• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.136-157
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• 2018

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to put the case reports of lung cancer on Korean medicine (KM) together and adopt the results in clinical practice. Methods: Researches were searched using the PubMed, EMBASE, OASIS, KoreanTK, KISTI, RISS, KISS, and NDSL. The search term were 'lung cancer' and KM. There was no restriction in year. Results: 1. Among the 48 studies, 68 patients were reported in total. The types of lung cancer were non-small-cell lung cancer (n=41) and small-cell lung cancer (n=6). 2. The number of patients who received KM therapy alone was 40. On the other hand, 25 patients were treated with KM and chemotherapy simultaneously. All case reports used herbal medicine except 2 studies. Other types of treatment were acupuncture, moxibustion, pharmacopuncture, cupping, meditation, etc. 3. Several efficacy evaluation variables were used such as tumor size, changes of symptoms, duration of survival, the quality of life, and so on. The safety was evaluated by checking adverse effects using blood test. 4. Regarding the tumor response, partial response was reported in 12 cases, stable disease was in 22 cases, 50% of the total cases, which is a high level of tumor response. Furthermore, all 11 cases with the evaluation on the length of survival showed prolonged survival than the expectancy of corresponding stage, with the stable quality of life. Conclusion: We have found that the applicability of KM for treatment of lung cancer through this review. Evidence based medicine can be realized by checking cases and applying them in clinical practice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.510-520
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• 2021

Objective: This paper aimed to provide estimates the burden of cancer attributable to occupational exposures in South Korea and to review the processes of estimating the population attributable fraction(PAF). Methods: The PAFs of occupational cancer were reviewed from previous studies. The number and proportion of cancer cases attributable to occupational carcinogens were estimated by multiplying the PAFs by recent Korean cancer data(up to 2016 for incidence and 2017 for death) obtained from the Statistics Korea. The estimation of PAFs included occupational exposures defined as definite or probable human carcinogens by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Results: In South Korea, an estimated 10,769 new cancer cases(9,017 among men, 1,752 among women) in 2016, and 7,030 cases of death from cancer(6,047 in men, 983 in women) in 2017, were attributable to occupational exposures, representing 1.5-4.7% of all new cancer cases(2.1-7.5% and 0.3-1.6% among men and women, respectively) and 2.7-8.9% of all cancer death cases(3.4-12.4% and 0.5-3.3% among men and women, respectively). Among men and women, lung cancer was the most impactful. The estimation process of PAFs, however, has a variety of uncertainties. Conclusions: Occupational exposures contribute to a substantial burden of cancer in South Korea. PAFs for cancer provide useful information for prevention initiatives and prioritizing health policies for workers. However, PAFs need to be interpreted cautiously and updated regularly.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.62-71
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• 1998

As stomach cancer is very prevalent in Koreans, various factors, especially dietary factors, related to stomach cancer incidence were examined in a case-control study. The study population consisted of 105 individual s diagnosed for stomach cancer in two general hospitals and 124 control subjects, matched for age and sex, in Seoul. Data for general characteristics, family history, smoking and alcohol consumption, personality , dietary habits and food preference were obtained by self-administered questionnaire and personal interview. Heredity was found to be one of the most important factors causing stomach cancer. In addition, genetic inheritance tended to differ between the sexes. The male patients showed significantly higher incidence of their father's relatives than mother's relatives but the female patients showed higher incidence of their mother's relatives that father's relatives. Smoking was significantly related to stomach cancer. It was also found that the cases drank alcohol more frequently and in much greater quantity than the controls. Personality was related to the incidence of stomach cancer. The cases tended to be more sensitive , impatient, and anxious to do things quickly. With regards to dietary habits, the male cases had meals significantly more irregularly than the male controls. The relative risk of preferencefor salty food and ramen showed to be significantly very high. The male cases consumed carbonated beverages and instant foods, low intake of green yellow vegetables, smoking of cigarettes and drinking of alcohol may contribute to the risk of stomach cancer.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2011

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate cancer risks in the Korean semiconductor industry. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed in eight semiconductor factories between 1998 and 2008. The number of subjects was 113,443 for mortality and 108,443 for incidence. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) and standardized incidence ratios (SIR) were calculated. Results: The SMR of leukemia was 0.39 (95% Confidence Interval 0.08-1.14) in males (2 cases) and 1.37 (0.55-2.81) in females (7 cases). The SMR of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) was 1.33 (0.43-3.09, 5 cases) in males and 2.5 (0.68-6.40, 4 cases) in females. The SIR of leukemia was 0.69 (0.30-1.37, 8 cases) in males and 1.28 (0.61-2.36, 10 cases) in females. The SIR of NHL in females was 2.31 (1.23-3.95, 13 cases) and that of thyroid cancer in males was 2.11 (1.49-2.89, 38 cases). The excess incidence of NHL was significant in female assembly operators [SIR=3.15 (1.02-7.36, 5 cases)], but not significant in fabrication workers. The SIR of NHL in the group working for 1-5 years was higher than the SIR of NHL for those working for more than five years. The excess incidence of male thyroid cancer was observed in both office and manufacturing workers. Conclusion: There was no significant increase of leukemia in the Korean semiconductor industry. However, the incidence of NHL in females and thyroid cancer in males were significantly increased even though there was no definite association between work and those diseases in subgroup analysis according to work duration. This result should be interpreted cautiously, because the majority of the cohort was young and the number of cases was small.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1547-1551
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• 2012

