• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• 제47권2호
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• pp.76-81
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• 2021

Objectives: We aimed to collect and report data from all patients who have been diagnosed with mucosal malignant melanoma to obtain the epidemiology and principles of current treatments. Materials and Methods: Between January 2008 and December 2018, 20 patients underwent surgery or follow-up observations at Yonsei University Dental Hospital. The patients' clinical information was reviewed retrospectively. Results: Seventeen of 20 patients had undergone definitive surgery, while only 6 patients received adjuvant radiotherapy or systemic therapy. Eight of 20 patients, including those that had recurrent lesions, were provided immunotherapy. The 3-year survival for all stages was 50%, with a local recurrence rate of 75% and a metastasis rate of 65%. Conclusion: The overall survival of patients receiving surgical treatment was longer than that of patients who did not undergo surgical resection. Eight of 20 patients received immunotherapy as the first-line regimen at our clinic, and those patients exhibited longer overall survival compared to patients in reported keynote studies.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.58-65
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• 2015

Melanoma is the most aggressive skin cancer and its incidence is gradually increasing worldwide. Patients with metastatic melanoma have a very poor prognosis (estimated 5-year survival rate of <16%). In the last few years, several drugs have been approved for malignant melanoma, such as tyrosine kinase inhibitors and immune checkpoint blockades. Although new therapeutic agents have improved progression-free and overall survival, their use is limited by drug resistance and drug-related toxicity. At the same time, adoptive cell therapy of metastatic melanoma with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes has shown promising results in preclinical and clinical studies. In this review, we summarize the currently available drugs for treatment of malignant melanoma. In addition, we suggest cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells as another candidate approach for adoptive cell therapy of melanoma. Our preclinical study and several previous studies have shown that CIK cells have potent anti-tumor activity against melanomas in vitro and in an in vivo human tumor xenograft model without any toxicity.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제32권5호
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• pp.635-640
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• 2005

Sentinel lymphnode biopsy is widely performed in the management of malignant melanoma and breast cancer. The sentinel lymphnode is the prime site of draining from the malignant lesion and of metastasis. The aim of this study was to evaluate a usefulness of lymphoscintigraphy in conjunction with a removal of sentinel lymphnodes of skin and soft tissue malignancy. We studied 11 patients selected between January, 2003 and November, 2004. Clinically sentinel lymphnodes free of metastasis were examined with lymphoscintigraphy, gamma detection probe and vital dye staining, and we reviewed histopathologic findings and inert status of the nodes and the results fo treatment. Nine cases were malignant melanoma, one was squamous cell carcinoma on the left hand and another one leiomyosarcoma. Sentinel lymphnodes were identified in all cases. Three cases of malignant melanoma had positive sentinel lymphnodes on histological examination. All patients with positive sentinel lymphnodes were treated with therapeutic regional lymphadectomy, chemotherapy and adjuvant regimen. Four patients underwent PET scanning and followed sentinel lymphnode biopsy. Two had no metastasis signs on PET scanning. Therapeutic lymphnode dissection was carried out upon the patients whose sentinel lymphnode was positive on PET scanning. We contend that lymphoscintigraphy and sentinel lymphnode biopsy are reliable to confirm regional lymphnode metastasis of the skin and soft tissue malignancy, and blind extensive lymphnode dissection can be spared.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권4호
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• pp.1551-1556
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• 2014

Background: Transient receptor potential melastatin 8 (TRPM8), a principle membrane receptor involved in calcium ion influx and cell signal transduction, has been found to be up-regulated in some cancer types, including melanomas. Efficiency of menthol, an agonist of TRPM8, in killing melanoma cancer cells has been reported previously, but the mechanisms remain unclear. We here determined whether in vitro cytotoxic effects of menthol on A-375 human malignant melanoma cells might be related to TRPM8 transcript expression. Materials and Methods: The $PrestoBlue^{(R)}$ cell viability assay was used to assess the in vitro cytotoxic effect of menthol after 24h of treatment. RT-PCR was used to quantify TRPM8 transcript expression levels in normal and menthol-treated cells. Cell morphology was observed under inverted phase contrast light microscopy. Results: TRPM8 transcript expression was found at low levels in A-375 cells and down-regulated in a potentially dose-dependent manner by menthol. Menthol exerted in vitro cytotoxic effects on A-375 cells with an $IC_{50}$ value of 11.8 ${\mu}M$, which was at least as effective as 5-fluorouracil ($IC_{50}=120{\mu}M$), a commonly applied chemotherapeutic drug. Menthol showed no dose-dependent cytotoxicity on HeLa cells, a TRPM8 non-expressing cell line. Conclusions: The cytotoxic effects on A-375 cells caused by menthol might be related to reduction of the TRPM8 transcript level. This suggests that menthol might activate TRPM8 to increase cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ levels, which leads to cytosolic $Ca^{2+}$ imbalance and triggers cell death.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.1833-1840
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• 2013

Metastasis is one of the hallmarks of malignant neoplasms and is the leading cause of death in many cancer patients. A major challenge in cancer treatment is to find better ways to specifically target tumor metastasis. In this study, the anti-metastatic potential of the methanolic extract of Rhizophora apiculata (R.apiculata) was evaluated using the B16F-10 melanoma induced lung metastasis model in C57BL/6 mice. Metastasis was induced in C57BL/6 mice by injecting highly metastatic B16F-10 melanoma cells through the lateral tail vein. Simultaneous treatment with R.apiculata extract (10 mg/kg b.wt (intraperitoneal) significantly (p<0.01) inhibited pulmonary tumor nodule formation (41.1 %) and also increased the life span (survival rate) 107.3 % of metastatic tumor bearing animals. The administration of R.apiculata extract significantly (p<0.01) reduced biochemical parameters such as lung collagen hydroxyproline, hexosamine, uronic acid content, serum nitric oxide (NO), ${\gamma}$-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) and sialic acid levels when compared to metastasis controls. These results correlated with lung histopathology analysis of R.apiculata extract treated mice showing reduction in lung metastasis and tumor masses. Taken together, our findings support that R.apiculata extract could be used as a potential anti-metastasis agent against lung cancer.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제35권4호
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• pp.98-103
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• 2014

