• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2008

Telomeres consist of tandem guanine-thymine(G-T) repeats in most eukaryotic chromosomes. Human telomeres are predominantly linear, double stranded DNA as they ended in 30-200 nucleotides(bases,b) 3'-overhangs. In DNA replication, removal of the terminal RNA primer from the lagging strand results in a 3'-overhang of uncopied DNA. This is because of bidirectional DNA replication and specificity of unidirectional DNA polymerase. After the replication, parental and daughter DNA strands have unequal lengths due to a combination of the end-replication problem and end-processing events. The gradual chromosome shortening is observed in most somatic cells and eventually leads to cellular senescence. Telomere shortening could be a molecular clock that signals the replicative senescence. The shortening of telomeric ends of human chromosomes, leading to sudden growth arrest, triggers DNA instability as biological switches. In addition, telomere dysfunction may cause chronic allograft nephropathy or kidney cancers. The renal cell carcinoma(RCC) in women may be less aggressive and have less genomic instability than in man. Younger patients with telomere dysfunction are at a higher risk for RCC than older patients. Thus, telomeres maintain the integrity of the genome and are involved in cellular aging and cancer. By studying the telomeric DNA, we may characterize the genetic determinants in diseases and discover the tools in molecular medicine.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.83 no.5
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• pp.1109-1115
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• 2022

Renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs) are typically solid tumors, but there have been few reports of a rare cystic variant of AML. AML with epithelial cysts, where the epithelial cyst has a cuboidal epithelial lining, account for the majority of them. Next, epithelioid AML (EAML) with cystic changes due to hemorrhage and necrosis, which is composed of epithelioid cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm, have also been reported. These rare cystic types of AML can be mistaken for other cystic tumors, such as cystic renal cell carcinoma, in preoperative imaging. We report the imaging findings of a rare case of EAML with epithelial cysts.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.417-423
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• 2011

Thymosin ${\beta}4$ (TB-4) has been reported to play a key role in tumor growth, metastasis and angiogenesis. In addition, TB-4 induced the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stabilized the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-$1{\alpha}$ in melanoma cells. Although the importance of thymosin ${\beta}4$ in angiogenesis and metastasis has been proven, there are few studies that show the expression patterns of TB-4, VEGF and HIF-$1{\alpha}$. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship among these proteins in various tumors. Using tissue microarray analysis, we investigated the expression patterns of TB-4, VEGF and HIF-$1{\alpha}$ in various tumors to identify the expression patterns and relationships of these proteins in certain tumors. TB-4 was highly expressed in osteosarcoma, colon adenocarcinoma, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, kidney and urinary bladder transitional carcinoma, lung cancer, and liver cancer. HIF-$1{\alpha}$ was highly expressed in nasal cavity inverted papilloma, lung cancer, and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The expression patterns of TB-4 and HIF-$1{\alpha}$ were almost similar and co-localized. VEGF expression was high in the blood vessels in tumors, but usually not high in the tumors themselves. VEGF was moderately expressed in stomach cancer, liver angiosarcoma, gall bladder adenocarcinoma, and uterus endometrial adenocarcinoma. The expression patterns of VEGF shows similarities in certain tumors including stomach cancer, osteosarcoma, liposarcoma, lung cancer, liver cancer, gall bladder adenocarcinoma, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, stomach cancer, colorectal carcinoma and renal cell carcinoma. These results suggest that the expression patterns of TB-4, HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and VEGF were co-localized and related to tumorigenesis and angiogenesis of certain tumors.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.175-182
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• 1997

Forty-two preoperative CT scans with renal cell carcinoma were reviewed and compared with pathologic findings to evaluate the differential points between stage I and II. Regardless of whole body staging, perirenal fat infiltrations were seen in 9 cases and the other 33 cases showed no infiltration onto perirenal fat tissue. We retrospectively reviewed them by comparing tumor size and CT findings, following three view points, lobulating contour of tumor margin, thickening of Gerota's fascia and strands in perirenal fat tissue. The size of them was 2-15 cm, size of the stage I tumors was 2-15 cm and that of stage II was 6-15 cm. In stage I(n=33), 25 cases(76%) showed smooth margin, and the others(n=8) showed lobulating contours. Thickening of Gerota's fascia was observed in 7 cases(21%) and strands in perirenal fat tissue in 14(42%). Of these, only one positive finding was seen in 7 cases(21%), 2 findings in 6(18%), 3 findings in 3 (9%) and nothing in 17cases(51%). In stage II(n=9), 3 cases(34%) showed smooth margin, and the others(n=6) showed lobulating contours. Thickening of Gerota's fascia were observed in 5 cases(55%) and strands in perirenal fat tissue in 9(100%). Of these, one finding was seen in 2 cases(22%), 2 findings in 3(33%), 3 findings in 4 (44%). In conclusion, it is insufficient to evaluate the perirenal fat infiltration in renal cell carcinoma with only one positive finding of 3 view points; lobulation of tumor margin, thickening of Gerota's fascia, strands in perirenal fat tissue. But if all these findings are shown, it is helpful to determinate perirenal fat infiltration of renal cell carcinoma.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.459-463
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• 2015

