• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.98-106
• /
• 2003

Background : To evaluate the efficacy and safety of gemcitabine and cisplatin chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Materials and Methods : Forty patients (21 men, 19 women ; age range, 37 to 73 years; median, 63 years) with unresectable stage IIIB to IV NSCLC were evaluated. Patients received cisplatin $60mg/m^2$ (Day 1), gemcitabine $1200mg/m^2$ (Day 1 and 8) every 21 days. Eighteen patients had stage IIIB disease and 22 had stage IV. There were 28 patients of adenocarcinoma (70.0%), 11 of squamous cell carcinoma (27.5%), and one of large cell carcinoma (2.5%). Results : Of 40 patients, no patients showed complete response while 15(37.5%) showed partial response, 7(17.5%) had stable diseases, 18(45%) had progressive diseases. During a total of 195 courses of chemotherapy, grade 3 or more granulocytopenia and thrombocytopenia occured in 12.5% and 2.5% of patients respectively. Non-hematologic toxicity was mild and easily controlled. There was one case of treatment-related death by pneumomia. The median survival was 55 weeks (95% CI, 34~75weeks), and the time to progression was 19 weeks (95% CI, 16~23weeks). One year survival rate was 55% and 2 year survival rate was 10%. Conclusion : The efficacy of cisplatin and gemcitabine combination chemotherapy was acceptable in the treatment of advanced NSCLC.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.53 no.4
• /
• pp.369-378
• /
• 2002

Background : The effects of chemotherapy on pulmonary function are mainly a reduced diffusion capacity and a restrictive ventilatory impairment. Exercise can expose cardiovascular and pulmonary abnormalities not evident at rest. Exercise related cardiopulmonary function is important in patients with malignant disease as a determinant of quality of life. We performed this study to evaluate the changes of body composition and cadiopulmonary exercise perfoemance of patients with locally advanced, non-small cell, lung cancer (NSCLC) before and after chemotherapy. Methods : We evaluated resting pulmonary function, body composition, physiologic performance status, and cardiopulmonary exercise function in 11 patients with locally advanced NSCLC, at diagnosis and prior to the fourth cycle of chemotherapy. Results : After chemotherapy, 4 patients (36.4%) showed partial response and 7 (63.4%) had stable disease. After chemotherapy, diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide was reduced ($89.7{\pm}34.1%$, vs. $71.9{\pm}20.5%$) but not significantly. There were no significant changes in body composition or the state of physiologic performance after chemotherapy. There was a significant impairment of cardiopulmonary exercise tolerance in patients with NSCLC, evidenced by a reduction of maximal oxygen uptake ($VO_2$max, ml/kg/min, $17.9{\pm}2.6$ : $12.6{\pm}6.1$, <0.05) and $O_2$pulse ($O_2$ pulse, ml/beat, $7.0{\pm}1.7$, $5.2{\pm}2.1$, <0.05). Conclusion : Systemic chemotherapy resulted in a loss of cardiopulmonary exercise function in patients with locally advanced NSCLC within the short-term period, but not a physiologic change of body composition within the same period.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.311-319
• /
• 1995

Purpose : To evaluate the survival and prognostic factors in patients with stage III non-small cell lung cancer treated with curative radiotherapy alone or combined with chemotherapy Materials and Methods : A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 35 patients who had locally advanced non-small-cell lung cancer and treated with curative radiotherapy in Department of Therapeutic Radiology, Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, from January 1991 through December 1993. According to AJCC staging, 15 patients were stage IIIA, and 20 were stage IIIB. Radiotherapy was delivered with 1 8-2 Gy per fraction/day. 5 days per week using 6 MV X-ray, to a total dose ranging from 48.8 Gy to 66.6 Gy (median, 61.2 Gy) in 4 to 9 weeks. Ten patients received neoadjuvant or concurrent chemotherapy with FIP (5-FU, ifosfamide, and cisplatin) or FP (5-FU and cisplatin) Results : For all Patients, median survival was 6 months. 1-year and 2-year survival rates were 23.3% and 6.7%, respectively The median survival was 8 months in stage IIIA and 5.5 months in stage IIIB. In patients treated with radiation therapy alone, median survival was 5 months and 1-year survival rate was 9%. In patients who received chemotherapy, median survival was 11 months and 1-year survival rate was 60%. The difference of survival between these two groups was statistically significant (p=0.03). Total radiation dose, degree of response, and Post-treatment ECOG score were also significantly associated with survival. But it was not affected by age, sex, pretreatment ECOG score, presence or absence of weight loss, tumor location. pathologic type, N stage, and degree of response to treatment. Conclusion : Conventional radiotherapy alone is unlikely to achieve long term survival in patients with stage III NSCLC. Radiotherapy with altered fractionation schedule or multimodality treatment combined with surgery and/or chemotherapy should be considered if feasible.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.233-241
• /
• 1997

