HighlightsNeuroendocrine tumors of the extrahepatic bile ducts are extremely rare neoplasms.They most commonly occur in young females and usually present with painless jaundice.Preoperative diagnosis is difficult because the findings are similar to other biliary malignancies.Surgical resection is considered to be the only curative treatment.
Abstract.A 70-year-old man who was diagnosed with unresectable advanced rectal cancer with multiple liver metastases, received oxaliplatin-based treatment with bevacizumab as first-line chemotherapy and irinotecan-based treatment with bevacizumab as second-line chemotherapy for a total of 17 months. The patient was treated with regorafenib (160 mg/day for 3 weeks) as third-line chemotherapy. Following completion of one course of regorafenib treatment, the patient complained of abdominal distension. Computed tomography (CT) examination identified liver atrophy and massive ascites, while no such symptoms were observed prior to the regorafenib treatment. Blood testing revealed increases in the aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels. The patient was admitted to the Aizu Medical Center (Aizuwakamatsu, Japan). Approximately 2,000 ml of ascitic fluid were aspirated daily for 1 week by abdominal puncture. The patient was administered oral diuretics, including 20 mg/day of furosemide and 25 mg/day of spironolactone. Albumin was administered to correct the albumin deficit. The levels of AST, ALT and ALP were decreased from the peak value reported on admission and the patient was discharged from our hospital 16 days following treatment initiation. The CT examination after 1 month revealed that the volume of the liver had been restored and the ascites had disappeared. Furthermore, almost all the liver metastases were reduced in size. The carcinoembryonic antigen level, which was elevated prior to regorafenib treatment, also decreased to normal.
Background Recently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been used as a less invasive treatment for superficial esophageal cancer. Additional treatment is often required after non-curative resection to prevent local recurrence and lymph node metastasis. Here, we present the outcomes of various additional treatments for patients with superficial esophageal cancer who underwent ESD. Methods Between 2006 and 2017, we performed ESD in 179 patients (210 lesions) with superficial esophageal cancer and 44 cases resulted in the non-curative resection diagnosed by the pathological examination. Among them, 29 patients received additional treatment, whereas 15 patients with no additional treatment were followed up. Additional treatment included esophagectomy (8 patients), chemoradiotherapy (15 patients), ablation using argon plasma coagulation (4 patients), and chemotherapy alone (2 patients). We examined the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients in the additional esophagectomy group (S group) and chemoradiotherapy group (CRT group). Results Twenty-three patients with pT1a-MM, pT1b, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion, and positive resection margins (both horizontal and vertical) were divided into two treatment groups. Clinicopathological characteristics of patients in the S and CRT groups were not significantly different. Pathological findings after additional esophagectomy showed one residual tumor and one lymph node metastasis. There were no recurrences in the two groups. There was no statistically significant difference in the 5-year overall survival rate between the S group (87.5%) and the CRT group (93.3%). One patient from the S group died due to respiratory pneumonia, and one patient died due to radiation pneumonia. However, five out of the 15 (33.3%) patients who were followed up with no additional treatment developed recurrence. The 5-year overall survival rate was 40.4%, which was not significantly different from that in the additional treatment group. However, the 5-year relapse-free survival rate (30%) was significantly different from that in the additional treatment group (P > 0.05). Conclusion Additional treatment is essential after non-curative endoscopic submucosal resection for esophageal cancer. Additional esophagectomy and chemoradiotherapy were both safe and effective in this cohort. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
Introduction Recently in Japan, Ramucirumab (RAM) became the first antiangiogenic agent to be approved for secondline treatment of gastric cancer. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of RAM plus paclitaxel (PTX) in patients with unresectable and recurrent gastric cancer in our institution. Patients and Methods The subjects were 11 patients with unresectable and recurrent gastric cancer who received RAM plus PTX as a secondor laterline treatment at our hospital between June 2015 and September 2017, after the failure of previouslyattempted treatments. We assessed the efficacy and safety of RAM plus PTX, and also compared them between patients aged <75 years (n=6) and those aged ≥75 (n=5), by performing a retrospective analysis based on the data obtained from daily clinical practice for gastric cancer treatment. Results Objective tumor response was observed in one of the 11 patients (9.1%) with partial response, and disease control was seen in the remaining 10 (90.9%). The median overall survival (OS) and progressionfree survival (PFS) of the patients were 20.8 months (95% CI 7.8-NA (not applicable)) and 11.3 months (95% CI 6.5-NA), respectively. There were no serious adverse events. The median OS for the <75 years group and ≥75 years group was NA (due to short followup period) and 20.8 months (p = 0.336), respectively, and their respective median PFS rates were 9.4 and 11.3 months (p = 0.492). The difference of rate of adverse events was not significant between the two age groups in the present study, though the number of adverse events was not sufficient. Conclusion The results of the present study suggest that the combination chemotherapy of RAM and PTX was effective in unresectable and recurrent gastric cancer patients as a secondor laterline therapy, and has been shown to be safe and feasible in elderly patients.
In order to develop a biomarker predicting the efficacy of treatments for patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), we evaluated the subpopulation of T cells in ESCC patients treated with chemotherapy (CT), chemoradiotherapy (CRT), and nivolumab therapy (NT). Fifty-five ESCC patients were enrolled in this study, and peripheral blood samples were collected before and after CT or CRT and during NT. Frequencies of memory, differentiated, and exhausted T cells were evaluated using flow cytometry among cStages, treatment strategies, pathological responses of CT/CRT, and during NT. The frequencies of PD-1+ or TIM-3+CD4+ T cells were significantly higher in patients with cStage IV. PD-1+CD4+ and TIM-3+CD8+ T-cell populations were significantly higher in patients treated with CRT but were not associated with treatment response. The frequencies of both CD4+ and CD8+ CD45RA−CD27+CD127+ central memory T cells (TCM) were significantly decreased during the course of NT in the progressive disease group. Taken together, the alteration in frequency of CD45RA−CD27+CD127+ TCM during NT may be a biomarker to predict its therapeutic response in ESCC patients.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.