• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.128-137
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• 2008

Purpose: To explore and describe the essence of oncology nurses' experiences of counseling with cancer patients. Methods: Qualitative research with a phenomenological study. Participants were 6 oncology nurses who had worked as a clinical nurse specialist or an education-counseling nurse. Data were collected through individual semi-constructed interviews and analyzed with a thematic approach according to Colaizzi's method. Results: Seven themes emerged from the data: harmony of education and counseling, burdening, useless self-blaming, getting more matured, experiencing rewards and meanings, internalized strategies for counseling, and needs for self growth. Conclusion: The study highlights the significant impact of counseling with cancer patients by oncology nurses. Oncology nurses experienced both positive and negative aspects of being involved in cancer care. They stated that they were personally growing and getting maturated with the counseling experience. Sometimes they felt sad when the patient's status was progressed. They learned and internalized counseling skill during the communication with cancer patients. They wanted to learn about the practical course of counseling and communication method and the psychology of cancer patients.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2016

Hypofractionated whole breast irradiation (HF-WBI) has been proved effective and safe and even better for late or acute radiation toxicity for early breast cancer. Moreover, it improves patient convenience, quality of life and is expected to be advantageous in the medical care system by reducing overall cost. In this review, we examined key randomized trials of HF-WBI, focusing on adequate patient selection as suggested by the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology (ASTRO) guideline and the radiobiologic aspects of HF-WBI in relation to its adoption into clinical settings. Further investigation to identify the current practice pattern or cost effectiveness is warranted under the national health insurance service system in Korea.

• Asian Oncology Nursing
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.54-65
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• 2006

목적: 종양환자 및 가족을 위한 환자교육의 필요성은 건강 돌봄의 중심이 완치의 개념에서 삶의 질 개념으로 바뀌어 감에 따라 더욱 대두되고 있다. 이들을 위한 환자교육이 성공적으로 이루어지기 위해서는 환자와 가족들의 교육선호 양상과 일치하는 교육적 전략이 필요하다. 본 연구는 종양환자와 가족들의 교육선호와 일치하는 효과적인 교육적 전략의 기초를 제공하기 위해 시도되었다. 방법: 본 문헌고찰은 컴퓨터 데이터베이스 에 수록된 1990년에서 2002년에 출간된 선행연구 결과를 토대로 분석하였다. 결과: 종양환자와 그 가족은 의료전문인과의 대화, 책자, 시청각 및 인터넷 매체 등의 다양한 방법을 통해 정보를 구하였으며, 이러한 교육 요구 및 선호 양상은 다양한 요인에 따라 매우 개별적이었다. 또한 이들의 교육 준비상태는 질병 경험의 정신 사회적 수용 상태와 밀접하게 연관되어 있었다. 결론: 다양한 교육 방법을 활용한 개별적 접근이 종양 환자와 가족을 위한 환자교육에 적절할 것이며, 이들의 교육 준비상태와 일치하는 환자교육을 제공하기 위해 질병에 대한 정신적 적응과 수용상태를 지속적으로 사정하는 것이 필요하다.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.156-159
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• 2016

Although carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is a useful tumor marker for pancreatic cancer, it can also become elevated from a variety of benign and malignant conditions. Herein we describe an unusual presentation of elevated CA 19-9 in an asymptomatic patient who had previously undergone adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy for resected early stage pancreatic cancer. The rise in CA 19-9 might be due to delayed radiation-induced inflammation related to previous intra-abdominal radiation therapy with or without radiation recall induced by gemcitabine. After treatment with corticosteroids the CA 19-9 level decreased to normal, and the patient has not developed any evidence of recurrent cancer to date.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.66-71
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• 2013

Purpose: We evaluated the effectiveness and safety of ipsilateral radiotherapy for the patient with well lateralized tonsil cancer: not cross midline and <1 cm of tumor invasion into the soft palate or base of tongue. Materials and Methods: From 2003 to 2011, twenty patients with well lateralized tonsil cancer underwent ipsilateral radiotherapy. Nineteen patients had T1-T2 tumors, and one patient had T3 tumor; twelve patients had N0-N2a disease and eight patients had N2b disease. Primary surgery followed by radiotherapy was performed in fourteen patients: four of these patients received chemotherapy. Four patients underwent induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). The remaining two patients received induction chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy and definitive CCRT, respectively. No patient underwent radiotherapy alone. We analyzed the pattern of failure and complications. Results: The median follow-up time was 64 months (range, 11 to 106 months) for surviving patients. One patient had local failure at tumor bed. There was no regional failure in contralateral neck, even in N2b disease. At five-year, local progression-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival, and progression-free survival rates were 95%, 100%, and 95%, respectively. One patient with treatment failure died, and the five-year overall survival rate was 95%. Radiation Therapy Oncology Group grade 2 xerostomia was found in one patient at least 6 months after the completion of radiotherapy. Conclusion: Ipsilateral radiotherapy is a reasonable treatment option for well lateralized tonsil cancer. Low rate of chronic xerostomia can be expected by sparing contralateral major salivary glands.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6331-6334
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• 2015

