• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.2109-2114
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• 2012

Background: Ethnic variation in tumor characteristics and clinical presentation of breast cancer is increasingly being emphasized. We studied the tumor characteristics and factors which may influence the presentation and prognosis of triple negative breast cancers (TNC) in a cohort of Chinese women. Methods: A prospective cohort of 1800 Chinese women with breast cancer was recruited in a tertiary referral unit in Hong Kong between 1995 and 2006 and was followed up with a median duration of 7.2 years. Of the total, 216 (12.0%) had TNC and 1584 (88.0%) had non-TNC. Their clinicopathological variables, epidemiological variables and clinical outcomes were evaluated. Results: Patients with TNC had similar age of presentation as those with non-TNC, while presenting at earlier stages (82.4% were stage 1-2, compared to 78.4% in non-TNC, p=0.035). They were likely to be associated with grade 3 cancer (Hazard Ratio(HR)=5.8, p<0.001). TNC showed higher chance of visceral relapse (HR=2.69, p<0.001), liver metastasis (HR=1.7, p=0.003) and brain metastasis (HR=1.8, p=0.003). Compared with non-TNC group, TNC had similar 10-year disease-free survival (82% vs 84%, p=0.148), overall survival (78% vs 79%, p=0.238) and breast cancer-specific mortality (18% vs 16%, p=0.095). However, TNC showed poorer 10-year stage 3 and 4 specific survival (stage 3: 53% vs. 67%, p=0.010; stage 4: 0% vs. 40%, p=0.035). Conclusions: Chinese women with triple negative breast cancer do not have less aggressive biological behavior compared to the West and presentation at a later stage results in worse prognosis compared with those with non triple negative breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2004

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) is a very acute systemic disease in poultry, particularly in chickens and turkeys caused by HPAI viruses. An outbreak of HPAI caused by subtype H5N1, was first reported in a broiler breeder farm on December 10, 2003 in Korea, although there had been twenty one outbreaks of the disease reported in the world before. Since mid-December 2003, eight Asian countries have confirmed outbreaks of HPAI due to the same subtype. The outbreak has also resulted in at least twenty three fatal human cases in Vietnam and Thailand as of May 17, 2004 according to the WHO. Regarding the first outbreak of recent Asian HPAI, it has been suspected that some Asian countries with the exception of Korea and Japan veiled the fact of HPAI outbreaks since the last half of 2003, even though it was first reported in Korea. There have been total nineteen outbreaks of HPAI among chicken and duck farms in 10 provinces in Korea since Dec. 2003 and approximately 5,280,000 birds were slaughtered from 392 farms for eradication of the disease and preemptive culling. The origin of the H5Nl HPAI virus introduced into the country are unknown and still under epidemiological investigation. Current status of outbreaks and characteristics of HPAI will be reviewed and discussed on the basis of genetic, virological, clinicopathological, and ecological aspect, as well as future measures for surveillance and prevention of the disease in Korea.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.6
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• pp.550-558
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• 2001

Background : It has been reported that younger patients with lung cancer have characteristic features that differ from those in older patients. The prognosis for young patients with this disease is controversial. This study aimed to determine the clinicopathological characteristics, the survival rate, and the risk factors associated with the overall survival rate in younger patients with lung cancer. Methods : The records of 120 young(age${\leq}40$) patients with histologically confirmed lung cancer in the Korea Caneer Center Hospital(KCCH) between Jan. 1992 and Dec. 1998 were retrospectively reviewed. Of 5,082 lung cancer patients registered at the KCCH from 1992 to 1998, 120 older(age>40) patients were randomly selected as the controls. Results : More female patients(45.0% vs. 20.0%, p<0.001) and more adenocarcinoma cases(64.2% vs.38.3%, p<0.001) were found in the younger group, when compared to the older patients. In NSCLC, advanced disease(stage IIIB and IV) was more common in the younger patients(90.2%) than in the older patients(62.7%) (p<0.001). The Median survival was 8.6 months in the younger patients and 12.2 months in the older(p=0.003). In a multivariate analysis, only the advanced-stage was an independent negative prognostic factor. Conclusions : Lung cancer in the younger age group presents with a more advanced stage resulting in a poor survival rate, which suggests that lung cancer in this population is more aggressive than in older patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.200-206
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• 2009

