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Radical hysterectomy and immediate sacral colpopexy using autologous fascia lata could be considered a treatment option for cervical cancer complicated by severe and symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse.

Background/Aim: To investigate the role and outcomes of radiation therapy (RT) for stage IVB uterine cervical cancer (UCC) patients with lung (oligo) metastases due to the lack of recent reports on the subject. Patients and Methods: The cohort for this retrospective study comprised 23 consecutive patients with UCC (squamous cell carcinoma, n=13) and lung metastases who had received pelvic RT. Ten had lung metastases only, including 7 with oligometastases (≤4 lung metastases); the remaining 13 also had other distant metastases. Results: Nine (39.1%) of the 22 patients (95.7%) completed RT without interruption. The 1-year primary progression-free rate was 95.2%. The 1-year overall survival rate was 47.2 % (estimated median survival: 9 months). Significant prognostic factors for survival included: i) ≤4 lung metastases (p=0.035), ii) unilateral lung metastases (p=0.039), iii) primary tumor diameter

Aim Endocervical curettage (ECC) at the time of conization has been reported to be effective for diagnosing cervical intraepithelial neoplasia and/or early stage cervical cancer. We aimed to verify the accuracy of ECC with conization. Methods We retrospectively analyzed the records of 540 patients with suspected neoplastic cervical lesions who underwent conization at the Yokohama City University Hospital from January 2008 to December 2015. To validate the effectiveness of ECC for evaluating endocervical lesions, histopathologic findings from ECC samples were compared with those from endocervical specimens obtained by conization. In patients who subsequently underwent hysterectomy, specimens of residual endocervical stump lesions were compared with the specimens obtained by ECC. Results ECC was performed in 58.9% of patients who underwent conization. Positive findings were only observed in 7.9%, while negative findings were found in 67.3% of ECC samples; however, 24.8% of the samples were inadequate for diagnosis. None of the patients had an upgraded diagnosis according to ECC results. The sensitivity of ECC in predicting endocervical stump lesions that were identified by conization specimens was 25.0%, the specificity was 94.2% and the positive predictive value was 55.0% (κ = 0.238; P < 0.001). ECC samples yielded a sensitivity of 42.9%, a specificity of 83.9%, and positive predictive value of 54.5% (κ = 0.284; P = 0.053) in predicting residual endocervical lesions in the uterus. Conclusions As it offers low sensitivity and positive predictive value, ECC at the time of conization is of limited benefit for evaluating endocervical lesions.

Background: To examine trends in the clinicopathological characteristics of vulvar cancer in Japan. Methods: This is a nationwide retrospective study examining consecutive women with vulvar cancer between 2001 and 2010 in Japan (n = 1061). Temporal trends in demographics, tumor characteristics, and survival were assessed by cohort-level analysis. The National Cancer Institute&rsquo, s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result Program was used for external validation (n = 10,154). Results: The number of oldest-old women aged &ge, 80 years significantly increased (from 18.0% in 2001 to 30.6% in 2010, 70.5% relative increase) in the study period. A stage shift was observed, with stage I disease decreasing from 43.0% to 34.0% (21.0% relative decrease), and tumors with distant metastases increasing from 23.2% to 35.6% (53.3% relative increase, p &lt, 0.05). The number of women who underwent surgical treatment decreased from 84.0% to 69.7% (17.0% relative decrease), whereas utilization of radiotherapy increased from 34.4% to 43.2% (25.7% relative increase) over time (p &lt, 0.05). In the cohort-level analysis, the five-year survival rates significantly decreased from 2001 to 2010 (p &lt, 0.05), specifically, 66.9% to 51.0% for progression-free survival (23.7% relative decrease), 79.5% to 67.9% for cause-specific survival (14.6% relative decrease), and 74.9% to 62.3% for overall survival (16.9% relative decrease). In the patient-level analysis, oldest-old women were less likely to undergo surgical treatment and were independently associated with decreased survival (p &lt, 0.05). In the US cohort, the number of oldest-old women (25.2% to 27.8%) and the five-year cause-specific survival rate (81.8% to 79.9%) remained unchanged during the study period (p &gt, 0.05). Conclusion: Demographics and outcomes of vulvar cancer in Japan significantly changed during the study period. An increasing oldest-old population and a stage shift to more metastatic disease resulted in a cohort-level decrease in survival rates.

