• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.431-435
• /
• 2014

A fifty-year-old female non-smoker with no other specific medical history visited our institute. She complained of axial back pain with no other neurological deficit. Chest X-ray, chest computed tomography (CT) scan, CT-guided needle aspiration biopsy, whole-body positron emission tomography, spine CT and spine magnetic resonance image findings suggested NSCLC with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation, multiple brain metastases, and two isolated metastases to the T3 and L3 vertebral bodies. She underwent chemotherapy with gefitinib ($Iressa^{TM}$) for NSCLC and gamma knife surgery for multiple brain metastases. We performed a two-staged, total en bloc spondylectomy of the T3 and L3 vertebral bodies based on several good prognostic characteristics, such as the lack of metastases to the appendicular bone, good preoperative performance status, and being an excellent responder (Asian, never-smoker and adenocarcinoma histology) to EGFR inhibitors. Improved axial back pain after the surgery enabled her to walk with the aid of a thoracolumbosacral orthosis brace on the third postoperative day. Her Karnofsky performance status score (KPS) was 90 at the time of discharge and has been maintained to date 3 years after surgery. In selected NSCLC patients with good prognostic characteristics, we suggest that locally curative treatment such as total en bloc spondylectomy or radiosurgery should be emphasized to achieve longer term survival for the selected cases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.23
• /
• pp.10319-10323
• /
• 2015

Background: The incidence rate of brain tumors has increased more than 40% in the past 20 years, especially in adults. We aimed to study the clinical and pathological findings of central nervous system (CNS) tumor patients and to evaluate their 5 year survival rates. Materials and Methods: The archives of all patients with CNS tumors in 6 health care centers in Yazd, Iran, from 2006 to 2013, were studied. Patients data were extracted using a checklist which included age, sex, date of reference and diagnosis, date of death, clinical signs, radiography findings, pathology report, size and location of tumor, patient treatment and grade of tumor. Results: A total of 306 patient records were studied in the 8 year period. The most prevalent type of tumor was astrocytoma (n=113, 36.9%). The frequency of almost all tumor types was statistically higher in male patients (p=0.025). In most cases surgery with radiotherapy was the treatment of choice (49.3%). The most frequent symptom reported was headache (in 60.8% of patients) followed by convulsions (15.7%). Most of the tumors were located in the right hemisphere (46.1%) and the frontal and parietal lobe (26% and 12%, respectively). Radiography findings displayed edema with a nonhomogeneous lesion in majority of the patients (87%). The survival fraction of the patients with malignant tumors decreased over time (0.807 in the first year and 0.358 at the end of the $5^{th}$ year). Conclusions: Astrocytoma was the more common CNS tumor with male predominance. Overall survival rates of malignant tumors decreased over time and this was in relation with tumor grade.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.51-64
• /
• 2011

Gyeongoggo is first described in the Collected Prescription by Hong Family in the Song Dynasty in China. It is composed of Radix Rehmnniae, Panax ginseng, Poria cocos, and Mel. Its main efficacy is to treat weakness of primordial essence of body and dry cough, and to invigorate qi and replenish yin principle. It is one of the most important prescriptions that people have been using for a long time. We studied the documents recorded in the medical classics and comprehended the following results. Gyeongoggo has efficacy to keep a person healthy and live long age, to treat amnesia and dizziness from brain weakness, to strengthen muscle and bone by improving function of stomach and colon, to improve a person's memory and judgement, to invigorate brain weakness, and, to treat tuberculosis and lung cancer. The longer a person take it, the better it is for one's health and meditation. When it is made, it is important to mix four components up, to boil it with an oak tree for three days and nights, and then to add water from a well to reduce heat for a full day, and to boil up again for a full day to mature fully. As gyeongoggo is acquired not only by the full heart of a manufacturer but also the sympathy of nature, it is important to choose a clean place to make and keep. When it is taken, it is proper to take it with warm water or liquors. And when it is made, we came to know that it is possible to make gyeongoggo with special efficacy by adding one to three more components.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.10
• /
• pp.4165-4168
• /
• 2014