Purpose: The incidence of upper gastric cancer and especially the diffuse type have increased in western countries. The aim this study was to investigate the chronologic changes of the clinicopathological features and survival rates of Korean upper gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: 1,638 gastric cancer patients who underwent gastrectomy were included in this study and they were divided into two groups; the 1990's (1991~1999, n=987) and the early 2000's (2000~2003, n=651). We evaluated the differences of the clinicopathologic features and the factors that affected the survival rates by univariative and multivariative analysis. Results: The older age (>60) patients increased from 42.7% to 50.7% respectively. Being overweight (body mass index$\geq$23) also increased from 31.5% to 43.2%. For the pathology, the incidence of stage Ia gastric cancer increased (29.8% to 44.5%) and the incidence of stage IV gastric cancer decreased (23.5% to 11.8%). Yet there was no difference according to the WHO classification, Lauren's classification and the location of tumor between the groups. The 5 year survival rates increased 67.7% to 83.7%, according to the group. Multivariative analysis showed that the odd ratios of the early 2000s was 0.715 (95% CI; 0.555~0.921) as compared to that of the 1990s. Conclusion: There were no changes of the clinicopathologic features, like the pattern in western countries, although the incidence early gastric cancer, old age patients and overweight patients increased. The survival rate of early 2000s was better that that of the 1990s.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 2013

Ingestion of grapes or raisins has been reported to the occurrence of acute renal failure (ARF) in dogs, although the mechanism remains undetermined. The prognosis often depends on the severity or clinical course of the disease at the time of presentation and is poor if the dog becomes anuric phase. To explore the characteristics and outcome of ARF caused by grape or raisin poisoning, sequentially collected data, from 2005 to 2008, of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital at the Kangwon National University for clinical evaluation were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 11 clinically affected dogs, 4 cases made a full recovery, 3 died and 4 were euthanized. All but one case (raisin ingestion) had a history of grape exposure, but the exact quantity of fruit ingested was not known. The female dogs accounted for 72.7% (8 cases). Overall, the mean age was 5.3 years (range 0.2-11.3 years), and the mean body weight was 4.1 kg (range 1.4-13 kg). The average duration of hospital stay was 7.1 days (range 2-22 days). Vomiting and anorexia was reported in all dogs. Diarrhea (4 cases), oliguria (5 cases), and anuria (4 cases) with or without isosthenuria were also reported. Five dogs of 11 had mild to moderate anemia, with a decrease in packed cell volume and hemoglobin. All dogs had elevations in serum phosphorous, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen values, but calcium values were variable; 2 dogs with hypocalcemia, 2 dogs with hypercalcemia, and the remaining 7 cases within reference interval. Dogs (n = 8) with measured on blood gas parameters had metabolic acidosis. In addition, higher serum enzyme activities were observed; amylase in 8 (72.7%) dogs, alkaline phosphatase in 7 (63.6%) dogs, and alanine aminotransferase in 5 (45.5%) dogs. Non-survived dogs revealed lower counts of platelet and lymphocyte subpopulation, as compared to the survived dogs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.4777-4780
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• 2015

