• Journal of Breast Cancer
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.391-398
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• 2018

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association of telomere length with breast cancer risk. We simultaneously explored the association between telomerase reverse transcriptase gene polymorphisms and telomere length. Methods: We used real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction to measure relative telomere length (RTL) in genomic DNA extracted from peripheral blood from 183 breast cancer cases and 191 healthy controls. Genotyping was performed using the Sequenom MassARRAY platform. Results: Our results show that breast cancer patients had significantly shorter RTLs than control subjects (p<0.05). When the RTLs were categorized into tertiles, we found that the lowest RTL was significantly associated with increased breast cancer risk compared with the highest RTL (odds ratio [OR], 2.33; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.40-3.90; p=0.001). Subgroup analyses indicated that risk of breast cancer was also significantly increased in the lowest RTL compared with the highest RTL in age >40 years (OR, 2.41; 95% CI, 1.31-4.43;p=0.005), body mass index ${\leq}24kg/m^2$ (OR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.55-5.10; p=0.001), and postmenopausal women (OR, 3.94; 95% CI, 1.63-9.51; p=0.002), respectively. In addition, individuals with the AA genotype of rs2853677 have longer telomeres than those of breast cancer patients with the AG genotype (p=0.011). Conclusion: Our results suggest that shorter RTL was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. An association was found between the AA genotype of rs2853677 and longer RTLs in the case group. Functional studies are warranted to validate this association and further investigate our findings.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.37-50
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• 2016

Ovarian cancer is the tenth most common cancer in Korean female, and the third most common cancer of female reproductive organ after breast cancer and uterine cervical cancer. In spite of develop of conventional treatment, high modality of ovarian cancer comes from difficulty of an early diagnosis. Recent studies revealed that combining conventional and integrative medical treatment can reduce the adverse effect of surgical operation, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Also it can improve survival rate, quality of life. However there isn't still a systemic clinical protocol for ovarian cancer in Korean medicine. This study will be helpful to establish clinical practice guidelines of Korean Medicine for ovarian cancer. And further studies on integrative ovarian cancer treatment are needed to build the clinical practice guidelines of ovarian cancer.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.119-128
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• 2021

Objectives: This is a five-year survival case report on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with western medicine and traditional Korean medicine. 44-year old man diagnosed NSCLC IIIB in 2015 went through two months' concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) first, however the cancer did not response. After CCRT he began to take intensive integrative therapy including acupuncture, abdominal moxibustion, wild ginseng pharmacopuncture, herbal medicinal product of ginseng, hyperthermia, Thymosin α1, and mega vitamin C injection for 4 years and 9 months. After three months of intensive treatment, the state of cancer changed first to partial response and then complete response. He finally succeeded in five-year survival without any recurrence or complication in 2020, We suggest that integrative approach including traditional Korean medicine can be a meaningful treatment option for nonoperable NSCLC. Further studies with more cases should be performed to establish proper treatment protocol of integrative medicine for lung cancer.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.177-182
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• 2018

Background: Breast cancer is a treatable disease, but some women reject conventional treatment in favor of unproven "alternative therapies," which may have serious implications for their survival. Therefore, a process is needed to lead them to more appropriate treatment choices. Case presentation: Here, we present the case of a 51-year-old Korean female diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer (stage IIB, T2N1M0) in Nov. 2015. She refused a standard surgical resection together with chemotherapy and opted instead for moxibustion by nonmedical personnel. Consequently, her preference for alternative therapy without conventional treatment exacerbated her disease. Just a little over a year later, integrative cancer treatment, including chemotherapy based on histological founding, and complementary treatment, comprised of acupuncture, moxibustion, and herbal medicine, were administered for 5 months. Finally, she successfully underwent modified radical mastectomy showing a pathological complete response. She received only adjuvant chemotherapy without any alternative medicine afterwards, and she maintained a good status without recurrence. Conclusion: In the case of breast cancer patients who are resistant to surgery and chemotherapy, integrative therapy considering adverse effects from conventional treatment should be preferred to bitter opposition to alternative medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.33-48
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• 2024

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of Korean-Western medicine integrative care for patients on hospitalized with gynecologic and breast cancer. Methods: The records were searched for integrative medical treatment the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in a Korean medical hospital between January 1st, 2021 and April 30, 2024, based on the Electronic Medical Record system (EMR). The records were reviewed and analyzed based on the patient's characteristics, the chief symptom, Korean medical treatment which patients received, and follow-up observation Results: 61 cases were screened, the patient's age is the highest in their 50s with 16 cases (26.23%). The average hospitalization period for patients with integrative care is 7.64 days. Among the patients with integrative care, 60 patients (98.36%) underwent surgery. Gastro-intestinal symptoms (nausea/vomiting, constipation /diarrhea etc.) showed the largest proportion in total symptoms (40.72%). After Korean-medicine integrative treatment, 62.30% of patients improved their symptoms, and 19.67% of cases were not improved because follow-up was not performed. Acupuncture is the most frequently performed Korean-medicine treatment (90.16%), followed by moxibustion (55.74%) and herbal medicine (37.70%). Among the herbal medicines, Gamisipjeon-tang and Geonchil-dan were the two most used herbal medicines. Conclusions: Included cases showed that treatments used in Korean medicine hospitals for integrative care with gynecologic and breast cancer are safe and effective based on several evidence. In the future, further high-quality large-scale study is needed to prove effectiveness of Korean-Western integrative care for patients with gynecologic and breast cancer.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.379-387
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• 2023

