• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3711-3717
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• 2013

Background: To assess the efficacy and tolerability of Cisplatin plus Gemcitabine combination in patients with brain metastases (BM) from breast cancer (BC). Materials and Methods: Eighteen BC patients with BM who were treated with Cisplatin plus Gemcitabine regimen between 2003-2011 were evaluated. Results: A median of 6 cycles of this regimen were received, in fifteen patients (83.3%) as first-line chemotherapy, in 2 as second-line and in 1 as third-line after diagnosis of BM. Dose reduction was performed in 11 (61.1%) patients; major reasons were neutropenia and leukopenia. Grade III neutropenia and Grade II trombocytopenia rates were 33.3% and 16.7% respectively. Overall response rate (ORR; complete+partial response rate) was 33.4% (n=6) for the entire study population; triple negative patients achieved an 66.6% ORR while hormone receptor (HR) positive patients had 25% and HER2 positive patients 12.5%. Median progression-free survival was 5.6 months (2.4-8.8 months, 95%CI) and longer in patients with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) (median 7.4 months, 95%CI, 2.4-12.3 months) than the patients with other subtypes (median 5 months for HER2 positive and 3.6 months for HR positive patients). Median PFS of the patients with TNBC who received this regimen as first-line was 9.2 months (5.2-13.2 months, 95%CI). Conclusions: Cisplatin plus Gemcitabine may be a treatment option for patients with BM from breast cancer. Longer PFS and higher response rates are results that support the usage of this regimen especially for the triple negative subtype. However, further prospective and randomized trials are clearly required to provide more exact information.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.36 no.11
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• pp.839-845
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• 2003

Background: Even today when chemotherapy has been established as a treatment for tuberculosis and the prevalence of tuberculosis is gradually decreasing, multi-drug resistance tuberculosis still results in poor treatment performance and lowered survival periods. This research sought to analyze the surgery of multi-drug resistance tuberculosis, and determine the usefulness and danger of surgery in connection with this disease. Material and Method: Starting from February 1990 to February 2002, retrospective surveys were conducted targeted at 21 cases involving 20 patients who underwent surgery due to multi-drug resistance tuberculosis. The survey included 14 males cases and 6 females cases with the age averaging 42.8$\pm$12.1 years. 10.3$\pm$7.6 years on average passed after patients were initially diagnosed with tuberculosis. 13 patients (65%) tested positive in the pre-operative sputum AFB test, and all showed resistance against an average of 3.5 anti-tuberculosis agents including INH and RFP. Pre-operative radiologic examinations revealed cavitary lesions in 15 patients (75%), and three patients had lesions in the both lung fields, with the major lesions existing in the unilateral area. 13 patients (75%) failed negative conversion with medical treatment, while two patients (10%) with recurrent hemoptysis and five patients (25%) with lesions involving high recurrence-rate received the operation. Operations included nine cases (40%) of pneumonectomy, nine cases (45%) of lobectomy, and three cases of lobectomy with segmentectomy. The average follow-up period of patients stood at 23 months. Result: There was no post-operative death, and found were a total of eleven cases involving complications were found: three cases of long-term air leakage, three cases of bleeding requiring re-operation, two cases of empyemas due to broncho-pleural fistula, and one case of atelectasis, wound infection and chest wall fistula each. Eleven cases (85%) of negative conversion were completed immediately after the operation, and two cases failed negative conversion. Eleven months after the operation, the disease recurred in one case of negative conversion patients, and the patient was cured by completion pneumonectomy. Conclusion: If patients' lung function was sufficient and appropriate resection was possible, multi-drug resistance tuberculosis could achieve high-rate negative conversion and cure using combination of surgical and medical treatment, and also there were not many serious complications.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.786-792
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• 1997

