• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.195-203
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• 1999

Background: Telomerase enzyme activity is not detected in most normal cells, a phonomenon believed to be associated with limitations on cellular proliferation. Since this activity is detected in nearly all human tumor, including lung cancers, it has been suggested that telomerase activation may be coupled to acquisition of malignant phenotype. In this study, we determined whether telomerase activity was associated with tumor pathologic stage. Methods: Primary tumor specimens obtained by bronchoscopic biopsies from 33 patients were analyzed. Telomerase activity was measured by means of a modified Telomeric Repeat Amplication Protocol(TRAP) assay. Results: Telomerase activity was detected in 23 of the 27 non-small-cell lung cancer and 5 of 6 small-cell lung cancer. A few primary tumors did not appear to have detectable telomerase activity. Positive associations were found between the telomerase-positive rate and tumor stage(p<0.05). Conclusion: High telomerase activity is detected frequently in primary lung cancers that exhibit high tumor cell proliferation rates and advanced pathologic stage.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.243-249
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• 1997

Purpose : In radiation therapy, NTCF is very importart indicator of selecting the optimal treatment plan. In our study, we tried to find out usefullness of NTCP in lung cancer by comparng the incidence of radiation pneumonitis with NTCP. Materials and Methods : From August 1993 to December 1994, thirty six patients with locally advanced non=small cell lung cancer were treated by concurrent chemoradiation therapy. Total dose of radiation therapy was 6480cGy (120cGy, bid) and chemotherapeutlc agents were mitomycin C. vinblastion, cisplatin (2 cycles, 4 weeks interval). We evaluated the development of raniation pneumonitis by CT scan, chest x-rar and clinical symptoms. We used grading system of South Western Oncology Group (SWOG) for radiation pneumanitis. Dose Volume Histograms (DVH) were analyzed for ipsilateral and whole lung, Non uniform DVH was translated to uniform DVH by effective volume method. With these data, we calculated NTCP for ipsilateral and whole lung. Finally we compared the clinical results to NTCP. Results : Eight of thrity six patients developed radiation pneumonitis. Of these 8 patients , 6 had grade I severity and 2 had grade II. The average NTCP value cf the patients who showed radiation pneumonitis was significantly higher than that uf the patients without pneumonitis $(66\%\;vs.\;26.4\%)$. But the results of pulmonary function test was not correlated with NTCP. Conclusion : NTCP of lung is very good indicator for selecting rival treatment planning in lung cancer. According to the results of NTCP, it may be possible to adjust target volume and optimize target dose. In the near future, we are going to anaiyze the effect of hyperfractionation and concurrent chemotherapy in addition to NTCP.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2009

Background: $^{18}F$-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) is widely used for the diagnosis and staging of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study is to determine whether the bone marrow hypermetabolism seen on FDG-PET predicts a response to chemotherapy in patients with NSCLC. Methods: We evaluated the patients with advanced NSCLC and who were treated with combination chemotherapy. For determination of the standardized uptake value (SUV) of the bone marrow (BM SUV) on FDG-PET, regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn over the lumbar vertebrae (L1, 2, 3). ROIs were also drawn on a homogenous transaxial slice of the liver to obtain the bone marrow/ liver SUV ratio (BM/L SUV ratio). The response to chemotherapy was evaluated according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumor (RECIST) criteria after three cycles of chemotherapy. Results: Fifty-nine NSCLC patients were included in the study. Multivariate analysis was performed using a logistic regression model. The BM SUV and the BM/L SUV ratio on FDG-PET were not associated with a response to chemotherapy in NSCLC patients (p=0.142 and 0.978, respectively). Conclusion: The bone marrow hypermetabolism seen on FDG-PET can not predict a response to chemotherapy in NSCLC patients.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 1997

