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Biomedical subjects

N Hara

Publications and source records attributed to N Hara.

At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources

Direct evidence indicating that a GABA-mimetic stimulates acid secretion through central mechanisms.

Acid secretagogue effects of central and peripheral baclofen were compared in the rat. Intravenously (0.1-1.0 mg/kg) and intracerebroventricularly (0.1-1.0 micrograms) administered baclofen augmented acid output to the same degree in a dose-dependent manner. GABA microinjected into the lateral hypothalamus (200 and 400 micrograms) significantly increased acid output. These support the proposal that baclofen stimulates acid secretion through central mechanisms and also the possible role of GABA in central regulation mechanisms of acid secretion.

Anesthesia↗

Carcinosarcoma and spindle cell carcinoma of the lung. Clinicopathologic and immunohistochemical studies.

We examined pulmonary carcinomas with prominent sarcoma-like lesions both clinicopathologically and immunohistochemically. Grossly, two tumors had predominantly endobronchial growths, four bulky parenchymal growths, and two endobronchial, parenchymally mixed growths. In these eight patients, six tumors were completely resected, one patient was given irradiation only, and one patient died in the early postoperative period. On the basis of specific differentiation of the sarcoma-like lesions, the tumors were separated into three groups: two with "true" sarcoma differentiated into soft tissues such as striated muscle or osteoid tissue; three with a fibromatous sarcoma resembling atypical pseudosarcomatous stroma; and three with spindle cell carcinoma with evidence of epithelial differentiation. The prognosis was poor, and tumors with specific differentiation into rhabdomyosarcoma, chondrosarcoma, or spindle cell carcinoma progressed more rapidly than did those with a fibromatous sarcoma. Because the fibromatous sarcoma-like lesions were found to relate to a longer survival time for the patients, we wish to emphasize that a distinction of sarcomatous components should be made with regard to assessing the prognosis of pulmonary carcinoma with sarcoma-like lesions.

Aged↗

[A proposal for evaluation charts on the health services for the aged by municipalities].

A method to evaluate health services for the aged enforced by municipalities (cities, towns and villages) based on the health service law for the aged is proposed. The evaluation method is to draw three visual charts which compare the quantities, qualities and effects of health services for the aged. Software for personal computers for producing the evaluation charts by using periodically collected health services data on a municipality basis is developed. Examples of the charts of two municipalities (a city and a town) are shown and the validity of the charts are discussed.

Aged↗

[Evaluation of prognostic factors in early lung cancer].

We evaluated the prognostic factors in 52 cases of resected early lung cancer: hilar early lung cancers 9 cases and peripheral early lung cancers 43 cases. All hilar lesions were squamous cell carcinoma, and peripheral lesions were adenocarcinoma (31 cases), squamous cell carcinoma (10 cases), large cell carcinoma (2 cases) and carcinoid (1 case). No relapse was found in hilar lesions, but 7 relapses and 5 deaths were found in peripheral lesions. Prognostic factors were examined in these cases. Location of lung cancer (hilar or peripheral) was found to be important in early lung cancer. In addition, age was a significant prognostic factor in peripheral early lung cancer with multivariate analysis. No other significant factor was found in our cases. Twelve out of 52 cases with lung cancer had other malignancies after or before operation. These were cancers of second primary lung, colo-rectal, uterus, stomach, breast, thyroid, liver and malignant melanoma. Therefore, we have to carefully observe other parts even after resection of early lung cancer.

Adenocarcinoma↗

[A phase I study of weekly administration of CPT-11 in lung cancer].

A clinical study of weekly administration of CPT-11, a semi-synthetic derivative of Camptothecin, was performed in patients with advanced lung cancer to determine the optimal dose for a weekly single dose schedule. Sixteen out of 19 patients enrolled were evaluable. The starting dose was 50 mg/m2 and gradually escalated to 100, 125 and 150 mg/m2. CPT-11 was given by intravenous infusion for 90 minutes every week. The maximum tolerated dose for this schedule was estimated to be 125 mg/m2. The dose-limiting toxicity was leukopenia with median nadir of 2,900/mm3, median day to nadir of 21, and median day to recovery of 7. Other major toxicity was gastrointestinal upset, but was mild and tolerable. Objective tumor responses were observed in four patients, three with non-small cell carcinoma and one with double cancer (small and non-small cell carcinoma). The responding patients were treated at a dosage of 100 mg/m2 or more. The recommended dose for a phase II study is considered to be 100 mg/m2 iv infusion for a weekly single-dose schedule.

Aged↗

[Radiotherapy of aged cancer patients].

