Comparison in survival between hepatic metastases of gastric and colorectal cancers

BACKGROUND/AIM: The outcome after hepatectomy and non-surgical treatment of liver metastases from gastric and colorectal malignancies are reported. METHODOLOGY: Between April 1988 and March 1994, 176 patients with metastatic liver cancer were treated at the First Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Hospital. RESULTS: All patients received multi-disciplinary treatment, and 51 underwent hepatectomy. The survival after hepatectomy for metastatic liver cancer from a colorectal primary was better than that for gastric cancer. The survival after hepatic arterial infusion (HAI) therapy for metastases from gastric cancer was better than that for colorectal cancer. CONCLUSION: Surgical resection may be the best treatment for liver metastases from colorectal cancer. HAI may be a better option for liver metastases from gastric cancer.     

Perception of vowel length by Japanese- and English-learning infants.

This study investigated vowel length discrimination in infants from 2 language backgrounds, Japanese and English, in which vowel length is either phonemic or nonphonemic. Experiment 1 revealed that English 18-month-olds discriminate short and long vowels although vowel length is not phonemically contrastive in English. Experiments 2 and 3 revealed that Japanese 18-month-olds also discriminate the pairs but in an asymmetric manner: They detected only the change from long to short vowel, but not the change in the opposite direction, although English infants in Experiment 1 detected the change in both directions. Experiment 4 tested Japanese 10-month-olds and revealed a symmetric pattern of discrimination similar to that of English 18-month-olds. Experiment 5 revealed that native adult Japanese speakers, unlike Japanese 18-month-old infants who are presumably still developing phonological perception, ultimately acquire a symmetrical discrimination pattern for the vowel contrasts. Taken together, our findings suggest that English 18-month-olds and Japanese 10-month-olds perceive vowel length using simple acoustic?phonetic cues, whereas Japanese 18-month-olds perceive it under the influence of the emerging native phonology, which leads to a transient asymmetric pattern in perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Angiotensin-II-induced hypertension chemotherapy: evaluation of hepatic blood flow with oxygen-15 PET

We quantitatively measured blood flow in liver parenchyma and hepatic tumors in two patients using 15O-carbon dioxide (steady state) and 15O-water (dynamic) PET imaging. Images were acquired before and during administration of angiotensin-II to achieve a hypertensive state. Blood flow in the hepatocellular carcinoma was greater than that of the parenchyma. Blood flow in the colon metastasis was similar to that in the parenchyma and lower in the center than in the periphery. During a hypertensive state induced by angiotensin II, blood flow in both the primary and secondary liver tumors did not change, while blood flow in the liver parenchyma decreased. As a result, there was a relative increase in tumor blood flow during the hypertensive state on PET images. Furthermore, blood flow to the spleen decreased to 55% of baseline during the hypertensive state. These findings suggest that hypertensive cancer chemotherapy may protect normal tissue. Furthermore, PET imaging may be able to predict the efficacy of hypertensive cancer chemotherapy in the patients with liver tumors.