• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2012

Objectives : Thyroid cancer patients may experience emotional distress during cancer treatment including surgical operation and radioactive iodine treatment. The aims of this prospective study were to investigate changes of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer(DTC) under preoperative, postoperative and short-term hypothyroidism state. Methods : Using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale(HAD) and the Distress Thermometer, we sequentially assessed the levels of anxiety, depression and distress in 41 DTC patients at 3 time points such as preoperative state, postoperative state and short-term hypothyroidism state. Results : The HAD-anxiety score was significantly higher in preoperative state($6.93{\pm}3.97$) than postoperative state($4.22{\pm}2.92$) and short-term hypothyroidism state($4.93{\pm}3.64$). Any other significant change in depression or distress thermometer score was not observed. Especially, difference of HADS score between the distress and none-distress groups was significant in preoperative state and post-operative state, but the difference become not significant in the short-term hypothyroidism state. Conclusions : Induced thyroid hormone deficiency during cancer treatment does not significantly affect emotional distress in patient with DTC. Anxiety and depression in these patients may be associated with distress of the patient before active cancer treatment.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.219-224
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• 2004

Purpose: Through a survey on an Internet homepage, we conducted research concerning the need of patients and their families for information on gastric cancer. We also assessed their interest in gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: We analyzed 619 inquiries presented from June 2002 to September 2003 and 524 replies submitted to a questionnaire survey delivered by the Internet homepage (www.gastriccancer.co.kr) from August to October 2003 to gastric cancer patients and their families. Results: Analysis of Inquiries: The classified inquiries listed in order of frequency are as follows: treatment, prognosis, stages, symptoms, pathophysiology, diagnostic modalities, favorable food, etiology, follow-up, etc. Among the inquiries about treatment, the most frequent subgroup was about the scope of surgery or perioperative implications. Next came questions concerning chemotherapy. Among the questions from patients yet to be operated, on those about operability and the prognosis were most frequent. Among the patients who had undergone a resection, questions on complications and the corresponding prognosis were most frequent. The concern from patients with inoperable or recurrent cancers was related to terminal care and/or chemotherapy. Analysis of Questionnaires: The respondents acquired information on gastric cancer from the Internet ($40\%$), doctors ($32\%$), the mass media ($15\%$) and acquaintances ($13\%$). Only $6\%$ of the respondents were sufficiently satisfied with the information provided by doctors. Among the respondents, $89.9\%$ were interested in complementing treatment with folk remedies while only $5\%$ were not. Conclusion: Patients and their families were eager to get information about gastric cancer. However, many of them found the doctors' information to be insufficient. Our suggestion is that the public health, academic societies, medical institutions, and public organizations should endeavor to provide through an activated Internet network correct information on gastric cancer. (J Korean Gastric Cancer Assoc 2004;4:219-224)

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.214-220
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• 2004

Purpose: As for the malignant bowel obstruction of terminal cancer patient, a prognosis is relatively bad. Physicians consider palliative procedures or surgery for the quality of life, but sometimes it is hard to decide. After diagnosis of a malignant bowel obstruction in terminal cancer patients, we investigated the clinical characteristics, the prognostic factors and the survival of patients with palliative procedures or surgery. Methods: we retrospectively reviewed the medical records in 40 malignant bowel obstruction patients who had been diagnosed as terminal cancer from May in 2002 to May in 2004. Results: There were 21 males (53%) and 19 females (47%), and median age of patients was $64.1{\pm}1.58$ years. The most common cause of malignant bowel obstruction was colorectal cancer (18 patients, 45%), followed by stomach cancer (11, 28%), pancreatic cancer (4, 10%), others (7, 19%). Metastases were carcinomatosis peritonei (14 patients, 35%), liver (13, 33%). During a bowel obstruction, symptoms were vomiting (15 patients, 38%), abdominal pain (10, 25%), constipation (6, 15%), abdominal distension (5, 13%). Performance status (ECOG) was 2 score (16 patients, 40%), 3 score (20, 50%), 4 score (4, 10%). Palliative procedure group were 30 patients, the others 10. Median survival in palliative procedure group was 142 days, that of no palliation group 30. Median survival time of palliative procedure group from palliative procedures or surgery were significantly higher than that of no palliation group from diagnosis of malignant bowel obstruction. Prognostic factors of palliative procedure group were PS, site of obstruction and primary cancer. Median survival in PS 2, lower GI obstruction and colorectal cancer was higher than PS 3, upper GI obstruction and others, respectively. Conclusion: we recommend aggressively palliative procedures or surgery in malignant bowel obstruction patients diagnosed with terminal cancer if palliative procedures or surgery could be performed effectively.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.262-269
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• 1994

Background : A clinical study was carried out on 153 new cases with small cell lung cancer registered at Presbyterian Medical Center, Chonju during the 7 years from 1986 to 1992. They were analyzed by sex and age distribution, symptoms and signs, classification of stage and site and its treatments. Especially, an effort was made to compare the overall survival time between limited stage and extensive stage. Methods : Among 806 lung cancer patients diagnosed by biopsy or cytologic evaluation for the 7 years, 153 patients was shown small cell lung cancer. These 153 cases was analyzed retrospectivery through patient's records, letters or telephones. Results : The results of evaluation of small cell lung cancer are as follows. Over 85 percent of the small cell lung cancer patients were over 50 years of age and prominent clinical features were cough(86.3%), sputum(75.8%) and dyspnea(54.9%). One hundred and five patients(68.7%) was staged to have limited stage. Mean survival time of the chemotherapy and chemoradiotherapy in limited stage has significant difference and its survivals are 5.3 months and 15.0 months. Patients whose disease was staged as limited, regardless of whether or not chemotherapy was administered, had a median survival time of 10.9 months, compared with 4.8 months for those with extensive stage. Conclusion : Lung cancer is one of the malignant diseases tend to increase gradually in Korea and proven to be the most common cancer next to the gastric cancer among various cancers in males found at the Presbyterian Medical Center in the past seven years. This report is a retrospective view of the clinical therapeutic results of the small cell lung cancer patients. Especially at the limited stage, the combined therapy revealed higher survival rate than the chemotherapy alone. For a more accurate evaluation. a prospective view, without any bias, of patients selected at random is needed.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.35-40
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• 2016

