• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.33-37
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• 2014

Acinic cell carcinoma (ACC) is an uncommon malignant tumor of the salivary glands that is difficult to diagnose. It grows slowly and shows distant metastasis rarely. We experienced a case of recurrent ACC in the parotid gland with cardiac metastasis and hypertrophic osteoarthropathy. The 29-year-old man had been suffering from severe multiple bones and joints pain for 2 months. Ten years earlier, he underwent superficial parotidectomy due to a right subauricular mass. The mass was diagnosed with ACC. After surgery, the tumor recurred twice. Then the patient was diagnosed with cardiac metastasis via positron emission tomography-computed tomography and trans-thoracic echocardiography. He also had hypertrophic osteoarthropathy with multiple bone metastasis. He was given palliative radiotherapy and conservative treatment. ACC in the parotid gland with cardiac metastasis and hypertrophic osteoarthropathy has not yet been reported in literature. From this case, it is recommended to evaluate multiple distant metastasis in the ACC of the parotid gland when joint and bone pain are present.

• Endocrinology and Metabolism
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.459-465
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• 2018

Background: Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) shows a very good prognosis, but older patients have a higher recurrence rate and those show poor prognosis than younger patients. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical outcomes of thyroid cancer patients who experienced recurrence in old age according to the treatment strategy used. Methods: This retrospective observational cohort study was conducted at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Among DTC patients with no evidence of disease after initial treatment, we enrolled 86 patients who experienced recurrence at an age >65 years from 1994 to 2012. Sixty-nine patients had local recurrence and 17 patients showed distant metastasis. Results: The mean age of patients at recurrence was 72 years. Patients were followed up for a median of 4.1 years after recurrence. Sixty-three of the 69 patients with local recurrence received additional treatment, while the other six received conservative care. The cancer-specific mortality rate was 15.5% in the local recurrence group. Airway problems were the main cause of death in patients who did not receive further treatment for local recurrence. Among the 17 patients with distant metastasis, 10 underwent specific treatment for metastasis and seven received only supportive management. Seven of those 17 patients died, and the cancer-specific mortality rate was 35% in the distant metastasis group. Conclusion: The overall cancer-specific mortality rate was 20% in DTC patients in whom recurrence was first detected at an age >65 years. Mortality due to uncontrolled local disease occurred frequently in patients who did not receive definitive management for recurrence.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.203-206
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• 2002

Metastatic carcinomas to the thyroid gland are rare, and thyroid involvement by secondary carcinomas commonly results from direct the extension of malignant cells from adjacent organs such as the larynx or the trachea. The common primary sites of thyroid metastasis are kidney, breast, lung, and lymphoid tissue. Among head and neck cancers, nasopharyngeal carcinoma has a relatively high incidence of distant metastases to other sites and commonly involving sites are bone, lung, and liver. Recently, we experienced a case of a 43-year-old male who had been presented with neck mass for 3 months. He was diagnosed non-keratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma in 1993. And, thyroid metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma was confirmed by total thyroidectomy. So we report this rare case with the review of literatures.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.320-323
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• 2010

Adenoid cystic carcinoma is a relatively rare tumor that usually arises in the parotid and submandibular salivary glands. The initial management is surgical, and this is often combined with post-operative radiotherapy, but local relapse is common and distant metastasis is not infrequent. We experienced the case of a 59 years old male who had been previously operated on for a primary submandibular salivary cyst, and he then had a distant pulmonary metastasis 9 years later. We operated on him with performing a wedge resection on the left lower lobe for the metastatic lesion, and he hasn't had any evidence of tumor recurrence for 84 months after the second operation.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.81-85
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• 1997

Basal cell adenocarcinoma is a rare, recently described neoplasm of the salivary gland. We have experienced three cases of basal cell adenocarcinoma of the parotid gland. The tumors from patient 1 and patient 2 showed intraparotid growth in superficial lobe without cervical lymphnode metastasis. So, patient 1 and patient 2 underwent only a superficial parotidectomy and subdigastric lymphnode dissection without any adjuvant therapy. They are alive without recurrence or distant metastasis. But that of patient 3 showed widely invasive growth with multiple cervical lymph node metastases. The CT scan showed a $8{\times}7cm$ sized huge mass replacing the parotid gland with irregular margin and multiple lymphnode enlargements along the internal jugular vein. Total parotidectomy with sacrifying the facial nerve and standard radical neck dissection were caried out. Microscopically, the tumor consisted of solid nest and sheet of uniform basaloid cells separated by a fibrous connective tissue stroma with the evidence of lymphovascular invasion. As a result of the lymphnode metastasis and invasiveness of the tumor, radiation therapy was given postoperatively. We thought that close follow-up would be mandatory in this patient because of high risk of possible local recurrence and distant metastasis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5055-5060
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• 2013