Purpose : This study was done to evaluate the survival rate and Prognostic factors of patients with inoperable non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) treated with radiation therapy. Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis was undertaken of 62 Patients who had inoperable NSCLC treated with radiation therapy from January 1991 through December 1993. According to AJCC slaging, stage IIIA was 14 patients and stage IIIB was 48 patients. Forty Gy to 70.2Gy to the primary tumor site was delivered with daily fractions of 1.8Gy or 2Gy, 5days per week. Thirty-seven patients received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Results : Complete, partial and no response to radiation therapy were 3 patients, 34 Patients and 25 patients, respectively The median survival period of all patients was 11 month. One rear survival rate, 2 year survival rateand 5 rear survival rate for all patients were 45.0%, 14.3%, and 6.0% respectively The median survival period was 6.5 months in stage IIIA and 13 months in stage IIIB. One year survival rates were 28.6% in stage IIIA and 50.3% in stage IIIB In univariaite analysis, prognostic factors affecting survival were T-s1aging, AJCC staging, and response after radiation therapy (P<0.05) . Pretreatment peformance status affected survival but was not statistically significant (0.050.1). In multivariate analysis, Pathology and response to radiation therapy are independently significant prognostic factor. T stage was marginally significant (P=0.0809). During follow-up duration, distant metastasis developed in 20 patients-bone metastasis in 10 patients, brain metastasis in 3 patients, liver mentastasis in 3 patients, contralateral lung metastasis in 1 patients and multiple metastases in 3 patients. Conclusion :　Conventional radiotherapy alone or combined chemoradiotherapy are unlikely to achieve long term survival in patients with NSCLC.　Surgery after concurrent chemoradiotherapy is Ivied to improve the local　control in our hospital

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.257-264
• /
• 2004

Background : There are many combinations of treatment for locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Recent studies have showed the efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in NSCLC. At present, however, there is no consensus about the optimal dosages and timing of radiation and chemotherapeutic agents. The aims of study were to determine the feasibility, toxicity, response rate, and survival rate in locally advanced NSCLC patients treated with doxetaxel and cisplatin based CCRT. Method : Sixteen patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC were evaluated from May 2000 until September 2001. Induction chemoradiotherapy consisted of 3 cycles of docetaxel (75 $mg/m^2/IV$ on day 1) and cisplatin (60 $mg/m^2/IV$ on day 1) chemotherapy every 3 weeks and concomitant hyperfractionated chest irradiation (1.15 Gy/BID, total dose of 69 Gy) in 6 weeks. Patient who had complete or partial response, and stable disease were applied consolidation chemotherapy of docetaxel and cisplatin. Results : All patients showed response to CCRT. Four patients achieved complete response (25%), partial responses in 12 patients (75%). The major common toxicities were grade III or more of neutropenia (87.3%), grade III esophagitis (68.8%), pneumonia (18.8%) and grade III radiation pneumonitis (12.5%). Thirteen patients were ceased during follow-up period. Median survival time was 19.9 months (95% CI; 4.3-39.7 months). The survival rates in one, two, and three years are 68.7%, 43.7%, and 29.1%, respectively. Local recurrence was found in 11 patients (66.8%), bone metastasis in 2, and brain metastasis in 1 patient. Conclusion : The response rate and survival time of CCRT with docetaxel/cisplatin in locally advanced NSCLC were encouraging, but treatment related toxicities were high. Further modification of therapy seems to be warranted.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.70-75
• /
• 2016

Advanced incurable cancer patients receive palliative chemotherapy to prolong their life and improve quality of life. However, physicians should assess the timing to discontinue the treatment, especially near the final months of life, as palliative chemotherapy may accompany considerable toxicity. Even though there are no clear guidelines regarding the withdrawal timing for anticancer treatment in palliative setting, it is important clarify the issue for quality of care for advanced cancer patients. Here, we present two patients who received palliative chemotherapy for advanced colon cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, respectively. In both cases, it was jointly determined to stop palliative chemotherapy, and best efforts are made to relieve troublesome symptoms. The cases and up-to-date literature review will highlight the importance of the timing of discontinuation of cancer treatments when changes are being made to the health care system and hospice and palliative medicine is taking root in Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.14
• /
• pp.5727-5731
• /
• 2015

Background: There is a long standing interest in natural compounds especially those with a high polyphenolic content and high scavenging activity for hazardous free radicals. Cornus mas (CM) fruit is well known for its antioxidant activities; however, its toxicity against human cancers needs to be addressed. Here, we investigated selective anticancer effects of CM on different human cancer cells. Materials and Methods: A hydro-alcoholic extract of CM (HECM) was prepared and total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were determined by colorimetric assays. Antioxidant activity was assessed with respectto DPPH radical scavenging. MTT assays were used to evaluate the cytotoxicity of different doses of CM (0, 5, 20, 100, 250, 500, $1000{\mu}g/ml$) towards A549 (lung non small cell cancer), MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), SKOV3 (ovarian cancer) and PC-3 (prostate adenocarcinoma) cells. Results: Significant (P<0.05) or very significant (P<0.001) differences were observed in comparison to negative controls at all tested doses ($5-1000{\mu}g/ml$). In all cancer cells, HECM reduced the cell viability to values below 26%, even at the lowest doses. In all cases, $IC_{50}$ was obtained at doses below $5{\mu}g/ml$. The mean growth inhibition was 81.8%, 81.9%, 81.6% and 79.3% in SKOV3, MCF-7, PC-3 and A549 cells, respectively. Conclusions: Altogether, to our best knowledge, this is a first study that evaluated toxicity of a HECM with high antioxidant activity in different human cancer cells in vitro. Our results indicated that a hydro-alcoholic extract of CM possesses high potency to inhibit proliferation of different tumor cells in a dose independent manner, suggesting that an optimal biological dose is more important and relevant than a maximally tolerated one.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.60 no.6
• /
• pp.645-652
• /
• 2006

