• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.7-12
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• 2004

Background and Objectives: Brain metastasis from well-differentiated thyroid carcinoma is uncommon, and the treatment remains controversial. In this study, we analyzed cases of brain metastasis from well differentiated thyroid carcinoma to determine optimal treatment. Material and Methods: From March 1986 to May 2003, we experienced 13 cases of brain metastases from well-differentiated thyroid carcinomas. There were 6 men and 7 women with a mean age of 62.3 years. The time interval detecting the brain metastasis, treatment methods, outcomes, and the prognostic factors were analyzed. Results: In 11 patients, brain metastasis was found at a mean of 96 months after thyroid surgery (range, 1-204months). In 1 patient, brain metastasis was found simultaneously with the thyroid cancer. In the remaining one, brain metastasis was presented as the first sign. Treatment included gamma knife therapy in 2, external radiation therapy (ExRT) in 2, resection and ExRT in 2, gamma knife therapy and ExRT in 2 and intracranial holmium injection in 1. Three patients received no treatment. The mean survival was 20.5months (1-119 months). Only 2 patients with early detection remained alive after treatment (23months and 119months). The age, sex, primary tumor size, combined organs of distant metastasis and treatment methods did not affect the prognosis. There were noticeable symptomatic improvements in patients who received any kind of treatment for brain metastasis. Conclusion: Early detection and treatment of brain metastasis appears to bring symptomatic relief and improve survival. Therefore, early screening for brain metastasis is recommended for patients with symptoms. However, further study is needed to determine the optimal method of treatment.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2001

Purpose: The common features of brain metastases from gastric cancer are unknown because brain metastasis is an uncommon pattern of metastasis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical features of and the prognosis for patients with brain metastases after a curative resection for gastric cancer. Materials and Methods: Twenty-one (21) cases of patients with brain metastases of gastric cancer, who had been treated at the Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, were assessed retrospectively. Results: The mean age was $55.8\pm9.6$ years (range: $34\~70$ years), and the male-to-female ratio was 2.5 : .1. The most common neurologic symptom was headache ($38.5\%$), and no patient was free from the neurologic symptoms. The incidence of parenchymal metastasis (PM: $76.2\%$) was higher than that of leptomeningeal metastasis (LM: $19.0\%$). Patients with gastric cancer and brain metastasis showed high rates of blood and lymphatic vessel invasion (lymphatic vessel invasion: $85.7\%$; blood vessel invasion: $80.9\%$). According to Lauren's classification, the incidence of intestinal types was 14/21 ($66.7\%$), that of diffuse types was 3/21 ($14.3\%$) and that of mixed types was 4/21 ($19.0\%$). The mean interval between the gastrectomy and the diagnosis of brain metastasis was $24.7\pm4.0$ months (PM: 26.8 months; LM: 20.3 months). The median period of survival after diagnosis of brain metastasis was 2 months for paren chymal metastasis and 0 months for leptomeningeal metastasis. Conclusion:.. During a follow-up period, patients with neurologic symptoms should be suspected of having brain metastasis. Early diagnosis and treatment is the only hope to prolong survival in such patients.

• Brain Tumor Research and Treatment
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.101-104
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• 2018

Pheochromocytoma (PCC) is a neuroendocrine tumor that mainly arises from the medulla of the adrenal gland. Some PCCs become malignant and metastasize to other organs. For example, it typically involves skeletal system, liver, lung, and regional lymph nodes. However, only a few cases of PCC with brain metastasis have been reported worldwide. We report a case of metastatic brain tumor from PCC in South Korea in 2016. A 52-year-old man presented with headache, dizziness and motor aphasia. He had a medical history of PCC with multi-organ metastasis, previously underwent several operations, and was treated with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Brain MRIs showed a brain tumor on the left parietal lobe. Postoperative pathology confirmed that the metastatic brain tumor derived from malignant PCC. This is the first report PCC with brain metastasis in South Korea.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1995-1997
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• 2012

Background: Brain metastasis from cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare but fatal event. To the best of our knowledge, only few cases have been reported. Herein, we report the incident rate and a first case series of brain metastases from CCA. Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2010 5,164 patients were treated at Srinagarind hospital, Khon Kaen University; of those, 8 patients developed brain metastasis. Here we reviewed clinical data and survival times. Results: The incident rate of brain metastases from CCA was 0.15%. The median age of the patients was 60 years. Tumor subtypes were intrahepatic in 6 and hilar in 2 patients. All suffered from symptoms related to brain metastasis. Three patients were treated with whole-brain radiation therapy (WBRT), one of whom also underwent surgery. The median survival after the diagnosis of brain metastasis was 9.5 weeks (1-28 weeks). The longest survival observed in a patient in RPA class I with two brain lesions and received WBRT. Conclusion: This is a first case series of brain metastases from CCA with the incident rate of 0.15%. It is rare and associated with short survival time.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.505-507
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• 2009

A 60-year-old woman, who had non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in left lower lobe underwent brain F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) for evaluation of cerebral metastasis. On follow-up FDG-PET/CT, only hypometaolic lesion was detected and progressed in right frontal lobe at 6 months and 10 months, later. Hypermetabolic metastasis was not detected even at last scan time of FDG-PET/CT. Brain MRI showed brain metastasis in right frontal lobe. As might be expected, the physician should take cerebral metastasis into consideration even though there is only hypometabolic change on subsequent FDG-PET/CT in patients with NSCLC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.5699-5703
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• 2013

