Additive effect of rikkunshito, an herbal medicine, on chemotherapy-induced nausea, vomiting, and anorexia in uterine cervical or corpus cancer patients treated with cisplatin and paclitaxel: results of a randomized phase II study (JORTC KMP-02) / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: Rikkunshito, an herbal medicine, is widely prescribed in Japan for the treatment of anorexia and functional dyspepsia, and has been reported to recover reductions in food intake caused by cisplatin. We investigated whether rikkunshito could improve chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) and anorexia in patients treated with cisplatin. METHODS: Patients with uterine cervical or corpus cancer who were to receive cisplatin (50 mg/m² day 1) and paclitaxel (135 mg/m² day 0) as first-line chemotherapy were randomly assigned to the rikkunshito group receiving oral administration on days 0–13 with standard antiemetics, or the control group receiving antiemetics only. The primary endpoint was the rate of complete control (CC: no emesis, no rescue medication, and no significant nausea) in the overall phase (0–120 hours). Two-tailed p<0.20 was considered significant in the planned analysis. RESULTS: The CC rate in the overall phase was significantly higher in the rikkunshito group than in the control group (57.9% vs. 35.3%, p=0.175), as were the secondary endpoints: the CC rate in the delayed phase (24–120 hours), and the complete response (CR) rates (no emesis and no rescue medication) in the overall and delayed phases (63.2% vs. 35.3%, p=0.095; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042; 84.2% vs. 52.9%, p=0.042, respectively), and time to treatment failure (p=0.059). Appetite assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS) appeared to be superior in the rikkunshito group from day 2 through day 6. CONCLUSION: Rikkunshito provided additive effect for the prevention of CINV and anorexia.

Fungemia due to Trichosporon dermatis in a patient with refractory Burkitt's leukemia

No abstract available.

Helicobacter pylori CagA and gastric carcinogenesis.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to demonstrate the tyrosine phosphorylation motif (TPM) and 3' region structure of the Helicobacter pylori CagA gene as well as its SHP-2 binding activity in AGS cells and relation to gastric carcinogenesis. METHODS: Sixteen clinical isolate H. pylori strains from eight duodenal ulcer and eight gastric adenocarcinoma patients were studied for CagA repeat sequence EPIYA motifs, C-terminal structure, and western blot analysis of CagA protein expression, translocation, and SHP-2 binding in AGS cells. RESULTS: Except for strain 547, all strains from the gastric adenocarcinoma patients were positive for CagA by PCR and had three EPIYA copy motifs. Western blotting showed that all strains were positive for CagA protein expression (100%), CagA protein translocation (100%), and SHP-2 binding (100%). CagA protein expression was significantly higher in the gastric adenocarcinoma patients than in the duodenal ulcer patients (P=0.0023). CagA protein translocation and SHP-2 binding in the gastric adenocarcinoma patients were higher than those in the duodenal ulcer patients, but no significant differences were found between the two groups (P=0.59, P=0.21, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The TPMs and 3' region structures of the H. pylori CagA gene in the duodenal ulcer and gastric adenocarcinoma patients have no significant differences.