[Successful antiemetic treatment of TSUMURA Rikkunshi-to Extract Granules for ethical use in addition to other antiemetic agents in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for an advanced breast cancer patient].

A 45-year-old woman who suffered from left breast cancer, 8 cm in diameter, with skin invasion and axillary lymph node involvement but no distant metastasis, underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy. FEC100 consisting of 5-FU (500 mg/m(2)), epirubicin (100 mg/m(2)) and cyclophosphamide (500 mg/m(2)), were given intravenously for tumor reduction in connection with breast conserving surgery. Although antiemetic agents such as granisetron hydrochloride,metoclopramide and dexamethasone failed to prevent frequent emesis and loss of appetite in the first course, TSUMURA Rikkunshi-to Extract Granules (Rikkunshi-to) in addition to those antiemetic agents from the second course remarkably well controlled nausea and vomiting. Consequently, 6 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy were carried out successfully and brought about complete tumor remission. Rikkunshi-to was first medicated for non-ulcer dyspepsia, but now we suggest that it is possibly a good new antiemetic agent.

Successful treatment of Fournier's gangrene with the assistance of preoperative computed tomography in an elderly man: report of a case.

An 87-year-old man presented with inguinal pain and swelling, and was later diagnosed as having Fournier's gangrene. The information gained from preoperative computed tomography (CT) proved very useful for defining the extent of necrosis, and emergency surgery saved his life. Thus, CT should be performed prior to treatment of Fournier's gangrene, even in an emergency situation.

[A case of advanced breast cancer with multiple lung, bone and lymph node metastases successfully treated with 5'-DFUR alone].

A 78-year-old female patient with locally advanced breast cancer, bleeding from a deep ulcer, and with multiple bone, lung and distant lymph node metastases was successfully treated with 5'-DFUR alone. She was at first treated with docetaxel + 5'-deoxy-5-fluorouridine (5'-DFUR) + tamoxifen, but they were discontinued because of deep venous thrombosis. She underwent simple mastectomy due to periodically recurring bleeding and infection. After administration of 5'-DFUR alone, a decrease of abnormal accumulation on a bone scintigram was obtained in 10 months, the lung metastases were diagnosed as being in complete remission (CR) at 11 months and the lymph node metastases were diagnosed as being in CR at 14 months. These states have continued to the present. The administration of 5'-DFUR alone is suitable for tumor dormancy in some cases.

A small, incidentally detected pancreatic somatostatinoma: report of a case.

We report an asymptomatic 72-year-old woman with a small, incidentally detected, pancreatic somatostatinoma. The tumor, measuring 1 cm in diameter, showed a hypervascular pattern of contrast enhancement on computed tomography, and was found angiographically to receive a blood supply from the posterior superior pancreaticoduodenal artery. The results of preoperative hormonal assays all were normal. No assay for somatostatin was performed. No abnormality in either the pituitary or parathyroid was found. We thus considered the tumor to be a sporadic, nonfunctioning endocrine cell tumor, and enucleation was carried out. As some tumor cells in the resected specimen showed immunoreactivity for somatostatin, a diagnosis of somatostatinoma was made. Therefore, the possibility of somatostatinoma should be kept in mind when making a differential diagnosis of pancreatic endocrine tumors in cases where even a small hypervascular tumor is detected on enhanced computed tomography.