The immunological effects of spa bathing and its influence on the systemic performance were studied in 15 patients with stomach or colon cancer who had received operations and were treated by lentinan. Ten patients were treated by spa bathing and five patients were not treated.
Immunological performance was assessed in terms of white blood cell count, lymphocyte count, surface markers of lymphocytes, natural killer activity and immunoglobulins. There were no significant differences in immunological parameters between the bathing groups and non-bathing group of patients. The systemic performance improved in the majority of patients of the bathing group and became more aggravated in the majority of patients of the nonbathing group. The results of this study suggest that spa bathing is beneficial, not harmful, to the systemic performance of patients with cancer.

Objectives To identify the ankyrin-B gene mutations that cause long QT syndrome (LQTS) and determine the prevalence of such mutations in Japanese patients with LQTS. Methods We conducted a search for ankyrin-B gene mutation in 78 unrelated patients with LQTS (28 males and 50 females, aged 2 to 89 years). With informed consent from all the subjects and/or their parents, genomic DNA was purified from the white blood cells of the patients and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Single-strand conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis of the amplified DNA was performed to screen for mutations and aberrant SSCP products were isolated and sequenced by dye terminator cycle sequencing method using an automated fluorescent sequencer. PCR and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis was carried out to further confirm the missense mutations by comparison with samples from 150 normal healthy individuals.Results We identified a T to A transition mutation at position 4 603 in exon 40, resulting in the substitution of arginine for a tryptophan at amino acid residue 1 535 (W1535R) in the regulatory domain of 220-kD ankyrin-B, which is a highly conserved domain shared by different species. Conclusions This novel missense mutation in the ankyrin-B gene may bea cause of type 4LQTS. Ankyrin-B gene mutation might not play the major role in LQTS in Japanese.