Background: The prognosis of primary glioblastoma (GBM) is poor. Approximately 2/3 of primary brain tumor diagnoses are GBM, of which 95% are primary lesions. In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether more sunlight exposure has an effect on survival of patients with primary GBM. Materials and Methods: A total of 111 patients with primary GBM were enrolled from Kayseri in inner Anatolia which has a cold climate (n: 40) and Mersin in Mediterranean region with a warm climate and more sunlight exposure (n: 71). The patients with primary GBM were divided into two groups as Kayseri and Mersin and compared for progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).Results: The PFS values were 7.0 and 4.7 months for Kayseri and Mersin groups, respectively (p=0.10) and the repsective OS values were 13.3 and 9.4 months (p=0.13). We did not found any significant difference regarding age, sex, comorbidity, smoking, surgery, resurgery, adjuvant chemoradiotherapy and palliative chemotherapy between the groups. Conclusions: We found that more sunlight exposure had no impact on prognosis of patients with primary GBM, adding inconsistency to the literature about the relationship between sunlight and GBM.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.195-199
• /
• 2015

Background: This study was conducted to determine the influence of MACC1 expression on chemotherapy sensitivity in human U251 glioblastoma cells. Materials and Methods: Expression of the MACC1 gene in 49 cases of human brain glioma was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Silencing effects of RNA interference on MACC1 was detected by Western-blotting. Flow cytometry methods and methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay (MTT) were used to determine the apoptosis and growth inhibitory rates of the U251 cells with MACC1 silencing. before and after treatment with cisplatin (DDP). Results: MACC1 mRNA in gliomas was up-regulated remarkably, to 158.8% of that in peri-cancerous tissues (P<0.05). The siRNA-MACC1 could inhibit the expression of MACC1 protein significantly (p<0.05), associated with an increase in apoptosis rate from 2.57% to 5.39% in U251 cells and elevation of the growth inhibitory rate from 1.5% to 17.8% (p<0.05 for both). After treatment with DDP at various concentrations (1, 3, $5{\mu}g/ml$), compared with control U251 cells, the apoptosis rate of MACC1-silenced U251 cells rose from 8.41%, 13.2% and 19.5% to 12.8%, 17.8% and 25.8%; the growth inhibitory rate increased from 16.2%, 19.3% and 24.5% to 23.7%, 28.4% and 36.3%. Conclusions: There is a notable relationship between over-expression of MACC1 and the characteristics of glioma cells. Silencing of MACC1 was found to enhance the apoptosis and growth inhibitory rates of U251 glioma cells, and thereby increase their sensitivity to DDP chemotherapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.15 no.24
• /
• pp.10621-10625
• /
• 2015

Background: Increasing evidence has indicated that high Forkhead box protein C2 (FOXC2) level is closely associated with the development, progression, and poor prognosis of a variety of tumors. However, the relationship between FOXC2 and the progression of human gliomas remains to be clarified. The aim of present study was to assess FOXC2 expression and to explore its contribution in human gliomas. Materials and Methods: Realtime quantitative PCR was performed to examine FOXC2 expression in 85 pairs of fresh frozen glioma tissues and corresponding non-neoplastic brain tissues. Associations of FOXC2 expression with clinicopathological factors and prognosis of glioma patients were statistically analyzed. Results: The relative mRNA expression of FOXC2 was significantly higher in glioma tissues than the corresponding non-neoplastic brain tissues (p<0.001). In addition, high FOXC2 expression was significantly associated with advanced pathological grade (P=0.005) and the low Karnofsky performance score (KPS) (p=0.003), correlating with poor survival (p<0.001). Furthermore, multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that high FOXC2 expression was an independent predictor of overall survival (p=0.006). Conclusions: FOXC2 may act as an oncogenic gene and represent a potential regulator of aggressive development and a candidate prognostic marker in human gliomas.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.301-305
• /
• 2000

