Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major causes of cancer-related death especially among Asian and African populations. It is urgent that we identify carcinogenesis-related genes to establish an innovative treatment strategy for this disease.

Background: The efficacy and safety of conversion surgery (CS) after FOLFIRINOX or gemcitabine plus nab‐paclitaxel (GnP) chemotherapy in patients with initially unresectable pancreatic cancer (PC) remains unclear.Methods: This multicenter retrospective cohort study enrolled patients, between 2014 and 2018, with initially locally advanced or metastatic PC who were considered candidates for CS following FOLFIRINOX or GnP chemotherapy. They were classified into surgery (207 patients [194 resection and 13 exploratory laparotomy only]) and continued chemotherapy (10 patients, control) groups. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) from the day of diagnosis of potentially curative resection on imaging studies, with an expected hazard ratio (HR) of 0.7.Results: OS in the surgery group was longer than that in the control group (HR, 0.47; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.24–0.93). The median OS was 34.4 (95% CI: 27.9–43.4) and 19.8 (95% CI: 14.9–31.1) months in the surgery and control groups, respectively. The Clavien‐Dindo grade ≥ IIIa postoperative complication and in‐hospital mortality rates were 19.6% and 0.5%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative chemotherapy duration was not associated with OS.Conclusions: CS, following a favorable response to FOLFIRINOX or GnP chemotherapy, improved initially unresectable PC prognosis (specifically, OS), regardless of the chemotherapy duration.

Background/Aim: The regimen of nanoliposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (Nal-IRI/FL) was approved in Japan as second-line chemotherapy after gemcitabine-based treatment for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) in 2020. We examined the difference in outcome between patients treated with second-line folinic acid, fluorouracil, irinotecan hydrochloride and oxaliplatin (FOLFIRINOX) and those treated with nal-IRI/FL after first-line gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel (GnP). Patients and Methods: The outcomes of 34 patients with PDAC who received second-line FOLFIRINOX (n=21) or nal-IRI/FL (n=13) after GnP at our Department from January 2016 to June 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Patient backgrounds did not differ between the groups. Dose reduction was more frequently required for treatment with FOLFIRINOX than with nal-IRI/FL (86% vs. 46%, p=0.022). Pegfilgrastim and aprepitant were used more frequently in the FOLFIRINOX group (both p<0.01). Progression-free survival (5.9 vs. 8.3 months) and overall survival (9.1 vs. 11.2 months) did not differ significantly between the groups. The frequency of grade 3 (Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events) or higher adverse events was similar between the groups. All-grade peripheral neuropathy was more common in the FOLFIRINOX group (100% vs. 77%, p=0.048). Conclusion: FOLFIRINOX and nal-IRI/FL as second-line therapy after GnP provided similar prognoses, although supportive treatment and dose reduction were more frequently required for FOLFIRINOX.

DNA microarray technologies have advanced rapidly and had a profound impact on examining gene expression on a genomic scale in research. This review discusses the history and development of microarray and DNA chip devices, and specific microarrays are described along with their methods and applications. In particular, microarrays have detected many novel cancer-related genes by comparing cancer tissues and non-cancerous tissues in oncological research. Recently, new methods have been in development, such as the double-combination array and triple-combination array, which allow more effective analysis of gene expression and epigenetic changes. Analysis of gene expression alterations in precancerous regions compared with normal regions and array analysis in drug-resistance cancer tissues are also successfully performed. Compared with next-generation sequencing, a similar method of genome analysis, several important differences distinguish these techniques and their applications. Development of novel microarray technologies is expected to contribute to further cancer research.