Shigeru Shibata

Carcinosarcoma of the esophagus producing granulocyte-colony stimulating factor: report of a case

A 51-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for dysphagia, pyrexia, and leukocytosis. The serum level of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) was elevated. Barium esophagography and endoscopy revealed a polypoid tumor in the middle portion of the esophagus. After an esophagectomy, the leukocyte count and serum G-CSF level normalized. The pathological diagnosis was carcinosarcoma of the esophagus with two components: namely, squamous cell carcinoma and sarcoma. Moreover, cancer cells were positive for G-CSF antibody. These findings confirmed that the esophageal carcinosarcoma in this case was a G-CSF-producing tumor. Although a G-CSF-producing esophageal carcinosarcoma is very rare, this disease should be considered when a patient has symptoms such as leukocytosis and pyrexia without an associated infection.

Chemical structure of the carbohydrate moiety of fucose-rich glycopeptides from human pancreatic juice

SummaryHuman pancreatic juice, obtained from nine patients after partial excision of the pancreas for bile duct cancer, was fractionated in order to isolate its glycopeptides. Three glycopeptides were purified employing ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration. All the glycopeptides were found to be free of sialic acid and galactosamine but to have an unusually high content ofl-fucose. The chemical structures of the three glyco-peptides were determined using 500-MHz [1H]-NMR spectroscopy. One of them, glycopeptide, GP-4, possessed a biantennary structure with threel-fucose residues. The second glycopeptide, GP-3, had a triantennary structure with fourl-fucose residues, and the third one, G-2, had a tetra-antennary structure with fivel-fucose residues. The chemical compositions of these glycopeptides, including the absence of sialic acid and the highl-fucose content, indicate that they represent a new class of glycopeptide present in the normal human pancreas.