Objective: Patients with lung cancer have a relative high risk of developing secondary primary lung cancers. This study examined the additional value of autofluorescence bronchoscopy (AFB) for diagnosing synchronous lung cancers and premalignant lesions. Methods: Patients diagnosed with lung cancer from January 2005 to December 2005 were enrolled in this study. The patients underwent a lung cancer evaluation, which included white light bronchoscopy (WLB), followed by AFB. In addition to the primary lesions, any abnormal or suspicious lesions detected during WLB and AFB were biopsied. Results: Seventy-six patients had non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and 23 had small cell lung cancer (SCLC). In addition to the primary lesions, 84 endobronchial biopsies were performed in 46 patients. Five definite synchronous cancerous lesions were detected in three patients with initial unresectable NSCLC and in one with SCLC. The secondary malignant lesions found in two patients were considered metastatic because of the presence of mediastinal nodes or systemic involvement. One patient with an unresectable NSCLC, two with a resectable NSCLC, and one with SCLC had severe dysplasia. The detection rate for cancerous lesions by the clinician was 6.0% (6/99) including AFB compared with 3.0% (3/99) with WLB alone. The prevalence of definite synchronized cancer was 4.0% (4/99) after using AFB compared with 2.0% (2/99) before, and the staging-up effect was 1.0% (1/99) after AFB. Since the majority of patients were diagnosed with advanced disease, the subjects with newly detected cancerous lesions did not have their treatment plans altered, except for one patient with a stage-up IV NSCLC who did not undergo radiotherapy. Conclusions: Additional AFB is effective in detecting early secondary cancerous lesions and is a more precise tool in the staging workup of patients with primary lung cancer than with WLB alone.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.15
• /
• pp.6765-6768
• /
• 2015

Aims: To study the effectiveness of human recombinant endostatin injection (Endostar(R)) combined with cisplatin doublets in treating advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and to evaluate outcome by CT perfusion imaging. Methods: From April 2011 to September 2014, 76 patients with advanced NSCLC who were treated with platinum-based doublets were divided into group A (36 patients) and group B (40 patients). Endostar(R) 15mg/day was administered 4 days before chemotherapy and combined with chemotherapy from day 5 in group A, and combined with chemotherapy from the first day in Group B. Endostar(R) in the two groups was injected intravenously for 14 days. Results: Treatment effectiveness in the two groups differed with statistical significance (p<0.05). Effectiveness evaluated by CT perfusion imaging, BF, BV, MTT and PS also demonstrated significant differences (all p<0.05). Adverse reactions in the two groups did not significantly vary (p> 0.05). Conclusions: The response rate with Endostar(R) administered 4 days before chemotherapy and combined with chemotherapy from day 5 in group A was better than Endostar(R) combined with chemotherapy from the first day, and CT perfusion imaging could be a reasonable method for evaluation of patient outcomes.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.57 no.4
• /
• pp.351-357
• /
• 2004

Background : Paclitaxel is highly beneficial anticancer drug for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and has shown remarkable radiosensitizing effect in vitro. We evaluated whether concurrent chemoradiation therapy with weekly paclitaxel (60 $mg/m^2$) could be tolerated and effective in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods : Twenty-two stage III (IIIA:6, IIIB:16) NSCLC patients were treated with weekly administration of paclitaxel (60 $mg/m^2$) on days 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, and 36 in addition to concurrent radiation therapy of 54 Gy. After the initial phase of concurrent chemoradiation, patients received additional two cycles of consolidation chemotherapy with paclitaxel (175 $mg/m^2$)/cisplatin (75 $mg/m^2$) or paclitaxel (175 $mg/m^2$)/carboplatin (6AUC) every 3 weeks. Results : Overall response rate was 81.8% (18/22) with 9.1% (2/22) of complete response and 72.7% (16/22) of partial response rate. Two patients (9.1%) died of chemoradiation-induced pneumonitis after completion of therapy. In total, grade 3 toxicities included pneumonitis (22.7%), esophagitis (22.7%), neuropathy (13.6%), and neutropenia (13.6%). The median survival time was 15 months and 2-year overall survival were 31.8%. Conclusion : Concurrent chemoradiation therapy with weekly paclitaxel in locally advanced NSCLC showed good local response, but survival rate was not completely satisfactory due to potentially fatal chemoradiation-induced pneumonitis.