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The search for effective antibodies (Ab) for curable cancer immunotherapy has been a quest of many research groups in order to find an effective target that exists on the cancer cell surface. So far there have been no conclusive answers to shed light on the search. This study therefore aimed to bridge the gap of cancer therapy. Screening against 49 kinds of cell lines belonging to 11 kinds of solids cancers was performed. Isolation and characterization for approximately 4200 monoclonal antibodies (mAb) was also performed thereafter. Of those mAb 488 clones that turned out to bind to 29 tumor-associated antigens (TAA) were subjected to immunohistochemical (IHC) analyses. Selection of target antigens (Ag) and a potential antibody for cancer therapy was conducted prior to clinical examinations. In order to find predictably effective targets for therapeutic Ab against solid cancers, expression of the Ag on the surface of cancer and normal cells was extensively examined by IHC analyses using fresh cancer specimens resected from patients. In this study, the tendencies of all staining patterns and distribution of the Ab are reported. While all of the TAA appeared to be involved in tumorigenesis, their expression was not restricted to some specific tumor types but rather randomly distributed among various cancers. Some kinds of Ab including anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and anti-human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) indicated the frequency of expression in normal cells was generally low. We concluded that identification of 488 mAb and the accumulated results of IHC analyses in this study could be the key for further therapeutic Ab against cancers. The targets that showed cancer-specific expression are expected to be better for therapeutic Ab than the other Ab. Moreover, further investigation into the growth of cancer cell lines using full human IgG form of Ab shows available efficacy in specific cases., (© 2010 Japanese Cancer Association.)

The current literature contains little information about laparoscopic surgery for pancreatic disease. We performed spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy on 7 cases during the period from 2005 to 2008 at our university hospital, including 2 laparoscopic operations. Case 2: A 54-year-old woman was found to have a hypoechoic 4 x 4 cm lesion in the tail of the pancreas, adjacent to and impinging on the spleen. On careful assessment we suspected a mucoid cystic tumor (MCT), and performed a laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy. Blood loss was 380 g, and operating time was 310 min. Case 1: A 27-year-old woman was found to have a hypoechoic 2 x 2 cm mass on ultrasound examination of the body of the pancreas. We performed laparoscopic spleen-preserving distal pancreatectomy for solid pseudopapillary tumour (SPT) of the pancreas. Blood loss was minimal, and operating time was 182 min. The other 5 cases were operated upon using the open method. All were female, with an average age of 54.8 years. The average blood loss was 387 g. Operating time was 321 min. Laparoscopic pancreatic surgery is generally thought to be difficult owing to the need for lymph node resection, and because nerve plexus invasion occurs with malignant tumors such as pancreatic cancer. The present case series was reported to demonstrate the techniques that have evolved the safety of the operation and its future potential related to the minimally invasive nature of the surgery.

Skin permeation of amino acids through excised rat skin was measured at various pH values. The permeabilities varied with the donor pH and amino acid, indicating that each ionic species of amino acid may have a different permeability. The permeability coefficient of each ion was estimated from the permeability-pH profiles using the dissociation constants. The estimated values for mono-cation and uncharged zwitterion were not dependent on the lipophilicity but on the size of the amino acid, suggesting a porous mechanism of transport. The permeability coefficient was highest for di-cation, followed by mono-cation, positively charged, uncharged and negatively charged zwitterions. The electrical potential difference across the skin was too small to affect the permeation of ions. The permselective property of skin thus seems to be determined by the difference of diffusivity in aqueous pores of skin due to the hydration of ions and other factors.

The effect of l-menthol on the skin permeability of mannitol, cortisone or indomethacin was examined by an in vitro penetration technique with hairless mouse skin. The donor solution was prepared with phosphate buffered saline, ethanol:buffered saline (20:80, v/v) or ethanol:buffered saline (20:80, v/v) containing 1% (w/v) l-menthol. Although ethanol showed little enhancing effect, l-menthol in an aqueous ethanol vehicle at pH 7.4 increased the permeability coefficients of mannitol and indomethacin by about 100 times that of the control (an aqueous vehicle) and increased that of cortisone by about 10 times. l-Menthol, however, scarcely enhanced the penetration of indomethacin at pH 3.0, the majority of the species being in unionized form. These results suggested that the menthol-ethanol-aqueous system enhanced skin permeability through a direct effect on the polar and/or lipid pathways, while the thermodynamic activity of the penetrant molecule in the delivery vehicle might also influence the effectiveness of the penetration enhancer.