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This paper describes the topographic change and the recovery process, as well as the sediment sources, for tsunami deposits based on field surveys and analysis of digital elevation model data before and after the A.D. 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami at the Sendai Plain, Japan. We found that the amount of sediment deposited on land was approximately four times greater than the eroded volume of sediment at the beach. Large amounts of the sediments deposited at the studied transect probably originated from liquefaction. This result suggests that the vented sediments might have been an important source of the tsunami deposits if liquefaction is generated by the strong ground motion of a near-field earthquake. In contrast, minor erosion was observed at the beach, and the beach berm was rebuilt within three months after the tsunami. Moreover, the erosional channel that had cut into the beach had been filled by sand within 13 days after the tsunami. Therefore, it is not expected that a sedimentary record of the tsunami will be preserved in the nearshore zone along the Sendai coast, although remnants of small scours on land might remain long after the tsunami. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The importance of tumor markers is well established; yet little is known about their prognostic value for patients with obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC). We investigated the clinical significance of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and CA 19-9 levels in patients with non-metastatic OCRC, who underwent insertion of a self-expandable metallic stent and curative surgery., Methods: Clinical data on 91 patients with OCRC were analyzed retrospectively to evaluate the associations of preoperative serum values of tumor makers with short- and long-term outcomes., Results: The 91 patients comprised 53 men and 38 women, with a median age of 71 years. Twelve patients had an elevated preoperative CA 19-9 level. Multivariate analyses revealed that an elevated CA 19-9 level was independently associated with poor disease-free survival (DFS) [hazard ratio (HR) = 4.57, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.06-10.14, P < 0.001] and overall survival (HR = 4.06, 95% CI 1.46-11.24, P = 0.007). A CEA level > 5 ng/ml had no prognostic value, whereas a CEA level > 10.8 ng/ml was significantly associated with worse DFS (P = 0.032)., Conclusion: Measuring the CA 19-9 level concomitantly with the CEA level for patients with advanced CRC, including OCRC, may provide a valuable means to improve prognostication., (© 2024. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.)

This study presents a safety analysis of infusion reactions (IRs) in gastric cancer patients who switched from reference trastuzumab to its biosimilar, trastuzumab-NK, at the Saitama Cancer Center in Japan from April 2018 to March 2022. IRs were identified if patients developed symptoms such as fever, chills, infusion-related reactions, hypersensitivity, rash, pruritus, urticaria, systemic disorders, or immune system disorders on the day of administration or the following day. The incidence of IRs was 14% in the reference trastuzumab group, 33% in the trastuzumab-NK group, and 33% in the switching group. There was no significant difference in IR incidence between the reference trastuzumab and trastuzumab-NK groups (p = 0.235). Among the switching group, only one of the three patients who experienced an IR had a reaction associated with the switch. These findings suggest that the frequency of IRs in the switching group gastric cancer is comparable to the other groups, indicating that switching is a viable treatment option with appropriate management. Additionally, 37 of the 45 patients in the study were male, provides new safety information on switching in gastric cancer for male patients that has not been previously reported.

The present study is a safety survey of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor type 2-positive, chemotherapy-naive breast cancer treated with trastuzumab plus paclitaxel at the Saitama Cancer Center (Saitama, Japan) between April 2018 and March 2022. The expression of infusion reaction (IR) and the effect on cardiac function were investigated in patients who switched from reference trastuzumab (HERCEPTIN ® ) to biosimilar trastuzumab (Trastuzumab-NK) and continued treatment (switching group). The two groups (reference vs. biosimilar trastuzumab) had no significant difference in the expression of IR (P>0.999). In the switching group, IR associated with switching did not occur in all nine eligible patients. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was used to assess cardiac function, and no patient in either group experienced a significant decrease in LVEF with treatment, meaning that there was no effect of switching on the decrease in LVEF. These results suggested that switching from reference to biosimilar trastuzumab may not have a significant effect on the frequency of IR expression or the occurrence of cardiac dysfunction., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests., (Copyright: © Abe et al.)

