池田 純一郎

The relationship between cancer prognosis and intratumoral microbiome has recently gained attention. Regarding lung cancer, most studies have focused on bacteria outside tumors, such as sputum or lavage fluid, with few examining intratumoral bacteria and their impact on prognosis. In this study, we extracted DNA from lung tumor samples of 507 patients undergoing surgery at Chiba University Hospital and quantified intratumoral bacterial abundance using bacteria-specific PCR primers. Bacteria were detected in 77.1% of cases, and bacterial abundance was significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma. Patients were categorized into three groups (High, Low, and Very-Low) based on bacterial abundance, and associations with clinicopathological factors were analyzed. In lung squamous cell carcinoma, higher bacterial abundance was significantly associated with worse recurrent-free survival and overall survival and was found to be a poor prognostic factor independent of pathological tumor stage. In conclusion, intratumoral bacterial abundance was found in the majority of lung cancer tissues, with variations based on pathology. This abundance may serve as a useful marker for stratifying lung squamous cell carcinoma with distinct prognoses.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates the effectiveness of PuraLift, a novel self-assembling peptide-based submucosal injection solution, in endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) procedures. We compared its performance to MucoUp in a variety of organ-spanning lesions (esophagus, stomach, and colon/rectum). METHODS: We included 40 consecutive ESD lesions from our hospital, with 19 treated using PuraLift and 21 using MucoUp. Special cases (such as those with ulcerative colitis, evident fibrosis due to post-treatment scars, and circumferential esophageal cases) and the cases that used device without waterjet function were excluded. Endoscopists assessed the satisfaction of submucosal lifting through needle injection on a 5-point scale. Firmness during local injection by the assistant for the PuraLift group was compared to MucoUp (MucoUp was set as a baseline score of 3) using a 5-point scale. RESULTS: The firmness during local injection was significantly lower with PuraLift compared to MucoUp across all locations: esophagus (1 (1-2) vs. 3 (3-3), p = 0.018), stomach (1.5 (1-2) vs. 3 (3-3), p < 0.001), and colon/rectum (2 (1-2) vs. 3 (3-3), p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences between PuraLift and MucoUp in terms of endoscopist satisfaction with lifting, amount of solution injected, glycerol used via jet function, or procedure time for any organ. CONCLUSION: PuraLift, with its novel mechanism, offers comparable lifting satisfaction to MucoUp but with less firmness during injection. It presents a promising alternative as a local injection solution in ESD procedures.

PURPOSE: The performance of endoscopic evaluation of ulcerative colitis (UC) using conventional scoring, including Mayo endoscopic subscore (MES) and ulcerative colitis endoscopic index of severity (UCEIS), is not satisfactory. Recently, the usefulness of novel image-enhanced endoscopy (IEE) such as texture and color enhancement imaging (TXI) and red dichromatic imaging (RDI) has been reported in the endoscopic evaluation of UC. We evaluated the performance of IEEs in UC, particularly focusing on the correlation with MES and UCEIS, and prediction of relapse. METHODS: This is a prospective, observational study. UC patients in clinical remission who underwent colonoscopy with evaluation of IEEs and follow-up for > 3 months were analyzed. TXI and RDI were evaluated using the previously reported scoring system (TXI 0-2 and RDI 1-4). The IEE scores were compared with the conventional scoring, fecal calprotectin levels, and histological findings using Geboes score, and patient's clinical relapse rate stratified by each IEE score was examined. RESULTS: Both TXI and RDI scores were well-correlated with MES and UCEIS (both p < 0.001), fecal calprotectin levels (p = 0.015 and p = 0.006), and histology evaluated with Geboes score. In the Geboes subscore, the subscore 2B (neutrophil infiltration in lamina propria) was the most correlated with each endoscopic scoring. RDI 3-4 was significantly correlated with subsequent relapse (hazard ratio 3.56, 95% confidence interval 1.13-11.24), but TXI scoring did not predict relapse significantly. CONCLUSION: The assessment using RDI could be a convenient and useful endoscopic evaluation method for predicting the prognosis of UC.

BACKGROUND: Pit pattern diagnosis using crystal violet staining for colorectal tumors is useful for qualitative and depth diagnosis. However, due to its reported carcinogenic potential, the use of crystal violet has been restricted. This study was aimed at investigating the efficacy of texture and color enhancement imaging (TXI) magnification in pit pattern diagnosis. METHODS: This study enrolled consecutive patients with consent obtained and with colonic tumors indicated for magnifying endoscopy in which all modalities' images (magnified observation with crystal violet staining (CV), magnified white light observation with indigo carmine (IC-WLI), and magnified TXI observation with indigo carmine (IC-TXI)) were evaluable between July 2020 and January 2023. The visibility of the pit pattern using a 5-point Likert scale and its diagnostic accuracy were compared (IC-TXI vs. IC-WLI, reference: CV, by three experts). RESULTS: A total of 145 colorectal tumors from 145 patients were included. Visibility scores for the pit pattern were significantly higher with IC-TXI compared to IC-WLI (all three experts, p < 0.0001). The pit pattern match rate (Type II/III/IV/V) of IC-TXI compared to CV was also superior to IC-WLI (72.9% vs. 59.7%; p = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: IC-TXI provided reasonably good and higher visibility and diagnostic accuracy than IC-WLI for pit pattern diagnosis of colorectal tumors compared to CV, suggesting it as an alternative to CV.

Mycobacterium goodii, a rapidly growing non-tuberculous mycobacterium, rarely causes pulmonary diseases. A patient was admitted to our hospital with a fever and cough. Chest radiography revealed consolidation in the right middle lung. As he had previously been treated for organizing pneumonia (OP), he was diagnosed with OP recurrence and administered systemic corticosteroids. Although initial improvement was observed, the pulmonary consolidations worsened. Transbronchial lung cryobiopsy revealed an OP pattern. M. goodii was identified in sputum acid-fast bacilli cultures. The patient was diagnosed with M. goodii pulmonary disease and secondary OP. Although intravenous imipenem-cilastatin, amikacin, and ciprofloxacin led to initial improvement in pulmonary consolidations, the consolidations re-worsened. Systemic corticosteroids were initiated, resulting in improvement in the consolidations. The dose of systemic corticosteroids was tapered; oral antimycobacterial therapy was continued. M. goodii can cause pulmonary disease and induce OP; antimycobacterial therapy and systemic corticosteroids can be effective.