Purpose : Radical gastrectomy is main treatment of gastric cancer. But the result is not satisfactory with surgery alone. Most of pattern of failure remain locoregional recurrence. To improve 5 year survival postoperative chemotherapy with or without radiotherapy has been used. We analyzed patients with stage III and IV stomach cancer who had radical operation and received postoperative radiation therapy combined with or without chemotherapy retrospectively. Material and Method : From March 1985 to June 1993, 68 patients treated with curative resection and received postoperative adiuvant radiotherapy with 36Gy or more were evaluated. Median age was 60 years(range 28-66 yrs) . Patients were followed from 3 to 133 months with median follow up of 48 months. Thirty seven patients had non signet ring adenocarcinoma, 29 signet ring cell, 2 other cell. Patients with stage IIIA, IIIB, IV disease were 19, 25 and 24 respectively Chemotherapy was given to all patients except two. Results : Five-year overall survival and disease-free survival rate were 36.6% and 33.6%, respectively. Prognostic factor affecting survival were assessed. High ratio of jnvolved/dissected Iymph node, signet ring histology showed Poor Prognosis with statistical significance. Presence of residual tumor after surgery, stageIV. split course of radiation therapy, age, number of involved Iymph node, number of Iymph node dissection and grade of tumor affected survival without statistical significance, Type of chemotherapy did not affect survival. Recurrence was documented in 34 patients. High recurrence was seen in omentum and peritoneum with 23.5%, and remnant stomach, anastomosis site, A-loop and I-loop had also high recurrence with 13.2%. In field locoregional recurrence was 20.7% and total distant metastases were 39.7%. Total intraabdominal failure was 47.1% and extraabdominal failure was 13.2%. Treatment toxicity was considered to be acceptable. 22.1% of patients had grade 3 and only 1 patient had grade 4 leukopenia. Six Patients(8.8%) had weigh loss more than 10%. Conclusion : Treatment toxicity was acceptable with combined treatment with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Locoregional recurrence was relatively low compared to distant failure with addition of irradiation. Peritoneal and omental seeding was high Five-rear surival was increased with combined modality. Radiation may eradicate minimal residual disease and improve survival, To evaluate role of radiation Prospective randomized study employing chemotherapy alone and chemotherapy plus radiation is necessary. Futhermore to reduce intraabdominal failure, role of intraabdominal chemotherapy in addition to combined chemotherapy plus radiation has to be explored.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.672-683
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• 2004

Background: The treatment results of the advanced lung carcinoma is not satisfactory with the present therapeutic modalities: surgical resection, anti-cancer chemotherapy, and radiotherapy or combination therapy. To predict the prognosis of the non-small-cell lung carcinoma, TNM classification has been was as the basic categorization; however, it has been not satisfactory. It is necessary to consider the causes and the prognosis of the lung carcinoma from another points of view rather the conventional methods. We intended to find out the relationship between the major apoptotic factor, p53 gene and the prognosis of the patient with lung carcinoma. Material and Method: Three hundreds and fifty-nine patients with lung carcinoma who underwent surgery were analysed. We observed p53 protein accumulated in the cellular nuclei. The p53 protein was detected by immuno-histo-chemical method. We collected information of the patient retrospectively. Result: p53 protein densities were observed in 40% in average as a whole. The protein density was 44 percent in man, 25 percent in woman, 49 percent in the squamous cell carcinoma, and 38 percent in the adenocarcinoma. There were significant correlations between the p53 protein density and the mortality in the squamous cell carcinoma (p=0.025), follow-up duration in TNM stage I group (p=0.010), and follow-up duration in the lobectomy patient group (p=0.043), and tumor cell differentiation (p=0.009). p53 protein densities were significantly different between the lobectomy and the pneumonectomy group (p=0.044). Conclusion: The authors found that p53 protein had some correlations with the prognosis of the lung cancer partially in some factors. We suggest the p53 protein density could be used as a marker of prognosis in the non-small-cell lung carcinoma.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.429-435
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• 2009

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the prognostic value of preoperative FDG-PET in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with hepatic metastasis (HM). Materials and Methods: 24 CRC patients (M:F=14:10; age, $63{\pm}10$ yrs) with HM who had undergone preoperative FDG PET were included. Cure-intent surgery was performed in all the patients and HMs were controlled using resection (n=13), radio-frequency ablation (RFA) (n=7), and resection plus RFA (n=4). Potential prognostic markers tested were maxSUV of primary tumor, maxSUV of HM, maxSUV ratio of HM over primary tumor (M/P ratio), histologic grade, CEA level, venous/lymphatic/nerve invasion, T stage, N stage, no. of HM, no. of lymph node metastasis, and treatment modality of HM. Results: 14 CRC patients developed a recurrence with a median follow-up duration of 244 days, whereas 10 patients did not develop recurrence with a median follow-up duration of 504 days. M/P ratios but other potential prognostic markers were significantly higher in the recurrent patients ($0.72{\pm}0.14$) than recurrence-free patients ($0.54{\pm}0.23$) (p=0.038). M/P ratio only was found to predict recurrence by Cox multivariate analysis (hazard ratio 37.7, 95% confidence interval 2.01-706.1, p=0.016). The 11 patients with lower M/P ratio of <0.61 had significantly better disease-free survival rate than the 13 patients with higher M/P ratio (${\geq}0.61$) (p=0.026). Conclusion: maxSUV ratio of HM over primary tumor (M/P ratio) may be useful for prognosis prediction of CRC patients with HM. Higher FDG uptake of HM than that of primary tumor may indicate a more advanced status in stage IV CRC.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2011