Aim: Whether a laparoscopic procedure can contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes in obese patients with stage II/III rectal cancer compared to an open procedure remains unclear., Objective: This study evaluated the technical and oncological safety of laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery in obese patients (body mass index [BMI] ≥25 kg/m 2 ) with rectal cancer., Patients and Methods: Data were collected from patients with pathological stage II/III rectal cancer and analyzed. Operations were performed via laparoscopic or open surgery from 2009 to 2013. A comparative analysis was performed after applying propensity score matching to the two cohorts (laparoscopic group and open group). The primary endpoint was 3-y relapse-free survival (RFS)., Results: Overall, 524 eligible cases were collected from 51 institutions. Equal numbers of propensity score-matched patients were included in the laparoscopic (n = 193) group and open (n = 193) group. Although the rate of D3 lymph node dissection did not differ between the laparoscopic group (87.0%) and the open group (88.6%), the median number of harvested lymph nodes was significantly lower in the laparoscopic group versus open group (17.5 vs 21, P  = 0.0047). The median postoperative hospital stay was also significantly shorter in the laparoscopic group (14 d) vs the open group (17 d) ( P  = 0.0014). Three-y RFS was not significantly different between the two groups (hazard ratio 1.2454, 95% confidence interval 0.9201-1.6884, P  = 0.4689)., Conclusion: The short- and long-term results of this large cohort study (UMIN ID: UMIN000033529) indicated that laparoscopic surgery in obese rectal cancer patients has advantageous short-term outcomes and no disadvantageous long-term outcomes., (© 2022 The Authors. Annals of Gastroenterological Surgery published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of The Japanese Society of Gastroenterology.)

The number of elderly patients and colorectal cancer patients is increasing, so laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer in elderly patients is suspected to increase. In 456 patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer, we investigated whether laparoscopic surgery for elderly patients with colon cancer patients could be performed equally compared to non-elderly patients. Preoperative ASA-PS was slightly poorer in elderly patients. There was no significant difference in pStage. The 5-year overall survival rate was lower in the elderly, but there were no significant differences in blood loss, operation time, postoperative hospital stays and incidence of complications of Clavien-Dindo classification grade 3 or higher. It was suggested that laparoscopic surgery for elderly patients with colorectal cancer may be safely performed compared with non-elderly patients.

A 67-year-old man with complaints of upper abdominal pain visited a clinic and was diagnosed with type 3 gastric cancer. Contrasted-enhanced CT revealed gastric wall thickening and extensive metastatic lymph nodes particularly around the celiac artery and also invasion to pancreas. He was diagnosed with cT4b, cN2, cM0, cStage ⅢB and we treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NAC)consisting of 4 courses of S-1 and cisplatin regimen. After the NAC, primary cancer and metastatic lymph nodes were reduced remarkably. A curative operation could be performed and the histopathological examination showed"Grade 3, pathological complete response".

A 59-year-old man with chief complaints of right-sided rib pain and fever was admitted to our hospital. A type 2 tumor in the ascending colon was revealed by total colonoscopy. Computed tomography examination revealed multiple tumors in the liver. The white blood cell count was high as 13,740/μL. Chemotherapy was planned after treatment with antibiotics, but it was not successful. Right colectomy was performed for infection control. mFOLFOX6 therapy was performed, but liver metastases progressed rapidly, and he died on the 39th postoperative day. The immunohistochemistry revealed G-CSF producing colon cancer. G-CSF producing colon cancer progresses rapidly with poor prognosis. It is necessary to think carefully about indication of surgery and chemotherapy.

Chemoradiotherapy(CRT)has been recognized as a standard treatment for locoregional squamous cell carcinoma of the anal canal in Western countries. However, surgery had historically been considered as a standard treatment and there are only a few reports on CRT for anal canal cancer in Japan. In this study, we analyzed medical records of 5 anal canal cancer patients treated with CRT in our hospital between 2005 and 2015. Patients' characteristics were as follows: median age, 70 years (range 42-80 years); male/female, 1/4; and clinical Stage I / III a/ III b, 3/1/1. The regimens of chemotherapy were MMC plus 5-FU in 4 patients and CDDP in 1 patient. The median follow-up period was 30 months(range, 6 to 100 months). After CRT, 4 patients achieved complete response. The other patient with partial response underwent salvage surgery. All patients were alive without recurrence. In conclusion, our retrospective study showed that CRT is considered to be a standard treat- ment for anal canal cancer.

