Hiromasa Sasaki

Apoptosis and Chemoresistance in Human Ovarian Cancer: Is Xiap a Determinant?

Cisplatin-induced apoptosis in epithelial ovarian cancer cells is in part a consequence of suppressed Xiap expression and upregulation of the Fas/FasL system. Changes in the expression of these ‘cell death’ and ‘cell survival’ genes lead to activation of caspase-3, and cleavage of MDM2 and FAK. Failure of cancer cells to maintain a balance in the expression of these genes in favor of apoptotic cell death may be an important factor of chemoresistance. Xiap may be a novel target for gene therapy of human ovarian epithelial cancer and, dependent on P53 status, expression of Xiap antisense alone or in combination with wild-type P53 sense may offer a new approach for the treatment of the chemoresistant cancer.

Amylase-producing ovarian carcinoma: A case report and a retrospective study☆

► Amylase-producing ovarian carcinoma may mimic pancreatitis. ► Hyperamylasemia is common in ovarian carcinoma. ► Serum amylase may be a promising tumor marker.

Fetal growth restriction and reversed middle cerebral artery end-diastolic flow with subchorionic placental lake

Fetal growth restriction (FGR) is frequently associated with uteroplacental insufficiency. Placental lakes are avillous spaces filled with maternal venous blood that usually do not compromise the pregnancy outcome; however, a few reports describe FGR in association with placental lakes. Reversed middle cerebral artery (MCA) end‐diastolic flow is a rare event and a potential indicator of poor fetal outcome due to placental insufficiency. We report a case of severe FGR associated with a huge subchorionic placental lake concomitant with reversed MCA end‐diastolic flow. We also conducted a literature review.

Simultaneous resection of endometrial cancer and high-level paraaortic paraganglioma using retroperitoneoscopic surgery

Highlights • Paraganglioma is sometimes suspected as lymph node metastasis or lymph node recurrence of various malignant tumors.• Retroperitoneoscopic surgery is a valid approach to treat the tumor, located above the renal vein.• Resection using retroperitoneoscopic surgery without catecholamine-related complications is possible.

What enabled mother and twins to survive 18 minutes after maternal cardiopulmonary arrest

Abstract A woman carrying monochorionic twins underwent sudden cardiopulmonary arrest at 31 weeks of gestation due to spontaneous coronary artery dissection in the hospital. The resuscitation techniques, with her uterus manually displaced to her left, were initiated immediately and maternal spontaneous circulation was resumed 18 min later. A cesarean section was performed 2 h after the revival and the patient was kept hypothermic for 24 h. Finally, full recovery of both mother and twins was achieved. As in this case, the resuscitation techniques for pregnant women recommended by the American Heart Association, and therapeutic hypothermia, might be effective and contribute much to the survival and recovery of patients.