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Since 1999, combination therapy with tacrolimus and topical steroids has been widely used for the treatment of adolescent/adult-type atopic dermatitis. In order to determine the clinical doses of topical tacrolimus and steroids for daily treatment of atopic dermatitis and to elucidate their beneficial and adverse effects, we analyzed the clinical data from 215 patients with atopic dermatitis who were more than 16 years old. Less than 70 g of tacrolimus and less than 15 g of steroids were applied to 90% of the patients on the face and neck, and less than 75.8 g of tacrolimus and less than 322 g of steroids were applied to 90% of the patients on the trunk and extremities during the six-month treatment period. Topical tacrolimus is much more frequently used on face and neck lesions (99.1%); in only 39.5% of cases was it used on the trunk and extremities. The majority of patients improved after six months of the combination topical therapy; however, atopic dermatitis was not controlled in 6% of the patients. The combination therapy did not seem to increase the risk of cutaneous infections; however, the incidence of herpes simplex infection on the face and neck was 2.8% at pre-treatment and slightly increased to 4.7% during the therapy. The incidence of all steroid-induced adverse effects was reduced both in frequency and intensity with a decrease in the dose of topical steroids through simultaneous tacrolimus application. Combination therapy with topical tacrolimus and steroids is useful for treating atopic dermatitis, but a small percentage of the patients still cannot be satisfactorily treated. For such patients, adjustments of the dose and rank of topical steroids and tacrolimus and other therapeutic adjuncts are necessary.

Background/aims: To investigate the recurrence patterns and interval from initial surgery in patients with curatively resected colorectal cancer followed for a minimum of 10 years., Methodology: We retrospectively reviewed 418 patients who had undergone curative resection for colon cancer (n = 246) or rectal cancer (n = 169). Follow-up periods ranged from 10 to 23 years. Main outcome measures were interval until recurrence, site of first recurrence, and influence of adjuvant chemotherapy., Results: 26 (6%) had been lost to follow-up by 10 years and 143 (34%) had died. The most common site of recurrence was liver in colon cancer and locoregional in rectal cancer. The cumulative recurrence rate in colon cancer was 100% at 4 years. In rectal cancer, it was 89% at 5 years, 98% at 7 years and 100% at 10 years. The interval until recurrence was longer in rectal cancer (26.0 +/- 24.2 months) than in colon cancer (17.1 +/- 11.0 months) (p = 0.03). It was also longer in patients receiving than in those not receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (p < 0.01). The interval until lung metastasis was longer than that until liver metastasis in colon cancer (p = 0.04), and longer than that until locoregional recurrence in rectal cancer (p = 0.03). The interval until recurrence in the colon cancer was shorter for stage III than for stage II (p = 0.02)., Conclusions: Surveillance for recurrences, particularly for relapses in the liver and lung, should be performed for at least 4 years in colon cancer patients. Patients with rectal cancer should be followed for a longer period than those with colon cancer, focusing on locoregional, liver and lung recurrence. It is particularly noteworthy that adjuvant chemotherapy may prolong the interval until recurrence and the interval until lung metastasis is relatively longer.

In an effort to find proteins overexpressed in metastatic colonic adenocarcinomas, differential proteome analyses were undertaken using primary and metastatic tumors. Two-dimensional-gel profiles showed a number of spots that appeared in metastatic tumor in liver, but not in primary tumor. Amino acid or mass spectrometric analyses of some of these spots revealed tht they were apolipoprotein A1 (Apo A1), a protein that is normally expressed in liver and small intestine. Further RT-PCR analysis verified the expression of Apo A1 transcript in metastatic tumors and, unexpectedly, expression was also detected in the primary tumors, although the expression was weaker than in metastatic tumors. Consistent with this finding, immunohistological studies detected the weak expression of Apo A1 protein in primary colonic adenocarcinoma, in addition to the strong expression in metastatic tumors in liver and lymph nodes. In the primary tumors, expression was stronger in the deep layer than in the superficial layer, while in normal mucosal epithelial cells expression was barely visible. Further immunohistochemical study revealed that Apo A1 is expressed in some colonic adenocarcinomas of patients with no metastasis, although incidence and expression levels were lower than in carcinomas with metastases. These findings are consistent with the notion that expression of Apo A1 is associated with colonic adenocarcinoma progression, and thus Apo A1 is a potential marker of the aggression.

We describe a case of lung tumor in a 33-year-old woman with tongue cancer. She had noticed a painful sensation in her tongue in April 2000. The results of a physical examination showed a 22 x 11 mm ulcerated lesion on the right side of her tongue. A biopsy specimen showed a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. A preoperative chest radiograph showed no evidence of pulmonary metastasis. No neck lymphadenopathy was found. The tongue cancer was resected in September 2000, and the pathological stage was T2 N0 M0. A solitary pulmonary lesion appeared 8 months after the surgery. A Histological examination of a transbronchial lung biopsy specimen showed a moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. It was difficult to distinguish histopathologically or immunohistochemically between a second primary tumor and a metastasis, but the pulmonary lesion was considered to be a second primary tumor on the basis of a single endobronchial lesion that appeared after the T2 tongue cancer with no regional recurrence or cervical lymphadenopathy. Treatment with chemotherapy and irradiation was not effective and the patient died 3 months after the diagnosis of lung cancer.