Here we report a case of successful stomach-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with celiac artery resection for pancreatic cancer with hepatic arterial variation. A 70-year-old woman was referred to our hospital for examination and treatment of pancreatic cancer. A CT scan showed a tumor with suspected portal vein invasion at the body and head of the pancreas, in contact with the common hepatic artery and the splenic artery with 360°involvement. Contact with the celiac artery and left gastric artery was less than1 80°. CT and angiography revealed hepatic arterial variation in which the right hepatic artery and the left hepatic artery arose from the superior mesenteric artery and the left gastric artery, respectively. Resectability status was considered as borderline resectable. After neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy, the levels of the serum tumor markers declined remarkably and a CT scan showed SD(RECIST). Subtotal stomach-preserving pancreaticoduodenectomy with celiac artery resection(SSPPD-CAR)was performed without resectionof the left gastric artery and a pathological R0 resectionwas achieved. The significance of performing combination resection and reconstruction of a major artery in pancreatic cancer is unclear. However, there may be cases with vascular variants that enable radical resection without reconstruction of the common hepatic artery. Therefore, it is important to preoperatively evaluate the configuration of the artery accurately and to select the optimal surgical procedures onthe basis of these variations.

We report a case of a 72-year-old woman who was initially diagnosed with ovarian cancer with peritoneal carcinomatosis. Systemic chemotherapy consisting of paclitaxel and carboplatin(TC)was administered. Although a partial response(PR)was achieved after the 4 courses of TC, this regimen was discontinued due to severe adverse events. Ten months after discontinuation of TC, because abdominal CT and colonoscopy showed an intra-tumoral abscess caused by invasion of the tumor to the sigmoid colon, abdominal total hysterectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, and a Hartmann's operation were performed to control the disease symptoms. Pathological examination revealed that the tumor was an undifferentiated carcinoma of the sigmoid colon. This case report suggests that the TC regimen may be effective for treating undifferentiated carcinoma of the colon.

Case: A70-year-old man was diagnosed with lower rectal cancer with right inguinal lymph node metastasis. Surgical resection was not suitable for this patient. Chemotherapy(IRIS plus bevacizumab followed by XELOX plus bevacizumab)was administered for 16 months. After the chemotherapy, the rectal tumor and lymph node swelling were significantly reduced and distant metastasis was not observed on CT scans. Therefore, the tumor was considered to be resectable and abdominoperineal resection of the rectum with lymph node dissection was performed. On histopathological examination, cancer cells partially remained in the rectal tumor and lateral lymph nodes, although there were no cancer cells in the inguinal lymph nodes. The patient is alive without recurrence a year later. In cases with a good response to chemotherapy, conversion therapy may become an important therapeutic option.

We report a case of a huge gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor(GIST)that was safely resected followingpreoperative imatinib therapy. A 72-year-old woman was hospitalized with severe abdominal distension. Computed tomography revealed a 27×17 cm tumor in the left upper abdominal cavity. The patient was diagnosed with high risk GIST by EUS-FNA. We initiated preoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with imatinib to achieve a reduction of operative risks and functional preservation. After 6 months of chemotherapy, CT showed a reduction in the tumor size and the patient underwent partial gastrectomy and partial resection of the diaphragm. Histologically, most of the tumor cells were replaced by hyalinized collagen and viable cells were scattered only around the blood vessels. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy with imatinib has the potential to become an important therapeutic option for the treatment of huge GISTs.