Objective: To analyze clinicopathological characteristics, prognostic factors and survival rates of the patients with urological soft tissue sarcomas treated and followed up in Turkey. Materials and Methods: For overall survival analyses the Kaplan-Meier method was used. From medical records, nine prognostic factors on overall survival were analysed. Results: For the 53 patients (34 males, 19 females) whose charts were reviewed, the median age was 53 (range 22 to 83) years. Most frequently renal location (n=30; 56.6%) was evident and leiomyosarcoma (n=20, 37.7%) was the most frequently encountered histological type. Median survival time of all patients was 40.3 (95% CI, 14.2-66.3) months. In univariate analysis, male gender, advanced age (${\geq}50years$), metastatic stage, unresectability, grade 3, renal location were determined as worse prognostic factors. In multivariate analysis, metastatic stage, unresectability and grade 3 were determined as indicators of worse prognosis. Conclusions: Urological soft tissue sarcomas are rarely seen tumours in adults. The most important factors in survival are surgical resection, stage of the tumour at onset, grade and location of the tumour, gender and age of the patients.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.182-190
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• 2016

Purpose: This study aimed to establish a large-scale database of patients with gastric cancer to facilitate the development of a nationalcancer management system and a comprehensive cancer control policy. Materials and Methods: An observational prospective cohort study on gastric cancer was initiated in 2010. A total of 14 cancer centers throughout the country and 152 researchers were involved in this study. Patient enrollment began in January 2011, and data regarding clinicopathological characteristics, life style-related factors, quality of life, as well as diet diaries were collected. Results: In total, 4,963 patients were enrolled until December 2014, and approximately 5% of all Korean patients with gastric cancer annually were included. The mean age was $58.2{\pm}11.5$ years, and 68.2% were men. The number of patients in each stage was as follows: 3,394 patients (68.4%) were in stage IA/B; 514 patients (10.4%), in stage IIA/B; 469 patients (9.5%), in stage IIIA/B/C; and 127 patients (2.6%), in stage IV. Surgical treatment was performed in 3,958 patients (79.8%), endoscopic resection was performed in 700 patients (14.1%), and 167 patients (3.4%) received palliative chemotherapy. The response rate for the questionnaire on the quality of life was 95%; however, diet diaries were only collected for 27% of patients. Conclusions: To provide comprehensive information on gastric cancer for patients, physicians, and government officials, a large-scale database of Korean patients with gastric cancer was established. Based on the findings of this cohort study, an effective cancer management system and national cancer control policy could be developed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1589-1595
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• 2014

Objective: Forkhead box C2 (FOXC2) is a member of the winged helix/forkhead box (Fox) family of transcription factors. It has been suggested to regulate tumor vasculature, growth, invasion and metastasis, although it has not been studied in cervical cancer. Here, we analyzed FOXC2 expression in cervical tissues corresponding to different stages of cervical cancer development and examined its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics. In addition, we examined the effects of targeting FOXC2 on the biological behavior of human cervical cancer cells. Methods: The expression of FOXC2 in normal human cervix, CIN I-III and cervical cancer was examined by immunohistochemistry and compared among the three groups and between cervical cancers with different pathological subtypes. Endogenous expression of FOXC2 was transiently knocked down in human Hela and SiHa cervical cells by siRNA, and cell viability and migration were examined by scratch and CCK8 assays, respectively. Results: In normal cervical tissue the frequency of positive staining was 25% (10/40 cases), with a staining intensity (PI) of $0.297{\pm}0.520$, in CIN was 65% (26/40cases), with a PI of $3.00{\pm}3.29$, and in cancer was 91.8% (68/74 cases), with a PI of $5.568 {\pm}3.449$. The frequency was 100% in adenocarcinoma (5/5 cases) and 91.3% in SCCs (63/69 cases). The FOXC2 positive expression rate was 88.5% in patients with cervical SCC stage I and 100% in stage II, showing significant differences compared with normal cervix and CIN. With age, pathologic differentiation degree and tumor size, FOXC2 expression showed no significant variation. On transient transfection of Hela and SiHa cells, FOXC2-siRNA inhibition rates were 76.2% and 75.7%; CCK8 results showed reduced proliferation and relative migration (in Hela cells from $64.5{\pm}3.16$ to $49.5{\pm}9.24$ and in SiHa cells from $60.1{\pm}3.05$ to $44.3{\pm}3.98$) (P < 0.05). Conclusion: FOXC2 gene expression increases with malignancy, especially with blood vessel hyperplasia and invasion degree. Targeted silencing was associated with reduced cell proliferation as well as invasion potential.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.249-254
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• 2016