Background: The surgical indications of stage IV non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) are extremely limited with its controversial results. We analyzed the surgical results and survival in selected patients with resectable stage IV NSCLC. Material and Method: We reviewed the medical records of 21 patients who underwent operation for stage IV NSCLC from Jan. 1992 to Sep. 1999. Result: The mean age of patients was 55.6 years(range: 35 to 78). Sixteen were men and 5 were women. Tissue types were squamous cell carcinoma in 10(45.5%), adenocarcinoma in 9(40.9%), large cell carcinoma in 1 and carcinosarcoma in 1. Distant metastatic lesions were ipsilateral other lobe of lung in 18, brain in 2 and adrenal gland in 1. Pneumonectomy was performed in 16 patients, bilobectomy in 3, and lobectomy in 2 who underwent previous operatin for brain metastasis. Mean follow-up duration was 21.2$\pm$17.7 months. During follow-up period, 13 patients died. Three-and 5-year survival of patients were 38.0% and 19.0%, the median survival time was 19.1$\pm$7.8 months. In the group with ipsilateral pulonary metastasis(PM, n=18), 3- and 5-year survival of patients with N0 and N1(n=9) disease were 64.8% and 32.4%, median survival time was 55.3$\pm$27.2 months. Three-year survival of patients with N2(n=9) disease was 11.1%, median survival time was 10.6$\pm$0.3 months. The survival of N0 and N1 disease group was significantly better than that of N2 disease group(p=0.042). Also the disease free survival of N0 and N1 was significantly better than that of N2 disease in overall group(53.3 months vs 12.1 months, p=0.036) and ipsilateral PM group(63.4 months vs 8.8 months, p=0.001). Conclusion: We suggest that surgical treatment is worthful modality in well selected patients with stage IV NHSCLC especially with ipsilateral PM and N0 or N1 disease,. Nevertheless our study indicate questions that will need to be experienced further in larger studies.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.235-248
• /
• 2018

Ursolic acid (UA) is a natural triterpene compound found in various fruits and vegetables. There is a growing interest in UA because of its beneficial effects, which include anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-apoptotic, and anti-carcinogenic effects. It exerts these effects in various tissues and organs: by suppressing nuclear factor-kappa B signaling in cancer cells, improving insulin signaling in adipose tissues, reducing the expression of markers of cardiac damage in the heart, decreasing inflammation and increasing the level of anti-oxidants in the brain, reducing apoptotic signaling and the level of oxidants in the liver, and reducing atrophy and increasing the expression levels of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase and irisin in skeletal muscles. Moreover, UA can be used as an alternative medicine for the treatment and prevention of cancer, obesity/diabetes, cardiovascular disease, brain disease, liver disease, and muscle wasting (sarcopenia). In this review, we have summarized recent data on the beneficial effects and possible uses of UA in health and disease managements.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.135-154
• /
• 2011

The great discovery of microRNAs (miRNAs) has revolutionized current cell biology and medical science. miRNAs are small conserved non-coding RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression by targeting the 3' untranslated region of specific messenger RNAs for degradation or translational repression. New members of the miRNA family are being discovered on a daily basis and emerging evidence has demonstrated that miRNAs play a major role in a wide range of developmental process including cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell differentiation, metabolism, apoptosis, developmental timing, neuronal cell fate, neuronal gene expression, brain morphogenesis, muscle differentiation and stem cell division. Moreover, a large number of studies have reported links between alterations of miRNA homeostasis and pathological conditions such as cancer, psychiatric and neurological diseases, cardiovascular disease, and autoimmune disease. Interestingly, in addition, miRNA deficiencies or excesses have been correlated with a number of clinically important diseases ranging from cancer to myocardial infarction. miRNAs can repress the gene translation of hundreds of their targets and are therefore well-positioned to target a multitude of cellular mechanisms. As a consequence of extensive participation in normal functions, it is quite logical to ask the question if abnormalities in miRNAs should have importance in human diseases. Great discoveries and rapid progress in the past few years on miRNAs provide the hope that miRNAs will in the near future have a great potential in the diagnosis and treatment of many diseases. Currently, an explosive literature has focussed on the role of miRNA in human cancer and cardiovascular disease. In this review, I briefly summarize the explosive current studies about involvement of miRNA in various human cancers and cardiovascular disease.

• Journal of Music and Human Behavior
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.67-92
• /
• 2008

The purpose of this study is to give an overview of the clinical process of songwriting with pediatric patients undergoing cancer treatment. Many literatures have proved that music therapy aids patients during their cancer treatment to relax, reduce anxiety and feelings of isolation, and promote self-esteem and quality of life and so on. However, among music therapy methods, I found songwriting proved to be very effective method. By using songwriting as therapy with pediatric patients undergoing cancer treatment, songwriting helped patients express difficulties of dealing emotionally with their illness and ongoing aggressive and invasive treatments. Also the process of songwriting established trust and relationship between therapist and patient which promoted normalization of hospital environment. In my case study, patient N has expressed her feelings and thoughts through writing songs about her current life which revolved around treatment of her brain tumor. Moreover, patient N found her creativity and developed ways of getting touch with her inner strength.