• The Korean Journal of Urological Oncology
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.103-109
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• 2018

Purpose: We evaluated the relationship of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and obesity indices (weight, body mass index [BMI] and waist circumference [WC]) in Korean middle-aged men. Materials and Methods: From February to September 2013, 1,900 police men under 60 years old who participated in a prostate health screening program were included this cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent clinical examinations including weight, height, BMI, WC, fasting blood sugar, lipid profiles, estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR), and PSA. Total prostate volume (TPV) was assessed clinically. Spearman correlation and multiple linear regression tests were performed to evaluate the obesity indices and PSA relationships. Results: The mean age was $52.0{\pm}4.7years$, and the mean PSA was $0.97{\pm}0.99ng/mL$. The PSA showed a significant positive correlation with the age (r=0.108, p<0.01), TPV (r=0.349, p<0.01), height (r=-0.052, p<0.05), weight (r=0.186, p<0.05), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=0.056, p<0.05), and GFR (r=-0.096, p<0.01). All obesity indices including weight, BMI, and WC showed negative correlations with PSA (beta=-0.013, p<0.001; beta=-0.039, p<0.001; and beta=-0.010, p=0.005; respectively) in age and TPV-adjusted model. Conclusions: Common obesity indices (weight, BMI, and WC) were associated with lower PSA in Korean middle-aged population. Thus, an individual's degree of obesity should be considered when PSA is checked in the first prostate cancer screening of life.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2017

Background: Women with family history of breast cancer are more likely to be worried about having cancer and participate in breast cancer screening. However, few studies have examined relationship between family history, cancer worries, and participating in breast cancer screening in Korea. This study is to identify relationship between family history, cancer worries, and participating in breast cancer screening among women with and without family history of cancer. Methods: Respondents were 2,364 women who based on the 2013 Korean National Cancer Screening Survey which is done by National Cancer Center in Korea. Chi-square tests were performed to determine differences of cancer worries, undergoing of breast cancer screening and methods such as mammogram and ultrasonogram with and without cancer family history. Univariate and multiple logistic regression were performed to identify if family history and cancer worries are related factors on participating in breast cancer screening and methods. Stratified analysis was performed to confirm the effect of ultrasonogram on the dense breast by age. Results: Women with cancer family history frequently checked condition for conscious of having cancer (p=0.0299) and had highly perception of risk about having cancer in the future ($p{\leq}0.0001$). Women aged 30-49 did not perform significantly more ultrasonogram than women aged over 50 years old. Checking condition (moderate odds ratio [OR], 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20-2.08; frequently OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.08-1.76) and perception of risk (moderate OR, 3.12; 95% CI, 1.06-7.06; high OR, 2.74; 95% CI, 1.20-8.08) were related to participate in mammogram and ultrasonogram. A positive family history was related to 1.35 higher odds of performing only breast ultrasonogram (95% CI, 1.04-1.75). Conclusion: This study requires national education and publicity to reduce the unnecessary cost of screening, to be possible cost effective screening and to encourage women to receive more mammogram, especially women aged over 50 years old and with socioeconomic factors related to opportunistic screening.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.3763-3767
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• 2016

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer among females across the world. It is a preventable cancer and early detection is very feasible. This study aimed to identify which women characteristics are potentially associated with and may have an important in uence on the uptake of cervical cancer screening in Kurdish women living in the west of Iran.. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in late 2014. A random sample of women aged 40 years and above without history of cervical cancer and identi ed as Kurdish background were selected and interviewed by two trained interviewers. Information about sociodemographic and reproductive factors, history of diseases, and cervical screening was collected using a questionnaire and women who had undergone a hysterectomy were excluded. Univariate analyses were used to describe the general characteristics of the study population. Multivariable logistic regression models with self-reported screening history were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) with 95% con dence intervals (CI). Signi cance was considered at the 5% level. Results: A total of 561 women were included in this study (mean age $43.6{\pm}5.17$ years) participation in cervical screening at least once was about 32%. Cervical screening uptake percentage was signi cantly lower among people over 60 years of age (adjusted OR= 0.26, 95% CI: 0.11-0.64), and those who were illiterate (OR= 0.41 95% CI: 0.23-0.73) and post-menopausal (OR= 0.56, 95% CI: 0.35-0.91). Women with ${\leq}1$ child were less likely to report a Pap test (adjusted OR=0.43 95%CI: 0.13-1.37) Cervical screening uptake was higher among women with health insurance (OR= 2.31, 95% CI: 1.50-3.56). Conclusions: Cervical screening participation in this study was low compared to other studies in developed countries. The screening uptake was different based on age, education, parity, insurance coverage and menopausal status. It is recommended to target these groups of women in cervical screening program.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 2006

