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To clarify the quality of life of patients who underwent esophagectomy for carcinoma by right thoracotomy, laparotomy and cervical anastomosis, 116 patients who were cancer free at the time of mailing a questionnaire were analyzed. A significant decrease in vital capacity for 3 years postoperatively, as well as in the percentage of ideal body weight, between 3 and 5 years were observed in 57 patients with three-field lymphadenectomy. Patients' quality of life undergoing three-field dissection was worse than those with less radical lymphadenectomy (59 cases) in terms of the performance status and difficulty in talking at 60 months or more postoperatively. Around 20% of all patients reported severe hoarseness due to permanent recurrent nerve paralysis, resulting in poor quantity of food intake at 24 months or less postoperatively and restricted daily activity and difficulty in talking at 60 months or more after the operation. When a patient suffers from vocal cord insufficiency caused by permanent paralysis of the recurrent nerve, early treatment before discharge from the hospital should be performed to improve the quality of life of such a patient.

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To investigate the aetiological role of human papillomavirus (HPV) in breast cancer, we examined the presence, genotype, viral load, and physical status of HPV in 124 Japanese female patients with breast carcinoma. Human papillomavirus presence was examined by PCR using SPF10 primers, and primer sets targeting the E6 region of HPV-16, -18, and -33. The INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping kit was used to determine genotype. Human papillomavirus DNA was detected in 26 (21%) breast carcinomas. The most frequently detected HPV genotype was HPV-16 (92%), followed by HPV-6 (46%), HPV-18 (12%), and HPV-33 (4%). In 11 normal epithelium specimens adjacent to 11 HPV-16-positive carcinomas, 7 were HPV-16-positive. However, none of the normal breast tissue specimens adjacent to HPV-negative breast carcinomas were HPV-positive. The real-time PCR analysis suggested the presence of integrated form of viral DNA in all HPV-16-positive samples, and estimated viral load was low with a geometric mean of 5.4 copies per 10(4) cells. In conclusion, although HPV DNA was detected in 26 (21%) breast carcinomas and, in all HPV-16-positive cases, the HPV genome was considered integrated into the host genome, their low viral loads suggest it is unlikely that integrated HPV is aetiologically involved in the development of Japanese breast carcinomas that we examined.

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A great deal of clinical experience has firmly established the concept of the sentinel lymph node (SN) in breast cancer. SN biopsy allows treatment without axillary lymphadenectomy and has made it possible to perform a surgical intervention via just a small skin incision. In partial resection of the breast (quadrantectomy), we use a double retractor to form a workspace under the skin via a small axillary incision. Resection does not require a large incision even in cases in which the cancer lesion is located in the upper inner or lower inner quadrant of the breast, as the endoscope allows the surgeon to see the workspace formed by the double retractors.

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OBJECTIVE: To analyze the impact on prognosis of the number of lymph node metastases detected by ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound in patients with esophageal carcinoma. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound are useful for diagnosing tumor depth and lymph node metastasis in patients with esophageal carcinoma. However, the clinical significance of the number of lymph node metastases before surgery has not been elucidated. METHODS: The authors evaluated lymph node metastases using preoperative ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound in 329 consecutive patients who underwent esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy. TNM classification and one-to-one comparison of lymph node metastasis was performed between the preoperative and histologic diagnosis. The number of lymph node metastases was subdivided into four groups: zero, one to three, four to seven, and eight or more. RESULTS: The accuracy of preoperative ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound diagnosis exceeded 70% in each category of TNM classification. The incidence of lymph node metastasis determined by preoperative and histologic diagnosis was 69.0% (234/339) and 59.3% (201/339), respectively. The correlation between preoperative and histologic diagnosis was significant (P <.0001). According to the subdivision of number of lymph node metastases, the accuracy rates associated with nodal involvement of zero, one to three, four to seven, and eight or more were 83.8%, 59.7%, 43.3%, and 96.0%, respectively. The clinical outcome between ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound diagnosis and histologic diagnosis in stage grouping was almost similar. The 5-year survival rates of patients with zero, one to three, four to seven, and eight or more lymph node metastases determined by ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound were 53.3%, 33.8% 17.0%, and 0%, respectively. The differences among groups were statistically significant. The survival curves associated with preoperative and histologic diagnosis were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Not only the stage grouping of TNM classification but also the number of lymph node metastases determined by ultrasound and endoscopic ultrasound before surgery may be useful for predicting prognosis in patients with esophageal carcinoma.