A 14-year-old, castrated male mixed-breed dog weighing 9 kg was presented for hematuria and dysuria. Abdominal ultrasound showed unilateral hydronephrosis and hydroureter with focal thickening of the ureteral wall. Surgical exploration revealed an intraluminal mass arising from the proximal left ureter. Mass resection was performed. Histopathology of the ureteral mass was consistent with a papillary transitional cell carcinoma. The patient recovered well post-operatively, but was diagnosed with another tumor three months later, this time in the right kidney. Fine-needle aspiration cytology of the renal mass revealed an epithelial cell tumor with mesenchymal features.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.524-531
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• 1996

Purpose : To evaluate the pattern- of skeletal metastases and to classify the pattern of renal uptakes on bone scans in renal cell carcinoma. Materials and Methods : We reviewed the bone scans of 158 patients with RCC established pathologically. In order to identify individual scan lesion as a bone metastasis, we reviewed all available correlative radiological studies, follow-up bone scans, and biopsies for each lesion. The metastatic bone lesions were divided into seven anatomic regions; skull, spine, shoulder girdle, sternum, ribs, pelvis, and long bones of extremities. The individual scan lesions were divided into two groups as the pattern of uptakes, hot and cold lesion. In addition, the contours and uptakes of kidneys with RCC were classified into 6 groups ; normal uptake, photon-deficient lesion, faint up-take with enlargement, uneven uptake with enlargement, lateralization with crescentic shape, and increased uptake. Results : Twenty out of 158(12.7%) patients with RCC at varying stages showed 71 metastatic bone lesions at presentation and on follow- up bone scans. Nearly 80% of all metastatic lesions were in the axial skeleton with predominantly increased uptake of the radioactivity However a considerable number(22.5%) showed cold lesions on bone scan. A half of bone scans revealed abnormal uptake of involved kidney and much more(82.4%) in case of bone metastases. Two common patterns of abnormal renal uptake were photon-deficient lesion (50%) and faint uptake with enlargement(24.3%). In four patients with bone pain or pathologic fracture, bone scans were useful for the serendipitious localization of previously unrecognized primary lesion of RCC as well as for the detection of bone metastases from RCC. Conclusion : The understanding of the pat-terns of skeletal metastases and renal uptakes on bone scans in RCC is important for the useful information about primary lesion(RCC) as well as detection of bone metastases.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.1459-1463
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• 2014

Background: Urological cancers represent a major public problem associated with high mortality and morbidity. The pattern of these cancers varies markedly according to era, region and ethnic groups, but increasing incidence trends overall makes focused epidemiological studies important. The aim of the present study was to assess the incidence of most prevalent urological cancers in Iran from 2003 to 2009. Materials and Methods: The data for this study were obtained from the population-based Cancer Registry Center of the Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Differences of mean age and age distributions of each cancer were compared between 2003 and 2009 in men and women. Results: Bladder cancer was the most common urologic cancer in both genders. The rate difference of age standardized ratio (ASR) of bladder and renal cell carcinoma in women were 1.54 and 2.01 percent per 100,000 population from 2003 to the 2009, respectively. In men, the rate difference of age standardized ratio of prostate, testis, kidney and bladder cancer was also 2.23, 1.2, 1.8 and 1.5 percent per 100,000 population from 2003 to 2009, respectively. The mean ages of patients in all cancers in both genders did not differ significantly through time (p value>0.05) but the distribution of ages of patients with bladder and prostate cancer changed significantly from 2003 to 2009 (p value<0.001). Conclusions: The results of present study suggest the general pattern and incidence of urological cancers in Iran are changing, the observed increase pointing to a need for urological cancer screening programs.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.44.1-44.10
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• 2023

Tumor hypoxia, oxygen deprivation state, occurs in most cancers and promotes angiogenesis, enhancing the potential for metastasis. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family genes play crucial roles in tumorigenesis by promoting angiogenesis. To investigate the malignant processes triggered by hypoxia-induced angiogenesis across pan-cancers, we comprehensively analyzed the relationships between the expression of VEGF family genes and hypoxic microenvironment based on integrated bioinformatics methods. Our results suggest that the expression of VEGF family genes differs significantly among various cancers, highlighting their heterogeneity effect on human cancers. Across the 33 cancers, VEGFB and VEGFD showed the highest and lowest expression levels, respectively. The survival analysis showed that VEGFA and placental growth factor (PGF) were correlated with poor prognosis in many cancers, including kidney renal cell and liver hepatocellular carcinoma. VEGFC expression was positively correlated with glioma and stomach cancer. VEGFA and PGF showed distinct positive correlations with hypoxia scores in most cancers, indicating a potential correlation with tumor aggressiveness. The expression of miRNAs targeting VEGF family genes, including hsa-miR-130b-5p and hsa-miR-940, was positively correlated with hypoxia. In immune subtypes analysis, VEGFC was highly expressed in C3 (inflammatory) and C6 (transforming growth factor β dominant) across various cancers, indicating its potential role as a tumor promotor. VEGFC expression exhibited positive correlations with immune infiltration scores, suggesting low tumor purity. High expression of VEGFA and VEGFC showed favorable responses to various drugs, including BLU-667, which abrogates RET signaling, an oncogenic driver in liver and thyroid cancers. Our findings suggest potential roles of VEGF family genes in malignant processes related with hypoxia-induced angiogenesis.