We investigated 115 patients with salivary gland epithelial tumors who had undergone preoperative fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) of salivary glands and had been diagnosed by postoperative histopathological examination. We compared the findings of preoperative FNAC with their histopathological types in salivary gland tumors, and discuss the results and problems. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of preoperative FNAC of salivary glands were 98.2%, 88.2%, and 100%, respectively. The percentage of inadequate specimens was 6.1%. The rates of agreement in the diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma, Warthin tumor, and basal cell adenoma were 96%, 92.9%, and 55.5%, respectively. The rate of agreement of histopathological types in the malignant tumors was 30%. We realized again not only that the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative FNAC for salivary gland tumors was high, but also that it was a safe, easy-to-perform, clinically very useful diagnostic procedure. However, this study exposed several problems which are the inadequate sampling rate and the difficulty in diagnosing malignant tumors. We have been making efforts to take appropriate specimens by writing comments on the cytological report indicating a re-examination, or by the presence of the clinical laboratory technician at the FNAC procedure. We consider it necessary to adequately re-aspirate the solid portion after cyst fluid aspiration, or to re-perform FNAC at a later date, and to improve the diagnostic accuracy by further experience with more patients.

Mina53 (mina) was identified as a gene, which is directly induced by the oncogene c-myc. Elevated expression of Mina53 protein was found in >80% of colon cancer and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Patients with high expression of Mina53 had shorter survival, suggesting the prognostic usefulness of Mina53. We studied Mina53 expression in lymphoma subtypes to examine its diagnostic significance and its possible role in lymphoma-genesis. Surgical cases of 28 lymphoma and 4 non-neoplastic tissues were stained immunochemically using anti-Mina53 monoclonal antibody. Mina53 expression correlated well with c-Myc expression in lymphoma, suggesting that c-Myc is a controlling factor for mina53 expression also in lymphomas. Although the expression of Mina53 as well as c-Myc was less frequent in lymphoma compared with those of colon and ESCC, increased expression of Mina53 was found in Burkitt-like lymphoma (1/1), Hodgkin's lymphoma (3/5), diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (5/13), lymphomas with a transition from follicular to DLBCL (1/2), with none in follicular (0/4) and T cell lymphoma (0/3). Analyses of the data suggested that Mina53 was frequently expressed in aggressive types of B cell lymphoma. To get more information about the expression of Mina53 in DLBCL, which most frequently occurs among lymphomas, we analyzed the expression of Mina53 in another 21 DLBCL specimens, which were in more advanced stages than those described above. The expression level of Mina53 correlated to the international prognostic index (IPI) values with statistical significance (r=0.477, P=0.0275). Notably, in this group, Mina53 expression did not correlate with c-Myc expression, suggesting that other factor(s) besides c-Myc largely affect the expression of Mina53 in advanced DLBCL. These results suggest that although Mina53 expression is not prominent in lymphoma in general, it may be related to tumor progression of B cell lymphoma.

Stellate cells in the macula flava and CD44 cooperatively play important roles in maintaining hyaluronic acid in the human vocal fold mucosa as a vibrating tissue.

This paper reviews 22 cases of minor salivary gland carcinoma of the oral cavity or oropharynx which were treated at Kurume University Hospital between 1976 and 2005. Minor salivary gland carcinoma was observed in eight of 362 patients with cancer of the oral cavity (2 per cent), and in 14 of 275 patients with cancer of the oropharynx (5 per cent). The five-year and 10-year survival rates of patients with oropharyngeal minor salivary gland carcinoma were 90 per cent. No statistically significant difference was observed between survival rates for oropharyngeal minor salivary gland carcinoma and for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (p = 0.06). The five- and 10-year survival rates of patients with oral cavity minor salivary gland carcinoma were 75 and 37 per cent, respectively. No statistically significant difference was observed between survival rates for oral cavity minor salivary gland carcinoma and oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma.Patients' survival results correlated well with the clinical stage of their lesions. A significant difference in survival was observed, comparing stage IV with stages I, II and III (p = 0.04). In contrast, no significant relationship was found between either survival and tumour type or survival and treatment. Adjuvant therapy is recommended for patients with grade III adenoid cystic carcinoma with perineural infiltration or intravascular infiltration.

The active form of vitamin B12 (methylcobalamin) has been reported to be effective on sleep‐wake rhythm disorders. Previous studies, however, were performed under open trial, and the effect of vitamin B12 has not been properly evaluated. The aim of this double‐blind study was to investigate the efficacy of methylcobalamin on delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS). Methylcobalamin (3 mg/day) or placebo was administered for 4 weeks. The subjects were 50 patients with DSPS aged 13–55 years (26.8 ± 1.3), 27 of whom received the active drug while 23 received the placebo. No significant differences were observed between the 2 groups in subjective evaluations of mood or drowsiness during the daytime or in night sleep by sleep‐log evaluation. These results indicate that 3 mg methylcobalamin administered over 4 weeks is not an effective treatment for DSPS.