It has been established that fluorescence-guided resection using 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is useful in glioma surgery. The authors report on a 65-year-old woman who had a huge atypical left-hemisphere meningioma, which extended into the skull and to the superior sagittal sinus and demonstrated fluorescence in response to administration of 5-ALA. After the tumor was removed, the operative field was observed under the fluorescent mode of a fluorescence surgical microscopy system. Several minute areas of residual tumor tissue were visualized as strong fluorescence behind the vein and sinus, in a part of the hypertrophic dura, and along the edge of the skull. These remnants were completely removed. The authors concluded that fluorescence-guided resection using 5-ALA is useful in cases of atypical meningiomas with a high risk of recurrence.

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We have devised a new drug screening assay to discover anti-cancer drugs which inhibit Ras-mediated cellular signals, by utilizing a Ras-responsive element (RRE)-driven reporter gene system. We found that hypothemycin, an anti-bacterial, reduces RRE-dependent transcription.

Both malignant tumors and the perinecrotic area in radiation necrosis or neurodegenerative disease can be labeled as fluorescence positive using 5-aminolevulinic acid.

PI; pelvic incidence; SS; sacral slope; PT; pelvic tilt; LL; lumbar lordosis; C7SVA; C7 sagittal vertical axis; SSA; spinosacral angle; TK; thoracic kyphosis; C2-C7SVA; C2-C7 sagittal vertical axis; C2-C7A; C2-C7 Angle; TIA; thoracic inlet angle; NT; neck tilt.

The incidence of bone metastases (BMs) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is relatively low compared to those of other cancers, but it has increased recently, especially in Asian countries. Typically, BMs from HCC appear radiologically as osteolytic, destructive, and expansive components with large, bulky soft-tissue masses. These soft-tissue masses are unique to bone metastases from HCC and often replace the normal bone matrix and exhibit expansive growth. They often compress the peripheral nerves, spinal cord, or cranial nerves, causing not only bone pain but also neuropathic pain and neurological symptoms. In patients with spinal BMs, the consequent metastatic spinal cord compression (MSCC) causes paralysis. Skull base metastases (SBMs) with cranial nerve involvement can cause neurological symptoms. Therefore, patients with bony lesions often suffer from pain or neurological symptoms that have a severe, adverse effect on the quality of life. External-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) can effectively relieve bone pain and neurological symptoms caused by BMs. However, EBRT is not yet widely used for the palliative management of BMs from HCC because of the limited number of relevant studies. Furthermore, the optimal dosing schedule remains unclear, despite clinical evidence to support single-fraction radiation schedules for primary cancers. In this review, we outline data describing palliative EBRT for BMs from HCC in the context of (1) bone pain; (2) MSCC; and (3) SBMs.© 2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Metastasis; Radiotherapy; Palliative therapy; Spinal cord compression; Skull base metastasis Core tip: Due to a lack of clinical data, external-beam radiotherapy (EBRT) for bone metastases (BMs) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still not widely used as a palliative therapy component, and the optimal dosing schedule remains unclear. BMs from HCC typically occur as expansive, bulky soft-tissue masses; they exhibit expansive growth that compresses the peripheral nerves, spinal cord, or cranial nerves, causing both bone and neuropathic pain, and neurological symptoms. In this review, we outline the data describing palliative EBRT for BMs from HCC to treat bone pain, spinal compression, and skull base metastases.Hayashi S, Tanaka H, Hoshi H. Palliative external-beam radiotherapy for bone metastases from hepatocellular carcinoma.

Using a colour pulsed Doppler flow mapping system, we examined the intracranial arteries of 40 healthy infants. The anterior cerebral, basilar, intracranial internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries were visualized clearly enough to evaluate flow velocity at the success rates of 100%, 87.5%, 65% and 82.4%, respectively. In the anterior cerebral, intracranial internal carotid and middle cerebral arteries, the maximum blood flow velocity slightly decreased to a minimum at around 4-6 h after birth, and then gradually increased. The minimum blood flow velocity pattern was similar. The maximum blood flow velocity in the basilar artery decreased from 0-3 h, rapidly increased from 4-6 h, and remained at a steady level thereafter. A possible mechanism for the chronological changes in the intracranial blood flow velocity is discussed.