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To demonstrate the association of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) with primary epithelial neoplasms in the south part of Kyushu, Japan, 761 carcinomas consisting of 75 lung, 61 breast, 107 esophagus, 102 colon, 58 pancreas, 45 thyroid, and 313 gastric cancers were examined by EBER-1 in situ hybridization. EBER-1 was detected in 23 cases (7.3%) out of 313 gastric carcinomas, while none of the other carcinomas was positive for EBER-1. Twenty-eight (9.4%) out of 313 gastric carcinomas were differentiated poorly to moderately carcinomas with prominent lymphoid cell infiltration, similar to so-called lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma, and 19 cases (67.9%) were positive for EBER-1. Although two (2.6%) and 11(10.3%) out of 75 lung and 107 esophagus carcinomas were so-called lymphoepithelioma-like carcinomas, respectively, but EBER-1 was not detected in other epithelial neoplasms that originated from the lung, esophagus, breast, colon, pancreas, and thyroid in the south of Kyushu, Japan. As a result, EBV was associated with only some gastric carcinomas but not with other epithelial neoplasms originating from the lung, esophagus, breast, colon, pancreas, and thyroid in southern Japan.

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BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma remains unsatisfactory. The purpose of this study was to clarify the clinicopathologic characteristics of asymptomatic patients. METHODOLOGY: We retrospectively compared 78 cases of asymptomatic esophageal carcinoma (AEC) with 341 cases of symptomatic esophageal carcinoma (SEC). RESULTS: In 47 of 78 patients with AEC, the tumors were discovered by mass screening and in 31 patents by follow-up examination for other disease. Nearly 70% of the patients with AEC had a carcinoma in situ (Tis) or T1 tumor, whereas nearly 70% of the patients with SEC had T3 or T4 tumors. The incidences of lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion and vascular invasion were significantly lower in patients with AEC than in those with SEC. The 5-year survival rate in AEC and SEC were 59.3% and 22.9%, respectively. With regard to the cause of death, 26.8% (11/41) of patients with AEC and 59.9% (166/277) of patients with SEC died of esophageal carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS: In order to improve the prognosis of esophageal carcinoma, an effort should be made to detect early esophageal carcinoma among patients at risk for tumors when they are still asymptomatic.

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BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between macroscopic appearance of superficial esophageal carcinoma, with particular attention to the horizontal and vertical extent of tumor growth, clinicopathologic findings and p53 expression. METHODOLOGY: Eighty-seven patients with superficial esophageal carcinoma were divided into three groups: 1) group A, patients with protruding or distinct depressed lesions (n = 28); 2) group B, patients with superficial and flat lesions > or = 5 cm in length (n = 45); and, group C, patients with superficial and flat lesions (5 cm in length (n = 14). Tumors were examined immunohistochemically for p53 expression. RESULTS: The incidence of submucosal invasion, lymph node metastasis and lymphatic invasion was significantly higher in group A than in groups B and C. The rate of p53 expression was significantly lower in group B than in the other two groups. The prognosis in groups B and C was better than that in group A. CONCLUSIONS: Vertical extent was more strongly associated with tumor depth, lymph node metastasis and prognosis than was horizontal extent, although p53 overexpression was related to both the vertical and horizontal extent of tumors. Analysis of the macroscopic appearance of superficial esophageal carcinoma is useful in choosing treatment strategies.