Background: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. Its management has a significant economic impact on society. Despite a high incidence of cancer, so far, there is no national register for this disease in Morocco. The main goal of this report was to estimate the medical costs of lung cancer in our country. Methods: We first estimated the number of annual new cases according to stage of the disease on the basis of the Grand-Casablanca-Region Cancer Registry data. For each sub-group, the protocol of treatment was described taking into account the international guidelines, and an evaluation of individual costs during the first year following diagnosis was made. Extrapolation of the results to the whole country was used to calculate the total annual cost of treatments for lung cancer in Morocco. Results: Overall approximately 3,500 new cases of lung cancer occur each year in the country. Stages I and II account for only 4% of cases, while 96% are diagnosed at locally advanced or metastatic stages III and IV. The total medical cost of lung cancer in Morocco is estimated to be around USD 12 million. This cost represents approximately 1% of the global budget of the Health Department. According to AROME Guidelines, about 86% of the newly diagnosed lung cancer cases needed palliative treatment while 14% required curative intent therapy. The total cost of early and advanced stages lung cancer management during the first year were estimated to be 4,600 and 3,420 USD, respectively. Conclusion: This study provides health decision-makers with a first estimate of costs and the opportunity to achieve the optimal use of available data to estimate the needs of health facilities in Morocco. A substantial proportion of the burden of lung cancer could be prevented through the application of existing cancer control knowledge and by implementing tobacco control programs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3113-3118
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• 2012

Introduction: Cancer is the second cause of death in Kuwaiti people after cardiovascular diseases. This study is the first in the country to describe epidemiological measures related to cancer in this population. Methods: Data obtained from the Kuwait cancer registry included all Kuwaiti patients between years 2000-2009. Analyses were conducted using age-specific rates, the age-standardization-direct method, 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), cumulative risk by the age of 74 years, limited-duration prevalence, mortality and forecasting to year 2029. Results: It was noted that the commonest cancer sites were colorectal with an age standardized incidence rate (ASIR) of 16.1/100,000 in males and breast (49.4/100,000) in the female population. The trend of cancer incidence (1974-2009) showed no statistically significant change. First causes of death due to cancer were female breast 8(6.4-9.6)/100,000 and lung (males) 8.1/100,000 (6.6-10.0). The risk of developing cancer by the age of 74 was 13.4% (1/8) and 14.3% (1/7) in males and females respectively, and the risk of dying from cancer in the same age group was 1/17 and 1/23. By the end of 2009, prevalent cases represented 0.52% of the Kuwaiti population. In the year 2029, the total number of cancer cases is expected to reach 1200 cases compared to 889 cases in 2009. Conclusions and recommendations: The most common cancers in Kuwait (breast, colorectal and lung) are largely preventable. Prompt and effective interventional prevention programs that vigorously involve diet, anti-smoking and physical activity for both sexes are urgently required.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.208-224
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• 2002

Objective : Gastic cancer has become major cancers which cause nausea, vomiting. Especially patients with terminal stage of gastric cancer may suffer from nausea, vomiting and other symptoms that can keep patients from taking medicine or food. In those cases, there may be no use of taking herbal medicine to treat or palliate symptoms. So we wanted to know the potential efficiency of Acupuncture and Moxibustion whether they could control the symptoms of terminal stage of Gastric cancer without herbal medicine. Methods : Under the assumption that Acupuncture and Moxibustion may be effective for palliating nausea, vomiting on terminal stage of Gastric cancer, the following points were administrated SaGwan(Hapkok($LI_4$), Taechung($LR_3$)), Chok-Samli($ST_{36}$), Kongson($SP_4$), Naegwan($PC_6$) for Acupuncture, Chungwan($CV_{12}$) for Moxibustion. This observation was carried out on 11 patients with terminal stage of Gastric cancer. We reviewed medical records, specifically intake/output check with vomiting, nausea. Results : After therapy of Acupunture and Moxibustion, there were 22% of complete responses, 46% of major responses and 32% of failures. Therapy resulted in 2 cases of goodness, 4 cases of fairness, 5 cases of badness as satisfaction degree. Unfortunately 2 cases of badness expired. Conclusion : We have concluded that Acupunture and Moxibusiton therapy were effective to palliate the nasea, vomiting of terminal Gastric cancer. So if Gastric cancer develop difficulties of taking medicine with patients, to consider using the methods of Acupunture and Moxibution is worthy to palliate the nausea, vomiting and so on.

