• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.35-39
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• 2015

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent cancers in South East Asian countries including Cambodia, where prevalence of chronic carriers of hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) is reported to be very high. We reviewed HCC cases admitted to a cancer hospital in Phnom Penh, which is the only one hospital for cancer treatment and care in Cambodia during the study period. Materials and Methods: Information was collected from medical records of 281 cases (210 males and 71 females) diagnosed as primary HCC from 2006 to 2011. Results: The subjects were 7-81 years old with a median age of 53 years. Hypochondriac pain was the most common complained symptom (74%). One third of the cases presented with jaundice. Nearly half had ascites at their first visit. One third had liver cirrhosis. Nearly three fourths of the cases presented with tumor sized more than 50 mm in diameter, and in almost all cases (97.4%) the size was more than 20 mm. Among 209 subjects tested, hepatitis virus carriers were 75.6%; 46.4% for HBV only, 21.5% for HCV only, and 7.7% for both viral infections. Median age of patients with HBV was about ten years younger than those with HCV. Conclusions: This study revealed the characteristics of HCC cases in Cambodia, although there were several limitations. Most HCC cases were infected with HBV and/or HCV, and diagnosed at late stages with complications. This implicated that public health intervention to prevent HBV and HCV infection is of high priority.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.179-185
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• 2020

Background: Approximately 100,000 women are diagnosed with cancer each year in Korea. According to a survey by the Korean central cancer registry in 2016, uterine cervical cancer, uterine corpus cancer, and ovarian cancer were the 5th, 7th, and 8th most prevalent cancers respectively among Korean women. The present study aims to review the clinico-pathologic characteristics of patients who were treated for major gynecological malignancies at Yeungnam University Medical Center. Methods: Patients with invasive gynecological cancers from January 2012 to February 2019 were retrospectively identified. We analyzed the clinical features, demographic profiles, pathologic data, treatment modality used, adjuvant treatment used, complications, recurrence, and survival outcomes. Results: A total of 287 patients (cervical cancer 115; corporal cancer 86; and ovarian, tubal, or primary peritoneal cancer 90) were included. Most cervical (82.7%) and corporal cancers (89.5%) were diagnosed in the early stages (stage I or II), while more than half (58.9%) the cases of ovarian, tubal or peritoneal cancers were diagnosed in the advanced stages (stage III or IV). Surgical complications were observed in 12.2% of cervical cancers, 16.3% of uterine corpus cancers, and 11.1% of ovarian, tubal, and peritoneal cancers, respectively. The 5-year overall survival rate was 94.1%, 91.0%, and 77.1% for cervical, corporal, and ovarian, tubal, or peritoneal cancers, respectively. Conclusion: Surgical treatment was satisfactory in terms of the incidence of complications, and survival outcomes were generally good. Clinicians should be aware of the clinical and histopathological characteristics of patients with gynecological cancers to be able to provide optimal strategies and counseling.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4311-4316
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• 2015

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer with high global incidence and mortality rates. Current candidate drugs to treat HCC remain lacking and those in use possess undesirable side effects. In this investigation, the antiproliferative effects of dentatin (DTN), a natural coumarin, were evaluated on HepG2 cells and DTN's probable preliminary molecular mechanisms in apoptosis induction were further investigated. DTN significantly (p<0.05) suppressed proliferation of HepG2 cells with an $IC_{50}$ value of $12.0{\mu}g/mL$, without affecting human normal liver cells, WRL-68 ($IC_{50}$ > $50{\mu}g/mL$) causing $G_0/G_1$ cell cycle arrest via apoptosis induction. Caspase colorimetric assays showed markedly increased levels of caspase-3 and caspase-9 activities throughout the treatment period. Western blotting of treated HepG2 cells revealed inhibition of $NF-{\kappa}B$ that triggers the mitochondrial-mediated apoptotic signaling pathway by up-regulating cytoplasmic cytochrome c and Bax, and down-regulating Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL. The current findings suggest DTN has the potential to be developed further as an anticancer compound targeting human HCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10779-10782
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• 2015

