OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to analyse the correlation of health state values using EQ-5D-5L and visual analogue scale using EQ-VAS as quality of life (QOL) scores in Japanese breast cancer ...patients. METHODS: A total of 148 patients were enrolled in this study. Of these patients, 120 were primary breast cancer patients, and 28 were metastatic breast cancer patients; data for a total of 612 points of visiting were collected. The study was a longitudinal cohort study conducted from May 2016 to June 2017 in St. Marianna University Hospital. We compared the mean utilities and EQ-VAS scores of primary and metastatic breast cancer patients by using ANOVA. Then, we conducted a correlation analysis between the utilities derived from EQ-5D-5L and the QOL derived from EQ-VAS. All analyses were performed with JMP 13 (SAS Institute., Cary, NC, USA).The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Committee of St. Marianna University School of Medicine. RESULTS: The utilities of primary breast cancer patients were 0.874±0.006, and those of metastatic breast cancer patients were 0.808±0.011 (p<0.0001).The VAS scores as a QOL indicator of primary breast cancer patients were 78.522±0.742, and those of metastatic breast cancer patients were 71.472±1.464 (p<0.0001).The corresponding correlations between utilities and VAS scores in primary breast cancer patients were 0.25, whereas those for metastatic breast cancer patients were 0.50. CONCLUSIONS: We identified that both health state values and the VAS scores of metastatic breast cancer patients were lower than those of primary breast cancer patients. However, the correlation of utilities and the VAS scores of metastatic breast cancer patients was higher than that of primary breast cancer patients.
Metal–semiconductor (MES) field-effect transistors (FETs) and metal oxide–semiconductor (MOS) FETs are fabricated using p-type conductive layers on hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces. The FETs ...exhibit complete channel pinch-off and drain-current saturation. Both enhancement-mode and depletion-mode MESFETs are realized, the threshold voltage of which is controlled by changing the electronegativity of the gate metal. The MOSFETs, using evaporated SiO
x
as gate insulators, operate in depletion mode. The best transconductance of each type of FET exceeds 10
mS
mm
−1 with a gate length of 3–7
μm. The DC performance of the diamond FETs is evaluated by two-dimensional device simulations, varying the distribution depth of the acceptors. In the simulations, a distribution depth of less than 1
nm or the two-dimensional acceptor distribution on the surface reproduces well the actual DC characteristics. In this case, the hole concentration at a depth of 10
nm is decreased by three orders of magnitude as compared to that at the surface. This thin surface channel realizes enhancement-mode operation in MESFETs. Hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces can already be equipped with FETs with shallow junction depths of less than 10
nm, which is necessary for short gate lengths such as 50
nm. Microfabrication technology on hydrogen-terminated diamond surfaces may give rise to a new field of nanoscale devices.
Background. The most common cause of noncurative resection and recurrence in gastric cancer is peritoneal seeding. However, the results of treatment of peritoneal dissemination with chemotherapy have ...been poor with 5-year survival rates of 0%.
Methods. A new in vitro thermochemosensitivity test was performed on gastric cancer cells obtained from 19 surgically resected specimens by using tetrazolium-based colorimetric assay (MTT assay). A novel treatment of the intraoperative chemohyperthermia was undertaken in 83 patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination. After aggressive resection of primary tumor, lymph nodes, and peritoneal metastases, warmed saline solution containing mitomycin C 30 mg, etoposide 150 mg, and cisplatin 300 mg was introduced into the peritoneal cavity via a closed circuit continuous hyperthermic peritoneal perfusion (CHPP) for 60 minutes to keep the abdominal temperature at 42° to 43° C by means of a heat exhange mechanism.
Results. The in vitro thermochemosensitivity test showed that 43° C enhanced the cytotoxic effects on gastric cancer cells under clinically achievable drug concentrations. During CHPP, drug concentrations of cisplatin, mitomycin C, and etoposide in the perfusate remained statistically higher than in the peripheral venous circulation. Among 43 evaluable patients with residual peritoneal seeding, eight (19%) and nine (21%) exhibited complete response and partial response, respectively. The overall 1- and 5-year survival rates were 43% and 11%, respectively. Patients who underwent complete resection survived significantly longer than those with residual disease, and those with complete response had a significantly better prognosis than did those with partial response or nonresponders. One-year survival rates of patients with complete response, partial response, and nonresponders were 88%, 27%, and 22%, respectively. Five patients survived longer than 5 years.
Conclusions. Our triple treatment combining surgery and CHPP is an effective therapy for selected patients with gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination.
Photolysis of perfluoroazooctane in the presence of nanodiamond films on Si substrate resulted in surface modification with perfluorooctyl functional groups, which was confirmed by means of FT-IR, ...XPS, Raman and TOF-SIMS measurements. The nanodiamond films modified with fluorine moieties show a reduction of the surface energy in comparison with pristine nanodiamond film. The contact angle of chemically modified nanodiamond film to water is 124°, comparable to that of polytetrafluoroethylene (103°). In the case of nanodiamond films deposited on glass substrate with a transparent property, this chemical modification would not influence the transparency of nanodiamond films, showing >
87% transmittance in the region of >
400 nm wavelength.
Mizoribine (MZR) is a newly developed immunosuppressive agent in Japan. To relieve disease flare of lupus nephritis, a prospective pilot study of oral MZR pulse therapy (a phase II trial) is ...conducted as an alternative therapy to dose up of corticosteroids.
Six Japanese patients with biopsy-proven lupus nephritis who experienced disease flare were prospectively evaluated. MZR at a dose of 5 - 10 mg/kg per day (up to 500 mg) in 1 or 2 divided daily doses was orally administered twice a week for 3 months. At the time of disease flare, 4 patients had refused to take dose up of corticosteroids, and the other 2 had complained of opportunistic infection.
At presentation, urine protein excretion, serum hemolytic complement activity (CH50) and serum anti-dsDNA antibody were 1.9 +/- 0.6 g/day, 15.7 +/- 5.8 U/ml (normal 23 - 46 U/ml) and 164.8 +/- 184.0 IU/ml (normal < 12.0 IU/ml), respectively. Urine protein excretion and serum anti-dsDNA antibody decreased significantly following MZR oral pulse therapy (0.2 +/- 0.1 g/day and 29.7 +/- 23.4 IU/ml (p < 0.05), respectively), and serum CH50 recovered to normal (35.1 +/- 10.4 U/ml, p < 0.05). Moreover, a significant histologic improvement was observed in a patient who received repeat renal biopsies at pre- and post-treatment. Reported peak serum MZR levels enough to inhibit human mixed-lymphocyte reaction (3.0 - 6.0 microg/ml) were achieved in all patients. No serious adverse effects were observed.
Although we had no control subjects in this series, MZR oral pulse therapy may be of benefit to a proportion of patients with disease flare of lupus nephritis as an alternative therapy to dose up of corticosteroids.
The optimal treatment for lupus nephritis in the pubertal age group is still unclear. We therefore retrospectively evaluated the efficacy and safety of mizoribine (MZR), a novel selective inhibitor ...of inosine monophosphatase dehydrogenase, developed in Japan for the treatment of lupus nephritis in pubertal patients, because MZR has been reported to have relatively less clinically toxicity than conventionally used drugs.
Over the past 12 years, we have treated 20 children with newly diagnosed, biopsy-proven lupus nephritis at our hospital. Of these, 10 patients who received a 2-year course of MZR in combination with prednisolone (PSL) as initial maintenance therapy and who could be observed for at least two years after the commencement of the MZR treatment, were enrolled in this study. MZR was given orally at the dose of 4 - 5 mg/kg per day in two divided doses. Changes in the clinical parameters, such as the urinary protein excretion, serum anti-dsDNA antibody titer, serum hemolytic complement activity (CH50) and serum creatinine, and in the frequency of disease flares defined as persistent worsening of those clinical parameters, were examined pre- and posttreatment for comparison, and the steroid-sparing effect of MZR was analyzed.
As induction therapy, all the patients had received high-dose oral PSL or intravenous methylprednisolone pulse therapy. Five female patients who were diagnosed to have proliferative lupus nephritis (WHO class III or IV) were scheduled to receive an 8-week course of oral cyclophosphamide (CPA) combined with high-dose steroids prior to the commencement of MZR, but CPA needed to be discontinued in four of these patients because of clinical drug toxicity. The clinical parameters showed significant improvement after the 2-year treatment with MZR combined with PSL, as compared to the pretreatment values (mean urinary protein excretion: 1.6+/-1.9 g/day vs.0.1 +/-0.1 g/day, serum CH50 value: 12.6+/-5.4 U/ml vs. 34.5+/-7.7 U/ml, serum anti-dsDNA antibody titer: 141.8+/-128.2 IU/ml vs. 18.5+/-17.7 IU/ml, respectively (p <0.01)). The serum creatinine remained normal. Although the daily dose of the concomitantly administered PSL to maintain clinical remission could be decreased significantly in all the study participants (39.5+/-1.6 mg/day vs. 6.8+/-5.1 mg/day, p < 0.01), two patients developed flares while on treatment, which were successfully treated by transiently increasing the dose of PSL. The MZR therapy could be completed in all of the patients without significant clinical toxicity being reported. At their most recent follow-up (mean 4.3 years), none of the 10 patients had renal insufficiency, and complete remission without any need for further medication had been achieved in two patients.
Although this case series is without controls, maintenance therapy with MZR administered in combination with PSL may be beneficial and clinically less toxic in at least a proportion of pubertal patients with lupus nephritis.
Pyrolysis of a polyacetylene thin film has been performed in order to carbonize at temperatures of 500 to 1000
°C in vacuum. A
trans-polyacetylene thin film was synthesized using a Ziegler–Natta ...catalyst. A black char below 20% in weight of the original PA film remained after pyrolysis. Structural properties and morphology of the black chars were investigated using Raman scattering spectrum, X-ray diffraction measurements, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Dehydrogenation and carbonization of the PA film were almost finished at a pyrolysis temperature of 800
°C. However, hollow spherical or elliptical nano-particles of tens of nanometers in size, which are composed of graphite structure, were included in the black chars obtained at all pyrolysis temperatures in this work. The formation mechanism of a graphite crystal in nanometer size from a PA crystal was discussed.
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