• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.693-698
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• 2012

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer of women worldwide, with considerable geographic and racial/ethnic variation. Data are generally derived from population based cancer registries in the developed countries but hospital data are the most reliable source in the developing countries. Ten years data from 1st Jan 2000 to 31st Dec 2009 of a cancer hospital in Pakistan were here analyzed by descriptive statistics to evaluate the clinicopathologic profile of local breast cancer patients. Among 28,740 cancer patients, 6,718 were registered as breast cancer. The female to male ratio was 100:2. Breast cancer accounted for 23% of all and 41% of female cancers. Some 46% were residents of Lahore, with a mean age of $47{\pm}12$ years. Less than 1% were at Stage 0 and 10%, 32%, 35% and 23% were at Stage I, II, III and IV respectively. Histopathology was unknown in 4% while 91%, 2% and 1% had invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) and mucinous carcinoma respectively. Rare carcinomas accounted for the rest. Tumor grade 1, 2 and 3 was 11%, 55% and 34% among the known. Profile of breast cancer patients in Pakistan follows a pattern similar to that of other developing countries with earlier peak age and advanced disease stage at presentation. The male breast cancer accounts for higher proportion in the local population. Local women have higher frequency of IDC and lower frequency of ILC and DCIS, owing probably to a different risk profile. Use of hospital information systems and establishment of population based cancer registry is required to have accurate and detailed local data. Promotion of breast health awareness and better health care system is required to decrease the burden of advanced disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8659-8663
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• 2016

In Nepal, while no population based cancer registry program exists to assess the incidence, prevalence, morbidity and mortality of cancer, at the national level a number of hospital based cancer registries are cooperating to provide relevant data. Seven major cancer diagnosis and treatment hospitals are involved, including the BP Koirala Memorial Cancer hospital, supported by WHO-Nepal since 2003. The present retrospective analysis of cancer patients of all age groups was conducted to assess the frequencies of different types of cancer presenting from January 1st to December 31st 2012. A total of 7,212 cancer cases were registered, the mean age of the patients being 51.9 years. The most prevalent age group in males was 60-64 yrs (13.6%), while in females it was 50-54 yrs (12.8%). The commonest forms of cancer in males were bronchus and lung (17.6%) followed by stomach (7.3%), larynx (5.2%) and non Hodgkins lymphoma (4.5%). In females, cervix uteri (19.1%) and breast (16.3%), were the top ranking cancer sites followed by bronchus and lung (10.2%), ovary (6.1%) and stomach (3.8%). The present data provide an update of the cancer burden in Nepal and highlight the relatively young age of breast and cervical cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.18
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• pp.7985-7987
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• 2014

Introduction: Khon Kaen Cancer Registry (KKCR) was established in 1984. KKCR aims to collect all cancer cases in Khon Kaen Province. The poorly qualified data may lead to distort the cancer burden and misinterpretation of policy maker. Objective: To assess data quality in childhood cancer between 1990 and 2007 in Khon Kaen Province, Thailand. Materials and Methods: Data of childhood cancer cases aged less than 20 years diagnosed during 1990-2007 were retrieved from the population-based data set of KKCR. All childhood cancer data were verified before data entry. Internal consistency, percentage of morphological verification (MV%) and cancer cased of the basis of diagnosis by death certificate only (DCO%) were evaluated. The age-adjusted rate (ASR) was calculated by standard method. Results: The data of childhood cancer from KKCR is acceptably qualified which reflects the quality of the whole registration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4015-4023
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• 2013

Cancer of the cervix is the third most common cancer in women worldwide, more than 85% of the cases occurring in developing countries such as China. In China, since a national cancer registry is already set up but with geographically limited data generated, the burden of cervical cancer is believed to be underestimated. High-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) prevalence among women attending routine cervical cancer screening programs has been shown to correlate well with cervical cancer incidence rates based on independently obtained HPV prevalence data as well as findings for the worldwide cervical cancer burden. Therefore, reviewing data on HR-HPV prevalence in population-based screening studies and hospital-based case studies will be important in the context of better understanding the cervical cancer burden and for the evaluation of the potential impact of HPV vaccination in the country. With the advent of prophylactic vaccines, significant progress is likely to be made in cervical cancer prevention. This article reviews available data on the HPV epidemiology over a 12-year time period (2001-2012) in mainland China under different epidemiological aspects: by age group of study population, by ethnicity, by geographic area, as well as time period. The authors also review the potential acceptability of HPV vaccination among Chinese women.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3631-3635
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• 2016

Background: Breast lymphomas constitute a rare disease entity. To date, limited relevant data have been reported. We therefore here present a review of breast lymphoma patients treated at a single center over a 20 year period, focusing on histological types, treatment modalities and outcomes. Materials and Methods: We identified patients who were diagnosed and treated for breast lymphoma at a single center from January 1995 to January 2014 and extracted data regarding patients' demographics and clinical data. Results: Twenty-seven patients with breast lymphoma were identified, of which 3 were males. The median age at diagnosis was 37 years (range: 22-76 years). Chemotherapy was the main stay of treatment and 55.6% patients also received radiation to the affected breast. At our institute, only 3 patients, all with progressive disease, had surgery performed to achieve local palliation. Complete response after chemotherapy was seen in 63% patients and partial response in 7.4%, while 26% patients demonstrated disease progression. The mean follow up was 46.8 months. Seven patients (33.3%) who were alive at last follow up, as well as 1 patient who died, survived more than 5 years after diagnosis. Conclusions: Patients with breast lymphoma should receive aggressive treatment, with combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Surgery should be limited for diagnosis and palliation of local symptoms in cases of progressive disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.457-461
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• 2013

