The announcement of the 9th edition of TNM staging system for thymic tumors was one of the highlights at the World Conference on Lung Cancer 2023. The revision, based on a larger and more detailed database, provides changes and confirmation from the last system. The 9th edition of TNM staging system aims to balance statistical significance and clinical feasibility. The birth of an improved TNM staging system heralds the changes that will follow in clinical practice and scientific research.

It has been almost ten years since Huaier products were first introduced to Japan as a health food. Due to its positive results on tumor treatment, Huaier became a notable Traditional Chinese Medicine and even, doctors of Kampo Medicine, Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Integrative Medicine in Japan are gradually becoming aware of it. In fact, Huaier products have also been confirmed to be effective against noncancer-related diseases, such as respiratory and kidney diseases. In this paper, we summarized and discussed in detail scientific evidences supporting its application to diseases other than cancer.

Folic acid contained in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) tubers is concentrated in potato chips by dehydration during frying. It is a vitamin recommended to young women which helps protect fetus from congenital disease. Additionally, folic acid can lower plasma homocysteine concentrations, a known independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to determine whether the dietary consumption of potato chips affect serum folic acid concentration and plasma homocysteine concentration in human subjects. Results showed a significant increase in serum concentrations of folate 1, 3, and 6 hours after ingestion. Vitamin B₆, on the other hand, increased significantly after 3 hours of intake. In contrast, plasma homocysteine concentration decreased significantly 6 hours after ingestion. These results suggest that potato chips would be a good dietary source of folic acid for humans.

Objective: Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide in Gagome kombu (GKF) is known to exhibit immune-enhancing and anti-cancer activities. Recently, cancer patients use various dietary supplements containing fucoidan and mushroom extracts. However, there have been few reports on the safety and efficacy of fucoidan-containing supplements. In this study, we examined the safety of long-term ingestion of GKF in cancer patients.
Methods: Twenty six (26) Japanese cancer patients—16 of whom (male 6, female 10, age 62.8 ± 10.7) have completed cancer treatment and 10 (male 4, female 6, 67.0 ± 10.6) still under treatment and regularly taking anti-cancer drugs and hormone pills—were chosen to ingest GKF-containing supplements (200–300 mg/day) for 8 weeks. Before ingestion and every 4 weeks thereafter (4^th and 8^th week), blood chemistry analysis, hematological analysis, urinalysis and immune analysis were conducted.
Result: There were no adverse clinical changes in blood and urinary analysis. In addition, no serious adverse effects were observed.
Conclusion: These results indicate long-term ingestion of GKF is indeed, safe for cancer patients.

Hot water extract of adlay (Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf) seed, commonly called Yokuinin, has been used as herbal medicine for treating verruca vulgaris, et al. Although there have been a number of studies on the usefulness of Yokuinin, the pharmacological assessment of its husk, pellicle, and astringent skin remains unclear. In this line, we evaluated the effect of methanol extract from all parts of adlay grain (seed, husk, pellicle, astringent skin) on cancer cells and identified its useful chemical components. Results revealed that a fraction of the extract have weak growth-suppressing activity on human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa cell). In particular, 5,7-dihydroxychromone and coixol were isolated and identified from the active fraction. This indicates the possible cancer chemopreventive efficacy of methanol extract from adlay. Moreover, further tests are needed to determine the role of 5,7-dihydroxychromone.

Adlay( Coix lachryma-jobi L. var. ma-yuen Stapf ) is a grass crop that has long been used in traditional medicine as a nourishing food. This study investigated the inhibitory effects of adlay related substances on carcinogenesis and anti-inflammation. The hot water extract of all parts of adlay (CRD) were compared with the hot water extract of dehulled adlay (yokuinin). In addition, the Monoolein and Trilinolein components of adlay were compared.
As a screening date, antiproliferative effect of human cancer cells showed weak biological potency on physical dose response. Prevention effect of carcinogenesis and anti-inflammatory effect were also observed in all samplles. CRD showed stronger anti-UVB inflammatory effect than that of yokuinin; while yokuinin showed stronger anti-heating injury inflammatory effect than that of CRD. Moreover, Monoolein showed stronger effect than Trilinolein on both prevention effect of carcinogenesis and anti-inflammatory effect. These result indicated that these two extracts of adlay exhibited inhibitory effect on both tumor and inflammation. In addition, it is also suggested that Monoolein is more effective than Trilinolein.

