[A Case of Pseudocirrhosis during Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer with Liver Metastases].

A 60-year-old woman was undergoing chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer and multiple liver metastases. One year and 3 months after the start of treatment, blood tests showed worsening liver function and a decrease in the platelet count. Multiple liver metastases tend to shrink on computed tomography, but pseudocirrhosis was suspected because the right lobe of the liver had atrophied and the marginal irregularities were conspicuous. The platelet count decreased because of hypersplenism, and continuing chemotherapy was difficult. Splenic artery embolization was performed by the internal medicine department, and chemotherapy was resumed once the platelet count recovered. Imaging findings consistent with cirrhosis without the typical cirrhosis histopathology are considered as pseudocirrhosis. This phenomenon has been reported for breast cancer. During chemotherapy for liver metastases, attention should be paid to its appearance. Furthermore, liver cirrhosis should be controlled, and chemotherapy should be continued in coordination with the internal medicine department.

[A Case of Late Recurrent MSI-High Stageâ B Gastric Cancer after Surgery].

Late recurrence of stage ⅠB gastric cancer with high microsatellite instability(MSI-high)is rare. Here, we report a case of MSI-high StageⅠB gastric cancer recurring more than 5 years after surgery. A 78-yaer-old man was admitted to our hospital for gastric cancer surgery. Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy was performed. Histologic examination revealed a T2(MP) N0M0, HER2-negative, StageⅠB gastric tubular adenocarcinoma. Postoperatively, the patient received chemotherapy with S-1 for 1 year. He developed liver and para-aortic lymph node metastases 5 years 1 month after surgery. Pathological genetic examination revealed a high microsatellite instability. He received pembrolizumab therapy for the recurrence. This case suggests that late recurrence occurs in patients with gastric cancer with high microsatellite instability.

Combination of risk factors affecting retear after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair: a decision tree analysis.

BACKGROUND: Several risk factors for postoperative retear after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) have been cited in a large number of reports; various combinations of these seem to be present in the clinical setting. PURPOSE: Using a combination model for decision tree analysis, we aimed to investigate the combination of risk factors that affect postoperative retear the most. METHODS: A total of 286 patients who underwent magnetic resonance (MR) imaging at 6 months after surgery were included in this study. Based on the structural integrity of the MR images taken 6 months after surgery, the patients were divided into a healed group (intact tendon, 254 patients) and a retear group (ruptured tendon, 32 patients). Using univariate and decision tree analyses, we selected a combination of 11 risk factors that drastically affected postoperative retear. RESULTS: The mean age was 64.9 ± 7.1 years, and the mean symptom duration was 9.7 ± 11.6 months. The tear was small/medium in 177 patients and large/massive in 109 patients. The technique for surgical repair was single row in 42 patients, double row in 60 patients, and suture bridging in 216 patients. On univariate analysis, both groups had significant differences in the anteroposterior (AP) tear size (P < .0001), mediolateral tear size (P < .0001), hyperlipidemia (P = .0178), global fatty degeneration index (P < .0001), supraspinatus fatty degeneration stage (P < .0001), and critical shoulder angle (CSA) (P = .0015). All of these 5 risk factors, except for mediolateral tear size, were selected as candidates for the decision tree analysis. Eight combination patterns were determined to have prediction probabilities that ranged from 4.3% to 86.1%. In particular, the combination of an AP tear size of ≥40 mm, hyperlipidemia, and a CSA of ≥37° affected retear after ARCR the most. CONCLUSIONS: Decision tree analysis lead to the extraction of different retear factor combinations, which were divided into 5 retear groups. The worst combination was of AP tear size ≥40 mm, hyperlipidemia, and CSA ≥37°, and the prediction probability of this combination was 86.2%. Therefore, our data may offer a new index for the prediction of retear after ARCR.

[Clinical Experience of Patients with Metastatic Gastric Cancer Treated Using Nab-PTX plus RAM chemotherapy].

The present study reports the outcomes of chemotherapy using nab-PTXplus RAM in 6 patients with metastatic gastric cancer as recommended in the JGCA guidelines for special conditions. Four cases exhibited Grade 3 neutropenia, 1 exhibited Grade 3 hypertension, and no case developed febrile neutropenia; however, the adverse events were tolerated. One case showed partial response, 1 showed stable disease, 2 cases showed non-complete response/non-progressive disease, and 2 cases could not be evaluated. These results suggest that this treatment may be performed safely in ambulatory patients.

[A Case of Suspected Therapy-Related Leukemia after Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer].

Therapy-related leukemia(TRL)is a distinctive clinical syndrome that occurs after exposure to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. We report a case of suspected TRLafter chemotherapy in a patient with breast cancer. A 61-year-old woman underwent total mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy(negative)for her breast cancer. Histopathologic analysis showed invasive ductal carcinoma, pStage I. Her subtype histology was Luminal B-type, and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy were administered. Four years after chemotherapy, a blood examination showed pancytopenia. Bone marrow examination showed acute promyelocytic leukemia. She was treated with chemotherapy and achieved complete remission. Breast cancer provides long-term survival after treatment. Attention should be paid to the occurrence of TRLin breast cancer surveillance.

Successful preparation of metabolite of troglitazone by in-flow electrochemical reaction on coulometric electrode.

A simple, rapid and efficient system utilizing a coulometric electrode was developed for the preparation of drug metabolites. Trace amounts of reactants are usually generated in electrochemical reactions, which are not suitable for the sufficient preparation of products to obtain NMR and other spectral data for chemical structure confirmation or to obtain data from pharmacological activity screening tests of products. In the developed system, called the "in-flow electrochemical reaction system," a drug, troglitazone, was dissolved in a volatile flow solvent, and pumped into a coulometric electrode under optimized conditions, and the effluent was evaporated. Without any further purification, milligram amounts of a pure oxidation product of troglitazone could be obtained within several hours. The amount obtained was enough for (1)H- and (13)C-NMR analysis by which the structure could be confirmed and was found to be identical to one of the metabolites of troglitazone detected in human plasma. This system will be useful to prepare standard compounds of the required amount for pharmacokinetic study and for toxicokinetic study.