Criminal or bystander: imatinib and second primary malignancy in GIST patients

Niigata University Hospital is a regional center institution of cancer therapy where many patients with gastrointestinal stromal tumors （GISTs） are visiting to seek the latest treatment.During the time Ⅰ was treating GIST patients there with imatinib,a tyrosine kinase inhibitor,a small concern was raised：Ⅰ successively encountered patients who were newly diagnosed as having malignant neoplasms during the course of their treatment.Of the 70 GIST patients who were enrolled in our prospective study of imatinib therapy,seven suffered from second primary malignancies （SPMs）.One female GIST patient who suffered from advanced esophageal cancer died of the SPM,whereas the remaining six patients continued with their imatinib therapy and their prognoses were not affected by their SPMs.I reported on the risk of SPMs in GIST patients under imatinib therapy to an international journal of clinical oncology （1）.As the patient cohort of our study was so small in number to apply to statistical analysis,our observation was no more than a clinical alert.

Evaluating the Nutritional Status of Oncology Patients and Its Association with Quality of Life

Objective The primary aim of the study was to compare two nutritional status evaluation tools： the Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment（PG-SGA） and Nutritional Risk Screening（NRS-2002）. Using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Core Questionnaire 30（EORTC QLQ-C30）, the second aim was to provide constructive advice regarding the quality of life of patients with malignancy. Methods This study enrolled 312 oncology patients and assessed their nutritional status and quality of life using the PG-SGA, NRS-2002, and EORTC QLQ-C30. Results The data indicate that 6% of the cancer patients were well nourished. The SGA-A had a higher sensitivity（93.73%） but a poorer specificity（2.30%） than the NRS-2002（69.30% and 25.00%, respectively） after comparison with albumin. There was a low negative correlation and a high similarity between the PG-SGA and NRS-2002 for evaluating nutritional status, and there was a significant difference in the median PG-SGA scores for each of the SGA classifications（P 〈 0.001）. The SGA-C group showed the highest PG-SGA scores and lowest body mass index. The majority of the target population received 2 points for each item in our 11-item questionnaire from the EORTC QLQ-C30. Conclusion The data indicate that the PG-SGA is more useful and suitable for evaluating nutritional status than the NRS-2002. Additionally, early nutrition monitoring can prevent malnutrition and improve the quality of life of cancer patients.

Microsatellite instability and expression of DNA mismatch repair genes in malignant astrocytic tumors from adult and pediatric patients

Microsatellite instability (MSI) is used as a molecular marker for defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes.We report here alterations of MSI in 15 malignant astrocytomas (WHO grade Ⅲ) and glioblastomas (GBM; WHO grade Ⅳ) of pediatric patients (2-21 years) and 12 GBM from adults (44-68 years) by comparative analysis of BAT25/BAT26 loci and 10 other microsatellite markers. High-level microsatellite instability (MSI-H) occurred in 4 of the 15 pediatric cases (26.7%) and in 1 of the 12 adult GBM cases (8.3%). Low-level mi-

Extra-pleural pneumonectomy in the setting of tri-modality therapy for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma

Although declining in the US due to restrictions of asbestos exposure, malignant pleura/mesothelioma （MPP） remains a very serious thoracic malignancy that is rising in incidence worldwide （1）. Trirnodality therapy with chemotherapy and radiotherapy combined with extrapleural pneumonectomy （EPP） has gained acceptance given the acceptable mortality rate （〈5%） and long term survival reported in patients with epithelial histology, negative margins, and no extrapleural lymph node involvement after trimodalitv treatment （2）.

Temozolomide chemotherapy based on MGMT protein expression for patients with malignant gliomas:a report of 40 cases

Objective This study is to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy based on O 6 -methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase (MGMT) protein expression in patients with malignant gliomas. Methods A total of 40 patients with pathologically confirmed malignant gliomas were enrolled. All patients had pretreated with radiotherapy and had assessable lesions.

Ailogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for malignant hematological diseases in patients older than 50 years of age

Objective To investigate the efficiency and safety of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation for malignant hematological diseases in patients older than 50 years of age. Methods From May 2002 to January 2010,35 patients P 】 50 years with malignant hematological diseases received allogeneic hematopoietic

Altered expression of EphA2 and EphrinA1 associated with prognosis of malignant glioma patients

Objective Malignant gliomas display over-expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase EphA2. However,expression levels of the EphA2 ligand,EphrinA1,have not been fully elucidated. This study aims to determine the expression of EphA2 / EphrinA1 in detail,and further detect the predictive

Malignant Tumors in Patients Aged 60 and Over: An Analysis of 208 Autopsy Cases.

From the autopsy of 617 cases aged 60 and over.208 cases with malignant tumor were found.The detection rate