Objectives: The goal of this study is to measure women's willingness to pay for cancer screening and to identify those factors associated with this willingness to pay. Methods: A population-based telephone survey was performed on 1,562 women (aged 30 years or over) for 2 weeks (9-23th, July, 2004). Data about sociodemographic characteristics, health behaviors, the intention of the cancer screenings and willingness to pay for cancer screening were collected. 1,400 respondents were included in the analysis. The women's willingness to pay for cancer screening and the factors associated with this willingness to pay were evaluated. Results: The results show that 76% of all respondents have a willingness to pay for cancer screening. Among those who are willing to pay, the average and median amount of money for which the respondents are willing to pay are 126,636 (s.d.: 58,414) and 120,000 won, respectively. As the status of education & the income are higher, the average amount that women are willing to pay becomes much more. The amount of money women are willing to pay is the highest during the 'contemplation' stage. Being willing to payor not is associated with a change of behavior (transtheoretical model), the income, the concern about the cancer risk, the family cancer history, the marital status, the general health exam, age and the place of residence. Income is associated with a greater willingness to pay. Old age was associated with a lower willingness to pay. Conclusions: According to the two-part model, income and TTM are the most important variables associated with the willingness to pay for cancer screening. The cancer screening participation rate is low compared with the willingness to pay for cancer screening. It is thought that we have to consider the participants' behavior that's associated with cancer screening and their willingness to pay in order to organize and manage cancer screening program.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.16
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• pp.6691-6695
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• 2014

Background: A population-based cervical cancer screening program using visual inspection with acetic acid was launched in Maldives in 2014. Our study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of women in relation to risk factors of cervical cancer, early detection of the disease and its prevention. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire based survey was conducted among 20 to 50 year old women, systematically sampled to represent three regions of Maldives. Trained investigators interviewed a total of 2,845 women at home. Results: The prevalence of the risk factors of cervical cancer like early age at marriage and childbirth, multiple marriages, multiple marriages of the husbands, and multiple pregnancies was high. More women knew about breast cancer than cervical cancer. Even among the small number of women who knew of cervical cancer, only 34.6% had the knowledge of at least one early symptom. Very few women knew that the cancer could be prevented by any test. Only 6.2% of the women reported having ever undergone a Pap smear. Many women had the misconception that cervical cancer was infectious. In Maldives the younger women have high literacy rate due to the policy of universal free education and those with higher levels of education had improved knowledge of cervical cancer and its risk factors. The prevalence of risk factors also reduced with improved literacy. Conclusions: Awareness about risk factors and prevention of cervical cancer is limited among Maldivian women in spite of having high exposure to some of the risk factors. A universal literacy program in the country has helped to improve the knowledge of cervical cancer prevention and to reduce the exposure to various risk factors in the younger population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3927-3930
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• 2012

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and the leading cause of death from cancer among women. Evidence suggests that early diagnosis and screening interventions might help to improve outcomes. This population-based study was conducted to determine breast cancer awareness and screening behavior among Iranian women and to examine its association with women's literacy. The study was carried out in two provinces, with 1,477,045 population, located in central and eastern part of Iran. Overall, 770 women were studied. Of these, 482 (62.7%) were literate and 287 (37.3%) were not. The results obtained from the data analysis indicated that there was a significant difference between literate and illiterate women. Further analysis of the data using logistic regression showed that literacy was an important contributing factor for breast cancer prevention behavior. The findings suggest that in order to improve women's health and breast cancer outcomes providing equal educational opportunities for women seems necessary.