Background/Aim: The aim of this study was to define the outcome of radiation therapy for vulvar carcinoma, and to investigate the effectiveness of therapeutic and prophylactic inguinal lymph node (ILN) irradiation. Because reports about the treatment of ILN were limited. Patients and Methods: Thirty consecutive vulvar carcinoma patients were treated using external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) for definitive disease (n=25) or postoperatively (n=5). Twenty-four (80%) had squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). Tumor stages (2002 UICC) ranged from 0 to IVB, with no distant metastases. Results: The median total prescribed dose for primary tumor was 64.8 Gy. The 2-year overall survival rate was 25.3%. The outcome was significantly better in patients with ILNs60 Gy (p=0.002). Conclusions: ILN diameters ≤30 mm and prescribed doses over 60 Gy were associated with ILN control in patients with vulvar carcinoma.

This study assessed indicators of the need for insulin therapy and the effect of treatment on pregnancy outcomes in Japanese patients with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). All patients diagnosed with GDM were hospitalized for three days. Plasma glucose profiles in patients under strict dietary management and the characteristics of GDM patients with high daily glucose levels were investigated. Patients who failed to achieve glycemic targets were treated with insulin. Indicators of the need for insulin treatment were investigated. Pregnancy outcomes in patients prescribed dietary management and patients prescribed insulin treatment were compared. The study included 112 patients with GDM. GDM patients with high daily glucose levels in the hospital exhibited significantly higher 1-h and 2-h plasma glucose levels in oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) at diagnosis. In our hospital, 102 GDM patients with singleton pregnancies were followed until delivery; 32 (31.3%) were treated with insulin. Univariate analysis identified significant associations of insulin requirement with family history of diabetes and with 1-h and 2-h OGTT values at diagnosis. Multivariate analysis showed that the 1-h OGTT plasma glucose level at diagnosis was an independent predictor of the need for insulin. In perinatal outcomes, insulin treatment was associated with low birth weight.

Objective To examine the necessity and sufficiency of different types of hysterectomy for the surgical treatment of endometrial cancer. Methods This was a multicenter collaborative study conducted by 11 institutions. Among patients with stage I–III endometrial cancer who underwent surgery as the initial treatment (only chemotherapy was provided if adjuvant therapy was needed) from 2001 to 2012, we retrospectively examined the type of hysterectomy, clinicopathological factors, recurrence rate over a maximum period of 5 years, and the site of recurrence. The local recurrence rate was examined by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Among 1335 patients, 982 (73.6%) underwent simple hysterectomy (SH) and 353 (26.4%) underwent modified radical hysterectomy (mRH) and were observed for a mean duration of 51.8 months. No significant difference was observed in the rate of local recurrence between the SH and mRH groups (p = 0.928). In multivariate analysis, clinicopathological factors independently associated with localized recurrence included postmenopausal status [hazard ratio (HR) 5.036, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.506–16.841, p = 0.009], with stages II (HR 3.337, 95% CI 1.701–6.547, p

Gallium nitride (GaN) and indium-gallium nitride (InxGa1-xN) thin films were directly grown on several non-single-crystalline substrates such as quartz glass and amorphous-carbon-coated graphite. The films were grown by using a molecular beam epitaxy apparatus having single or dual nitrogen radio-frequency plasma cells, and in addition, germanium (Ge) or magnesium (Mg) doping to the films was also attempted. Crystallinity, photoluminescence (PL) property, and electrical property of the obtained films were investigated. Highly c-axis oriented GaN and InxGa1-xN thin films were obtained on the non-single-crystalline substrates. Near-band-edge emissions were observed in their PL spectra and the intensities were strongly enhanced by Ge doping. Ge doping was also effective on reducing resistivity of the GaN thin films grown on the non-single-crystalline substrates. Electrochemical capacitance-voltage measurements were carried out on the Mg-doped GaN thin films; and p-type conduction in the films was confirmed.