A clinical study of 71 cases of pulmonary tuberculosis that had had surgical resection during the period of 7 years and 6months from January 1989 to June 1996 in National Masan Tuberculosis Hospital. The results were as follows. 1. The ratio of male to female was 3.7:1 and in the age incidence the fourth decade was 22%, the third decade 15%. Although medical treatment was performed for more than 3 to 6 months, preoHeratively the conversion failure rate of positive sputum to negative state was 66.2%(47 cases). Of the failure cases, multiple-drug-resistant(MDR) patients were 41 cases(87.2%), 3. In MDR group, preoperatively conversion failure rate was 71.9%. 4. From the view of indica ion for lung resection on the radiographic finding, cavitary lesions were 43 cases(60.6%), destroyed lung lesions were 24 cases(33.8%). 5. The incidence of postoperative complication was 28.2%(20 cases). All cases were MDR 6. group and the most common of complication was tuberculosis spreading. In bilateral lesion, incidence of postoperative tuberculosis spreading was 25%(7 cases). Of the 7 cases, there was the cavitary lesion in 6 cases(86.7%). Total conversion rate of AFB positive sputum to negative state related to resectional sugery was 76.6% and in MDR group conversion rate of AFB positive sputum to negative state was 73.2% Conversion rate of MDR group with bilateral lesion was the lowest(60%). Conversion rate of drug-sensitivity group was 100% regardeless of lesions Slt to. In conclusion, despite of long-standing medical treatment, it is difficult to converse sputum-positive to negative state in multiple-drug resistance patients and that increases postoperative complications su h as tuberculosis relapse as a lack of appropriate drugs postoperatively. Postoperative conversion rate of sputum-positive to negative state was decreased in multiple-drug resistance patients. Because multiple-drug resistance patients have inireased due to several factors in Korea, it is important to prevent spreading of multiple-drug resistnce patients through the aggressive operative treatment. When the first medical therapy is fail or drug-resistance is found, operative treatment should be considered with the secondary medical therapy. The operation should be aggressively attempted even though at first medical treatment if indicated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4507-4511
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease comprising of distinct biological subtypes with many targeted prognostic biomarkers having therapeutic implications. However, no specific targeted therapy for triple negative breast cancer has been discovered to date and hence further research is needed. Aim: The aim and objectives of the present study were to examine the prevalence of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) in North-East India and to compare the clinicopathological parameters in two study groups defined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) - "TNBC" and "Others". Materials and Methods: We carried out a retrospective study in a cohort of 972 patients diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma in the Department of Pathology, Dr. B. Borooah Cancer Institute, a Regional Cancer Centre for treatment and research, Guwahati, for a period of 3 years and 10 months from January 2010 to October 2013. Based on IHC findings, patients were divided into two groups - "TNBC" and "Others". All relevant clinicopathological parameters were compared in both. TNBC were defined as those that were estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and HER2/neu negative while those positive for any of these markers were defined as "Others". Results: In this study, out of total 972 cases 31.9% (310 cases) were defined as TNBC and 662 cases (68.1%) as "Others" based on IHC markers. Compared to the "Others" category, TNBC presented at an early age (mean 40 years), were associated with high grade large tumours and high rate of node positivity, IDC NOS being the most common histological subtype in TNBC. Conclusions: TNBC accounts for a significant portion of breast cancers in this part of India and commonly present at younger age and tend to be large high grade tumours.

• Journal of Periodontal and Implant Science
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2003

Several growth factors and polypeptides are not commonly yet used for regenerators of bone tissue or alveolar bone because of the insufficiency of studies on their side effects, genetic engineering for mass production and stability for clinical application. Recently, many herbal medicines, which have advantage of less side effects and possibility of long-term use, have been studied for their capacity and effects of anti-bacterial, antiinflammatory and regenerative potential of periodontal tissues. Morindae Radix, Cibotium Barometz (L.), Albizziae Cortex, Cistandhis Herba have been traditionally used as medicines for treatment of bone disease in Eastern medicine. The objective of the present study is to examine the ability of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity of human fetal osteoblast (hFOB1) when several natural medicines were supplemented. hFOB1 were cultured with Dulbecuo's Modified Eagle's Medium Nutrient Mixture F-12 HAM ( DMEM/F-12 1:1 Mixture, Sigma, USA) and negative control, dexamethasone (positive control), and each natural medicines for 3 days. And then ALP activity was measured by spectrophotometer for enzyme activity and Alizarin red S staining for morphometry. Among the natural medicines of this study, Morindae Radix, Cibotium Barometz (L.) and Cistanchis Herba induced higher activity of ALP synthesis than negative controls in all experimental group. Albizziae Cortex showed mild increases than negative control group. According to measurement of positively stained area, all of the natural medicines of this study increased compared to negative control. Especially, Cibotium Barometz (L.) and Cistanchis Herba showed statistical significance compared to negative control (p<0.05). These results indicate that Morindae Radix, Cibotium Barometz (L.), Albizziae Cortex, Cistandhis Herba have an inducing ability of ALP synthesis on osteoblast.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6443-6447
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• 2014

