The immune response to TAA were markedly different among the 3 groups, and a correlation with the immune cell profile was observed, suggesting that development of immunotherapy based on the etiology of HCC may lead to more effective treatment outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Graphical Abstract Highlights d A method for comprehensive analysis of HTLV-1 proviruses in infected individuals d The method provides viral sequence, integration site, and degree of cell expansion d Defective proviruses are present in asymptomatic carriers and HAM/TSP, as well as ATL d Infected cells with defective proviruses proliferate more than those with intact ones Correspondence y-satou@kumamoto-u.ac.jp In Brief Katsuya et al. demonstrate that HTLV-1 DNA-capture-seq provides comprehensive information, including the entire viral sequence, integration site, and clonal abundance of infected cells.Infected clones with defective-type proviruses are present in disease states and in asymptomatic carriers, and they proliferate more than full-length proviruses. SUMMARYThe retrovirus human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) integrates into the host DNA, achieves persistent infection, and induces human diseases.Here, we demonstrate that viral DNA-capture sequencing (DNA-capture-seq) is useful to characterize HTLV-1 proviruses in naturally virus-infected individuals, providing comprehensive information about the proviral structure and the viral integration site. We analyzed peripheral blood from 98 naturally HTLV-1-infected individuals and found that defective proviruses were present not only in patients with leukemia, but also in those with other clinical entities. We further demonstrated that clones with defective-type proviruses exhibited a higher degree of clonal abundance than those with full-length proviruses. The frequency of defective-type proviruses in HTLV-1-infected humanized mice was lower than that in infected individuals, indicating that defective proviruses were rare at the initial phase of infection but preferentially selected during persistent infection. These results demonstrate the robustness of viral DNA-captureseq for HTLV-1 infection and suggest potential applications for other virus-associated cancers in humans.

The Clinical Practice Guidelines for Bladder Cancer edited by the Japanese Urological Association were first published in 2009 and a revised edition was released in 2015. Four years has passed since the 2015 edition, and the clinical practice environment surrounding bladder cancer has drastically changed during that time. The main changes include: (i) insurance coverage of a new diagnostic method for nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer; (ii) insurance coverage of an immune checkpoint inhibitor in advanced and metastatic bladder cancer; and (iii) advances in robot-assisted radical cystectomy as a minimally invasive treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer. A paradigm shift in bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment is occurring day by day. Therefore, in this 2019 edition, while dealing with the above changes, we carefully selected clinical questions with clear evidence and included other clinically important points in the general statement. We also added a new chapter on rare cancers of the urinary tract. As a new method for the evaluation of study evidence level, we introduce "The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation" system modified to Japanese by the Medical Information Network Distribution Service.

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Background and study aims It is important to examine the pharynx during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Pharyngeal anesthesia using topical lidocaine is generally used as pretreatment. In Japan, lidocaine viscous solution is the anesthetic of choice, but lidocaine spray is applied when the former is considered insufficient. However, the relationship between the extent of pharyngeal anesthesia and accuracy of observation is unclear. We compared the performance of lidocaine spray alone versus lidocaine spray combined with lidocaine viscous solution for pharyngeal observation during transoral endoscopy. Patients and methods In this prospective, double-blinded, randomized clinical trial conducted between January and March 2015, 327 patients were randomly assigned to lidocaine spray alone (spray group, n = 157) or a combination of spray and viscous solution (combination group, n = 170). We compared the number of pharyngeal observable sites (non-inferiority test), pain by visual analogue scale, observation time, and the number of gag reflexes between the two groups. Results The mean number of images of suitable quality taken at the observable pharyngeal sites in the spray group was 8.33 (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 7.94 – 8.72) per patient, and 8.77 (95 % CI: 8.49 – 9.05) per patient in the combination group. The difference in the number of observable pharyngeal sites was – 0.44 (95 % CI: – 0.84 to – 0.03, P = 0.01). There were no differences in pain, observation time, or number of gag reflexes between the 2 groups. Subgroup analysis of the presence of sedation revealed no differences between the two groups for the number of pharyngeal observation sites and the number of gag reflexes. However, the number of gag reflexes was higher in the spray group compared to the combination group in a subgroup analysis that looked at the absence of sedation. Conclusions Lidocaine spray for pharyngeal anesthesia was not inferior to lidocaine spray and viscous solution in terms of pharyngeal observation. It was considered that lidocaine viscous solution was unnecessary for pharyngeal observation. UMIN000016073