Purpose: Analysis of descriptive epidemiological characteristics of pancreatic cancer in Vojvodina, Serbia. Materials and Methods: The study covers population of Vojvodina in the period from 2000 to 2009. The method used for data processing was the descriptive. The data, referring to a specified period of time, were analyzed from chronological and demographic aspects and according to histological diagnosis. Results: In the period from 2000 to 2009, there were 2,108 registered cases of pancreatic cancer of which 1,886 had a fatal outcome. Standardized incidence rates varied between 5.7 and 9.1 per 100,000 population in males and between 4.2 and 5.3 in females. Linear incidence trends in males in the specified period of time, based on crude (r=0.7883, p<0.05) and standardized (r=0,6373, p<0,05) incidence rates, demonstrated increase. Annual percent increase in the crude incidence rate was 4.5% in males, and 2.8% in females. Age-standardized mortality rates varied between 5.2 and 7.5 per 100,000 population in males and 3.6 and 4.7 in females. Linear mortality trends in males in the specified period of time, based on crude (r=0.8795, p<0.05) and standardized (r=0.7669, p<0.05) mortality rates, also demonstrated annual percent increase. Conclusions: Data analysis shows unfavorable onco-epidemiological situation related to pancreatic cancer in Vojvodina, in aspects of both incidence and mortality. Absence of primary and secondary prevention does not allow medical institutions to successfully fight against this disease.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.45 no.12
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• pp.1546-1550
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• 2002

Purpose : The authors carried out this study to determine the relationship between vigabatrin (VGB) and visual field defect.. Methods : Seventy eight patients older than 8 years who had epilepsy which had developed and been diagnosed, and were receiving add-on therapy, were the subjects of this study. If suspicious results were obtained from the initial test with the Humphrey automatic perimeter, the patient was tested again with the Goldman perimeter. Follow-up examinations were performed on these patients after 6 months. Results : In this study, five of the 78 patients had suspicious primary test results, but upon the second examination they were all found to be normal. Thus there were no patients with visual field defects. Conclusion : VGB is a drug which may cause visual field defects, but in this study no patients presented with this symptom. Instead of limiting the use of VGB due to the adverse effect of visual field defect in the initial treatment of partial seizure and infantile spasm untreatable with other medication, if used with care it may not cause serious problems. Screening for visual defect is recommended, and in patients taking VGB regular examination is necessary.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.264-274
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• 2012

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the quality of life (QOL) of adolescents who have inflammatory bowel disease. Methods: This was a descriptive comparative study, and participants were 58 adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease and 55 healthy adolescents. The Korean version of $PedsQL^{TM}$ 4.0 scale was used. Ten adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease were also interviewed. Data were analyzed with SPSS Win. Results: Average score on QOL for these adolescents was statistically lower (p<.001) than healthy adolescents, especially for physical and school functioning. QOL of the adolescents who had the disease for more than 4 years, and were taking 3 or more medications was lower QOL than other adolescents with this disease. In interviews, adolescents complained of physical malfunctioning. In emotional functioning, they worried about the reoccurrence of bloody diarrhea, and mood changes. As for social functioning, dietary restrictions, gastrointestinal symptoms, and poor peer relationships were primary concerns. Lastly, in school functioning, frequent absences and lower academic performance were problems. Conclusion: Considering these results, adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease felt anxious because of the uncertain origin of their disease and unpredictable course of the illness. Interventions should include diaries on food, along with education and counseling as nursing interventions.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.606-612
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• 2007

Since the introduction of chemotherapy for the treatment of childhood leukemia more than 50 years ago, the results of childhood cancer have improved dramatically. The 5-year survival rate of disease, many of which were uniformly fatal in the prechemotherapy era, reached to more than 75%. This remarkable improvement in survival is a direct result of the incorporation of chemotherapeutics into treatment regimens that previously relied only on surgery or radiotherapy for the primary tumor. The multimodality approach, which integrates surgery and radiotherapy to control local disease with chemotherapy to eradicate systemic or metastatic disease, has become the standard approach to treating most childhood cancers. The overall improvement in outcomes in childhood solid tumors has been related to the development of multidisplinary cooperative studies that has permitted the development of well-designed tumor treatment protocols characterized by uniform staging criteria, sharing informations in pathologic classification, uniform methods for tumor markers, oncogenes, and other biologic and genetic factors. Important advances in the biologic study of cancer and its genetic basis led to a number of observations that impact directly on the management of childhood solid tumors. Identification of specific genes, oncogenes, tumor markers, and other biologic and pathologic factors plays an important role in both staging and clarifying the risk categorization of individual patients. Treatment of the patient is influenced by the recognition of specific risk factors. This knowledge has resulted in a change in the approach to care based not only on staging criteria, but also on risk-based management. This concept uses various risk factors of outcomes. Risk-based management allows for each patient to maximize survival, minimize long-term morbidity and improve the quality of life, especially for children's growth and development.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.443-449
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• 2015

