• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.17-20
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• 2015

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive tumor and only 10-20% patients are considered candidates for curative resection at diagnosis. While surgery remains the only chance for cure, prognosis is poor even after surgery due to high rate of recurrence. A complementary chemotherapy and radiotherapy in a multimodal approach has been attempted to improved prognosis after surgery. Since adjuvant chemotherapy has yielded an only modest outcome improvement, various neoadjuvant approaches with chemotherapy, chemoradiation, or chemotherapy followed by chemoradiation have been attempted. In this article, current knowledge of the various neoadjuvant approaches for pancreatic cancer will be reviewed and the role of the neoadjuvant strategies will be discussed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.275-280
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• 1999

Purpose : To assess the feasibility and the toxicity of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy on the treatment of patients with locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Methods and Materials : We analyzed 77 previously untreated and histologically confirmed advanced stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by radiation therapy at the Seoul National University Hospital between 1984 and 1996. The stage distribution was as follows : AJCC stage III-2, stage IV-75. Sixty-six patients received infusion of 5-FU (1000 mg/m$^2$, on Day 1$\~$5) and cisplatin (100 mg/m$^2$, on Day 1), eleven patients received infusion of 5-FU (1000 mg/m$^2$, on Day 1 $\~$5) and carboplatin (300 mg/m$^2$, on Day 1) as neoadjuvant chemotherapy Prior to radiation therapy. The median follow-up for surviving patients was 44 months. Results : The overall chemotherapy response rates were 87$\%$. The toxicities of chemotherapy were mild. Only 3 patients experienced Grade 3 toxicities (1 for cytopenia, 2 for nause/vomiting). The degree of radiation induced mucositis was not severe, and ten patients developed Grade 2 mucositis. The 5-year overall survival rates were 68$\%$ and the 5-year disease free survival rates were 65$\%$. The 5-year freedom from distant metastasis rates were 82$\%$ and 5-year locoregional control rates were 75$\%$. Conclusion : This single institution experience suggests that neoadjuvant chemotherapy improves overall survival and disease free survival for patients with advanced stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma without increase of toxicity.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.57-64
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• 2008

In gastric cancer, the only potentially curative treatment is surgery that attempts to achieve curative (R0) resection. However, despite the use of curative resection, a recurrence develops in a high percentage of patients, especially in cases of serosa and/or lymph node involvement. As a strategy to improve the survival of the patients with resectable advanced gastric cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy has been evaluated in several phase II trials and a few phase III trials. The results of these trials have confirmed the feasibility and safety of this approach with no apparent increase in surgical complications. Recently, the findings of a large phase III randomized trial (MAGIC trial) have indicated that compared to the use of surgery alone, perioperative chemotherapy, using both a neoadjuvant and adjuvant strategy, decreased the number of T and N stage cancers and improved survival. The results of another recent phase III trial (FNLCC 94012/FFCD 9703) also showed that compared to the use of surgery alone, perioperative chemotherapy improved the R0 resection rate and survival. In both trials, the improved outcomes may be attributed to the use of neoadjuvant chemotherapy because of poor compliance with adjuvant chemotherapy. These results cannot be directly translated to clinical practice in Korea due to differences in surgical techniques and outcomes. However, the findings of a few small phase II and III trials performed in patients with locally advanced gastric cancer in Korea have also suggested that neoadjuvant chemotherapy would result in the improvement of the R0 resection rate and down-staging of the disease. More effective chemotherapy regimens are needed in future large randomized trials to determine the subset of patients that will benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy and to determine the extent of benefit.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.52-56
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• 2005

Despite improvements in the surgical treatment of gastric adenocarcinomas, the recurrence rates remain high in patients with advanced-stage disease. Most of the recurrence occurs within 3 years of the surgical resection, and nearly $90\%$ of the patients with recurrence die within 2 years of the diagnosis of recurrence. A recent study analyzed recurrence patterns for patients who had undergone a potentially curative gastrectomy. For those patients, $33\%$ of the recurrences involved locoregional sites, $44\%$ the peritoneum, and $38\%$ distant sites. A 51-year-old female patient was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent a total gastrectomy with D2 lymph node dissection during Oct. 1999. The pathologic report indicated a T3N1M0 tumor. We performed immunochemotherapy for 2 years with regular follow up. A gastrofiberscopic examination done during sep. 2004, cancer recurrence was found at the Kim's tie site of the jejunual loop. We did an abdominal exploration and a segmental resection of cancer site with pathologically negative resection margins. After the operation, we started secondary chemotherapy with TS-1.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.89-94
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• 2015

