Rat model of orthotopic gastric transplantation.

INTRODUCTION: We tried to find a better surgical procedure of reconstruction after total gastrectomy. Seventy rats were operated to establish a model of orthotopic gastric transplantations which may also be important for abdominal multivisceral transplantation. OBJECTIVE: To establish a rat model of orthotopic gastric transplantation. METHODS: In the donor operation; after the spleen was resected and the proper hepatic artery ligated, the stomach was infused with cold (0 degrees C to 4 degrees C) sodium lactate Ringer's solution via the aorta. The stomach was resected with its peripheral blood vessels-the celiac trunk, the left gastric artery, the splenic artery, the common hepatic artery, the gastroepiploic artery, and the portal vein. In the recipient operation; after the stomach and the spleen were resected, the donor stomach was implanted. An end-to-side anastomosis was performed for the portal veins. After the end-to-end anastomosis between the donor celiac trunk and the recipient left gastric artery, the blood flow was opened. Then the anastomoses of the duodenum, and donor cardia to the recipient esophagus were performed in end-to-end style. RESULTS: Thirty five operations were performed, in which the success rate in the last 20 cases was 80% (16/20). The average operative time was 2.35 hours. The longest survival time was over 3 months. CONCLUSION: A rat model of orthotopic gastric transplantation was successfully established and provides a method to study abdominal multivisceral transplantation. It also provides a new way for reconstruction after the total gastrectomy.

Fish consumption and colorectal cancer: a case-reference study in Japan.

Several clinical studies have suggested that supplementation with fish oils can suppress the proliferation of colorectal mucosa and therefore inhibit the development of colorectal cancer. However, epidemiological evidence concerning fish consumption and risk is inconsistent and limited. To clarify the association between intake of fish and the likelihood of developing colorectal cancer, we conducted a large sample size case-reference study with 928 cases of colon cancer, 622 of rectal cancer and 46886 cancer-free outpatient references aged 40-79 years. The data showed frequent raw/cooked fish intake to be associated with decreased odds ratio (OR) 0.68 with 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.47-0.99 for male colon cancer, especially for males aged over 60 years, smokers and frequent meat eaters. A marginal decrease in the OR (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.31-1.07) was also detected for female rectal cancer, especially in the regular physical exercise subgroup. However, frequent dried/salted fish intake was found to be associated with increased OR in females younger than 60 years old and alcohol drinkers. Although there is some possible bias in epidemiological studies, the results suggest that frequent raw/cooked fish intake may decrease the risk while dried/salted fish, in contrast, may exert a detrimental effect.

Possible association of beta2- and beta3-adrenergic receptor gene polymorphisms with susceptibility to breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: The involvement of beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2) and beta3-adrenergic receptor (ADRB3) in both adipocyte lipolysis and thermogenic activity suggests that polymorphisms in the encoding genes might be linked with interindividual variation in obesity, an important risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer. In order to examine the hypothesis that genetic variations in ADRB2 and ADRB3 represent interindividual susceptibility factors for obesity and breast cancer, we conducted a hospital-based, case-control study in the Aichi Cancer Center, Japan. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was given to 200 breast cancer patients and 182 control individuals, and pertinent information on lifestyle, family history and reproduction was collected. ADRB2 and ADRB3 genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) restriction fragment length polymorphism assessment. RESULTS: Twenty-five (12.4%) breast cancer patients and 32 (17.6%) control individuals were found to bear a glutamic acid (Glu) allele for the ADRB2 gene (odds ratio [OR] 0.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.38-1.18), and 60 (30.0%) breast cancer patients and 61 (33.5%) control individuals were found to bear an Arg allele for the ADRB3 gene (OR 0.85, 95% CI 0.55-1.31). A significantly lower risk was observed in those who carried the Glu ADRB2 allele and who reported first childbirth when they were younger than 25 years (OR 0.35; 95% CI 0.13-0.99). CONCLUSION: A potential association may exist between risk of breast cancer and polymorphisms in the ADRB2 and ADRB3 genes; further studies in larger samples and/or in different ethnic groups are warranted to investigate this potential association.

Comparison of lifestyle and risk factors among Japanese with and without gastric cancer family history.

To find specific risk factors of gastric cancer (GC) independent of GC family history (GCFH), 2 studies were conducted using the database of the Hospital-based Epidemiological Research Program at Aichi Cancer Center: (i) a comparison of lifestyles between non-cancer cases with positive and negative GCFH status and (ii) a case-reference investigation of subjects with and without GCFH, treated separately. The first showed no significant variation of GCFH status with regard to smoking, drinking and most food habits. Multivariate analyses in the case-referent studies revealed odds ratios (ORs) for GC associated with habitual smoking of 2.78 (95% CI 1.22-6.28) for those with and 2.74 (95% CI 1.76-4.26) for those without GCFH. In individuals with GCFH, an independently lowered OR (0.52, 95% CI 0.27-0.99) was evident for frequent consumption of raw vegetables, whereas the opposite was noted for pickled vegetables (2. 39, 95% CI 1.28-4.45). No statistically significant interaction was found between GCFH and selected lifestyle items. In conclusion, our results suggest a limited influence of GCFH on risk factors for GC.

Effects of dietary, drinking, and smoking habits on the prognosis of gastric cancer.

Although it has been clarified that dietary, drinking, and smoking habits contribute to the onset of gastric cancer, little is known about their impact on prognosis of gastric cancer. To examine this question, a prognostic analysis was conducted using data from Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute and Hospital. From January 1988 to December 1994, information on 877 gastric cancer patients (578 men and 299 women) regarding habitual smoking and drinking, food consumption, histological grade, and clinical stage of tumor as well as follow-up results were collected. Survival status of all patients was followed up until December 1998, and the survival function was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Proportional hazard analysis was used to test the effect of each lifestyle item on gastric cancer death. After controlling for age, gender, histological grade, and stage of disease, hazard ratios (HR) were calculated. Values for consumption of raw vegetables [HR = 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.56-0.98], tofu (HR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.42-0.99), and chicken meat (HR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.39-0.95) more than three times per week demonstrated significantly decreased risk. However, the risk ratio was 2.53 (95% CI = 1.22-5.29) for habitual smokers, and an inverse dose-response relationship was also found between ever smoking and gastric cancer patient survival. Therefore, this study suggested that frequent intake of raw vegetables and tofu is favorable, whereas habitual smoking is an adverse prognostic factor for gastric cancer. Our study implies that an improvement of survival of Japanese gastric cancer might be achieved by lifestyle improvement.