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes and prognostic factors of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) for patients with pathological stage III non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at a single institution. Materials and Methods: From 2000 to 2007, 88 patients diagnosed as having pathologic stage III NSCLC after curative resection were treated with PORT. There were 80 patients with pathologic stage IIIA and eight patients with pathologic stage IIIB in the AJCC 6th staging system. The majority of patients (n=83) had pathologic N2 disease, and 56 patients had single station mediastinal LN metastasis. PORT was administered using conventional technique (n=76) or three-dimensional conformal technique (n=12). The median radiation dose was 54 Gy (range, 30.6 to 63 Gy). Thirty-six patients received chemotherapy. Radiation pneumonitis was graded by the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group system, and other treatment-related toxicities were assessed by CTCAE v 3.0. Results: Median survival was 54 months (range, 26 to 77 months). The 5-year overall survival (OS) and disease free survival (DFS) rates were 45% and 38%, respectively. The number of metastatic lymph nodes was associated with overall survival (hazard ratio, 1.037; p-value=0.040). The 5-year locoregional recurrence free survival (LRFS) and distant metastasis free survival (DMFS) rates were 88% and 48%, respectively. Multiple stations of mediastinal lymph node metastasis was associated with decreased DFS and DMFS rates (p-value=0.0014 and 0.0044, respectively). Fifty-one relapses occurred at the following sites: 10 loco-regional, 41 distant metastasis. Grade 2 radiation pneumonitis was seen in three patients, and symptoms were well tolerated with anti-tussive medication. Grade 2 radiation esophagitis was seen in 11 patients. There were no grade 3 or more severe complications associated with PORT. Conclusion: Our retrospective data show that PORT for pathological stage III NSCLC is a safe and feasible treatment and could improve loco-regional control. The number of metastatic lymph nodes and stations of mediastinal lymph node metastasis were analyzed as prognostic factors. Furthermore, efforts are needed to reduce distant metastasis, which is a major failure pattern of advanced stage NSCLC.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.113-119
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• 1999

Purpose : To evaluate possible acute toxicity and early response of concurrent radiation therapy and low dose daily cisplatin as a radiosensitizer in patients with locally advanced uterine cervical carcinomas. Materials and Method : From December 1996 to January 1999, 38 previously untreated Patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (from stage IIB to stage IIIB) were treated at Inha University Hospital. All patients underwent standard pretreatment staging Procedures after the initial evaluation by gynecologists and radiation oncologists. Sixteen Patients with huge cervical mass (>4 cm) were submitted to the group treated with concurrent radiation therapy and low dose daily cisplatin while the remainder was treated with radiation therapy alone. Radiation therapy consisted of 4500 cGy external beam irradiation to whole pelvis (midline block after 3000 cGy), 900$\~$1000 cGy boost to involved parametrium, and high dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (a total dose of 3000$\~$3500 cGy/500 cGy per fraction to point A, twice per week). In the group treated with low dose cisplatin concurrently, 10 mg of daily intravenous cisplatin was given from the 1st day of radiation therapy to the 20th day of radiation therapy. Acute toxicity was measured according to expanded common toxicity criteria of the NCI (C) Clinical Trials. Early response data were analyzed at minimum 4 weeks' follow-up after completion of the treatment protocol. Results: Hematolgic toxici쇼 was more prominent in patients treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin. Six of 16 patients (37.5$\~$) treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin and one of 22 patients (4.5$\~$) treated with radiation therapy alone experienced grade 3 leukopenia. In Fisher's exact test, there was statistically significant difference between two groups regarding leukopenia (P=0.030). There was no apparent difference in the frequency of gastrointestinal and genitourinary toxicity between two groups (P=0.066). Three of 16 patients (18.7$\~$) treated with radiation therapy and cisplatin and two of 22 patients (9.1$\~$) treated with radiation therapy alone experienced more than 5 kg weight loss during the treatment. There was no statistically significant difference on weight loss between two groups (P=0.63). Two patients on each group were not evaluable for the early response because of incomplete treatment. The complete response rate at four weeks' follow-up was 80$\~$(16/20) for the radiation therapy alone group and 78$\~$ (11/14) for the radiation therapy and cisplatin group. There was no statistically significant difference in early response between two treatment groups (P=0.126). Conclusion : This study led to the conclusion that the hematologic toxicity from the treatment with concurrent radiation therapy and low dose daily cisplatin seems to be more prominent than that from the treatment of radiation therapy alone. There was no grade 4 hematologic toxicity or mortality in both groups. The hematologic toxicity in both treatment groups seems to be well managable modically. Since the risk factors were not balanced between two treatment groups, the direct comparison of early response of both groups was not possible. However, preliminary results regarding early response for patients with bulky cervical tumor mass treated with radiation therapy and low dose daily cisplatin was encouraging. Longer follow-up is necessary to evaluate the survival data. A phase III study is needed to evaluate the efficacy of concurrent daily low dose cisplatin with radiation therapy in bulky cervical cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.311-323
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• 1998

