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Although the prognosis of most patients with stage IV-A HCC is poor, administration of enteric-coated tegafur/uracil induces long-term survival and is an effective treatment for stage IV-A HCC.

SUMMARYThe age-dependent variation in the proportion and number of lymphocyte subsets was examined at various extrathymic sites, including the liver, small intestine, colon and appendix in mice. In comparison with young mice (4 weeks of age), the number of total lymphocytes yielded by all tested organs was greater in adult (9 weeks) and old (40 weeks) mice. The major lymphocyte subset that expanded with age was interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) b + CD3 int cells (50% of them expressed NK1.1) in the liver, whereas it was CD3 + IL-2Rb -NK1.1 -cells at all intraepithelial sites in the intestine. Although NK1.1 + CD3 + cells were present at intraepithelial sites in the intestine, the proportion of this subset was rather low. The ratio of CD4 to CD8 tended to decrease among natural killer T (NKT) cells and T cells at all intraepithelial sites in the intestine with age. A unique population of double-positive CD4 + CD8 + cells in the small intestine increased in old mice. B220 + T cells were found mainly in the appendix and colon, and the proportion of these T cells decreased in old mice. Conventional NKT cells were very few in Ja281 -/--and CD1d -/--mice in the liver, while NKT cells which existed in the appendix remained unchanged even in these mice. This was because unconventional CD8 + NKT cells were present in the intestine. The present results suggest that despite the fact that both the liver and intraepithelial sites in the intestine carry many extrathymic T cells, the distribution of lymphocyte subsets and their age-associated variation are site-specific.

Nonisothermal melt‐crystallization behavior of syndiotactic polypropylene (sPP) compounded with 5% by weight (wt %) of some inorganic fillers [i.e., kaolin, talcum, marl, titanium dioxide (TiO2), and silicon dioxide (SiO2)] and 1 wt % of some organic fillers, which are some sorbital derivatives (i.e., DBS, MDBS, and DMDBS) was investigated and reported for the first time. It was found that the ability of these fillers to nucleate sPP decreased in the following sequence: DBS > talcum > MDBS > SiO2 ∼ kaolin ∼ DMDBS > marl > TiO2, with DBS being able to shift the crystallization exotherm by ∼ 18°C on average, while TiO2 was able to shift the crystallization exotherm by only ∼ 6°C on average, from that of neat sPP. The Avrami analysis revealed that the Avrami exponent for sPP compounds varied between 2.9 and 4.3, with the values for neat sPP varying between 3.1 and 6.8. Lastly, the Ziabicki's crystallizability of sPP compounds was greater than that of neat sPP, suggesting an increase in the crystallization ability of sPP as a result of the presence of these fillers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 95: 245–253, 2005

We report a case of complete remission of multiple hepatocellular carcinomas after oral administration of enteric-coated tegafur/uracil. A 77-yr-old woman was diagnosed as having recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma associated with decompensated liver cirrhosis. We administered enteric-coated tegafur/uracil to this patient. After 1 month of oral administration, there was a decrease in tumor markers. An image analysis showed disappearance of hepatocellular carcinoma. No recurrence of the hepatocellular carcinoma was recognized for 18 months up to the time of the patient's death, which was due to massive bleeding from a hemorrhagic rectal ulcer. At autopsy, the tumor lesion had necrotized. Oral administration of enteric-coated granules containing tegafur/uracil may provide an effective treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma.