Search

Purpose: The aims of this study were to evaluate potential predictors of exfoliated free cancer cells in the peritoneal cavity and to assess intraoperative peritoneal lavage cytology as a prognostic indicator in patients with colorectal cancer., Methods: From 1985 to 1987, intraoperative peritoneal lavage cytology was performed in 140 patients with colorectal cancer. Among them, 88 patients underwent curative resection and 52 patients had noncurative surgery. Cytology was examined twice, i.e., immediately after opening the peritoneal cavity (precytology) and just before closing the abdomen (postcytology). One hundred milliliters of saline was poured into the peritoneal cavity and it was retrieved by suction after irrigation. Cytologic examination was performed after staining with Papanicolaou, Giemsa, periodic acid-Schiff, and Alcian blue stains., Results: Among the 140 patients examined, the incidence of positive cytology in the prelavage was 15 percent, and that in the postlavage was 9 percent, although it was 16 percent in either lavage. Among patients with curative resection, 10 percent had positive cytology. Seven characteristics were identified as features of tumors which are prone to exfoliate cells into the peritoneal cavity: 1) macroscopic peritoneal dissemination, 2) liver metastasis, 3) more than 20 ml of ascites, 4) ulcerated tumors without definite borders, 5) invasion of the serosal surface or beyond, 6) semiannular or annular shape, and 7) moderate or marked lymphatic invasion. In patients undergoing curative surgery, among these features, circumferential involvement was the only one correlated closely with positive cytology (P < 0.02). Positive cytology was associated with a worse outcome. In patients who were resected curatively, the postcytology had a stronger influence on local recurrence than the precytology; the local recurrence rate in patients with positive postcytology was higher than in those with negative postcytology, regardless of the precytology. All patients with cancer cells in the peritoneal cavity at the end of surgery had recurrence., Conclusions: Seven characteristics were identified as risk factors for exfoliation of cancer cells into the peritoneal cavity in patients with colorectal cancer. These findings may be helpful for the choice of laparoscopic surgery in this era of increasing port-site metastases after laparoscopic procedure. The results of peritoneal lavage cytology at the end of surgery were correlated with the long-term postoperative outcome of colorectal cancer. Thus, meticulous follow-up and possibly adjuvant chemotherapy may be beneficial for patients with free cancer cells in lavage fluid, even after curative surgery.

Proximal gastric vagotomy has been widely used as a surgical treatment for peptic ulcer disease. However, it is technically complex and time-consuming. Moreover, it may cause circulatory problems in the gastric mucosa. We have reported a new method of blood flow-preserving vagotomy with a carbon dioxide laser (CO2 laser vagotomy) developed in our laboratory. To assess its efficacy, we used cysteamine-induced ulcer and measured gastric mucosal blood flow in rats. The incidence of cysteamine-induced ulcer formation was reduced significantly in the group that underwent CO2 laser vagotomy compared with a group treated with proximal gastric vagotomy. Gastric mucosal blood flow was significantly better in the CO2 laser vagotomy group. Long-term follow-up of acid reduction was evaluated in dogs by the pentagastrin-stimulation test. Acid reduction in dogs was satisfactory during the 12 months of this study. CO2 laser vagotomy is a new, easy, time-saving, and circulatory-preserving technique for peptic ulcer disease.

In order to examine the transfer of antitumor drug in breast cancer after administration of FT-207 suppository, FT and 5-FU concentrations in blood, tumor tissues, normal tissues and axillary lymph nodes were determined respectively. FT and 5-FU concentrations in tumor tissues were higher than those in normal tissues or lymph nodes in every cases, and there was a significant difference between FT and 5-FU concentration in blood and tumor tissues. Blood levels of FT and 5-FU remained quite constant at 16 and 20 hours after administration, respectively. Accordingly, it was suggested that the administration of FT-207 suppository to breast cancer was very effective as an adjuvant chemotherapy.

The presence and distribution of adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) activity in isolated matrix vesicles and reconstituted vesicles from fetal calf epiphyseal growth plate cartilage was studied by electron microscopic cytochemical methods to determine whether phosphatase activity would be found concentrated on the inside or the outside of matrix vesicle membranes or on both sides, and whether reconstitution of vesicles from deoxycholate-solubilized substituents would lead to the reassembly of membranes with ATPase incorporated. ATPase activity was observed on both the outer and inner surfaces of the investing membranes of isolated matrix vesicles and reconstituted vesicles. A transmembrane location of ATPase could indicate phosphate transfer across the vesicle membrane. Orthophosphate released by phosphatase activity within the protected microenvironment of the matrix vesicle could combine with membrane- or lipid-bound calcium, known to be present in vesicles, to form the first hydroxyapatite mineral during calcification.

The effects of a combined chemotherapy of solcoseryl and FT-207 on tumor growth, delayed hypersensitivity and cell population of the spleen were studied using inbred BALB/c mice. Meth-A tumor cells (2 X 10(6] were inoculated into the back of 5 to 6 week old BALB/c male mouse. Animals were divided into three groups: Solcoseryl group, in which 0.04 mg of solcoseryl was injected intravenously three times before inoculation and four times after inoculation; Combined group, in which 1.2 mg of FT-207 and 0.04 mg of solcoseryl were injected intravenously four times after inoculation; FT-207 group, in which 1.2 mg of FT-207 was injected four times after inoculation, with out solcoseryl administration. Following results were obtained: Solcoseryl group showed enhanced immunity and tumor suppression; Decreased immunity due to FT-207 was recovered by administration of solcoseryl but no tumor suppression was observed and, Decreased T-cell population of spleen due to FT-207 was recovered by administration of solcoseryl. These facts suggested that solcoseryl was useful because of making recovery possible from decreased immunity due to chemotherapy.

A rare case with gastrin-producing carcinoid, adenocarcinoma and xanthoma of the stomach is presented. A 69-year-old male underwent total gastrectomy with splenectomy and distal pancreatectomy. The histological type of the carcinoid was poorly differentiated (type D), and argyrophil cell carcinoma. Immunoperoxidase staining of the carcinoid was positive for gastrin and negative for glucagon, somatostatin or insulin. The histological findings of the carcinoma were tub 2, medullary, INF alpha, se, ly 2, v 1, ow(-), aw(-), n 1. Histologically, the xanthoma consisted of foamy macrophages accumulated in the lamina propria.

The peritoneal surface of the lesion was observed after treatment by scanning electron microscopy to evaluate the anticancer effect of FT-207. FT-207 (1.0 mg/day) was injected intraperitoneally to the DDN mice in which 3 X 10(7) MM2 tumor cells were inoculated the day before treatment. The anticancer effect was examined from 2nd to 7th consecutive day after tumor cell implantation, and the following results were obtained. 1) In the early phase after injection of FT-207, many macrophage-like cells were observed on the peritoneal surface. 2) Each MM2 tumor cell was covered by many macrophage-like cells, and these tumor cells were destroyed. 3) In the late phase after injection of FT-207, tumor cells were hyperplastic on the peritoneal surface, but less prominent than in the control group. 4) Effusion and adhesion in peritonitis carcinomatosa of FT-207 group were less than in the control group.

Fifty-eight patients with stage IV gastric carcinoma were studied for the 24-month survival rate after receiving immunochemotherapy (Mitomycin-C + FT 207 + OK 432 + PSK, 29 cases) and chemotherapy Mitomycin-C + FT 207, 29 cases). There were no differences in the background factors influencing survival time between the two groups. The survival rate of the immunochemotherapy group was higher than, that of chemotherapy group throughout the observation period, in addition to statistical significance in some periods. The 50% survival rate was 10 months, in the chemotherapy group and 18 months in immunochemotherapy group. The difference in survival between the nonresected cases with immunochemotherapy and the resected cases with chemotherapy was smaller than that between nonresected cases and resected cases of the chemotherapy or immunochemotherapy group. These results suggested that possibility that immunochemotherapy prolonged the survival of patients with stage IV gastric carcinoma.