Thin films of gallium nitride (GaN) and related nitride materials were prepared, and their properties as transparent conducting electrodes were investigated. GaN thin films were directly grown on sapphire single crystal substrates by the molecular beam epitaxy. Heavy doping of germanium was employed to reduce resistivity of the films, with sufficient reduction found to be possible while maintaining their epitaxial growth state. Optical transmission spectra of the films in the short wavelength region were slightly deteriorated by the heavy doping; however, this was successfully improved by growing GaN films under metal-rich conditions to increase the electron mobility and suppress unwanted increase of the carrier densities. In addition, the optical transmission spectra in the short wavelength region was improved also by alloying GaN with aluminum nitride, though the resistivities of these films were relatively higher than those of the unmodified GaN films. The prepared nitride thin films exhibited sufficiently suitable properties as transparent conducting electrodes for use in applications such as full-spectrum nitride-based solar cells.

Introduction Bevacizumab has been applied clinically to advanced and recurrent cervical cancer, after showing improved overall survival in the GOG 240 trial. We report two cases of patients with recurrent cervical cancer who showed remarkable decrease in pleural effusion by chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab. Case 1 A 41-year-old patient with stage IIB cervical adenocarcinoma who presented with cervical carcinoma recurrence in the lung and paraaortic/ supraclavicular lymph nodes after primary treatments with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT), total hysterectomy, and paclitaxel-carboplatin (TC) therapy. As symptomatic pleural effusion emerged after irinotecan-cisplatin therapy and radiotherapy, paclitaxel-cisplatin-bevacizumab (Pac-Cis-Bev) was administered and relieved the pleural effusion promptly and the respiratory distress and back pain symptoms over 13 months. Case 2 The second case involved a 53-year-old patient with stage IIIB cervical squamous cell carcinoma who had a pulmonary recurrence following treatment with CCRT. As pleural effusion emerged at the end of the six-month drug holiday, after a total of 21 cycles of TC or Pac-Cis-Bev therapy to treat the recurrence, topotecan-paclitaxel-bevacizumab (Topo-Pac-Bev) was administered. Respiratory distress was relieved in two weeks, and the pleural effusion disappeared almost completely after two months. The patient received 12 cycles of Topo-Pac-Bev, in total. Conclusion The present two patients have survived over three years, without problematic symptoms, after pulmonary recurrences with pleural effusion, despite that the three-year survival rate for recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer has been reported to be less than 5% without bevacizumab therapy. Chemotherapies that contain bevacizumab present promising regimens for recurrent cases with pleural effusion, despite the uncommon risks of bladder-vaginal or recto-vaginal fistulas.

Background Vulvar cancer is a rare malignancy. Its occurrence in Japan is 1/6-1/10 of that in the Western countries. Population-based statisics for vulvar cancer has been missing in Japan. To examine trends in clinico-pathological characteristics of vulvar cancer in Japan. Methods This is a nationwide retrospective study examining consecutive cases of women with invasive vulvar cancer in Japan between 2001-2010 (n = 1,061). Temporal trends of demographics, tumor characteristics, and survival outcome were assessed with cohort-level analysis. The National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Result Program served as the external validation (n = 10,154). Results The number of oldest-old women aged ≥80 years significantly increased from 18.0% to 30.6% (70.5% relative increase) over time. There was a stage-shift observed, and stage I disease decreased from 43.0% to 34.0% (21.0% relative decrease) whereas tumors with inguino-femoral nodal or distant metastasis increased from 23.2% to 35.6% (53.3% relative increase) during the study period (P 0.05). Conclusions Demographics and outcomes of vulvar cancer in Japan have significantly changed during the study period: Increasing oldest-old population and stage-shift to more metastatic disease resulted in cohort-level decrease in survival rates. Legal entity responsible for the study The authors. Funding Has not received any funding. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

A new method for precise setting of the spinning angle to the magic angle by using a saddle coil is described. The coil, which is referred to as an X0 shim coil, is wound to produce a uniform static magnetic field B x perpendicular to the main magnetic field B 0 . The magnetic field felt by a sample is a vector sum of the main field B 0 and the transverse field B x produced by the X0 shim coil. Hence the angle between the spinner axis and the effective magnetic field can be controlled by current I supplied to the X0 shim coil, leading to precise angle adjustment without backlash accompanied with a mechanical system conventionally used. It is shown that the angle range achieved is ± 0.05 ° for I = ± 5 A at B 0 = 7 T.