Purpose : Prospective, single arm, Phase I/II clinical trial was performed to assess the efficacy and toxicity of the concurrent chemotherapy and definitive radiotherapy (RT) in patients with previously untreated locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix. Methods and Materials : From Mar 1992 to January 1997, a total of 73 patients with advanced cervical carcinoma were entered on the protocol but 5 patients were excluded in analysis because of patients' refusal of treatment. Their ages ranged from 31 to 77 years, median 58 years. The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage distribution was as follows: IIB 46, IIIA 2, IIIB 15 and IVA 5. RT consisted of external beam irradiation to 4,140-5,040 cGy/23-28 fractions plus high dose rate intracavitary treatments to deliver a dose of 30-35 Gy to point A in 6-7 fractions. During the intracavitary treatments parametrial boost was delivered for point B dose of 60 Gy in stage IIB and 65 Gy in stage IIIB. Two cycles of concurrent 5-fluorouracil and cisplatin (FP) chemotherapy (5-fluorouracil 1,000 mg/$m^2$/day continuous infusion for 4 days, day 1-4, 29-32 and cisplatin 20 mg/$m^2$/day intravenous bolus for 3 days day 1-3, 29-31) administered starting on day 1 of RT. Results : The median follow-up was 24 months (range 4-68+). Sixty-four patients were evaluable for survival rate in this protocol: The 5-year actuarial and disease-free survival rate were 52$\%$ and 64$\%$, respectively. The 5-rear actuarial survival for stage IIB and III+IVA patients were 58$\%$ and 36$\%$, respectively The 5-year disease-free survival rate for stage IIB and III+IVA patients were 71$\%$ and 40$\%$, respectively. Of the 68 patients evaluated for patterns of failure, overall recurrence rate was 27.9$\%$ (19/68) : local failure in 5.9$\%$ (4/68), distant metastasis in 10.3$\%$ (7/68) and both in 11.8$\%$ (8/68). Of the 64 patients evaluated for response at one month after the completion of treatment the complete response rate was 78$\%$ (50/64). Concurrent chemoradiation appear to be a well-tolerated regimen but there were two treatment-related deaths. Conclusion : Concurrent chemotherapy of FP with high-dose definitive RT in locally advanced carcinoma of the uterine cervix is feasible and effective with acceptable toxicities. This chemoradiation regimen may offer a modest survival benefit for advanced stage. Further follow-up of these patients will evaluate the impact of this regimen on the long-term local control and their survival.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.465-484
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• 2004

Background : Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) inhibits the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells by inducing apoptosis. Methods : In this study, we investigated whether hypermethylation of IGFBP-3 promoter play an important role in the loss of IGFBP-3 expression in NSCLC. We also studied the mechanisms that mediate the silencing of IGFBP-3 expression in the cell lines which have hypermethylated IGFBP-3 promoter. Results : The IGFBP-3 promoter has hypermethylation in 7 of 15 (46.7%) NSCLC cell lines and 16 (69.7%) of 23, 7 (77.8%) of 9, 4 (80%) of 5, 4 (66.7 %) of 6, and 6 (100%) of 6 tumor specimens from patients with stage I, II, IIIA, IIIB, and IV NSCLC, respectively. The methylation status correlated with the level of protein and mRNA in NSCLC cell lines. Expression of IGFBP-3 was restored by the demethylating agent 5'-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5'-aza-dC) in a subset of NSCLC cell lines. The Sp-1/ Sp-3 binding element in the IGFBP-3 promoter, important for promoter activity, was methylated in the NSCLC cell lines which have reduced IGFBP-3 expression and the methylation of this element suppressed the binding of the Sp-1 transcription factor. A ChIP assay showed that the methylation status of the IGFBP-3 promoter influenced the binding of Sp-1, methyl-CpG binding protein-2 (MeCP2), and histone deacetylase (HDAC) to Sp-1/Sp-3 binding element, which were reversed by by 5'-aza-dC. In vitro methylation of the IGFBP-3 promoter containing the Sp-1/Sp-3 binding element significantly reduced promoter activity, which was further suppressed by the overexpression of MeCP2. This reduction in activity was rescued by 5'-aza-dC. Conclusion : These findings indicate that hypermethylation of the IGFBP-3 promoter is one mechanism by which IGFBP-3 expression is silenced and MeCP2, with recruitment of HDAC, may play a role in silencing of IGFBP-3 expression. The frequency of this abnormality is also associated with advanced stages among the patients with NSCLC, suggesting that IGFBP-3 plays an important role in lung carcinogenesis/progression and that the promoter methylation status of IGFBP-3 may be a marker for early molecular detection and/or for monitoring chemoprevention efforts.