• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.155-161
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• 2023

Background: Surgical closure of an atrial septal defect (ASD) is infrequently indicated during infancy. We evaluated the clinical characteristics and outcomes of patients who underwent surgical ASD closure during infancy. Methods: A single-center retrospective review was performed for 39 patients (19 males) who underwent surgical ASD closure during infancy between 1993 and 2020. The median body weight percentile at the time of operation was 9.3. Results: During a median follow-up of 60.9 months, 4 late deaths occurred due to chronic respiratory failure. A preoperative history of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) was the only risk factor for late mortality identified in Cox regression (hazard ratio, 3.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.75-163.04; p=0.015). The 5-year survival rate was significantly lower in patients with preoperative history of BPD (97.0% vs. 50.0%, p<0.001) and preoperative ventilatory support (97.1% vs. 40.4%, p<0.001). There were significant postoperative increases in left ventricular end-diastolic (p=0.017), end-systolic (p=0.014), and stroke volume (p=0.013) indices. A generalized estimated equation model showed significantly better postoperative improvement in body weight percentiles in patients with lower weight percentiles at the time of operation (<10th percentile, p=0.01) and larger indexed ASD diameter (≥45 mm/m², p=0.025). Conclusion: Patients with ASD necessitating surgical closure during infancy are extremely small preoperatively and remain small even after surgical closure. However, postoperative somatic growth was more prominent in smaller patients with larger defects, which may be attributable to an increase in postoperative cardiac output due to changes in ventricular septal configuration. The benefits of ASD closure in patients with BPD are undetermined.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3629-3633
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• 2014

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is an immunosuppressive tumor whose median survival time is only 12-15 months, and patients with GBM have a uniformly poor prognosis. It is known that heredity contributes to formation of glioma, but there are few genetic studies concerning GBM. Materials and Methods: We genotyped six tagging SNPs (tSNP) in Han Chinese GBM and control patients. We used Microsoft Excel and SPSS 16.0 statistical package for statistical analysis and SNP Stats to test for associations between certain tSNPs and risk of GBM in five different models. ORs and 95%CIs were calculated for unconditional logistic-regression analysis with adjustment for age and gender. The SHEsis software platform was applied for analysis of linkage disequilibrium, haplotype construction, and genetic associations at polymorphism loci. Results: We found rs891835 in CCDC26 to be associated with GBM susceptibility at a level of p=0.009. The following genotypes of rs891835 were found to be associated with GBM risk in four different models of gene action: i) genotype GT (OR=2.26; 95%CI, 1.29-3.97; p=0.019) or GG (OR=1.33; 95%CI, 0.23-7.81; p=0.019) in the codominant model; ii) genotypes GT and GG (OR=2.18; 95%CI, 1.26-3.78; p=0.0061) in the dominant model; iii) GT (OR=2.24; 95%CI, 1.28-3.92; p=0.0053) in the overdominant model; iv) the allele G of rs891835 (OR=1.85; 95%CI, 1.14-3.00; p=0.015) in the additive model. In addition, "CG" and "CGGAG" were found by haplotype analysis to be associated with increased GBM risk. In contrast, genotype GG of CCDC26 rs6470745 was associated with decreased GBM risk (OR=0.34; 95%CI, 0.12-1.01; p=0.029) in the recessive model. Conclusions: Our results, combined with those from previous studies, suggest a potential genetic contribution of CCDC26 to GBM progression among Han Chinese.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1811-1815
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• 2014

Background: In clinical trials with no upper age limit, the proportion of older patients is usually small, probably reflecting the more conservative approach adopted by clinicians when treating the elderly. An exploratory analysis of elderly patients in the RECORD-1 Trial showed that patients ${\geq}$ 65 y.o. had superior median PFS than overall RECORD-1 population (5.4 months and 4.9 months, respectively). We investigated the efficacy, relative benefit and safety of Everolimus (EVE) as sequential therapy after failure of VEGFr-TKI therapy for older patients with metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC), in daily practice. Materials and Methods: 172 consecutive IRB approved patients with mRCC (median age 65, M:F 135/37, 78% clear cell) who received salvage EVE at 39 tertiary institutions between October 2009 and August 2011 were included in this analysis. Some 31% had progressed on sunitinib, 22% on sorafenib, 1% on axitinib, 41% on sequential therapy, and 5% had received other therapy. Patients with brain metastases were not included and 95% of the patients had a ECOG (Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group) performance status (PS) of 0 or 1. Previous radiotherapy was an exclusion criterion, but prior chemotherapy was permitted. Adequate organ function and hematologic parameters were mandatory. EVE administration was approved by the institutional review board at each participating institution and signed informed consent was obtained from all patients. Results: Median time of the whole cohort to last follow-up was 3.5 months (range 0.4-15.2 months). Forty four percent were continuing to take EVE at last followup. There were 86 (50%) patients ${\geq}$ 65 y.o. and 86 (50%) <65 y.o. The percentage of patients who showed PR/SD was higher in the older group than in the younger one (5.9%/61.2% vs 1.2%/46.5%, respectively). Median survival of older patients was also significantly longer (3.5 +/- 0.31 vs 3.1 +/- 0.34, hazard ratio=0.45, CI; 0.255-0.802). Analysis using Cox regression model adjusted for gender, PS, number of metastases, site of metastases, histology, smoking history and age detected an association between age and PFS (p=0.011). The frequency of adverse events in elderly patients treated with EVE was no greater than that in younger patients, although such toxicity may have had a greater impact on their quality of life. Conclusions: Older patients should not generally be excluded from accepted therapies (mTOR inhibitors after failure of VEGFr-TKI therapy) for mRCC.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.413-420
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• 2012