• Plant Biotechnology Reports
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2011

A low acid phosphatase 3 (lap3) mutant was identified and characterized from an Arabidopsis activation-tagged (Weigel) population. The roots of the lap3 plants showed lower acid phosphatase (APase) activity compared to wild-type ones under low-Pi conditions ($10{\mu}M\;Pi$). Plasmid rescue experiments revealed that the activation-tagging vector was inserted into the intergenic region between At4g31540 and At4g31550 in the Arabidopsis genome. The genotypic segregation of the lap3 mutation was tightly linked with the phenotypic segregation of root APase activity in the prgeny of lap3. The transcript level of the At4g31520 (SDA1: SEVERE DEPOLYMERIZATION OF ACTIN 1), located 7.4 kb from the CaMV 35S enhancers in the lap3 mutant, was significantly reduced compared to that in the wild type. It was speculated that cellular actin polymerization may be involved in Pi acquisition in higher plants.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1515-1518
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• 2015

Background: Leukoplakia is an asymptomatic and potentially malignant change in the oral mucosa and high frequencies have been reported among smokers. The present study concerned the prevalence of tobacco use and leukoplakia and also associations between the two. Study design: This cross sectional survey was conducted amongst the Gond tribal population of Kundam Block, Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh state, Central India during 2007 to 2009. Screening for leukoplakia was conducted by a medical officer with two mouth mirrors. It is only based on visual inspection and oral pathology was not performed. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic and smoking habits. Prevalence of leukoplakia among users and non-users of tobacco was calculated in terms of percentages. Results: Of 1,552 individuals aged more than 12 years of age who were screened, 144 (9.3%) were found to have oral leukoplakia. The prevalence of leukoplakia was significantly elevated among tobacco users as compared to non-users (11% vs 2.5%; p<0.001). The percentage of leukoplakia was almost similar in both tobacco smokers and chewers (9% vs 11%; p=0.304). However, the percentage of leukoplakia was especially high among those chewers who also smoked tobacco (21.9%). Conclusions: The findings of the present study showed a positive effect of tobacco use and prevalence of leukoplakia. Also the prevalence was very high among Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in central India. There is a need for effective screening and treatment of leukoplakia in this area.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.505-515
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• 2021

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) include human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) derived from blastocysts and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) generated from somatic cell reprogramming. Due to their self-renewal ability and pluripotent differentiation potential, hPSCs serve as an excellent experimental platform for human development, disease modeling, drug screening, and cell therapy. Traditionally, hPSCs were considered to form a homogenous population. However, recent advances in single cell technologies revealed a high degree of variability between individual cells within a hPSC population. Different types of heterogeneity can arise by genetic and epigenetic abnormalities associated with long-term in vitro culture and somatic cell reprogramming. These variations initially appear in a rare population of cells. However, some cancer-related variations can confer growth advantages to the affected cells and alter cellular phenotypes, which raises significant concerns in hPSC applications. In contrast, other types of heterogeneity are related to intrinsic features of hPSCs such as asynchronous cell cycle and spatial asymmetry in cell adhesion. A growing body of evidence suggests that hPSCs exploit the intrinsic heterogeneity to produce multiple lineages during differentiation. This idea offers a new concept of pluripotency with single cell heterogeneity as an integral element. Collectively, single cell heterogeneity is Janus-faced in hPSC function and application. Harmful heterogeneity has to be minimized by improving culture conditions and screening methods. However, other heterogeneity that is integral for pluripotency can be utilized to control hPSC proliferation and differentiation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2205-2209
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• 2016

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a serious problem in Thailand, particularly in the northeastern region. Active surveillance in rural communities with an appropriat low-cost screening tool is required to facilitate early detection. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the population at risk of CCA in Bua Yai district, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Northeastern Thailand using the Korat-CCA verbal screening test (KCVST) during June to October 2015. Reliability of KCVST demonstrated a Cronbach alpha coefficient=0.75 Stepwise-multiple regression showed that alcohol consumption was important for CCA screened, followed by agriculture and pesticide use, under-cooked cyprinoid fish consumption, praziquantel use, naïve northeastern people, opisthorchiasis, family relatives with CCA, and cholangitis or cholecystitis or gallstones, respectively. Population at risk for CCA was classified to low risk (63.4%), moderate risk (33.7%), and high risk (1.32%) for CCA. When CCA was screened using ultrasonography, 4 of 32 high risk participants had an abnormal biliary tract with dilated bile ducts. This study indicates that KCVST is a potential useful too which decrease the cost of large scale CCA screening.