The role of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with stage II colon cancer remains a controversial issue. Adjuvant chemotherapy aims to eliminate any micrometastatic disease that may have been missed, at the time of surgery. Although one prospective study showed a small but statistically significant benefit with respect to the overall survival for those who received adjuvant chemotherapy, multiple pooled data did not demonstrate any benefit of this therapy in patients with stage II colon cancer. Current national and international guidelines for the adjuvant treatment of stage II colon dose not advise routine implementation of adjuvant chemotherapy, but rather recommend selective use of this therapy for patients with high risk of recurrence. High risk features for recurrence include T4 disease, poorly differentiated histology, presence of lymphovascular invasion, presence of perineural invasion, inadequate retrieval of lymph nodes, bowel obstruction, localized perforation, or positive margins. More recently, prediction tools using gene expression cancer profiles are proposed to identify patients who are most likely to have recurrence and therefore may benefit from postoperative chemotherapy in stage II colon cancer. These novel methods together with conventional prognosticators, will allow us to implement more optimized personalizing adjuvant therapy in these patients.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.177-181
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• 2000

Purpose : Rarity of olfactory neuroblastoma makes it difficult for treating Physician to Practice with a consistent protocol. This study is peformed to analyze our experience with various treatment modalities for patients with olfactory neuroblastoma. Discussion includes review of some recently published literatures. Methods and Materials : Between June of 1979 and April of 1997, 20 patients were treated under the diagnosis of olfactory neuroblastoma at Seoul National University Hospital. There were 14 male and 6 female patients. Age at initial treatment ranged from l3 to 77 years with median or 24 years. fifteen or 20 patients had Kadish stage C. They were treated with various combinations of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy; surgery+postoperative radiation therapy+adjuvant chemotherapy for 2 patients, surgery+postoperative radiation therapy for 6, neoadjuvant chemotherapy+surgery for 1, surgery+adjuvant chemotherapy for 1, surgery only for 2, neoadiuvant chemotherapy+ radiation therapy for 3, radiation therapy+adjuvant chemotherapy for 1, radiation therapy only for 3, and no treatment for 1 patient. Results : Follow-up ranged from 2 month to 204 months with mean of 39.6 months. The overall 5- and 10-year survival rates are 20% and 10%, respectably. Four patients are alive at the time of data analysis. One of four living patients was treated with radical surgery, postoperative radiation therapy and adjuvant chemotherapy, two patients with radical surgery and postoperative radiation therapy, and one with radical surgery only. Conclusion : Multidisciplinary approach, including radical surgery, pre- or post-operative radiation therapy and chemotherapy, should be addressed at the initial time of diagnosis. Although limited by small number of the patients, this study suggests importance of local treatment modality, especially radical surgery in the treatment of lofactory neuroblastoma.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.160-166
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• 2007

Purpose: Recently, chemosensitivity tests have become widely used for the selection of effective drugs in gastric cancer patients. In this study, a chemosensitivity test was performed to select agents to increase the effectiveness of adjuvant chemotherapy. Materials and Methods: Chemosensitivity testing was performed in 81 gastric cancer patients that received a gastrectomy at the Yeungnam University Hospital. An ATP (adenosine triphosphate) based chemotherapy response assay was used. Clinicopatholgical factors such as sex, age, expression of tumor markers (CEA and CA19-9 levels), location of the tumor, morphology of advanced cancer, histological type, cell differentiation, depth of invasion, Lauren classification, Ming classification, lymphatic invasion, vascular invasion, neural invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage were used to correlate the chemosensitivity and clinicopathological factors. Results: The most effective antitumor agents in gastric cancer patients were (in order of effectiveness) 5-FU, Epirubicin, lrinotecan and Oxaliplatin in our series. The chemosensitivity test showed a significant difference in susceptibility according to clinicopathological factors. Conclusion: Further studies on multidrug therapy are needed to evaluate synergistic effects of drugs. Therefore, for effective chemotherapy, it is more efficacious to select a chemosensitive drug than continue to use the same drug regimen.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.9-19
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• 2008