• CELLMED
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.46.1-46.7
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• 2023

Objective: Report cases of improvement in pancreatic cancer through Ortho-Cellular Nutrition Therapy. Methods: Korean males in their 70's were suffering from pancreatic cancer following full recovery from prostate cancer. Results: There was the improvement in pancreatic cancer following implementation of OCNT. Conclusion: Application of OCNT to pancreatic cancer can be helpful in alleviating symptoms.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.2979-2982
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• 2016

Background: High dose ionizing radiation can induce ovarian cancer, but the effect of low dose radiation on the development of ovarian cancer has not been extensively studied. We evaluated the effect of low dose radiation and total background radiation, and the radiation delivered to the ovaries during the treatment of rectosigmoid cancer and breast cancer on ovarian cancer incidence. Materials and Methods: Background radiation measurements are from Assessment of Variations in Radiation Exposure in the United States, 2011. Ovarian cancer incidence data are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Standardized incidence ratios (SIR) of ovarian cancer following breast cancer and rectosigmoid cancer are from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data. Obesity data by US state are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mean ages of US state populations are from the United States Census Bureau. Results: We calculated standardized incidence ratios (SIR) from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data, which reveal that in 194,042 cases of breast cancer treated with beam radiation, there were 796 cases of ovarian cancer by 120+ months of treatment (0.41%); in 283, 875 cases of breast cancer not treated with radiation, there were 1,531 cases of ovarian cancer by 120+ months (0.54%). The difference in ovarian cancer incidence in the two groups was significant (p < 0.001, two tailed Fisher exact test). The small dose of scattered ovarian radiation (about 3.09 cGy) from beam radiation to the breast appears to have reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by 24%. In 13,099 cases of rectal or rectosigmoid junction cancer treated with beam radiation in the SEER data, there were 20 cases of ovarian cancer by 120+ months of treatment (0.15%). In 33,305 cases of rectal or rectosigmoid junction cancer not treated with radiation, there were 91 cases of ovarian cancer by 120+ months (0.27%). The difference in ovarian cancer incidence in the two groups was significant (p = 0.017, two tailed Fisher exact test). In other words, the beam radiation to rectum and rectosigmoid that also reached the ovaries reduced the risk of ovarian cancer by 44%. In addition, there was a significant inverse relationship between ovarian cancer in white women and radon background radiation (r = - 0.465. p = 0.002) and total background radiation (r = -0.456, p = 0.002). Because increasing age and obesity are risk factors for ovarian cancer, multivariate linear regression was performed. The inverse relationship between ovarian cancer incidence and radon background was significant (${\beta}=-0.463$, p = 0.002) but unrelated to age (${\beta}=-0.080$, p = 0.570) or obesity (${\beta}=-0.180$, p = 0.208). Conclusions: The reduction of ovarian cancer risk following low dose radiation may be the result of radiation hormesis. Hormesis is a favorable biological response to low toxin exposure. A pollutant or toxin demonstrating hormesis has the opposite effect in small doses as in large doses. In the case of radiation, large doses are carcinogenic. However, lower overall cancer rates are found in U.S. states with high impact radiation. Moreover, there is reduced lung cancer incidence in high radiation background US states where nuclear weapons testing was done. Women at increased risk of ovarian cancer have two choices. They may be closely followed (surveillance) or undergo immediate prophylactic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. However, the efficacy of surveillance is questionable. Bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is considered preferable, although it carries the risk of surgical complications. The data analysis above suggests that low-dose pelvic irradiation might be a good third choice to reduce ovarian cancer risk. Further studies would be worthwhile to establish the lowest optimum radiation dose.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4401-4404
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• 2016

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of malnutrition in gynecologic cancer patients using the Scored Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A total of 97 gynecologic cancer patients who never had any treatment but were planned for surgery were enrolled. The patients were asked to complete the scored PG-SGA form before the treatment was started. Attending physicians were also asked to complete other information in the PG-SGA form. Total scores were calculated and the patients were classified into 3 nutritional status levels. Results: Mean age was 54 years. Postoperative diagnoses were endometrial cancer in 42 cases (43.2%), ovarian cancer in 29 cases (29.9%), and cervical cancer in 26 cases (26.8%). Mean PG-SGA score was 5.2+4.7. Malnutrition (PG-SGA B and C) was found in 52 patients (53.6%, 95% CI 43.7% - 63.2%). Preoperative BMI, hemoglobin, serum albumin, and cancer stage were not significantly associated with nutritional status. Malnutrition was significantly more common among patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer, compared to other types of cancer (79.3% vs. 42.6%, p 0.004). Conclusions: Prevalence of malnutrition among gynecologic cancer patients was 53.5%, according to the scored PG-SGA. Malnutrition was significantly more common among patients with ovarian cancer.