An ultrasound probe has a big impact on Doppler images even though it has very high risk of frequent function-breakdowns occurring in medical ultrasound scanners. This study experimentally analyses the impacts of an ultrasonic probe's defected elements on power & color Doppler images. The results show that, the bigger the size of defected probe elements is, and the closer a group of action elements is to the center, the more the brightness of images and the velocity of Doppler diminish. When elements' defects increase in color & power Doppler images, false images are formed to be mistaken for blood-vessel plaque in neighboring regions. Accordingly, whenever element defects are suspected, we need check-up process in B-mode. From this respective, it is advisable to have primary interest in a probe and carry out continuous probe QA for ultrasonography.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.295-303
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• 2018

Purpose: We evaluated prognostic value of the 8th edition of the American Joint Committee on Cancer/International Union for Cancer Control (AJCC/UICC) staging system for nasopharyngeal cancer and investigated whether tumor volume/metabolic information refined prognostication of anatomy based staging system. Materials and Methods: One hundred thirty-three patients with nasopharyngeal cancer who were staged with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) between 2004 and 2013 were reviewed. Multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate prognostic value of the 8th edition of the AJCC/UICC staging system and other factors including gross tumor volume and maximum standardized uptake value of primary tumor (GTV-T and SUV-T). Results: Median follow-up period was 63 months. In multivariate analysis for overall survival (OS), stage group (stage I-II vs. III-IVA) was the only significant prognostic factor. However, 5-year OS rates were not significantly different between stage I and II (100% vs. 96.2%), and between stage III and IVA (80.1% vs. 71.7%). Although SUV-T and GTV-T were not significant prognostic factors in multivariate analysis, those improved prognostication of stage group. The 5-year OS rates were significantly different between stage I-II, III-IV (SUV-T ≤ 16), and III-IV (SUV-T > 16) (97.2% vs. 78% vs. 53.8%), and between stage I, II-IV (GTV-T ≤ 33 mL), and II-IV (GTV-T > 33 mL) (100% vs. 87.3% vs. 66.7%). Conclusion: Current anatomy based staging system has limitations on prognostication for nasopharyngeal cancer despite the most accurate assessment of tumor extent by MRI. Tumor volume/metabolic information seem to improve prognostication of current anatomy based staging system, and further studies are needed to confirm its clinical significance.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.383-389
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• 2002

This is a retrospective study on emergency patients with active oral bleeding. The study was based on a series of 135 patients treated as emergency patients at Wonju Christian Hospital, from Jan. 1, 1997, to Dec. 31, 2001. The postoperative bleeding was the most frequent cause of active oral bleeding in emergency room and bleeding from trauma and medically compromised (bleeding disorders) patients were next in order of frequency. In the injury of maxillofacial vessels, peak incidence was occurred in the inferior alveolar vessel (42.9%), followed by the submucosal vessel of lip & cheek, the superior alveolar vessel, and sublingual vessels. The most common disease of bleeding disorders was vascular wall alteration (infection, etc), followed by liver disease, thrombocytopenic purpura, anti-coagulation drugs in order. In the characteristics of dental diseases on bleeding disorders, periodontal disease and alveolar osteitis (osteomyelitis) were more common. The hemostasis was most obtained by use of wound suture, simple pressure dressing, drainage for infection control and primary interdental wiring of fracture. In the complication group, the infrequent incidence was showed in vomiting, hypovolemic shock, syncope, recurred bleeding & aspiration pneumonia. In the uncontrolled oral bleeding, the injured vessels were suspected as skull base & ethmoidal vessels. In this study, authors found that the close cooperation between the dentistry (Oral and maxillofacial surgery) and the medicine (emergency & internal medicine) was the most important for early proper control of active oral bleeding. And then post-operative wound closure, drainage for infection control and previous systemic evaluation of bleeding disorders were critical for the prevention of postoperative bleeding in the local dental clinic.