Purpose: Gastric cancer is the most common malignant tumor in Korea. We reviewed the cases at our institution to identify the survival rates and clarify the prognostic factors of patients with gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 6,918 patients who had received a diagnosis of gastric cancer, and they underwent surgery at Korea Cancer Center Hospital during a 15-year period from 1991 to 2005. Results: The overall 5-year survival rate was 66.8%. The univariate analysis revealed that age, location of tumor, gross type of tumor, the histology according to the WHO classification, the Lauren classification, depth of invasion (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), distant metastasis (M stage), the type of surgery, the UICC TNM stage, postoperative complications, adjuvant chemotherapy, lymphatic invasion, venous invasion and perineural invasion were the significantly different factors of the survival rates. The multivariate analysis revealed that age, Borrmann type 4, the histology according to the WHO classification, depth of invasion (T stage), lymph node metastasis (N stage), distant metastasis (M stage), the type of surgery, UICC TNM stage, postoperative complications, adjuvant chemotherapy and lymphatic invasion were the independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: We have shown a statistically significant association between the survival rates after operation for gastric cancer and the clinicopathologic factors. Early diagnosis of gastric cancer, appropriate surgeryand adjuvant therapy might improve the quality of life and the survival rates of gastric cancer patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1100-1105
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• 2012

Green tea intake is known to have preventive effects against cancer. In this study, we evaluated the tumor suppressive effects of dietary green tea extracts (GTE) as a modulator on cisplatin in an established colon cancer mouse model. The cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity was determined with cell viability of the mouse colon cancer cell line (CT26) in vitro. The influence of GTE on the anti-tumor activity of cisplatin was evaluated by measuring tumor size with digital calipers in mice bearing CT26 colon carcinomas. The CT26 cell viability decreased to 93% at a $20{\mu}g/mL$ concentration of cisplatin. However, cell viability decreased to 15% with a combination of $20{\mu}g/mL$ cisplatin and GTE ($75{\mu}g/mL$). There were no apparent changes in cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity with GTE and epigallocathechin gallate (EGCG) treatments. Tumor size decreased in dietary GTE combining intra-peritoneal cisplatin-injected tumors bearing mice compared with cisplatin or GTE alone administered to tumor-bearing mice. These experiments showed that dietary GTE has a potentiating effect on the cisplatin anti-tumor activity of an established mice colon cancer model. Therefore, the GTE may be a candidate for modulators in anticancer treatments with cisplatin.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 2000

Purpose :We conducted a prospective non-randomized clinical study to evaluate the efficacy and toxic of the preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced unresectable rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: Between January 1995 and June 1998, 37 conecutive patients with locally unresectable advanced rectal cancer were entered into the study. With 3- or 4- fields technique, a total of 45 Gy radiation was delivered on whole pelvis, followed by 5.4 Gy boost to the primary tumor in some cases. Chemotherapy was done at the first and fifth week of radiation with bolus i.v. 5-Fluorouracil (FU) 370$\~$450 mg/m$^{2}$, days 1$\~$5, plus Leucovorin 20 mg/m$^{2}$, days 1$\~$5. OF 37 patients, 6 patients did not receive all planned treatment course (refusal in 4, disease progression in 1, metastasis to lung in 1). Surgical resection was undergone 4$\~$6 weeks after preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Results :Complete resection rate with negative margins was 94$\%$ (29/31). Complete response was seen in 7 patients (23$\%$) clinically and 2 patients (6$\%$) pathologically. Down staging of tumor occured in 21 patients (68$\%$). Treatment related toxicity was minimal except grade III & IV leukopenia in 2 patients, respectively. Conclusion : Preoperative concurrent chemoradiotherapy in locally advanced rectal cancer was effective in inducing down staging and complete resection rate. Treatment related toxicity was minimal. Further follow up is on-going to determine long term survival following this treatment.