Dog owners seek treatment when their pets develop cancer. IMMUNIES is traditional herbal medicine-based figment made of 10 natural herbs, designed to maintain host immune function. The major component of IMMUNIES is Dendropanax morbiferus. This clinical pilot study monitored the toxicity and efficacy of IMMUNIES. Four senile dogs with spontaneously occurring mammary and liver cancers were enrolled in this study and treated orally daily for 3 months, and their blood/urine biochemical profiles were examined each month. IMMUNIES was well tolerated during the treatment period. Blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, and C-reactive protein levels decreased in all four dogs, whereas red blood cells and hematocrit were within the normal range. IMMUNIES also changed the expression of several molecular targets in the anticancer pathway, such as pro-NAG-1, p53, and cyclin D1. Although the tumors did not completely respond to IMMUNIES, the biochemical profiles and clinical examination showed a stabilized cancer status for 3 months. Thus, IMMUNIES was found to be safe and well-tolerated in the dosage range tested and exhibited cancer antiproliferative activity in canine cancer. Future studies should address other potential benefits of IMMUNIES, including correlative assessments of immune function, quality of life, and owner satisfaction.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death throughout the world. Non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) is the most deadly form of lung cancer. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer are often found to be unavailable for operation at primary diagnosis. They are typically given conventional chemotherapy. When the tumor progresses during chemotherapy, a change in regimen is considered. The average period of administration differs with the regimen. In this case report, the authors introduce two cases of non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with allergen removed Rhus verniciflua stokes based herbal medicine along with pemetrexed($Alimta^{(R)}$) and erlotinib($Tarceva^{(R)}$). The authors report this case because these molecular-targeted agents were used for longer periods than expected, while improving the performance and other symptoms. Further studies illuminating the synergistic effects through conjunctive treatment with both conventional and Eastern medicine in lung cancer treatment should be performed in the future.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3803-3807
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• 2012

Prohibitin (PHB), an evolutionarily-conserved protein, has been found to be over-expressed in gastric cancer and be closely related with tumor malignancy. In this study, to investigate the relationship between PHB expression and cell apoptosis in the BGC823 gastric cancer cell line, low and high expression PHB in BGC823 cells was accomplished using RNA interference technology and gene transfer techniques. Cell proliferation, cell cycling, apoptosis, Bax, Bcl-2 and Cyt.c protein expression and the activation of Caspase-3,9 were assessed after 48h. Over-expression of PHB gene in BGC823 cells resulted in slow cell growth, cell arrest in G2 phase, and an increased apoptosis ratio while the opposite was found for PHB under-expressing cells. In PHB over-expressing cells, the expression of Bax gene was increased, the expression of Bcl-2 was decreased, the activation level of Caspase-3, 9 was increased, but the activation level of Caspase-8 demonstrated no change. These results indicate that PHB induced apoptosis through the mitochondrial pathway.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.578-584
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• 2023

Objectives: This is a five-year survival and complete response (CR) report on rectal cancer treated with western medicine and Korean traditional medicine. Method: A 25-year-old woman diagnosed with rectal cancer visited ⃝⃝ Korean traditional medicine hospital after neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiation therapy, chemotherapy, and low anterior resection with regional lymph node dissection. She was treated with Korean traditional medicine, including acupuncture, abdominal moxibustion, wild ginseng pharmacopuncture, and herbal medicine, which was based on integrated medicine therapy (IMT), from January 2018 to February 2022. The tumor size was measured by scanning with computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging, and positron-emission tomography/CT. Adverse events were evaluated using laboratory conclusion and National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Result: During four years of treatment, IMT maintained safety. The patient finally reached five-year survival without any recurrence or complication (CR) on March 11, 2022. Conclusion: We suggest that an integrative approach including Korean traditional medicine can be a meaningful treatment option for rectal cancer. Further studies should be performed to establish the proper treatment protocol of integrative medicine for rectal cancer.

• Advances in Traditional Medicine
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.573-578
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• 2008

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality and overall treatment outcomes for lung cancer are still to be considered disappointing despite of development of new medical therapeutics on cancer. Cytostatic agents are considered as novel medication in the treatment of cancer though its benefit is most appropriately assessed through survival end points rather than the objective-response end points. We present a case of a lung adenocarcinoma patient who showed tumor lesion in patient's two different lung sites. From the day of diagnosis, the tumor lesion stayed with the almost same size with more than 1 year of Allergen-Removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (A-RVS) based Traditional Korean Medicine treatment without any western conventional treatment. No significant side effect was noted and the patient maintained good performance status throughout the treatment period. We assume A-RVS may have cytostatic effect on NSCLC patient and our observation justifies further investigation.