1.Effectiveness of Hospital Cooperation in the JA Hokkaido Kousei-Ren Organization for Medical Examination and Treatment of Pancreaticobiliary Diseases
Nobuyuki YANAGAWA ; Mizue MUTO ; Kazuhiko ICHIKI ; Chisato ISHIKAWA ; Momotaro MUTO ; Mitsutaka INOUE
Journal of the Japanese Association of Rural Medicine 2016;65(4):809-815
Clear differences in the medical environment exist between core and local cities in Japan. In particular, there are marked differences in medical examination and treatment of pancreaticobiliary diseases. Therefore, we investigated whether the requirement for medical examination and treatment of pancreaticobiliary diseases is increasing and whether patient care can be improved by dispatching a pancreaticobiliary specialist to a hospital that does not have a pancreaticobiliary division. From August 2013 to March 2015, we retrospectively reviewed data of 68 patients (38 men, 30 women; median age 68 years) who underwent endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) or transpapillary treatment at the Engaru Kosei General Hospital (Engaru Hospital) either by a visiting specialist from the pancreaticobiliary division of Asahikawa Kosei General Hospital (Asahikawa Hospital) or by doctors at Engaru Hospital. Of the 68 patients, 25 underwent EUS by the visiting specialist, and the accuracy rate based on observation and operative cases was 92.5% (23/25). Furthermore, 43 patients underwent transpapillary treatment by the visiting specialist, which was successful in 88.4% (38/43) of patients. However, the success rate of cases treated by doctors at Engaru Hospital was 75% (3/4). During this period, 14 patients from Engaru Hospital were sent to the Asahikawa Hospital: 2 had failed treatment by doctors at Engaru Hospital and the rest were patients who either preferred to be examined at Asahikawa Hospital or required more extensive examination. Therefore, dispatching pancreaticobiliary specialists to institutions without a pancreaticobiliary division is an effective means of distribution of medical resources. Furthermore, this reduces the patient
2.Successful Treatment of Advanced Gastric Cancer with Brain Metastases through an Abscopal Effect by Radiation and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy
Momotaro MUTO ; Hirotaka NAKATA ; Kenichi ISHIGAKI ; Shion TACHIBANA ; Moe YOSHIDA ; Mizue MUTO ; Nobuyuki YANAGAWA ; Toshikatsu OKUMURA
Journal of Gastric Cancer 2021;21(3):319-324
The abscopal effect refers to the phenomenon in which local radiotherapy is associated with the regression of metastatic cancer that is distantly located from the irradiated site.Here, we present a case of a patient with advanced gastric cancer and brain metastases who was successfully treated with brain radiotherapy and anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) therapy-induced abscopal effect. Although anti-PD-1 therapy alone could not prevent disease progression, the metastatic lesions in the brain and also in the abdominal lymph node showed a drastic response after brain radiotherapy and anti-PD-1 therapy. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of successful treatment of advanced gastric cancer with multiple brain and abdominal lymph node metastases, possibly through anti-PD-1 therapy combined with brain radiotherapy-induced abscopal effect. We suggest that the combination of brain radiotherapy and anti-PD-1 therapy may be considered as a therapeutic option for advanced gastric cancer, especially when there is brain metastasis.