Although it is not a categorized modality, cancers of aged patients, generally characterized by a slow growth, histologically high differentiation and low radiosensitivity due to co-existing chronic anemia, should have more individualized treatment because there is a wide spectrum of differences in functional reservoir and tolerance dose of each organs and individuals. In aged cervical cancer of the uterus, we decrease the fractionated and total irradiation dose of a whole pelvic cavity by 10%. For patients more than 80 years old, we principally abandon external beam and singularly chose an intracavitary treatment. In our protocol, there could find no significant difference in 5 year survival between 51-70 y.o. 51.9% (120/231) and 71-80 y.o. 57% (61/107), but in the over 80 y.o. group, it was decreased to 13.6% (3/22) by increased death of other diseases 61.9% (13/21) compared with 18.4% (36/195) in 51-80 y.o. In radiotherapy of advanced lung cancer in aged, we decreased fractionated and total dose by 10 to 20% with minimum irradiation field. In non-small cell carcinoma, a median survival time was 11.5 months in both over and under 70 y.o., although the response rate (CR + PR) was resulted relatively low in aged, 33.3% (N = 45), compared with under 70 y.o., 38.4 (N = 146). The degrees of impairment in respiratory and bone marrow function were similar in both groups. Accordingly, we convinced the efficacy and the necessity of individualized radiotherapy for aged cancer patients.

Aged↗

[Surgical adjuvant therapy, especially neoadjuvant therapy of lung cancer].

The recent 5-year survival rate of patients with lung cancer who underwent resection is significantly higher than that in the previous decade. The main reason for the improved survival rate seems to be due to more accurate staging, however, we cannot detect micrometastases so that distant relapses in many patients occur after operation. In order to control micrometastases, various kinds of surgical adjuvant therapy have been studied. In an attempt to improve resectability rate and survival in patients with locally advanced disease of non-small cell lung cancer, we initiated a pilot study of neoadjuvant (preoperative) therapy. Most of the 31 patients who were entered into the study clinically showed enlarged mediastinal lymph nodes, with or without direct invasion of the primary tumors to mediastinal organs. The response rate of the treatment was 64.5%. Complete resection of the tumor was performed in 14 of 31 (45%) patients and exploratory thoracotomy was done in one patient. Postoperative complications occurred in 6 of those 15 patients who underwent thoracotomy. Three patients suffered from severe complications such as empyema, pulmonary edema or respiratory failure, but recovered eventually. At present, of 15 patients who underwent operation, 9 are alive and free from disease, 2 are alive with relapse and 4 died of relapses. The median survival time was 11.5 and 19 months in non-resected cases and all cases, respectively. Although we cannot draw a conclusion because of the short observation time, we consider that neoadjuvant therapy is worthy of studying.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols↗

[Clinical evaluation of sulbactam/cefoperazone in lower respiratory tract infections].

Clinical evaluation, safety and kinetics in serum of sulbactam/cefoperazone (SBT/CPZ) in patients with lower respiratory tract infections have been studied in a multicenter trial participated by 28 institutions in Kyushu area during a period of 13 months from March 1987 to March 1988. 1. Mean peak serum levels of SBT and CPZ in 35 patients up to 4 hours after intravenous infusion of 2 g of SBT/CPZ were 38.2 +/- 17.3 micrograms/ml for SBT and 104.3 +/- 31.4 micrograms/ml for CPZ. Serum half-lives of SBT and CPZ were 0.76 hour and 1.53 hours, respectively. These results were in similar ranges to those reported elsewhere for SBT/CPZ. 2. Serum half-lives of SBT and CPZ after intravenous infusion of 2 g of SBT/CPZ were not significantly prolonged in patients with moderate liver or kidney dysfunctions. 3. Clinical efficacy rates of SBT/CPZ in 217 patients were 93.1% (81/87) for pneumonia, 93.3% (14/15) for lung abscess, 78.9% (15/19) for acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, 57.1% (4/7) for diffuse panbronchiolitis, 72.4% (21/29), 74.4% (32/43) and 100% (9/9) for infections concurrent to bronchiectasis, chronic respiratory disease and pulmonary emphysema, respectively. Those were 50% (1/2) for bronchitis associated with lung cancer and 66.7% (4/6) for empyema. The overall efficacy rate was 83.4% (181/217). 4. Clinical efficacy rate of SBT/CPZ for pneumonia in patients with underlying diseases such as lung cancer, pulmonary tuberculosis and pneumoconiosis, etc, was 85.3% (29/34) and was not significantly different from the efficacy rate of 98.1% (52/53) in patients without these underlying diseases. 5. Of 30 patients who failed to respond of previous antibiotic treatments, 21 were effectively treated by SBT/CPZ. 6. Bacteriological eradication rates against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae were 42.9% (9/21), 87.5% (14/16) and 100% (5/5), respectively. The overall eradication rate in all cases including polymicrobial infections was 72.8% (67/92). 7. The high levels of peak serum concentration of CPZ, and the difference between serum levels of SBT and of CPZ seemed to contribute to the high clinical efficacy. 8. Adverse reactions occurred in 2.8% (6/217) of the patients, and consisted primarily of rash and diarrhea. Laboratory abnormalities were observed in 8 patients during the study. These were elevations of S-GOT and S-GPT, and eosinophilia. 9. SBT/CPZ is a very useful drug in the treatment of lower respiratory tract infections as it has become available just in time when increase in resistant organisms to beta-lactams is notable.

Adult↗

[Epidural anesthesia with buprenorphine for chest surgery and its prophylactic effects of postoperative pulmonary complications].

