worse prognosis than patients without thrombocytosis ( P = 0.0028). When adjusted for stage or tumor size, the correlation was limited to low stage (stage 1 + 2: P = 0.0041, stage 3 + 4: P = 0.2983) or small tumors (tumor size: £ 4 cm, P = 0.0021; 4-7 cm, P = 0.0142; > 7 cm, P = 0.8158). Conclusion : Thrombocytosis is an inexpensive and easy tool with which to evaluate the prognosis of RCC patients in daily medical practice.

The low temperature specific heat of R 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 (R = Y, Lu) was measured under various magnetic fields (H) up to 8 T. In a zero field, electronic specific heat of Y 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 shows a T 3 dependence, indicating an anisotropic superconducting gap, although that of Lu 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 shows an exponential dependence. In addition, the coefficient of the T -linear term γ(H) of Y 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 in specific heat in the mixed state is found to obey a square root dependence. This is another evidence that Y 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 has the anisotropic superconducting gap. On the other hand, the γ(H) of Lu 5 Rh 6 Sn 18 shows linear dependence, which means the isotropic superconducting gap.

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Liposarcomas are one of the most common soft tissue sarcomas of adulthood. Liposarcomas are remarkable because of their frequently large size. We report a case with an extremely large dedifferentiated liposarcoma that weighed 18 kg. Although it was capsulated and could be excised en bloc, the patient suffered a relapse 9 months later and died 1 year after the operation.