A 49-year-old man had undergone Hartmann's operation for rectal cancer in August 2002. The disease stage (TNM 7th) was T3, N1, M0, Stage ⅢB. He was treated with UFT and Krestin for a year as adjuvant chemotherapy. No recurrence had been detected after the surgery. In July 2014, he presented with symptoms of acute renal failure. A CT scan showed bilateral hydronephrosis and a pelvic tumor between the urinary bladder and rectum. The pathological diagnosis based on biopsy specimens was adenocarcinoma. Because immunostaining studies of the tumor biopsy specimen revealed that CK20, CEA, CA19-9, and p53 were positive and CK7 and PSA were negative, this pelvic tumor was diagnosed as a local recurrence of rectal cancer. Total pelvic exenteration and ileal conduit urinary diversion were carried out for the recurrent tumor with curative intent. The reported recurrence rate of Stage Ⅲ colorectal cancer 5 years after the initial curative operation is 0.67%. Local recurrence of rectal cancer 12 years after the initial operation is quite rare. Immunostaining is helpful to discriminate between rectal cancer and a tumor of the urinary organs. It is important to consider that recurrence of rectal cancer might still occur a long time after the initial operation.

We report of a patient with 3-year relapse-free survival after surgical resection for lung and liver metastases of distal cholangiocarcinoma (DCC). A quinquagenarianman was taken to a local hospital in October 2009 for yellow urine. He was diagnosed with DCC and was referred to our hospital for surgery. Pancreaticoduodenectomy was performed, and there was no residual tumor on histological examination. He did not receive any adjuvant therapy. One year 7 months after surgery, an isolated lung metastasis was identified on CT and was surgically removed. Six months after resection of the lung metastasis, a solitary liver metastasis was detected. Although systematic chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus S-1; 2 weeks treatment, 1 week drug free) was administered, the treatment was abandoned because of grade 3 (CTCAE v4.0) of skin disorders during the third course. Partial resection of the liver was performed in April 2012. Alternate-day treatment with S-1 was performed after resection of liver metastasis and is ongoing without adverse events. He has survived for more than 3 years without recurrence after liver resection. In this case of DCC metastasis, prognosis improved with surgical resection.

Here we report a rare case of late recurrence of pancreatic cancer 8 years after surgery. A woman in her mid-fifties was hospitalized for examination of epigastralgia. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a 4 cm nodule at the pancreatic head with suspected invasion of the superior mesenteric vein. She underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy with wedge resection of superior mesenteric vein and intraoperative radiation therapy. Pathological findings showed moderately differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma and T3N1M0, Stage IIB according to The Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) TNM classification. As adjuvant chemotherapy, 56 courses of gemcitabine (GEM) were administered in 3.5 years. Because of long-term use of GEM, common terminology criteria for adverse events (CTCAE) Grade 3 anemia occurred, and chemotherapy was discontinued. Tumor markers were evaluated every month and CT scans were taken every 6 months for 5 years. Subsequently, CT was performed annually. The patient was hospitalized for high-grade fever, 8.5 years after surgery. CT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) detected local recurrence with liver metastases. GEM was administered again, but was ineffective. The patient died 9 years after surgery. In conclusion, even if long-term survival is achieved in pancreatic cancer, follow-ups should not be stopped.

A-39-year-old man presented to a nearby clinic owing to long-term diarrhea and painful defecation. He was diagnosed with a well-differentiated tubular adenocarcinoma of the rectosigmoid and underwent a laparotomy at another hospital. At surgery, the tumor was seen to deeply invade into the urinary bladder with the presence of intra-abdominal abscess. Loop sigmoid colostomy was performed due to possible invasion into the pelvic wall and peritoneal dissemination. The patient was referred to the our hospital for systemic chemotherapy. After 32 courses of FOLFIRI, 10 courses of CapeOX + Bmab, and 34 courses of LV5FU2 + Bmab, radiographic examination revealed complete response (CR) of the rectal tumor, and low anterior resection of the rectum was carried out. Since pathological examination showed no viable cancer cells in any specimen, the patient was considered to have achieved a CR from a pathological standpoint.