The safety and immune potential function of Fucoidan from Cladosiphon okamuranus mixed with mushroom extracts from Grifola frondosa, Phellinus linteus and Cordyceps sinensis were evaluated. Five cancer patients and five elderly people in their 70s ingested the mixed extract for a period of 4 weeks. Results showed significant LDL-C decrease and Th1/2 increase. Moreover, Quality of Life(QOL) related to facialand extremity skin, anxiety, fatigue, cold tolerance and appetite improved significantly. Finally, the clinical test supported the safety of this mixed extracts.

 Physiological changes induced by the localized bathing of hands, feet, and simultaneous hand-foot baths were studied and compared with each other in order to elucidate the physiological mechanism of hand and foot baths. Fifteen healthy adult males (32±10years old) took hand, foot, and simultaneous hand-foot carbonated (module mixture type artificial carbonated bath, at a CO₂, concentration of 1,100±100 ppm, pH 4.8) and freshwater baths (pH 7.4) at 38°C, and assumed a control sitting position following a randomized controlled design. They took 7 kinds of localized baths mentioned above at 1-week intervals. Each localized bathing session involved a 5-minute rest in a sitting position, the 30-minute bathing, followed by a 10-minute rest. Subjects’physiological parameters, such as the heart rate, blood pressure, near infrared spectroscopy of the forehead, laser Doppler flowmetric findings for immersed (foot) and non-immersed (shoulder muscle) body surface capillary fiow, as well as the body temperature of sublingual and tympanic membranes were monitored.
 While no physiological changes occurred during the proximal 5-10 minutes after starting simultaneous hand-foot baths, the body temperature, cerebral tissue circulation, cutaneous blood flow of the non-bathed skin, and heart rate increased and the diastolic pressure decreased in the distal half of 30-minute carbonated and freshwater baths. These physiological changes would probably be due to the thermal effect.
 However, the proximal 5-10 minutes after staning hand and foot carbonated baths showed opposite autonomic changes, which disappeared in the simultaneous hand-foot carbonated baths. Freshwater localized hand and foot baths did not lead to such differences. The cutaneous blood flow of bathed skin of the hands and feet was also significantly different only in the carbonated baths, while no differences were obtained in the freshwater hand and foot baths.
 Taken together, 38 °C and 1,100 ppm carbonated localized baths (hands and feet) showed opposing heart rate variability just after staning bathing, and they induced different cutaneous blood flow changes during bathing. These physiological differences in hand and foot bathing may be due to somato-autonomic and axonal refiexes induced by skin nociceptive ion channels with different sensitivities and reactions due to the varying pH of the bathing medium, and due to different hydrostatic pressures of the hand and foot baths.

Objectives : The objective of this study is to develop a Japanese version of the Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) in Chinese, which is comprised of 60 items with 9 sub-scales, and evaluate its reliability and validity. Methods : We conducted a survey of 130 participants in the Toyama area of Japan from Dec. 2005, to Feb. 2006. A test-retest method was used. Feasibility was evaluated by the response times to the questionnaire, and the response rates of the CCMQ items. Internal consistency within the sub-scales was assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient. Reproducibility was confirmed between the first and second occasions using weighted kappa and Spearman correlation. Lastly, criterion validity was evaluated by correlation between CCMQ and SF-36 sub-scales. Results : Response time was 8 minutes on average and its rate was nearly 100%. Internal consistency was achieved for each of the 9 sub-scales with a 0.65 to 0.79 α coefficient. Reproducibility ranged from 0.41 to 0.81 for the items, and from 0.79 to 0.88 for the sub-scales. Regarding the criterion validity, the “Gentleness type” sub-scale was positively correlated with SF-36 (0.46, P<0.001), while other 8 pathological constitutional types of the CCMQ were negatively correlated with SF-36 (-0.35 to -0.50, P<0.001) as expected. Conclusions : We developed a Japanese version of the CCMQ and found acceptable levels of reliability and validity using a survey of 130 subjects in Japan. This suggests that the CCMQ could be a useful tool in comparing the constitution profiles between Chinese and Japanese.
Japanese language ; Chinese People ; Questionnaires ; SF Brand of Topical Fluoride ; Medicine