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death in male populations across the globe. With the advent of gene expression arrays, many microarray studies have been conducted in prostate cancer, but the results have varied across different studies. To better understand the genetic and biologic mechanisms of prostate cancer, we conducted a meta-analysis of two studies on prostate cancer. Eight key genes were identified to be differentially expressed with progression. After gene co-expression analysis based on data from the GEO database, we obtained a co-expressed gene list which included 725 genes. Gene Ontology analysis revealed that these genes are involved in actin filament-based processes, locomotion and cell morphogenesis. Further analysis of the gene list should provide important clues for developing new prognostic markers and therapeutic targets.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7251-7256
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• 2013

Objectives: To estimate the proportion of liver cancer cases and deaths due to infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), aflatoxin exposure, alcohol drinking and smoking in China in 2005. Study design: Systemic assessment of the burden of five modifiable risk factors on the occurrence of liver cancer in China using the population attributable fraction. Methods: We estimated the population attributable fraction of liver cancer caused by five modifiable risk factors using the prevalence data around 1990 and data on relative risks from meta-analyses, and large-scale observational studies. Liver cancer mortality data were from the 3rd National Death Causes Survey, and data on liver cancer incidence were estimated from the mortality data from cancer registries in China and a mortality/incidence ratio calculated. Results: We estimated that HBV infection was responsible for 65.9% of liver cancer deaths in men and 58.4% in women, while HCV was responsible for 27.3% and 28.6% respectively. The fraction of liver cancer deaths attributable to aflatoxin was estimated to be 25.0% for both men and women. Alcohol drinking was responsible for 23.4% of liver cancer deaths in men and 2.2% in women. Smoking was responsible for 18.7% and 1.0%. Overall, 86% of liver cancer mortality and incidence (88% in men and 78% in women) was attributable to these five modifiable risk factors. Conclusions: HBV, HCV, aflatoxin, alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking were responsible for 86% of liver cancer mortality and incidence in China in 2005. Our findings provide useful data for developing guidelines for liver cancer prevention and control in China and other developing countries.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.84-91
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• 2006

The importance of measurement of health-related quality of life (HRQL) cannot be overemphasized. However, efforts to implement HRQL measurement often fail because of differences in definition and insufficient information about available measures. In this paper, many available HRQL measures are reviewed, which have been designed for, or frequently used with, people with cancer in order to aid in the evaluation of effects of oriental medicine on cancer patients. A total of 28 articles were selected from three different databases. The selected articles were analyzed according to three aspects of application of the Korean version of HRQL measures, namely generic, disease specific and symptoms related instruments. Nine HRQL measures are completed with Korean validation and data collection under contact and permission of the author. However, research studies that reported data on quality of life (QOL) in cancer patients treated with oriental medicine were wholly lacking. It is recommended that further studies be performed, using methods of data collection whose validity and reliability has been confirmed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4399-4402
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• 2013

Objectives: To analyze underlying disease, fatality rate and the major causes of death of in-patients with malignant tumors in Sichuan Cancer Hospital. Methods: Clinical data of in-patients from 2002 to 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The top 10 tumors (82.0%of the total) of the malignant tumors of the in-patients were lung, cervical, esophagus, breast, colorectal, nasopharynx, liver and gastric cancers, lymphomas and ovarian cancers. The overall fatality rate was 2.7% during these eleven years, 3.4% and 2.0% for male and females, respectively with statistical significance for the difference (${\chi}^2$=164.737, P<0.001). The top 10 death causes were lung cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, esophagus cancer, gastric cancer, lymphoma, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer and nasopharynx cancer. In-patients with pancreatic cancer had the highest fatality rate (9.6%). There were different ranks of death causes in different sex groups and age groups. Conclusion: Prevention and control work of cancer should be enhanced not only for cancers with high incidence such as lung cancer, esophageal cancer but also for the cancers which have low incidence but high fatality rate, such as pancreatic cancer and gallbladder cancer, which would help to improve the survival rate and quality of life of cancer patients in the future.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.93-97
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• 2016

Several prospective studies on laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer have been initiated, but no prospective study evaluating laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy or laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy has been completed to date. A non-randomized confirmatory trial was commenced in April 2015 to evaluate the safety of laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy and laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer. A total of 245 patients will be accrued from 42 Japanese institutions over 3 years. The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with anastomotic leakage. The secondary endpoints are overall survival, relapse-free survival, proportion of patients with completed laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy or laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy, proportion of patients with conversion to open surgery, adverse events, and short-term clinical outcomes. The UMIN Clinical Trials Registry number is UMIN000017155.