Objective: Twist, a basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor, plays a key role in the metastatic progression of human cancer. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 is an endopeptidase that digests basement membrane type IV collagen, therefore being possibly related to tumor progression. It has been reported that Twist and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) are expressed in gastric cancers. However, the exact roles of Twist and MMP-9 in tumor metastasis and prognosis remain unclear. The aim of this study was to casts light on this question. Methods:Twist and MMP-9 expression in tissue sections of 37 gastric carcinomas was evaluated with immunohistochemistry. The staining results were compared with clinicopatholgic features and to patients' outcome. Results: Twist positive expression was significantly increased in gastric cancer cases with lymph node metastasis (P=0.023). But no correlations were found between MMP-9 overexpression and clinicopathologic features, such as recurrence, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. Overall survival (OS) was significantly correlated with recurrence, serosa invasion, TNM stages, distant metastasis, and MMP-9 (P=0.027, 0.021, 0.000, 0.024 and 0.036, respectively). Disease-free survival (DFS) was prominently related to recurrence location, serosa invasion and TNM stages (P=0.000, 0.038 and 0.003, respectively). In the Cox regression multivariate analysis, TNM stage, distant metastasis and MMP-9 were significantly associated with prognosis of gastric cancer (P=0.002, 0.019, and 0.032, respectively). Conclusions: This study showed Twist positive expression to be significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer. MMP-9 overexpression is associated with OS, suggesting that MMP-9 is a prognostic indicator for survival in patients with gastric cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1248-1256
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• 1996

From June 1987 to December 1994, 372 patients underwent operation for resection of esophageal cancer, and 48 patients with metastasis to distant abdominal lymph nodes were analyzed.. The primary tumors were located predominantly in lower thoracic esophagus(n=29). The location of involved lymph nodes were celiac L/N(n=45), common hepatic L/N(n=4), paraaortic L/N(n=l), and retropancreatic L/N(n=l). Most tumors penetrated the esophageal wall(T3,T4, n=43), metastased to regional L/N(N1, n=41), but a few tumors were limited to the esophageal wall(T1,T2, n=5), metastased to distant abdominal L/N without metastasis to regional L/N(NO, n=7). Resectability rate was 87.5%(42/48), and complete resection was possible in 31 patients(64.6%). The most frequent cause of incomplete resection and unresectability was unresectable T4 lesions(n=8), extranodal invasion(n=7). Overall operative mortality and morbidity was 4.2%, 22.9%, and resection mortality was 4.8%. Adjuvant therapy was given to 27 patients, and postoperative follow-up was possible in all patients(median follow-up, 32 months). The 1 year and 3 year survival for resection group was 54.0%, 18.1%(median, 386 days) including operative deaths. Our results suggest that resection of the esophageal cancer with metastasis to distant abdominal lymph nodes(M1LYN) can be done with acceptable mortality and morbidity, and may playa role in long-term survival in carefully selected patients because prognosis is dismal in unresectable esophageal cancer. We recommend that lymph nodes around celiac axis be dissected thoroughly for exact staging and possible prolongation of survival, and multimodality therapy as necessary because most patients with M1(LYN) esophageal cancer do poorly with only primay surgical treatment.

• BMB Reports
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.217-222
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• 2015

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer and the fourth most common cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Distant metastasis is a major cause of mortality in CRC. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNA molecules involved in the post-transcriptional and translational regulation of gene expression. Many miRNAs are aberrantly expressed in cancer and influence tumor progression. Accumulating studies suggest that multiple miRNAs are actively involved in the CRC metastasis process. Thus, we aim to introduce the role of miRNAs in multi-steps of CRC metastasis, including cancer cell invasion, intravasation, circulation, extravasation, colonization, angiogenesis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Moreover, we suggest the potential application of miRNAs as biomarkers for CRC patients with metastasis. [BMB Reports 2015; 48(4): 217-222]

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6511-6517
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• 2014

Purpose: We aimed to study the relationship between thrombocytosis and clinical features of gastric cancerfocussing on platelet counts and gastric cancer progression through different TNM stages. Methods: According to the normal range of platelet count in our institution, 1,596 patients were divided to two groups: a thrombocytosis group (120 patients, > $400{\times}1000/{\mu}L$) and a control group (1,476 patients, ${\leq}400{\times}1000/{\mu}L$). Results: The incidence of thrombocytosis was 7.5%. Higher platelet counts were observed in patients with older age, larger tumor size, deeper invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and advanced TNM stage. In multivariate logistic regression, tumor size, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage were independent risk factors for thrombocytosis of gastric cancer patients. On prognostic analysis, age, tumor size, tumor location, histologic type, depth of tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis and TNM stage and platelet count were important factors. Tumor size, invasion depth, lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and the platelet count were independent prognostic factors. Conclusion: Thrombocytosis is associated with clinical features of gastric cancer patients and correlates with a poor prognosis.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.39-45
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• 2008

PET or PET/CT detects only less than 50% of early gastric cancer and 62-98% of advanced gastric cancer. Therefore, mass screening programs are recommended for all adults over the age of 40 for early detection and early treatment of gastric cancer through endoscopy or various radiological tests. The most important step after diagnosis of gastric cancer is accurate staging, which mainly evaluates tumor resectability to avoid unnecessary surgery. Important factors that affect tumor resectability are whether the tumor can be separated from adjacent organs or important blood vessels, the extent of lymph node metastasis, presence of peritoneal metastasis, or distant organ metastasis. To evaluate the extent of local tumor invasion, anatomical imaging that has superior spatial resolution is essential. There are a few studies on prognostic significance of FDG uptake with inconsistent results between them. In spite of lower sensitivity for lymph node staging, the specificity of CT and PET are very high, and the specificity for PET tends to be higher than that for CT. Limited data published so far show that PET seems less useful in the detection of lung and bone metastasis. In the evaluation of pleural or peritoneal metastasis, PET seems very specific but insensitive as well. When FOG uptake of primary tumor is low, distant metastasis also tends to show low FDG uptake reducing its detection on PET. There are only a few data available in the evaluation of recurrence detection and treatment response using FDG PET or PET/CT.