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Six cases of carcinosarcoma of the esophagus were studied clinicopathologically, immunohistochemically and with DNA flow cytometry. Transitional areas with morphology intermediate between carcinoma and sarcoma were found microscopically in all cases. Immunohistochemically, the carcinomatous areas contained keratin-positive cell components in all cases while vimentin-positive cells were found in sarcomatous areas in 5 cases. By DNA flow analysis of microdissection, the sarcomatous components of the tumors showed an aneuploid pattern with one exception, in contrast the carcinomatous components were diploid in all cases. In these few cases, PCNA, S-phase fraction and the mitotic rate were extremely high, apparently indicating a correlation with malignant behavior. Accordingly, examination by immunohistochemistry and DNA ploidy is useful for the analysis of biological properties in the so-called carcinosarcoma of the esophagus.

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BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to establish whether the site of lymph node metastasis influences the survival of patients with carcinoma of the thoracic esophagus. METHODS: A series of 159 patients with lymph node metastasis who underwent right transthoracic R0 esophagectomy was analyzed retrospectively. Sites of the nodal metastasis were divided into two regions; the neck and/or upper mediastinum above (upward metastasis) and the abdomen and/or lower mediastinum below (downward metastasis) the tracheal carina. RESULTS: Univariate analysis of prognostic factors revealed the tumor location, distant lymphatic metastasis, number of metastatic nodes and upward metastasis influenced survival, but downward metastasis did not. Multivariate analysis showed that the number of metastatic nodes and upward metastasis were also significant prognostic factors. Thirty-one (33.3%) of the 93 patients with, but only 6 (9.1%) without, upward metastasis had recurrences in the neck and/or upper mediastinum (P = 0.0002). Eighteen (60.0%) of the 30 patients with extranodal invasion in the neck and/or upper mediastinum had recurrence in these regions. CONCLUSIONS: Nodal metastasis in the neck and/or upper mediastinum was a significant risk factor for prognosis, the same as the number of metastatic nodes.

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BACKGROUND: To reduce the ambient concentration of waste anesthetic agents, exhaust gas scavenging systems are standard in almost all operating rooms. The incidence of contamination and the factors that may increase the concentrations of ambient anesthetic gases have not been evaluated fully during routine circumstances, however. METHODS: Concentrations of nitrous oxide (N2O) in ambient air were monitored automatically in 10 operating rooms in Kagoshima University Hospital from January to March 1997. Ambient air was sampled automatically from each operating room, and the concentrations of N2O were analyzed every 22 min by an infrared spectrophotometer. The output of the N2O analyzer was integrated electronically regarding time, and data were displayed on a monitor in the administrative office for anesthesia supervisors. A concentration of N2O > 50 parts per million was regarded as abnormally high and was displayed with an alarm signal. The cause of the high concentration of N2O was then sought. RESULTS: During the 3-month investigation, N2O was used in 402 cases. Abnormally high concentrations of N2O were detected at some time during 104 (25.9%) of those cases. The causes were mask ventilation (42 cases, 40.4% of detected cases), unconnected scavenging systems (20 cases, 19.2%), leak around uncuffed pediatric endotracheal tube (13 cases, 12.5%), equipment leakage (12 cases, 11.5%), and others (17 cases, 16.4%). CONCLUSIONS: N2O contamination was common during routine circumstances in our operating rooms. An unconnected scavenging system led to the highest concentrations of N2O recorded. Proper use of scavenging systems is necessary if contamination by anesthetic gas is to be limited.

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OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of cervical lymph node metastasis in esophageal carcinoma. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Ultrasound (US) examination is useful for diagnosing lymph node metastasis. However, few reports have examined its role in the decision to perform cervical lymph node dissection in esophageal carcinoma. METHODS: Ultrasound examination was performed to evaluate cervical lymph node metastasis in 519 patients with esophageal carcinoma. The patients were divided into 5 groups according to treatment received: group 1, 153 patients who underwent curative resection of primary tumor by right thoracotomy and complete bilateral cervical lymphadenectomy; group 2, 112 patients who underwent curative resection of primary tumor by right thoracotomy but without cervical lymphadenectomy; group 3, 78 patients who underwent esophagectomy by left thoracotomy or blunt dissection with or without removal of cervical lymph nodes; group 4, 76 patients with palliative resection without cervical lymphadenectomy; and group 5, 100 patients without any surgical treatment. US diagnosis was compared with histologic findings or cervical lymph node recurrence. RESULTS: Lymph node metastasis was detected in 30.8% of patients (160/519). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of US diagnosis in group 1 were 74.5%, 94.1%, and 87.6%, respectively. Cervical lymph node recurrence was seen in 7 patients (4.6%) in group 1, in 4 patients (3.6%) in group 2, and 3 patients (3.8%) in group 3. Although the incidence of cervical lymph node metastasis as determined by US examination was high in groups 4 and 5, almost none of the patients died of cervical lymph node metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: Ultrasound examination plays a useful role in the decision to perform cervical lymph node dissection in patients with esophageal carcinoma, particularly in those with potentially curative dissection.