To clarify the prophylactic effect of epidural anesthesia with buprenorphine on postoperative pulmonary complications, the incidence of pulmonary complications after chest surgery was evaluated in 2 groups: the group that underwent epidural anesthesia, namely the test group, and the control group. Pulmonary complications were classified as follows: mild complications, sustained wheezing and/or small atelectasis-like shadows seen on chest x-rays. These improved by conventional methods except for bronchial toilet. Moderate complications included pneumonia and/or respiratory failure and/or atelectasis which needed bronchial toilet. There were 56 cases (58%) with no pulmonary complications in the control group and 89 cases (77%) in the test group. The number of patients with pulmonary complications were 40 (42%) in the control group and 27 (23%) in the test group, respectively (p less than 0.01). Those with mild or moderate complications were 25 (26%), 15 (16%) in the control group and 21 (18%), 6 (5%) in the test group, respectively. There was significant difference between no complication group and moderate complication group (p less than 0.01). These results show that epidural anesthesia is useful in preventing pulmonary complications after chest surgery.

Anesthesia, Epidural↗

Long-term survival after brain metastases from tracheal carcinoma.

A case of prolonged survival after radiotherapy for primary tracheal squamous cell carcinoma and the subsequent brain metastases is reported. The patient is alive and well without any sign of relapse, approximately six years after the onset of brain metastases from tracheal carcinoma. Radiotherapy proved useful in the treatment of both the primary tracheal carcinoma and the brain metastases.

Brain Neoplasms↗

Elevation of sialyl stage-specific mouse embryonic antigen levels in pleural effusion in patients with adenocarcinoma of the lung.

Sialyl stage-specific mouse embryonic antigen (SSEA-1) levels were measured in pleural effusions obtained from patients with lung cancer and benign pulmonary disease, using a solid-phase immunoradiometric sandwich assay. The mean (+/- SEM) levels (unit/ml) of pleural fluid sialyl SSEA-1 were 3620 +/- 1419 in adenocarcinoma (n = 25), 123 +/- 30 in nonadenocarcinoma (n = 13) and 95 +/- 19 in benign pulmonary disease (n = 13), respectively. The positive rate was 64% in adenocarcinoma, 7.7% in nonadenocarcinoma, and 0% in benign pulmonary disease, respectively, when a cutoff level was defined as the mean + 3 SD value (300 unit/ml) based on pleural fluid sialyl SSEA-1 levels in benign pulmonary disease. There was a significant positive correlation between pleural fluid levels of sialyl SSEA-1 and those of carcinoembryonic antigen in adenocarcinoma patients (r = 0.8246, P less than 0.01). Pleural fluid sialyl SSEA-1 levels correlated with cytologic findings in adenocarcinoma patients. These observations suggest that sialyl SSEA-1 in pleural effusion is a useful marker to discriminate malignant from nonmalignant and adenocarcinoma from nonadenocarcinoma of the lung.

Adenocarcinoma↗

Surgical treatment of patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung: a histochemical and immunohistochemical study.

Thirty-three patients with small cell carcinoma of the lung were treated surgically, and immunohistochemistry of the cell differentiations was examined in detail. The overall 5-year survival rate was 38% and the rates in patients with stage I or stage III were 57% and 11%, respectively (P less than 0.05). Survival rates in patients with the oat cell type and intermediate type were 24% and 44%, respectively, but with no significant difference. This carcinoma seemed to originate from primitive multipotential stem cells, i.e., those of a neuroendocrine or epithelial nature. Histochemically and immunohistochemically, argyrophilic granules and neuron-specific enolase, neuroendocrine markers, were detected more frequently in the oat cell type rather than in the intermediate type. In contrast, keratin, epithelial membrane antigen, and carcinoembryonic antigen, epithelial origin markers, were present more frequently in the intermediate type than in oat cell type. However, the difference was significant only in case of detection of argyrophilic granules and the carcinoembryonic antigen (P less than 0.05). Our current recommendation is that surgical resection should be done in the earlier stage in both subtypes. A more favorable prognosis can be expected when adjuvant chemotherapy is prescribed.

Adult↗

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the tracheobronchial tree: clinicopathology and immunohistochemistry.

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the tracheobronchial tree in five patients was treated surgically and the clinicopathologic manifestations and histogenesis were examined in detail. Symptoms such as cough, dyspnea, hemoptysis, and atelectasis on chest X-ray were present in four patients, and the other patient was asymptomatic. Histologically, growth patterns were classified as tubular, cribriform, and solid. The solid pattern was the most aggressive with extensive perineural invasion. Immunohistochemically, secretory component, lactoferrin, and epithelial membrane antigen were present in the cells lining the gland-like lumen of tissues with the tubular and cribriform patterns, but was rare in those with a solid pattern. Desmin and S-100 protein were detected in the nonlining cells of tissues with all three patterns. These findings suggest that this tumor originates from the myoepithelial cells of the bronchial gland and that the solid pattern was the most poorly differentiated form.

Adult↗