Spectroscopic measurement method based on visible and near-infrared wavelengths was prominent technology for rapid and non-destructive evaluation of internal quality of fruits. Reflectance measurement was performed to evaluate firmness, soluble solid content, and acid content of truss tomatoes by hyperspectral reflectance imaging system. The Vis/NIR reflectance spectra was acquired from truss tomatoes sorted by 6 ripening stages. The multivariable analysis based on partial least square (PLS) was used to develop regression models with several preporcessing methods, such as smoothing, normalization, multiplicative scatter correction (MSC), and standard normal variate (SNV). The best model was selected in terms of coefficient of determination of calibration ($R_c^2$) and full cross validation ($R_{cv}^2$), and root mean standard error of calibration (RMSEC) and full cross validation (RMSECV). The results of selected models were 0.8976 ($R_p^2$), 6.0207 kgf (RMSEP) with gaussian filter of smoothing, 0.8379 ($R_p^2$), $0.2674^{\circ}Bx$ (RMSEP) with the mean of normalization, and 0.7779 ($R_p^2$), 0.1033% (RMSEP) with median filter of smoothing for firmness, soluble solid content (SSC), and acid content, respectively. Results show that Vis / NIR hyperspectral reflectance imaging technique has good potential for the measurement of internal quality of truss tomato.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.479-482
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• 2012

Aim: Soy foods are the major source of isoflavones, which are believed to play important roles in genesis of breast cancer and its progression. We here conducted a prospective study to evaluate the association of soy isoflavone food consumption with breast cancer prognosis. Methods: A prospective study was performed from January 2004 and January 2006 in China. Trained interviewers conducted face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire to collect information on dietary habits and potential confounding factors. The relative risk [hazard ratio (HR)] and 95% CI were calculated from the Cox regression model for all significant predictors from cancer diagnosis to the endpoint of the study (event). Results: After a median follow up of 52.1 months (range, 9-60 months), a total of 79 breast cancer related deaths were recorded in our study, risk being inversely associated with a high intake of soy isoflavone. With an average intake of soy isoflavone above 17.3 mg/day, the mortality of breast cancer can be reduced by about 38-36%. We also found the decreased breast cancer death with high soy protein intake, with a HR (95% CI) of 0.71 (0.52-0.98). Stratified analysis with reference to the ER status, further demonstrated a better prognosis of ER positive breast cancer with a high intake of soy isoflavone (HR 0.59, 0.40-0.93). Conclusion: Our study shows the soy food intake is associated with longer survival and low recurrence among breast cancer patients. A cohort study with a larger sample size and long term follow-up is now needed.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.205-210
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• 2016

Interleukin-10 (IL10) plays an important role in initiating and maintaining an appropriate immune response to non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). Previous studies have revealed that the transcription of IL10 mRNA and its protein expression may be infl uenced by several single-nucleotide polymorphisms in the promoter and intron regions, including rs1800896, rs1800871, and rs1800872. However, the impact of polymorphisms of the IL10 gene on NHL prognosis has not been fully elucidated. Here, we investigated the association between IL10 polymorphisms and NHL prognosis. This study involved 112 NHL patients treated at the National Cancer Center, Korea. The median age was 57 years, and 70 patients (62.5%) were men. Clinical characteristics, including age, performance status, stage, and extra-nodal involvement, as well as cell lineage and International Prognostic Index (IPI), were evaluated. A total of four polymorphisms in IL10 with heterozygous alleles were analyzed for hazard ratios of overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma was the most common histologic type (n = 83), followed by T-cell lymphoma (n = 18), mantle cell lymphoma (n = 6), and others (n = 5). Cell lineage, IPI, and extra-nodal involvement were predictors of prognosis. In the additive genetic model results for each IL10 polymorphism, the rs1800871 and rs1800872 polymorphisms represented a marginal association with OS (p = 0.09 and p = 0.06) and PFS (p = 0.05 and p = 0.08) in B-cell lymphoma patients treated with rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP). These findings suggest that IL10 polymorphisms might be prognostic indicators for patients with B-cell NHL treated with R-CHOP.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2583-2586
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• 2012