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We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological findings in 141 patients with advanced cardiac cancer. According to histological type, 117 patients had an adenocarcinoma and 24 patients a squamous cell carcinoma. Curative resection was performed in 114 patients, whereas the remaining 27 patients underwent palliative resection. Preoperative endoscopic ultrasonography and abdominal ultrasound were useful for the diagnosis of esophageal invasion and lymph node metastases. Particularly, the classification of paraaortic lymph node metastasis by ultrasound was important in deciding on the surgical method. Mediastinal lymph node metastases were found histologically in 19 of 68 patients. The survival of patients with mediastinal lymph node metastasis was poor. However, among them, a favorable outcome was expected for patients with few involved nodes and if only perigastric node involvement in abdominal nodes was found. Paraaortic lymph node metastasis was found histologically in 15 of 48 patients (27.9%). Two of 35-year survivors had 5 or fewer lymph node metastases, and showed only perigastric and paraaortic node involvement. It is equally important that tumor extension and lymph node metastases in the mediastinum and abdomen should be determined in the surgical treatment of advanced carcinoma of the cardia.

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It has been shown that human thymidine phosphorylase (TP) is identical to platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor and has angiogenic activity. In the present study, the expression of TP was examined in 139 mammary carcinomas and 35 benign mammary disorders using biochemical and immunohistochemical methods. Moreover, in order to evaluate the significance of TP expression in mammary carcinomas, the relationship between vascular density and various clinicopathological factors, including age and menopausal status of patients with a mammary carcinoma, were compared with the size, nodal status, expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PgR), c-erbB-2, p53 and TP of a mammary carcinoma. Thymidine phosphorylase expression increased in both the nuclei and cytoplasm of mammary carcinoma cells in comparison to mammary benign disorder cells. The number of microvessels in mammary carcinomas was generally correlated to the number of tumor cells with TP expression in cytoplasm. The number of cells with TP expression in cytoplasm was significantly large in tumors that measured 3-4 cm in diameter, compared with tumors measuring 1-2 and 5-6 cm in diameter. In mammary tumors of 1-4 cm diameter, TP expression and vessel density were significantly high in tumors negative for ER or positive for c-erbB2 and in tumors positive for TP or c-erbB2, respectively; whereas tumors of 5-6 cm in diameter were not modified by any clinicopathological factors. The results indicated that TP plays an important angiogenetic role in mammary carcinomas, especially tumors with a certain progression.

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Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) has recently been standardized for mucosal cancer of the esophagus. It may be hypothesized that EMR may be considered to be curative for superficial esophageal cancer (SEC), if the possibility of lymph node metastasis can be excluded beforehand. Ninety patients with p-T1 tumours who underwent esophagectomy were studied. Their primary lesions were stained with anti-Desmoglein 1 antigens using the ABC method. The p-T1 tumors were subdivided into three categories: carcinoma limited to the lamina propria mucosae (19 patients, SEC1), carcinoma invading the lamina muscularis mucosae or with invasion just into the submucosa (27 patients, SEC2), and carcinoma definitely invading the submucosa (44 patients, SEC3). Lymph node metastasis was not observed in the SEC1 patients but was observed in 19% of the SEC2 patients and 41% of the SEC3 patients. None of the SEC1 or SEC2 patients had lymph node metastasis when preserved Desmoglein 1 expression was obtained. The EMR appears to be appropriate therapy for SEC1. Our findings indicate that, for SEC2, preserved expression of Desmoglein 1 may be a helpful aid to exclude the possibility of lymph node metastases. Transthoracic esophagectomy with lymphadenectomy should be selected in the SEC3 patients.

