Several clinical cohort and case-control studies have suggested a link between diabetes and colon cancer. Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fat (OLETF) rats spontaneously develop type 2 diabetes mellitus and Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats are non-diabetic. The relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus and colon cancer was examined in these rats. The carcinogen 1,2-dimethylhydrazine was administered subcutaneously once weekly for 10 weeks, and the animals were killed and necropsied in week 29. All OLETF rats and 80% of the LETO rats developed cancer. The number of colon cancers per rat was significantly greater in the diabetic than in the non-diabetic rats. Although the tumours tended to be larger in diabetic rats, the difference was not statistically significant. No significant differences were observed in the depth of invasion or histological type of cancer in the two groups. Type 2 diabetes mellitus may enhance the generation and growth of colon cancer.

The anticancer drugs, like 5-Fluorouracil, which are believed to interfere with enzyme protein synthesis in the exocrine cells of pancreas were administered intravenously to fifteen patients with various pancreatic diseases. The improvement of clinical symptoms and the diminution of serum and urinary amylase levels were observed in four cases with acute pancreatitis and two cases with chronic relapsing pancreatitis. The postoperative complications, namely the formation of pancreatic fistula and the rupture of pancreaticojejunostomy, or the aggravation of concomitant pancreatitis were not observed in three cases with benign surgical pancreatic diseases and six cases with pancreatic carcinoma. Furthermore, the diminution of amylase and protein output of pancreatic juice from canulae inserted into pancreatic ducts were observed.

Background:  Respiratory suppression is observed during endoscopy under sedation. If respiratory suppression can be predicted before endoscopy, incidental complications can conceivably be prevented. In the present study, we focused on the relation between respiratory suppression from sedation and lung function. Methods:  A total of 211 patients underwent respiratory function tests before the surgical operation and gave written informed consent individually to participate in this study. We investigated the relation between respiratory suppression from sedation and lung function. During the endoscopic procedure, when blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) fell to below 90%, the patient was evaluated as ‘respiratory suppression present’. Results:  Sedation lowered SpO2 by an average of 6.0%, and was significantly lower than the prior to sedation blood oxygen saturation (PreSpO2). Compared to patients with SpO2 maintained up to 90%, patients with SpO2 fallen below 90% were significantly older, shorter in stature, lighter in bodyweight, and more commonly female. Furthermore, respiratory suppression from sedation was influenced by vital capacity (VC) and PreSpO2. Multivariate analysis was performed, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve constructed for the respiratory suppression prediction model based on age, height, VC and PreSpO2 yielded area under the curve (AUC) of 0.79. As VCpredict can be calculated from age and height, the three variables of age, height and VC in the above model were substituted with VCpredict resulting in a two‐factor model based on VCpredict and PreSpO2. The ROC curve of the two‐factor model had AUC of 0.77, which was slightly decreased but by no means inferior. Conclusion:  Predicting respiratory suppression from VCpredict and PreSpO2 is clinically relevant with the additional benefit of simplicity.

The results of hepatic resection for patients with primary liver malignancy seen at our clinic during the past 21 years are reported. Of 92 patients, 57 had cirrhosis in addition to hepatocellular carcinoma, and 49 (53 percent) underwent hepatic resection of various degrees from partial resection to trisegmentectomy. Resectability rates of the liver were 52 percent in 77 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, including 19 in whom the tumor was less than 5 cm in diameter, and 60 percent in 15 patients with other malignant tumors; operative mortality rates were 15 percent in the former and 0 percent in the latter. Cumulative survival rates of all patients who underwent hepatic resection, excluding death within one month, were 55 percent at one year, 29 at 3 and 5 years. In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, survival rates of 15 those who had a curative resection of the tumor were 87 percent at one year and 47 percent at 3 or 5 years, there was a significant difference in survival curves between those with tumors less than 5 cm and more than 5 cm (p less than 0.05). On the other hand, survival rates of all patients with other malignant tumors were 78 percent at one year and 37 percent at 5 years. These results indicate the importance of performing hepatic resection for patients with small hepatocellular carcinoma associated with cirrhosis and those with other malignant tumors.

No abstract