• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.175-180
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• 2017

Fertility preservation plays a central role in cancer care since an increasingly large number of cancer patients are surviving as a result of improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Physicians who take part in the initial diagnosis and management of gynecologic cancer should understand the importance of fertility preservation. Since indications for fertility preservation are limited to early-stage gynecologic cancer, a surgeon must carefully consider each indication. Before performing fertility-sparing surgery, health professionals should compare its oncologic and pregnancy outcomes with those of other standard treatments. Individualized treatment strategies should be delivered depending on the patient's situation, and physicians should provide timely information and appropriate counseling.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1661-1664
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• 2013

Recently there have been numerous advances in understanding the genetic basis of cancer which have resulted in more appropriate treatments. In this paper we describe the experience of the Burzynski Clinic, involved in treatment of numerous patients based on personalized approach using novel combinations for difficult-to-treat malignancies, with gynecological cancers. This retrospective study was conducted by extracting data from Burzynski Clinic's medical records and comprehensive review. Among the advanced refractory ovarian cancers cases (N=33), an objective response (OR) was found in 42.4%. We anticipate that with improved technology and novel therapeutics this rate will increase and adverse events will be reduced.

• BMB Reports
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• v.47 no.7
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• pp.405-410
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• 2014

ZBTB3 belongs to the Zinc finger and BTB/POZ domain containing transcription factor family; however, its biological role has rarely been studied. We demonstrate for the first time, to our knowledge, that ZBTB3 is an essential factor for cancer cell growth via the regulation of the ROS detoxification pathway. Suppression of ZBTB3 using two different short hairpin RNAs in human melanoma, lung carcinoma, and breast carcinoma results in diminished cell growth. In addition, we found that suppression of ZBTB3 activates a caspase cascade, including caspase-9, -3, and PARP leading to cellular apoptosis, resulting from failed ROS detoxification. We identified that ZBTB3 plays an important role in the gene expression of ROS detoxification enzymes. Our results reveal that ZBTB3 may play a critical role in cancer cell growth via the ROS detoxification system. Therefore, therapeutic strategies that target ZBTB3 could be used in selective cancer treatments.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.356-362
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• 2021

An increasing number of studies have revealed an interaction between gut microbiota and tumors. The enrichment of specific bacteria strains in the intestines has been found to modulate tumor growth and influence the mechanisms of tumor treatment. Various bacteria are involved in modulating the effects of chemotherapeutic drugs currently used to treat patients with cancer, and they affect not only gastrointestinal tract tumors but also distant organ tumors. In addition, changes in the gut microbiota are known to be involved in the antitumor immune response as well as the modulation of the intestinal immune system. As a result, the gut microbiota plays an important role in modulating the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Therefore, gut microbiota could be considered as an adjuvant treatment option with other cancer treatment or as another marker for predicting treatment response. In this review, we examine how gut microbiota affects cancer treatments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.19
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• pp.8035-8040
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• 2014

Gastric cancer is the second after lung cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. Early detection and treatment can lead to a long survival time. Recently microarrays and next generation sequencing (NGS) have become very useful tools of comprehensive research into gastric cancer, facilitating the identification of treatment targets and personalized treatments. However, there are numerous challenges from cancer target discovery to practical clinical benefits. Although there are many biomarkers and target agents, only a minority of patients are tested and treated accordingly. Microarray technology with maturity was established more than 10 years ago, and has been widely used in the study of functional genomics, systems biology, and genomes in medicine. Second generation sequencing technology is more recent, but development is very fast, and it has been applied to the genome, including sequencing and epigenetics and many aspects of functional genomics. Here we review insights gained from these studies regarding the technology of microarray and NGS, how to elucidate the molecular basis of gastric cancer and identify potential therapeutic targets, and how to analyse candidate genes. We also discuss the challenges and future directions of such efforts.

• Experimental and Molecular Medicine
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.10.1-10.11
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• 2018

Cancer growth and progression are associated with immune suppression. Cancer cells have the ability to activate different immune checkpoint pathways that harbor immunosuppressive functions. Monoclonal antibodies that target immune checkpoints provided an immense breakthrough in cancer therapeutics. Among the immune checkpoint inhibitors, PD-1/PD-L1 and CTLA-4 inhibitors showed promising therapeutic outcomes, and some have been approved for certain cancer treatments, while others are under clinical trials. Recent reports have shown that patients with various malignancies benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment. However, mainstream initiation of immune checkpoint therapy to treat cancers is obstructed by the low response rate and immune-related adverse events in some cancer patients. This has given rise to the need for developing sets of biomarkers that predict the response to immune checkpoint blockade and immune-related adverse events. In this review, we discuss different predictive biomarkers for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 and anti-CTLA-4 inhibitors, including immune cells, PD-L1 overexpression, neoantigens, and genetic and epigenetic signatures. Potential approaches for further developing highly reliable predictive biomarkers should facilitate patient selection for and decision-making related to immune checkpoint inhibitor-based therapies.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.191-203
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• 2013