Background: The main purpose of this study was to survey the education and training of certified gynecologic oncologists and fellows in Thailand. A secondary objective was to study the problems in fellowship training regarding palliative care for gynecologic cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted by sending a questionnaire regarding palliative care education to all certified gynecologic oncologists and gynecologic oncology fellows in Thailand. The contents of the survey included fellowship training experience, caring for the dying, patient preparation, attitudes and respondent characteristics. Statistics were analyzed by percentage, mean and standard deviation and chi-square. Results: One hundred seventy completed questionnaires were returned; the response rate was 66%. Most certified gynecologic oncologists and fellows in gynecologic oncology have a positive attitude towards palliative care education, and agree that "psychological distress can result in severe physical suffering". It was found that the curriculum of gynecologic oncology fellowship training equally emphasizes three aspects, namely managing post-operative complications, managing a patient at the end of life and managing a patient with gynecologic oncology. As for experiential training during the fellowship of gynecologic oncology, education regarding breaking bad news, discussion about goals of care and procedures for symptoms control were mostly on-the-job training without explicit teaching. In addition, only 42.9 % of respondents were explicitly taught the coping skill for managing their own stress when caring for palliative patients during fellowship training. Most of respondents rated their clinical competency for palliative care in the "moderately well prepared" level, and the lowest score of the competency was the issue of spiritual care. Conclusions: Almost all certified gynecologic oncologists and fellows in gynecologic oncology have a positive attitude towards learning and teaching in palliative care. In this study, some issues were identified for improving palliative care education such as proper training under the supervision of a mentor, teaching how to deal with work stress, competency in spiritual care and attitudes on responsibility for bereavement care.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2007

A system to non-invasively fix and monitor eye by a head mounted display (HMD) with a CCD camera for stereotactic radiotherapy (SRS) of uveal melanoma has been developed and implemented clinically. The eye fixing and monitoring system consists of a HMD showing patient a screen for fixing eyeball, a CCD camera monitoring patient's eyeball, and an immobilization mask. At flrst, patient's head was immobilized with a mask. Then, patient was Instructed to wear HMD, to which CCD camera was attached, on the mask and see the given reference point on its screen. While patient stared at the given point in order to fix eyeball, the camera monitored Its motion. Four volunteers and one patient of uveal melanoma for SRS came into this study. For the volunteers, setup errors and the motion of eyeball were analyzed. For the patient, CT scans were peformed, with patient's wearing HMD and fixing the eye to the given point. To treat patient under the same condition, daily CT scans were also peformed before every treatment and the motion of lens was compared to the planning CT Setup errors for four volunteers were within 1mm and the motion of eyeball was fixed within the clinically acceptable ranges. For the patient with uveal melanoma, the motion of lens was fixed within 2mm from daily CT scans. An eye fixing and monitoring system allowed Immobilizing patient as well as monitoring eyeball and was successfully implemented in the treatment of uveal melanoma for SRS.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.153-158
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• 2021

Purpose: This study evaluated the features of a pressure mapping system for patient motion monitoring in radiation therapy. Methods: The pressure mapping system includes an MS 9802 force sensing resistor (FSR) sensor with 2,304 force sensing nodes using 48 columns and 48 rows, controller, and control PC (personal computer). Radiation beam attenuation caused by pressure mapping sensor and signal perturbation by 6 and 10 mega voltage (MV) photon beam was evaluated. The maximum relative pressure value (mRPV), average relative pressure value (aRPV), the center of pressure (COP), and area of pressure distribution were obtained with/without radiation using the upper body of an anthropomorphic phantom for 30 minutes with 15 MV. Results: It was confirmed that the differences in attenuation induced by the FSR sensor for 6 and 10 MV photon beams were small. The differences in mRPV, aRPV, area of pressure distribution with/without radiation are about 0.6%, 1.2%, and 0.5%, respectively. The COP values with/without radiation were also similar. Conclusions: The characteristics of a pressure mapping system during radiation treatment were evaluated on the basis of attenuation and signal perturbation using radiation. The pressure distribution measured using the FSR sensor with little attenuation and signal perturbation by the MV photon beam would be helpful for patient motion monitoring.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.34-39
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• 1990

This is a retrospective analysis of 8 patients with olfactory neuroepithelioma treated by external radiation during 1981-1988. Their age ranged from 13 to 65 years. All of them were male patients. At the time of diagnosis, six patients were classified as Kadish stage C, two were stage B, and none of them were stage A. Six of eight patients treated by external irradiation, only one patient had complete surgical resection followed by postoperative irradiation. Another one patient received one course of induction chemotherapy followed by radical irradiation. Three patients developed local recurrences and five patients had distant metastasis. One patient with stage B disease who had complete surgical resection followed by postoperative irradiation was alived without evidence of disease. Seven of eight patients died of tumor, with a duration of survival ranging from 3 to 106 months.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.100-102
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• 2002

The demand for a better immobilization device has been increased in the radiation oncology field. Especially, it is essential to have a reliable and practical immobilization tool for the whole body radiosurgery and the IMRT (intensity modulated radiation therapy). A useful method to immobilize the abdomen for the external beam radiation treatment is developed. The air-injected balloon blanket (AIBB) was designed as an immobilization device. As the air was injected into it, it pressed down the patient's abdomen and fixed the patient. The AIBB played a role not only to grab the patients' motion, but also to increase the patients' setup reproducibility. Patients' movements due to the respiration were reduced and the reconstruction could be maximized. The experimental results revealed that the AIBB could be used for the clinic.