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To clarify the quality of life of patients who underwent esophagectomy for carcinoma by right thoracotomy, laparotomy and cervical anastomosis, 116 patients who were cancer free at the time of mailing a questionnaire were analyzed. A significant decrease in vital capacity for 3 years postoperatively, as well as in the percentage of ideal body weight, between 3 and 5 years were observed in 57 patients with three-field lymphadenectomy. Patients' quality of life undergoing three-field dissection was worse than those with less radical lymphadenectomy (59 cases) in terms of the performance status and difficulty in talking at 60 months or more postoperatively. Around 20% of all patients reported severe hoarseness due to permanent recurrent nerve paralysis, resulting in poor quantity of food intake at 24 months or less postoperatively and restricted daily activity and difficulty in talking at 60 months or more after the operation. When a patient suffers from vocal cord insufficiency caused by permanent paralysis of the recurrent nerve, early treatment before discharge from the hospital should be performed to improve the quality of life of such a patient.

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This study was designed to clarify the clinical and pathologic features of diffusely infiltrative squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus. Diffusely infiltrative squamous cell carcinomas were classified grossly into two types, namely, scirrhous carcinoma and nonscirrhous carcinoma. There were seven patients with the former type and three with the latter type. Scirrhous-type carcinoma was associated with a prominently thickened esophageal wall with strictures, whereas nonscirrhous-type carcinoma demonstrated thickening of the esophageal wall without strictures. Microscopically, all patients had lymph node metastases and lymphatic invasion. Blood vessel invasion was found in seven patients and extranodal invasion was found in seven. The prognosis of patients with both types of carcinoma was extremely poor. Only two patients who underwent curative surgery as well as chemoradiotherapy survived for more than 1 year. Therefore, further morphological studies on the early stages of diffusely infiltrating esophageal carcinoma should be performed. New treatment strategies such as intensive preoperative chemoradiotherapy based on sensitivity tests in individual patients will be required for treating the advanced stages of this disease.

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A clinicopathologic study was carried out on 30 patients with mucosal esophageal cancer (MEC). The depth of cancer invasion was subdivided histologically into three categories: m1 = carcinoma in situ (intraepithelial carcinoma) or carcinoma with questionable invasion beyond the basal membrane; m2 = cancer invasion confined to the lamina propria, and m3 = cancer reaching to or infiltrating into the muscularis mucosae. Lymph node metastases and lymphatic invasion were found only in the tumors reaching or infiltrating the muscularis mucosae (m3). The maximum histologic vertical extent of the tumors was more than 1 mm in 4 of 5 patients with lymph node metastasis or lymphatic invasion. None of the patients died of recurrent esophageal disease, and 3 of the 6 patients who had a second primary tumor died of this other malignancy. It is critical to distinguish between m1, m2 and m3 tumors to plan a treatment strategy, including an endoscopic mucosal resection.

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The incidence and circumstances of colonization by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus were prospectively investigated. Among 404 patients, 15 (3.7%) were carriers on admission, and 43 (10.6%) became colonized, mainly after surgical operation. A different mode of transmission was suggested in each ward.

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From January 1980 to December 1994, a total of 64 cases of thoracic esophageal carcinoma which invaded adjacent structure (A3) were resected and 35 cases were unresected in Kagoshima University Hospital. Adjacent structures were mainly trachea/bronchus, aorta or pulmonary vein. Combined resections were performed in 22 cases (34.4%), and no tumors remained in 12 cases (18.8%). One year survival rates and 50% survival time of the no residual tumor group were 25.7% and 8.5 months, while the rates of the residual tumor group were 15.7% and 5.1 months. But, there was no significant difference of survival rates according to the amount of residual tumor. On the other hand, 1-year survival rates and 50% survival time of unresected group were 3.1% and 4.5 months. As a postoperative adjuvant therapy, radiation was the most effective modality. As a result, operations should be done at first for the A3 carcinoma in which a complete combined resection is expected. On the other hand, radiation or chemotherapy should be selected for the cases in which the tumor may remain, even though combined resection is done.

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