Objectives: Advanced malignant melanoma (MM) has a poor prognosis, with an expected 2-year survival rate of 10 to 20%. It has long been recognized as an immunogenic tumor, and is worse for elderly patients. Many studies have suggested that herbal treatments improve immune functions, but few clinical studies have reported on this topic. Patients and History: We present two cases of female patients (72 and 77 years old, respectively) with advanced MM. The 72-year-old female patient was, at first, diagnosed with MM with multiple bone metastases. She received resection of the primary lesion, but refused further chemotherapy. The 77-year-old female patient was diagnosed with cutaneous MM of the left heel, with suspicion of sentinel node lymphadenopathy; however, she also refused any conventional treatment due to old age. Course of Therapy and Results: Both patients were exclusively treated with standardized allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua stokes (aRVS) extract combined with Bojungikki-tang (BT, Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang in Chinese or Hochu-ekki-to in Japanese). Both patients are still alive and doing well (Feb. 2014), demonstrating that the 72-year-old patient has lived for 27 months and the 77-year-old patient has lived for 31 months without disease progression since the aRVS and BT administration. Conclusion: We suggest that the combination of aRVS extract and BT could be a candidate for overcoming the cancer's immunoediting process especially for elderly MM patients intolerant of conventional treatment.

• Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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• 제7권4호
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• pp.212-215
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• 2002

Tyrosinase transcript In the blood Is known as the marker of malignant melanoma and it has been often determined by using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCA) . However, after the PCR process, the quantification of amplified CDMA by the gel electrophoresis is not reliable and time-consuming. for this reason, we tried to quantify the PCR product using a cuvette-type biosensor, where the oligonucleotide probe was immobilized on the cuvette surface and the single strand CDMA, the denatured PCH product, was then hybridized onto the immobilized probe to give a response signal. The response was Immediate and takes 15 min to obtain a stable signal. The biosensor was much more sensitive comparing to the gel electrophoresis method. The quantification of PCR product using a cuvette-type biosensor was feasible and rapid.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• 제53권2호
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• pp.196-201
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• 2002

악성 흑색종은 멜라닌세포에서 발생하는 종양으로 전체 악성 종양의 3%를 차지하고, 피부, 안구, 피부주위점막에서 호발한다. 이들은 주로 피부, 림프절, 폐, 간, 골 등으로 전이되고 폐의 전이는 약 5~15%에서 일어난다. 그러나 기관지 점막으로의 전이는 흔하지 않다. 특히 기관지 및 폐장으로 전이된 원발불명의 악성 흑색종은 아직 보고된 예가 없다. 이에 저자들은 기침과 검은색 객담을 주소로 내원하였던 34세 남자환자에서 굴곡성 기관지 내시경 및 조직검사를 시행하여 vimentin, S-100 protein, HMB-45 염색에 양성을 보이는 양측 폐장 및 기관지점막으로 전이된 악성 흑색종을 경험하였기에 문헌고찰과 함께 보고하는 바이다.

• 한국응용과학기술학회지
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.297-305
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• 2009

Melanoma is the most serious type of skin cancer as a malignant tumor of melanocytes. In this work, the syntheses of a novel series of benzaminoquinoline derivatives 1a-c and their antiproliferative activities against A375 human melanoma cell line were described. All the compounds ($IC_{50}=0.78-1.02{\mu}M$) showed superior antiproliferative activities to Sorafenib ($IC_{50}=5.58{\mu}M$) as a reference compound. These results suggested that benzaminoquinoline derivatives have potentials as a therapeutic agent for the treatment for melanoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권19호
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• pp.8161-8169
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• 2014

Background: Cancer stem cells (CSC) are populations of cells responsible for tumor initiation, progression and therapeutic resistance in many cancers. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the expression pattern and clinical significance of two CSC markers, CD133 and Nestin, in a series of skin tumors. Materials and Methods: One hundred and thirteen paraffin blocks from skin cancers including 16 (14%) cases of melanoma, 37 (33%) of squamous cell cancer (SCC) and 60 (53%) of basal cell cancer (BCC) were collected and assembled in a tissue microarray (TMA). The samples were immunohistochemically examined for the expression of CD133 and Nestin. Expression of these markers was also correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Results: A significant difference was observed in the expression of CD133 and Nestin in melanomas, SCC and BCC (p value=0.001). Furthermore, the level of expression was significantly higher in the melanomas compared to the SCC and BCC tumors. Expression of CD133 in the melanoma was significantly associated with increased tumor invasiveness (p value=0.05), a higher rate of metastasis (p value=0.04) and the presence of ulceration (p value=0.02). Increased expression of Nestin was observed in metastatic melanoma (p value=0.04), while no statistically significant correlation was found with other clinicopathological parameters including Breslow thickness, Clark level and ulceration. Conclusions: Elevated expression levels of CD133 and Nestin in the melanomas are associated with advanced disease, with more aggressive and metastatic skin tumors. Therefore, these markers could be potential therapeutic targets for malignant tumors of the skin.