No abstract

The prognosis of patients with scirrhous gastric cancer (SGC) is extremely poor. However, recent advances in therapeutic strategies against SGC, using effective anticancer drugs, have prolonged the survival of patients with SGC. This paper reviews the recent therapeutic outcomes of this type of gastric cancer and introduces a new treatment protocol for SGC.

Pylorus-preserving gastrectomy patients had fewer postoperative complications than DG patients. The long-term follow-up of these patients will clarify the nutritional and prognostic benefits of PPG.

Locally advanced carcinomas arising in the hypopharynx, cervical esophagus, or thyroid are traditionally treated by resection of the hypopharynx and cervical esophagus. Various methods of reconstruction aiming to achieve safety and functionality have been reported, including the myocutaneous flap and the free jejunal graft. With advances in microscopic surgery, the free jejunal transplant is now used dominantly; however, this procedure is not without major risks. In this review we examine the short- and long-term complications of this procedure. We also describe our technique of free jejunal graft reconstruction after pharyngoesophagectomy and total laryngectomy with definitive tracheostomy. We used free jejunal graft reconstruction after resection with hypopharyngeal cancer or thyroid cancers in 22 patients. Twenty-one of these patients acquired a good quality of life, but one died after loss of the jejunal graft. Thus, using a free jejunal graft for reconstruction of the hypopharynx or cervical esophagus can be very useful in improving the quality of life of patients.

Background/Aims: DNA methylation plays an important roles in the regulation of gene expression. Gene silencing by aberrant hypermethylation of CpG islands in gene promoter regions in frequently found in human cancers. By the assistance of DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs), methyl groups are transferred to promoter CpG islands, many tumor suppressor gene can be silenced by promoter CpG islands methylation. However, studies on DNMTs in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are rare, and there are no immunohistochemical studies on the correlations with these expressions and HCC patient's suvival. Methods : We immunohistochemically examined the expression of DNMT1, DNMT3a and DNMT3b and the relationships between these expressions and histological grade, clinicopathological parameters and patient's survival in 95 patients with HCC. Results : DNMT1, DNMT3a and DNMT3b immunoreactivities were presented in nuclei of HCC cells. In the tumorous lesion, the number of positive immunoreactivities was 95/95 (100%) for DNMT1, 87/95 (92%) for DNMT3a and 81/95 (85%) for DNMT3b. The degree of each protein expression significantly correlated with tumor differentiation and intrahepatic metastasis, and only DNMT3a protein expression significantly correlated with portal vein imvolvement of tumor. Though there were no relations between the DNMTs expression and tumor size, over-expressions of DNMT3a and 3b proteins were associated with poor prognosis of HCC's patients. Moreover, the overall survival rate of patients group that showed over-expression of three DNMTs in tumorous lesion was significantly lower than it of other patients groups. Conclusion : DNMTs are involved in HCC progression, and their overexpression is associated with poor prognosis. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 185.