Objective: To investigate the clinical effects of whole brain radiotherapy concomitant with targeted therapy for brain metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with chemotherapy failure. Materials and Methods: Of the 157 NSCLC patients with chemotherapy failure followed by brain metastasis admitted in our hospital from January 2009 to August 2012, the combination group (65 cases) were treated with EGFR-TKI combined with whole brain radiotherapy while the radiotherapy group (92 cases) were given whole brain radiotherapy only. Short-term effects were evaluated based on the increased MRI in brain 1 month after whole brain radiotherapy. Intracranial hypertension responses, hematological toxicity reactions and clinical effects of both groups were observed. Results: There were more adverse reactions in the combination group than in radiotherapy group, but no significant differences were observed between the two groups in response rate (RR) and disease control rate (DCR) (P>0.05). Medium progression free survival (PFS), medium overall survival (OS) and 1-year survival rate in combination group were 6.0 months, 10.6 months and 42.3%, while in the radiotherapy group they were 3.4 months, 7.7 months and 28.0%, respectively, which indicated that there were significant differences in PFS and OS between the two groups (P<0.05). Additionally, RPA grading of each factor in the combination group was a risk factor closely related with survival, with medium PFS in EGFR and KRAS mutation patients being 8.2 months and 11.2 months, and OS being 3.6 months and 6.3 months, respectively. Conclusions: Whole brain radiotherapy concomitant with target therapy is favorable for adverse reaction tolerance and clinical effects, being superior in treating brain metastasis in NSCLC patients with chemotherapy failure and thus deserves to be widely applied in the clinic.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.325-331
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• 2010

Objective : We retrospectively evaluated the survival outcome of patients with brain metastasis from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods : Between 1991 and 2007, a total of 20 patients were diagnosed as having brain metastasis from HCC. The mean age of the patients was 55 ${\pm}$ 13 years, and 17 (85.0%) were men. Seventeen (85.0%) patients had already extracranial metastases. The median time from diagnosis of HCC to brain metastasis was 18.5 months. Fourteen (70.0%) patients had stroke-like presentation due to intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Ten (50.0%) patients had single or solitary brain metastasis. Among a total of 34 brain lesions, 31 (91.2%) lesions had the hemorrhagic components. Results : The median survival time was 8 weeks (95% CI, 5.08-10.92), and the actuarial survival rates were 85.0%, 45.0%, 22.5%, and 8.4% at 4, 12, 24, and 54 weeks. Age < 60 years, treatment of the primary and/or extracranial lesions, and recurrent ICH were the possible prognostic factors (p = 0.044, p < 0.001, and p = 0.111, respectively). The median progression-free survival (PFS) time was 3 months (95% CI, 0.95-5.05). Conclusion : The overall survival of the patients with brain metastasis from HCC was very poor with median survival time being only 8 weeks. However, the younger patients less than 60 years and/or no extracranial metastases seem to be a positive prognostic factor.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2009

Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor of brain metastasis. Metastasis to the brain is a frequent complication of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) occuring in 12 ~ 18% of patient. The incidence of brain metastasis is rising because of longer survival of cancer patients as a result of the increase in early diagnosis of primary tumors and aggressive management, and improvements in imaging quality and accessibility such as widespread use of MRI. The most common symptoms are gradual onset of headache, focal weakness, and mental changes. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and steroid therapy are treatment of NSCLC with brain metastasis. We report a patient with NSCLC metastasis to the brain. This patient underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and steroidtherapy. However, the patient requested oriental medical treatment for the patient's continuous headache and disease. We administered Banhabaekchulchoenma-tang gagambang with Allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes(aRVS). The patient showed remarkable improvement in terms of frequency and severity of headache. Further study will be needed in order to determine the long-term effectiveness of oriental medical treatment on cancer patient with headache.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2016

Overexpression of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is found in about 20% of breast cancer patients. With treatment using trastuzumab, an anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, systemic control is improved. Nonetheless, the incidence of brain metastasis does not be improved, rather seems to be increased in HER2-positive breast cancer. The mainstay treatment for brain metastases is radiotherapy. According to the number of metastatic lesions and performance status of patients, radiosurgery or whole brain radiotherapy can be performed. The concurrent use of a radiosensitizer further improves intracranial control. Due to its large molecular weight, trastuzumab has a limited ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. However, small tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as lapatinib, has been noted to be a promising agent that can be used as a radiosensitizer to affect HER2-positive breast cancer. This review will outline general management of brain metastases and will focus on preclinical findings regarding the radiosensitizing effect of small molecule HER2 targeting agents.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.89-94
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• 2001

Skull or brain metastasis from thyroid carcinoma is rare. Between Jan. 1993. and Jan. 2000. the authors experienced 7 cases of skull(4 cases) or brain(3 cases) metastasis from thyroid carcinoma. Clinical characteristics, radiologic findings and pathologic features were analyzed retrospectively. Among 4 cases of skull metastasis, 3 cases were follicular carcinoma and one was papillary carcinoma with follicular variant. All cases of brain metastasis were papillary carcinoma. We treated the patients by combination with surgical resection, radioactive iodine therapy and radiation therapy. Characteristics of skull or brain metastasis from thyroid carcinoma is reviewed with a pertinent literature.