Objectives : choroidal melanoma is a rare solid tumor and has been known that thers is few effective drugs for the treatment. The purpose of this case report is to report a case of reduction of choroidal melanoma-related eye pain and headache treated with Seganmeongmok-tang. Methods : A patient with choroidal melanoma-related eye pain and headache was treated with Seganmeongmok-tang. The changes in clinical findings were evaluated. Results : The symptoms of patients were improved after about 1 week taking Seganmeongmok-tang. Conclusion : This case report suggests that Seganmeongmok-tang may have an effect on reduction of choroidal melanoma-related eye pain and headache. Further rigorous studies are necessary to investigate the therapeutic effects of Seganmeongmok-tang on choroidal melanoma.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.5 no.1 s.8
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• pp.181-188
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• 2002

Objective: Through the literatures on the effects of Buthus martensii Karsch, we are finding out the clinical possibility and revealing the more effctive to intractable diseases. Method: We investigated the literatures of Oriental Medicine and experimental reports about Buthus martensii Karsch. Results: 1. The taste of Buthus martensii Karsch is salty, hot and toxic, and the effect of this is tetanus, headache, facial palsy and convulsion. 2. The venom of Buthus martensii Karsch is anaesthetic and toxic protein, composed of buthotoxin, lecithin, trimethylamine, betaine, taurine, cholesterol, stearic acid and palmitic acid and similar to the snake venom. 3. The pharmacological effects ofButhus martensii Karsch are anti-convulsion, depressor, anesthesia, anti-thrombosis and anti-cancer. 4. Symptoms of Buthotoxin poisoning are local pain, vomiting, fever, hypertension and palpitaion, and critical condition to Dyspnea, coma and death.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.914-917
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• 2008

Primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube is exceedingly rare, accounting for 0.3 percent of female genital tract cancer. It is usually unilateral, but 20 percent of cases are bilateral. It occurs most commonly in women between 40 and 60 years old. Approximately 50 percent of the patients are nulliparous. Because of variable presenting symptoms and rarely incidence, preoperative diagnosis of fallopian tube carcinoma is seldom made. Evaluation and treatment are also essentially the same at that of ovarian carcinoma. We experienced a case of bilateral primary fallopian tube carcinoma in women presented with vaginal bleeding and pelvic mass, postoperatively pathologic examination of resected specimen after laparatomy and reported with brief review of literature.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.8
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• pp.633-637
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• 1993

Twenty-five patients with perforation of esophagus were managed at Pusan National University Hospital, from 1981 to 1993. The hospital course of 14 of these patients was evaluated with a special emphasis on the cause and location of perforation, clinical presentation, time elapsed from perforation to treatment, method of treatment, and outcome. Patients with anastomotic leak and cancer were excluded.The perforation was iatrogenic in 7 patients, spontaneous in 5, ingestion of foreign body in 1, and traumatic in 1. There were 7 cervical perforations, 2 upper thoracic perforations, and 5 lower thoracic perforations. Chest pain, fever, and dyspnea were frequent symptoms. Esophagography was most diagnostic [11 patients] but thoracentesis was of little diagnostic aid.Antibiotics were administered intravenously to all patients:hyperalimentation was accomplished intravenously in 11, and nasogastric suction was used in all cases. No patient required any surgical procedure, minor or major.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.61 no.3
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• pp.343-351
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• 2018

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is a deadly paediatric brain cancer. Transient response to radiation, ineffective chemotherapeutic agents and aggressive biology result in rapid progression of symptoms and a dismal prognosis. Increased availability of tumour tissue has enabled the identification of histone gene aberrations, genetic driver mutations and methylation changes, which have resulted in molecular and phenotypic subgrouping. However, many of the underlying mechanisms of DIPG oncogenesis remain unexplained. It is hoped that more representative in vitro and preclinical models-using both xenografted material and genetically engineered mice-will enable the development of novel chemotherapeutic agents and strategies for targeted drug delivery. This review provides a clinical overview of DIPG, the barriers to progress in developing effective treatment, updates on drug development and preclinical models, and an introduction to new technologies aimed at enhancing drug delivery.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.303-309
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• 2017

${\beta}$-sitosterol, one of phytosterols, exhibited numerous pharmacological effect including anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and immune-modulating properties. This study attempted to determine the pharmacological effects of ${\beta}$-sitosterol on atopic dermatitis (AD). We investigated to ascertain the pharmacological effects of ${\beta}$-sitosterol on 2, 4-dinitrochlrobenzene (DNCB)-induced AD symptom and histamine-induced scratching behaviors in mice. Additionally, we evaluated the effects of ${\beta}$-sitosterol on the interleukin (IL)-6 levels in HaCaT cells and skin tissue of AD. The findings of this study demonstrated that ${\beta}$-sitosterol reduced AD clinical symptoms such as eczematous, erythema and dryness and serum histamine and IgE levels in DNCB-induced AD model and histamine-induced scratching behaviors in mice. Additionally, ${\beta}$-sitosterol inhibited the IL-6 expression in AD-like skin lesion and HaCaT cells. Collectively, these findings provide that ${\beta}$-sitosterol could be a therapeutic agent for skin inflammation including AD.