Malignant epithelial tumors associated with Recklinghausen disease are very rare. A 32-year-old female with Recklinghausen disease was admitted to our hospital complaining of a 5 X 4 cm left breast mass. A malignant tumor of the breast was diagnosed by mammography, echography and clinical features. Radical mastectomy was performed and pathological examination showed papillotubular adenocarcinoma. Three cases of breast cancer associated with Recklinghausen disease reported in the Japanese literature were reviewed.

The case of a 54-year-old male, with a massive right pleural liposarcoma weighing over 3200 g, is presented. The tumor was found by light and electron microscopy to be of well-differentiated and pleomorphic subtypes, and it apparently represents the sixth reported case of liposarcoma primary to the pleura. Two years after excision of the primary tumor, it recurred as a neoplasm with histologic and ultrastructural features characteristic of malignant fibrous histiocytoma. The histogenetic and pathologic implications of the above findings are discussed, and the literature regarding intrathoracic liposarcoma and malignant fibrous histiocytoma is reviewed.

Pyrithiamine induced acute thiamine deficient encephalopathy in the mouse is one of the possible animal models of human Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. In this experiment, the adult male Swiss Mice, treated with a daily subcutaneous injection of pyrithiamine in conjunction with a thiamine deficient diet, abruptly developed unique encephalopathic signs on day 10. In the animals sacrificed immediately after the onset of the disease, the gross examination of the brains revealed a small number of minute hemorrhagic lesions in the thalamus, mammilary bodies and pontine tegmentum, including the medial and lateral vestibular nuclei. When spared the hemorrhage, these regions appear intact grossly and in paraffin sections, but were found to be significantly altered in Epon sections. In semithin Epon sections of the pontine tegmentum, there was edematous swelling of all the astrocytes and oligodendrocytes and occasional myelin sheaths. By electron microscopy, the edema of astrocytes involved both nucleus and cytoplasm extensively. The oligodendroglial edema was severe in the peripheral cytoplasm, particularly in the inner loops of the myelin sheaths and only moderately in the nuclei, perinuclear cytoplasm and outer loops. Disintegration of the myelin lamellae occurred when edema of the inner loops had advanced. The axis cylinders surrounded by the edematous loops were essentially intact. In contrast to such glial cell damage, the nerve cells and blood vessels were not altered. These findings suggest that (1) astroglia and oligodendroglia are the cells most sensitive to thiamine deficiency and (2) the resultant glial cell injury is the initial change of thiamine deficient encephalopathy in man and in experimental animals.

Light and electron microscopic study of a case of multiple granular-cell tumor of the ascending colon is presented, and the relevant medical literature is reviewed. It seems that the biologic behavior of this tumor in the colon does not differ from that in other locations. Histologically, a few granular cells are seen in neural tissue in the vicinity of the tumor, suggesting a close relation of the tumor to the neural tissue. Electron-microscopically, the granular cells resemble Schwann cells more closely than neural cells and axons. Histochemically, the granules of the tumor cells show autofluorescence and high activity of acid phosphatase, which was located electron-microscopically in the limiting membranes and matrices of the granules. It is suggested that the granular-cell tumor is a neoplasm of Schwann-cell origin with a unique metabolism that causes acceleration of autophagocytosis and accumulation of ceroidlipofuscin.

Seventeen cases of heterotopic pancreas were studied with an immunocytochemical technique for detecting insulin and pancreatic polypeptide (PP)-containing cells. In all 16 cases that contained acinar tissue, there were fewer insulin cell areas, as well as fewer scattered PP cells. The numbers of PP cells in heterotopic pancreata were variable, from less than that of the PP-poor tail portion to more than that of the PP-rich uncinate process of control pancreata. Using PP cells as a marker for the anlage, heterotopic pancreata appear to derive from either PP-rich ventral or PP-poor dorsal anlagen.