A 54-year-old man presented with an enlarged left (lt) lateral lymph node (LLN), which was detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT). Endoscopic examination of the colon revealed the presence of a type 1 tumor, 20mm in diameter, in the lower rectum; the tumor was diagnosed as a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma (tub1). The patient received combined neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT)with S- 1 for treatment of the rectal cancer and LLN metastasis (MP, T2N3M0, Stage IIIb). S-1 was administered orally at a dose of 120 mg/day on days 1-14, and 22-35; a total dose of 45 Gy was delivered (1.8 Gy/day, for 25 days). Upon nCRT, there was a remarkable reduction in the tumor size, the primary tumor receded, and the LLN decreased from 16 mm to 8 mm in diameter. The maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) also decreased from 3.8 to 1.9 on PET-CT. Six weeks after nCRT, ultralow anterior resection and bilateral lymph node dissections were performed. Histopathological examination showed a partial presence of cancer cells in the scarred primary tumor; however, no viable cancer cells were observed in the lt. LLN.

We report 2 cases of resectable advanced gastric cancer who achieved pathological complete response by preoperative chemotherapy with S-1 plus weekly low-dose cisplatin (CDDP). S-1 (80 mg/m²)was administered consecutively for 21 days followed by 14 days' rest, with CDDP (25mg/m²) injected on days 1, 8, and 21. Case 1: A man in his 70s diagnosed with cStage III gastric cancer with lymph node metastases received 2 courses of preoperative chemotherapy with S-1 plus weekly low-dose CDDP followed by total gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection. Case 2: A man in his 60s diagnosed with cStage III gastric cancer with lymph node metastases received 4 courses of preoperative chemotherapy with S-1 plus weekly low-dose CDDP followed by total gastrectomy with D2 lymph-node dissection. In both cases, postoperative pathological examination revealed no cancer cells in the resected stomach and lymph nodes. The therapeutic effect of preoperative chemotherapy was assessed as Grade 3. With this regimen, we accomplished preoperative chemotherapy successfully without inpatient care. This regimen can be a promising option as preoperative chemotherapy for advanced gastric cancer.

The clinicopathological features of neuroendocrine tumor (NET) of the rectum were retrospectively analyzed in 25 patients( 17 men and 8 women; mean age, 57 years[ 30-78 years]) at Tohoku University Hospital from January 1998 to December 2012. The average diameter of 25 tumors was 15 mm (5-70 mm). Local resections and rectal resections with lymph node dissection were performed in 16 and 9 tumors, respectively. Three of the 9 tumors had lymph node metastases (33%), including 2 tumors with a diameter of 10 mm. In a median follow-up of 48 months, tumor recurrence was observed in 3 of 25 patients( 12%); local recurrence was observed in 1 patient; and liver metastasis was observed in 2 patients. Of the 2 patients with liver metastasis, liver metastasis recurred in a patient whose primary tumor, with a diameter of 10 mm, had been locally resected 40 months ago. According to histopathological analysis, 3 primary tumors with local recurrence or liver metastasis were categorized as G2 or G3 according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification. Tumors with a diameter of ≥10 mm, in principle, may be removed by rectal resection with lymph node dissection. However, histopathological findings such as a proliferation of tumor cells should also be taken into consideration when deciding the treatment strategy for rectal NET.

The patient was a 68-year-old woman who had cecal cancer with para-aortic lymph node metastases. Ileocecal resection was performed palliatively. Since metastasis to cervical vertebrae was detected after the operation, she received radiation therapy of 14 Gy to improve neck pain. Chemotherapy with TS-1 (80 mg/day) was started on an outpatient basis (4 weeks administration followed by a 2-week drug-free period). After 4 courses of this chemotherapy, metastases to both para-aortic lymph nodes and cervical vertebrae were remarkably reduced on CT and PET. Throughout the period of treatment, there was no adverse effect and this treatment has been maintained. In conclusion, this case seems significant from the viewpoint of achieving a partial response to TS-1 and maintaining a high quality of life. Moreover,we identified the presence of TS and DPD using an immunohistochemical staining technique. The primary tumor was positive for DPD stain test and negative for TS stain test. It was suggested that this cancer especially would respond to TS-1 chemotherapy.