Purpose: This review is to figure out evidence that suggest effectiveness of Korean Medicine treatments against cervical dysplasia. Methods: Studies on cervical cancer and cervical dysplasia were searched through 6 databases: Korean Studies Information Service System(KISS), National Discovery for Science Leaders (NDSL), Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (Korean TK), Oriental Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System (OASIS), the Journal of Korean Medicine, and the Journal of Korean Obstetrics & Gynecology. After that, the articles were extracted with reference point of Korean Traditional Medicine. Results: 37 articles were included lastly according to selection criteria. 3 of them were case reports on cervical dysplasia, and 34 were in-vitro studies on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) positive cancer cell. In case reports, acupuncture, moxibustion, medical herbs and pharmacoacupuncture were used for treatments of cervical dysplasia with about 3 months. Experimental studies on cervical cancer cell showed that several herbs function with clear heat, eliminate stasis (淸熱解毒, 化瘀消腫) have anti-cancer effects inducing apoptosis. Conclusions: The results of articles are not enough to use in practice. Therefore, we indicates more advanced research methodology as follows: development of Korean Medicine treatment protocol with oral and external, in-vivo experimental study, and evaluation immunity index.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2017

Purpose: To analyze the utilization and fractionation of extreme hypofractionation via stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) in the treatment of prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Data was analyzed on men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer between 2004-2012 and treated with definitive-intent radiation therapy, as captured in the National Cancer Database. This database is a hospital-based registry that collects an estimated 70% of all diagnosed malignancies in the United States. Results: There were 299,186 patients identified, of which 4,962 (1.7%) were identified as receiving SBRT as primary treatment. Of those men, 2,082 had low risk disease (42.0%), 2,201 had intermediate risk disease (44.4%), and 679 had high risk disease (13.7%). The relative utilization of SBRT increased from 0.1% in 2004 to 4.0% in 2012. Initially SBRT was more commonly used in academic programs, though as time progressed there was a shift to favor an increased absolute number of men treated in the community setting. Delivery of five separate treatments was the most commonly utilized fractionation pattern, with 4,635 patients (91.3%) receiving this number of treatments. The most common dosing pattern was $725cGy{\times}5fractions$ (49.6%) followed by $700cGy{\times}5fractions$ (21.3%). Conclusions: Extreme hypofractionation via SBRT is slowly increasing acceptance. Currently $700-725cGy{\times}5fractions$ appears to be the most commonly employed scheme. As further long-term data regarding the safety and efficacy emerges, the relative utilization of this modality is expected to continue to increase.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1281-1284
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• 2012

Background: Platinum-hased chemotherapy for advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still considered the first choice, presenting a modest survival advantage. However, the patients eventually experience disease progression and require second-line therapy. While there are reliable predictors to identify patients receiving first-line chemotherapy, very little knowledge is available about the prognostic factors in patients who receive second-line treatments. The present study was therefore performed. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 107 patients receiving second-line treatments from August 2002 to March 2012 in the Dicle University, School of Medicine, Department of Medical Oncology. Fourteen potential prognostic variables were chosen for analysis in this study. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to identify prognostic factors associated with survival. Result: The results of univariate analysis for overall survival (OS) were identified to have prognostic significance: performance status (PS), stage, response to first-line chemotherapy response to second-line chemotherapy and number of metastasis. PS, diabetes mellitus (DM), response to first-line chemotherapy and response to second-line chemotherapy were identified to have prognostic significance for progression-free survival (PFS). Multivariate analysis showed that PS, response to first-line chemotherapy and response to second-line chemotherapy were considered independent prognostic factors for OS. Furthermore, PS and response to second-line chemotherapy were considered independent prognostic factors for PFS. Conclusion: In conclusion, PS, response to first and second-line chemotherapy were identified as important prognostic factors for OS in advanced NSCLC patients who were undergoing second-line palliative treatment. Furthermore, PS and response to second-line chemotherapy were considered independent prognostic factors for PFS. It may be concluded that these findings may facilitate pretreatment prediction of survival and can be used for selecting patients for the correct choice of treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5945-5950
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• 2014

Objectives: To retrospectively review the safety and clinical efficacy of bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy in Chinese patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSNSCLC). Methods: Clinical data for 79 patients with NSNSCLC who received bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy in Chinese PLA General Hospital from April 28th 2009 to May 5th 2013 were retrospectively reviewed to analyze the clinical efficacy including disease control rate (DCR), overall response rate (ORR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score and the safety. Results: The Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score was 0-2. By the final cutoff date (June 9, 2013), 54 (68.4%) patients had disease progression and 37 (46.8%) died. The ORR was 32.9% and the DCR was 83.5%. The ORR of the first-, second-, and third- or later-line treatments were 51.4%, 25.0% and 12.5%, while the DCR were 94.3%, 80.0% and 70.8%, respectively. The median OS (mOS) and PFS (mPFS) were 13.5 and 5.83 months, respectively. The mOS of patients with the first-, second-, and third- or later- line treatments were 16.2, 10.9 and 8.30 months, while the mPFS were 7.27, 5.90 and 5.17 months, respectively. Chemotherapy-related adverse events included myelosuppression, vomiting, hepatic dysfunction and renal dysfunction, while the common serious bevacizumab-related adverse events were thromboembolic problems, gastrointestinal perforation and reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy syndrome, which could be well managed. Conclusions: Bevacizumab concomitant with chemotherapy is effective and the related toxicity can be well tolerated in Chinese patients with NSNSCLC.