三木 厚

Abstract Background Osteopenia reflects frailty and has been shown to be associated with outcomes in cancer patients. This study was undertaken to examine whether osteopenia is an independent prognostic factor in patients with esophageal cancer after resection. Methods A total of 214 patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer were analyzed retrospectively. Bone mineral density (BMD) of the 11th thoracic vertebra was measured by computed tomography scan, and patients classified into osteopenia and normal BMD groups with BMD <160 Hounsfield units as the cutoff. Clinicopathological data and prognosis were analyzed. Results The 5‐year survival rate was 55.4% for the osteopenia group and 74.7% for the normal BMD group with a significantly worse prognosis in the osteopenia group (p = 0.0080). In multivariable analysis, osteopenia was a significant independent risk factor associated with overall survival (hazard ratio [HR] 1.90, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.27–3.34, and p = 0.0151) along with R1/2 resection (HR 3.02, 95% CI 1.71–5.18, and p = 0.0002). Conclusion In patients with esophageal cancer undergoing resection, osteopenia may be a surrogate marker for frailty and an independent predictor of prognosis.

Background: Osteopenia is a well-known risk factor for survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma; however, it is unclear whether osteopenia can apply to both genders and how osteopenia is associated with cancer progression. The aim of this study was to elucidate whether osteopenia predicts reduced survival in regression models in both genders and whether osteopenia is associated with the pathological factors associated with reduced survival. Methods: This study included 188 consecutive patients who underwent hepatectomy. Bone mineral density was assessed using computed tomography (CT) scan images taken within 3 months before surgery. Non-contrast CT scan images at the level of the 11th thoracic vertebra were used. The cutoff value of osteopenia was calculated using a threshold value of 160 Hounsfield units. Overall survival (OS) curves and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were constructed using the Kaplan–Meier method, as was a log-rank test for survival. The hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for overall survival were calculated using Cox’s proportional hazard model. Results: In the regression analysis, age predicted bone mineral density. The association in females was greater than that in males. The OS and RFS of osteopenia patients were shorter than those for non-osteopenia patients. According to univariate and multivariate analyses, osteopenia was an independent risk factor for OS and RFS. The sole pathological factor associated with osteopenia was microvascular portal vein invasion. Conclusion: Models suggest that osteopenia may predict decreased OS and RFS in patients undergoing resection of hepatocellular carcinoma due to the mechanisms mediated via microvascular portal vein invasion.

INTRODUCTION: Treatment guidelines for colorectal cancer (CRC) suggest two classifications for histological differentiation-highest-grade and predominant. However, the optimal predictor of lymph node metastasis (LNM) in T1 CRC remains unknown. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the impact of the use of highest-grade or predominant differentiation on LNM determination in T1 CRC. METHODS: The study protocol is registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, registration number: CRD42023416971) and was published in OSF (https://osf.io/TMAUN/) on April 13, 2023.We searched five electronic databases for studies assessing the diagnostic accuracy of highest-grade or predominant differentiation to determine LNM in T1 CRC. The outcomes were sensitivity and specificity. We simulated 100 T1 CRC cases, with an LNM incidence of 11.2%, to calculate the differences in false positives and negatives between the highest-grade and predominant differentiations using a bootstrap method. RESULTS: In 42 studies involving 41,290 patients, the differentiation classification had a pooled sensitivity of 0.18 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13-0.24) and 0.06 (95% CI, 0.04-0.09) (P<0.0001) and specificity of 0.95 (95% CI, 0.93-0.96) and 0.98 (95% CI, 0.97-0.99) (P<0.0001) for the highest-grade and predominant differentiations, respectively. In the simulation, the differences in false positives and negatives between the highest-grade and predominant differentiations were 3.0% (range, 1.6-4.4) and -1.3% (range, -2.0 to -0.7), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Highest-grade differentiation may reduce the risk of misclassifying LNM cases as negative, whereas predominant differentiation may prevent unnecessary surgeries. Further studies should examine differentiation classification using other predictive factors.

Segmental grafts from living donors have advantages over grafts from deceased donors when used for small intestine transplantation. However, storage time for small intestine grafts can be extremely short and optimal graft preservation conditions for short-term storage remain undetermined. Secreted factors from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) that allow direct activation of preserved small intestine grafts. Freshly excised Luc-Tg LEW rat tissues were incubated in preservation solutions containing MSC-conditioned medium (MSC-CM). Preserved Luc-Tg rat-derived grafts were then transplanted to wild-type recipients, after which survival, injury score, and tight junction protein expression were examined. Luminance for each graft was determined using in vivo imaging. The findings indicated that 30-100 and 3-10 kDa fractions of MSC-CM have superior activating effects for small intestine preservation. Expression of the tight-junction proteins claudin-3, and zonula occludens-1 preserved for 24 h in University of Wisconsin (UW) solution containing MSC-CM with 50-100 kDa, as shown by immunostaining, also indicated effectiveness. Reflecting the improved graft preservation, MSC-CM preloading of grafts increased survival rate from 0% to 87%. This is the first report of successful transplantation of small intestine grafts preserved for more than 24 h using a rodent model to evaluate graft preservation conditions that mimic clinical conditions.

The prognosis of patients with peritoneal metastases from pancreatic cancer is poor, largely due to massive ascites, which precludes systemic treatment. Two patients with a poor performance status and malignant ascites were treated with cell-free and concentrated ascites reinfusion therapy followed by combined chemotherapy with intraperitoneal paclitaxel, intravenous gemcitabine, and nab-paclitaxel. These patients achieved a survival of 19 and 36 weeks with a relatively good quality of life. Combined intraperitoneal paclitaxel and systemic chemotherapy may provide effective palliative management for some patients with peritoneal metastases from pancreatic cancer.