Molecular detection methods such as RT-PCR for detecting breast cancer-associated gene expression in the peripheral blood have the potential to modify breast cancer (BC) staging and therapy. In this regard, we evaluated the potential of erb-B2 molecular marker in BC detection and analyzed the expression of erb-B2 mRNA in the peripheral blood and fresh tissue samples of 50 pretreated female BC patients and 50 healthy females by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) method. We also assessed the correlation of erb-B2 mRNA marker positivity in peripheral blood and tumor tissue samples with clinical and pathological factors in BC patients in order to evaluate its prognostic value. It was shown that there is a significant difference between healthy females and BC patients with expression of the erb-B2 molecular marker (p<0.01). A significant difference between the expression of erb-B2 in the peripheral blood and tissue samples of BC patients (p<0.01) and the frequency of circulating erb-B2 mRNA expression in peripheral blood and in tissue was detected by RT-PCR. No correlation was found between erb-B2 mRNA expression in blood or tumor tissue samples and lymph node, tumor grade, tumor stage, tumor size, patient's age, ki67, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PGR), P53, and HER-2 status. However, in a small subset of 31 BC patients we found that expression of erb-B2 in peripheral blood or in both peripheral blood and tumor tissue was directly correlated with lympho-vascular invasion and perineural invasion as poor prognostic features. The highest rates of erb-B2 expression in peripheral blood or tumor tissue were in the ER and PR negative and HER-2 positive group. This study suggests that the application of the RT-PCR and immunohistochemical methods for erb-B2 molecular marker detection would provide a higher detection rate, especially in early stage BC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.9005-9008
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• 2014

Background: Gastric cancer is the second leading course of cancer death worldwide and H. pylori infection is an important risk factor for gastric cancer development. This study was design to evaluate the clinical, pathological features, survival rate and prevalence of H. pylori infection in gastric cancer in Thailand. Materials and Methods: Clinical information, histological features, endoscopic findings and H. pylori status were collected from gastric cancer patients from Thammasat university hospital during June 1996-December 2011. H. pylori infection was assessed by histological evaluation, rapid urease test and serological test. Clinical information, endoscopic findings and histopathology of all patients were recorded and compared between patients with active or non-active H. pylori infection. Results: A total of 100 gastric cancer patients (55 men and 45 women with mean age of $55{\pm}16.8years$) were enrolled in this study. Common presenting symptoms were dyspepsia (74%), weight loss (66%), anemia (63%) and anorexia (38%). Mean duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis was 98 days. Overall prevalence of H. pylori infection was 83% and active H. pylori infection was 40%. 1-year and 5-year survival rates were 43% and 0%. There was no significant difference between active H. pylori infection in different locations (proximal vs non-proximal: 47.1% vs 48.5%; P-value = 0.9, OR=0.9; 95%CI=0.3-3.1) and histology of gastric cancer (diffuse type vs intestinal type: 47.4% vs 50%; P-value = 0.8, OR=0.9, 95%CI=0.3-2.7). However, linitis plastica was significantly more common in non-active than active H. pylori infection (27.9% vs 0%; P-value<0.0001, OR=13.3, 95%CI=3.2-64.5). Moreover, gastric cancer stage 4 was higher in non-active than active H. pylori infection (93% vs 50%, P-value<0.001). Conclusions: Prevalence of H. pylori infection in Thai gastric cancer patients was high but active infection was low. Most gastric cancer patients presented in advance stage and had a grave prognosis. Screening for gastric cancer in high risk individuals might be an appropriate tool for early detection and improve the treatment outcome for this particular disease in Thailand.