Aim: There is increasing evidence that ERCC1 and XPD have roles in response to chemotherapy among patients with NSCLC, but the results are conflicting. Therefore, we conducted the present prospective study in a Chinese population. Methods: A total of 632 primary NSCLC patients were included, followed-up from May 2006 to May 2011. Polymorphisms were detected by real time PCR with TaqMan probse, using genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood samples. The Cox regression model was used to analyze the hazard ratios (HR) for ERCC1 and XPD. Results: The median time of follow-up was 31.6 months. Our results showed the ERCC1 118 T/T(HR=1.65, 95% CI=1.17-2.43) and XPD 751 Gln/Gln genotypes (HR=1.52, 95%CI=1.04-2.08) were associated with an increased risk of death from NSCLC. Moreover, the ERCC118 T allele and XPD 751 Gln allele genotypes had a more higher risk of death from NSCLC among both ex-smokers and current smokers. Conclusion: In summary, ERCC1 and XPD gene polymorphisms might provide better prognostic predictive information for NSCLC patients in Chinese populations, with smoking possibly interacting with the genotypes.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.227-233
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• 2018

Objectives: Chronic diseases, including back pain, result in significant patient morbidity and societal burden. Overall improvement in physical fitness is recommended for prevention and treatment. Walking is a convenient modality for achieving initial gains. Our objective was to determine whether neighbourhood walkability, acting as a surrogate measure of physical fitness, was associated with the presence of chronic disease. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of prospectively collected data from a prior randomized cohort study of 227 patients referred for tertiary assessment of chronic back pain in Ottawa, ON, Canada. The Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) was calculated from patient-completed questionnaires and medical record review. Using patients' postal codes, neighbourhood walkability was determined using the Walk Score, which awards points based on the distance to the closest amenities, yielding a score from 0 to 100 (0-50: car-dependent; 50-100: walkable). Results: Based on the Walk Score, 134 patients lived in car-dependent neighborhoods and 93 lived in walkable neighborhoods. A multivariate logistic regression model, adjusted for age, gender, rural postal code, body mass index, smoking, median household income, percent employment, pain, and disability, demonstrated an adjusted odds ratio of 2.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.16 to 6.53) times higher prevalence for having a chronic disease for patients living in a car-dependent neighborhood. There was also a significant dose-related association (p=0.01; Mantel-Haenszel chi-square=6.4) between living in car-dependent neighbourhoods and more severe CCI scores. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that advocating for improved neighbourhood planning to permit greater walkability may help offset the burden of chronic disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1643-1649
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• 2015

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate clinicopathological characteristics of our early stage breast cancer patients who are epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpressed/amplified (HER2+), the efficacy of trastuzumab treatment and survival results. Materials and Methods: Patients with HER2-positive early stage breast cancer receiving adjuvant trastuzumab were investigated retrospectively. Clinicopathological features of 210 patients and treatment outcome were analysed. To evaluate survival rates, the Kaplan-Meier method was used. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted with the Cox regression model. Results: Mean age of the patients was 51.8, 71.9% being postmenopausal. Some 37.6% of patients were node negative, and 31% had T1 tumor size and 52.4% were positive for estrogen receptor. Of 210 patients, 89.5% completed planned 52 weeks adjuvant trastuzumab treatment. The median follow up was 27.5 months (6.0-86.0). Relapse free survival (RFS) was 68.0 months (95% CI: 62.1-74.0) and overall survival (OS) was 74.8 months (95% CI: 69.5-80.1). The 3 year OS for all patients was 92.0% and RFS was 79.6%. During follow up, relapse was detected at the rate of 14.3%. Trastuzumab associated cardiotoxicity was found at the rate of 3.3%. In univariate analyses, larger tumor size and grade III were significantly associated (p<0.05) with RFS. Multivariate analyses of covariates displaying p<0.05 identified grade III as an independent prognostic factor. Conclusions: In the present study, it was established that trastuzumab had a satisfactory safety profile and treatment efficacy as in other clinical studies and that among clinicopathological factors evaluated, only being grade 3 had a significant effect on RFS. The occurrence of relapse with adjuvant trastuzumab makes it necessary to identify molecular predictors, which will define this group better and help explain resistance to anti HER2 based therapies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.891-896
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• 2012

This study focused on infection rates and subtypes of human papillomavirus (HPV) in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and the relationship between HPV status and prognosis of the disease. We evaluated sixty-six OSCC patients who met the enrollment criteria during the period from January 1999 to December 2009. The presence or absence of oncogenic HPV types in tumors was determined using the SPF10 LiPA25 assay. Overall survival (OS) and disease specific survival (DSS) for HPV positive and HPV negative patients were estimated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. The Cox regression model was applied for multivariate analysis. HPV-DNA was detected in 11(16.7%) of all specimens. Among them, 7 were type HPV-16, while other types were HPV-16/11, HPV-35, HPV-58/52, and HPV-33/52/54. Patients with HPV positive tumors were more likely to be female, non-smokers and non-drinkers (p=0.002, 0.001 and 0.001, respectively). After a median follow-up of 24.5 months, patients with HPV positive tumors had significantly better overall survival (HR=0.106[95%CI=0.014-0.787], p=0.016,) and disease specific survival (HR=0.121[95%CI=0.016-0.906], p=0.030). Patients with HPV positive OSCC have significantly better prognosis than patients with HPV negative tumors. HPV infection is an independent prognostic factor.