It is widely accepted that aberrant activation of the Wnt signaling pathway is responsible for the development of precursor lesions of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the molecular mechanisms involved in the process of progression from these precursor lesions to invasive lesions of CRC are not fully understood. Recently, we reported that constitutive activation of MAPK accompanied by downregulation of dual‐specificity phosphatase 4 (DUSP4), a MAPK phosphatase, contributes to the progression of precursor lesions in the pancreas. In this study, we found that downregulation of DUSP4 was related to constitutive activation of ERKs in CRC cells. Restoration of DUSP4 resulted in inactivation of ERKs, leading to suppression of both proliferation and invasiveness, as shown by treatment with an MEK inhibitor. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry revealed that DUSP4 expression was upregulated in the superficial region of CRC tissue, whereas it was significantly downregulated in the deep region. In contrast, ERKs in the deep region were markedly hyperactivated compared to those in the superficial region. These results suggest that activation of the MAPK signaling pathway caused by downregulation of DUSP4 is responsible for progression of CRCs and would be a promising therapeutic target.

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The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of kanamycin (KM) plus metronidazole (MNZ) administration as an oral antibiotic bowel preparation (OABP) for incisional surgical site infection (SSI) in colorectal cancer surgery. Methods: Three hundred forty-four patients who underwent elective colorectal surgery at our department from April 2010 to March 2015 were enrolled in this retrospective study. The patients were divided into three groups based on their OABP method: without OABP (n = 178), KM only (n = 87), and KM + MNZ (n = 79). We evaluated the incidence of adverse events and analyzed an association between the incidence of incisional SSI and variable factors using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: Incisional SSI rates in each group were 14.0 (without OABP), 13.8 (KM only), and 1.3 (KM + MNZ). The KM + MNZ group had a significant lower SSI incidence than the other groups (P 0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events among the groups. Risk factors for SSI were male (P = 0.035) and without KM + MNZ (P = 0.011). Conclusions: Administration of KM + MNZ as OABP was effective in preventing incisional SSI in colorectal cancer surgery.

In the elderly patients, LN metastasis in advanced gastric cancer of ≤40 mm in diameter was limited to be within the perigastric area. Gastrectomy with only perigastric LN dissection may be adopted in these patients.

Background Skeletal muscle metastasis from gastric cancer is rare and has a poor prognosis. We reported a case of gluteal muscle metastasis with peritoneal dissemination from gastric cancer during postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Case presentation A 64-year-old man with gastric cancer underwent distal gastrectomy with D2 lymph node resection. The pathological diagnosis was poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and signet cell carcinoma, T3N3bM0, Stage IIIC. Metastases were found in all regional lymph nodes, except 11p. The resection margin was negative. S-1 plus docetaxel therapy was administered as postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. Six month post-operation, the patient presented with right gluteal muscle tenderness and abdominal distension. Computed tomography revealed a solid mass in the right gluteal muscle, a disseminated nodule on the abdominal wall, and massive ascites. Pathological examination of the gluteal muscle revealed signet cell carcinoma, similar to the resected gastric cancer. The tumor was diagnosed as gastric cancer metastases. Ascites cytology was class V. Thereafter, the patient underwent one course of capecitabine plus cisplatin combined with trastuzumab. Radiation therapy was also administered to relieve the pain of gluteal muscle metastasis. However, chemoradiotherapy was ineffective, and the patient died 2 months after the recurrence. Conclusions Skeletal muscle metastasis and peritoneal dissemination during adjuvant chemotherapy indicated a poor prognosis.