Background: To determine the predictive value of the baseline stimulated thyroglobulin (STg) level for ablation outcome in patients undergoing adjuvant remnant radioiodine ablation (RRA) for differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC). Materials and Methods: This retrospective study accrued 64 patients (23 male and 41 female; mean age of $40{\pm}14$ years) who had total thyroidectomy followed by RRA for DTC from January 2012 till April 2014. Patients with positive anti-Tg antibodies and distant metastasis on post-ablative whole body iodine scans (TWBIS) were excluded. Baseline STg was used to predict successful ablation (follow-up STg <2 ng/ml, negative diagnostic WBIS and negative ultrasound neck) at 7-12 months follow-up. Results: Overall, successful ablation was noted in 37 (58%) patients while ablation failed in 27 (42%). Using the ROC curve, a cut-off level of baseline STg level of ${\leq}14.5ng/ml$ was found to be most sensitive and specific for predicting successful ablation. Successful ablation was thus noted in 25/28 (89%) of patients with baseline STg ${\leq}14.5ng/ml$ and 12/36 (33%) patients with baseline STg >14.5 ng/ml ((p value <0.05). Age >40 years, female gender, PTS >2 cm, papillary histopathology, positive cervical nodes and positive TWBIS were significant predictors of ablation failure. Conclusions: We conclude that in patients with total thyroidectomy followed by I-131 ablation for DTC, the baseline STg level is a good predictor of successful ablation based on a stringent triple negative criteria (i.e. follow-up STg < 2 ng/ml, a negative DWBIS and a negative US neck).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3321-3324
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• 2016

Background: Androgen receptors (ARs) are expressed in more than 70% of breast cancers (BCs) and have been implicated in BC pathogenesis. Some triple negative (TN)BC tumors express AR and may benefit from AR-targeted therapies. The aim of this study was to evaluate survival and the prevalence of AR expression and its correlation with other risk factors in triple negative BCs in women from Western Iran. Materials and Methods: In a retrospective study between 2009-2015, 41 patients with TNBC were referred to the Private Clinic of Oncology, Kermanshah city, Iran. ER, PR and AR-positive expression was defined as ${\geq}10%$ nuclear staining and also HER2 (2+), FISH was performed. Nuclear staining was considered representative for Ki67 and P53. The mean follow-up for the patients was 25 months. In this time, 5 patients died and 4 lost to follow-up were censored from survival analysis. Results: The mean age at diagnosis was 46.9 years (range, 24-71 years) and all patients were female. The OS rates for AR-positive and AR-negative patients were 90% and 85.1%, respectively, and the mean OS was 26.3 and 23.2 months. Therefore, there was no significant difference between the two groups (Hazard ratio: 0.580, 95% CI: 0.086-3.893, P=0.575). Conclusions: In TNBC patients, evaluation of AR status may provide additional information on prognosis and treatment. The results of studies showed that the prevalence AR expression may differ in the world and probably ethnicity can be an influencing factor.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.580-587
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• 2010

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary water-soluble carbohydrate extract from Renga renga lily (Arthropodium cirratum) and a commercial product, $Frutafit^{{\circledR}}$ (both fructans) on the performance, organ weights, ileal digestibility and gut morphology of male Cobb broiler chickens. There were six treatment groups: a negative control with no supplements, a positive control supplemented with 45 ppm Zn-bacitracin, and four test diets each supplemented with Renga renga lily extract or Frutafit at 5 or 10 g/kg diet. Supplementation with low levels of Renga renga lily extract and Frutafit in the diet did not affect productive parameters, whereas the inclusion of a high level of Frutafit had a negative effect on BWG and FI compared with birds fed the negative control diet. The addition of an antibiotic to the diet significantly improved (p<0.05) the BWG and FCR of broilers. Apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter, starch, protein and fat was not affected (p>0.05) by supplementation with both levels of lily extract and the low level of Frutafit. The apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter, protein and fat was decreased (p<0.05) by the high level of Frutafit. The apparent metabolisable energy (AME) of the diets fed the high level of Frutafit was approximately 0.2 MJ/kg DM lower than that of the negative control group. The addition of Zn-bacitracin increased (p<0.05) the apparent ileal digestibility of fat. The relative weight of the liver was higher (p<0.05) in broilers supplemented with the high level of Frutafit than for negative control birds at 14 and 35 d of age. Feeding Renga renga lily extract or Frutafit had no effect on the gut morphology of birds on d 14 and 35. It can be concluded that dietary inclusion of fructans from the two sources used in this study affected broiler performance differently and in a dose-dependent manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.137-142
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• 2015

Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) has been used for the treatment of urinary tract infections, but increasing resistance to TMP-SMX has been reported. In this study, we analyzed TMP-SMX resistance genes and their relatedness with integrons and insertion sequence common regions (ISCRs) in uropathogenic gram-negative bacilli. Consecutive nonduplicate TMP-SMX nonsusceptible clinical isolates of E. coli, K. pneumoniae, Acinetobacter spp., and P. aeruginosa were collected from urine. The minimal inhibitory concentration was determined by Etest. TMP-SMX resistance genes (sul and dfr), integrons, and ISCRs were analyzed by PCR and sequencing. A total of 45 E. coli (37.8%), 15 K. pneumoniae (18.5%), 12 Acinetobacter spp. (70.6%), and 9 Pseudomonas aeruginosa (30.0%) isolates were found to be resistant to TMP-SMX. Their MICs were all over 640. In E. coli and K. pneumoniae, sul1 and dfr genes were highly prevalent in relation with integron1. The sul3 gene was detected in E. coli. However, in P. aeruginosa and Acinetobacter spp., only sul1 was prevalent in relation with class 1 integron; however, dfr was not detected and sul2 was less prevalent than in Enterobacteriaceae. ISCR1 and/or ISCR2 were detected in E. coli, K. pneumoniae, and Acinetobacter spp. but the relatedness with TMP-SMX resistance genes was not prominent. ISCR14 was detected in six isolates of E. coli. In conclusion, resistance mechanisms for TMP-SMX were different between Enterobacteriaceae and glucose non-fermenting gram-negative bacilli. Class 1 integron was widely disseminated in uropathogenic gram-negative baciili, so the adoption of prudent use of antimicrobial agents and the establishment of a surveillance system are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1 s.37
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• pp.75-83
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• 1999

To investigate the effects of negative therapy at back meridian points on blood gas components and immune functions in male college students, this study was conducted on treatment types(abdomen group and back group) at three sampling times (before, post-2 wks and post-4 wks) by using $2{\times}3$ factoral design. Blood gas $components(pH,\;PCO_2,\;PO_2,\;HCO_3^-,\;O_2SAT,\;BE)$, red blood cell, hematocrit, hemoglobin, white blood cell and subsets(neutrophil, basophil, eosinophil. lymphocyte, monocyte), total T cells, helper T cells, suppressor T cells, Th/Ts ratio, total B cells, serum immunoglobulin levels (IgG, IgA, IgM, IgD, IgE), Cytokines(Interlukin$-1{\beta}$, -2, -4, 2 receptor, -6 and ${\gamma}$-interferon), NK cells were measured. Collected with data were analyzed statistically by repealed measured ANOVA. The pattern of change between two groups for hematocrit, hemoglobin, suppressor T cells, interleukin-6, ${\gamma}-interferon$, NK cells at post-2 weeks and BE, lymphocyte, basophil at post-4 weeks was significantly different(p<0.05) And also the pattern of change over time for ${HCO_3}^-$(2 wks vs 4 wks), WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte(0 wks vs 2 wks and 2 wks vs 4 wks) was significantly different(p<0.05). In summary, these data suggest that negative therapy at back meridian points had an effect on blood gas components and immune functions in male college students because practicing negative therapy at back meridian points was not associated with changes of all blood gas components and immune factors but associated with changes of BE, hematocrit, hemoglobin, WBC. neutrophil, lymphocyte, interleukin-6. ${\gamma}-interferon$, NK cells.