• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.257-264
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• 2000

Purpose: For early stage non-small-cell lung cancer, surgical resection is the treatment of choice. But when the patients are not able to tolerate it because of medical problem and when refuse surgery, radiation therapy is considered an acceptable alternative. We report on the treatment results and the effect of achieving local control of primary tumors on survival end points, and analyze factors that may influence survival and local control. Materials and Method : We reviewed the medical records of 32 patients with medically inoperable non-small cell lung cancer treated at our institution from June, 1987 through June, 1997. All patients had a pathologic diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer and were not candidate for surgical resection because of either patients refusal (4), old age (2), lung problem (21), chest wail invasion (3) and heart problems (3). In 8 patients, there were more than 2 problems. The median age of the patients was 68 years (ranging from 60 to 86 years). Histologic cell type included souamous (24), adenocarcinoma (6) and unclassiried squamous cell (2). The clinical stages of the patients were 71 in 5, 72 in 25, 73 in 2 patients. Initial tumor size was 3.0 cm in 11, between 3.0 cm and 5.0 cm in 13 and more than 5.0 cm in 8 patients. Ail patients had taken chest x-rays, chest CT, abdomen USG and bone scan. Radiotherapy was delivered using 6 MV or 10 MV linear accelerators. The doses of primary tumor were the ranging from 54.0 Gy to 68.8 Gy (median; 61.2 Gy). The duration of treatment was from 37 days through 64 days (median; 0.5 days) and there was no treatment interruption except 1 patient due to poor general status. In 12 patients, concomitant boost technique was used. There were no neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatments such as surgery or chemotherapy. The period of follow-up was ranging from 2 months through 93 months (median; 23 months). Survival was measured from the date radiation therapy was initiated. Results : The overall survival rate was 44.6$\%$ at 2 years and 24.5$\%$ at 5 years, with the median survival time of 23 months. of the 25 deaths, 7 patients died of intercurrent illness, and cause-specific survival rate was 61.0$\%$ at 2 years and 33.5$\%$ at 5 years. The disease-free survival rate was 38.9$\%$ at 2 years and 28.3$\%$ at 5 years. The local-relapse-free survival rate was 35.1$\%$, 28.1$\%$, respectively. On univariate analysis, tumor size was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.4814-5.2815), disease-free survival (P=0.0022, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.4707-5.7780) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0015, 95$\%$ C.1., 1.2910- 4.1197). 7 stage was significant variable of overall survival (p=0.0395, 95$\%$ C.1.; 1.1084-55.9112) and had borderline significance on disease-free survival (p=0.0649, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.8888-50.7123) and local-relapse-free survival (p=0.0582, 95$\%$ C,1.; 0.9342-52.7755). On multivariate analysis, tumor size had borderline significance on overall survival (p=0.6919, 955 C.1., 0.9610-5.1277) and local-relapse-free survival ( p=0.0585, 95$\%$ C.1.; 0.9720-4.9657). Tumor size was also significant variable of disease-free survival (p=0.0317, 95% C.1.; 1.1028-8.4968). Conclusion : Radical radiotherapy is an effective treatment for small (71 or f3 cm) tumors and can be offered as alternative to surgery in elderly or infirmed patients. But when the size of tumor is larger than 5 cm, there were few long-term survivors treated with radiotherapy alone. The use of hypefractionated radiotherapy, endobronchial boost, radisensitizer and conformal or IMRT should be consider to improve the local control rate and disease-specific survival rate.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.142-145
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• 2001

Purpose : Acute leukemia with hyperleukocytosis (more than $10^5/mm^3$) is at high risk of early sudden death, usually from intracerebral hemorrhage. Emergency cranial irradiation is a relatively simple approach to solve this the problem. We summarized our experience of cranial irradiation in 24 leukemic children who presented with hyperleukocytosis. Methods and Materials : Between 1990 and 1998, 40 children with acute leukemia presenting with hyperleukocytosis were referred for emergency cranial irradiation. Among these patients, 24 children were evaluable. There were 16 boys and eight girls, their ages ranged from 2 to 13 years (median 9.5 years). The initial leukocyte counts ranged $109,910/mm^3\;to\;501,000/mm^3$. Peripheral blood smear was peformed in all patients and noted the morphology of the blast. Introduction of emergency cranial irradiation was determined by the leukocyte counts (more than 100,000/mm) and the existence of the blast in peripheral blood smear. All patients were treated with intravenous hydration with alkaline fluid and oral allopurinol. Cranial irradiation started on the day of diagnosis. With 2 Gy in one fraction in 4 patients, 4 Gy in two fractions in 20 patients. Results : The WBC count had fallen in 19 patients (83%) and no intracerebral hemorrhage occurred after irradiation. There were five cases of early deaths. Four patients died of metabolic complications, and one patient with intracerebral hemorrhage. He died 5 hours after cranial irradiation. No patient had any immediate side effect from cranial irradiation. Conclusion : Our data suggest, that emergency cranial irradiation can be safely chosen and effective in childhood leukemic patients presenting with high leukocyte counts.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 1995

Purpose : To evaluate the efficacy of radiotherapy for the low-grade astrocy-tomas and confirm the variables influencing treatment results. Materials and Methods : Forty-six patients with low-grade astrocytoma received radiotherapy after surgical removal (36 patients) or biopsy (10 patients) from 1979 to 1990. Twenty patients had grade I histology and 26 had grade II. External radiotherapy was done by conventional schedule with the total dose of 45 to 60 Gy (median: 54 Gy). The median follow-up period was 5 years. Results : The 2- and 5-year survival rates were $80\%$ and $72\%$, respectively and the 2- and 5-year progression-free survival was $75\%$ and $63\%$, respectively. The survival was influenced significantly by the histologic grade, the histologic type, and performance status. Major complication was not found. Conclusion: In spite of good survival, the local failure was still the major problem. Age and the extent of surgery as well as three favorable factors should be considered in the future treatments.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.8-14
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• 2003

The spinal cord dose is the one of the limiting factor for the radiation treatment of the head ＆ neck or the thorax region. It is not an easy task to maintain the spinal cord dose below tolerance and to keep the clinically acceptable dose to the PTV in this region. To overcome this problem, the spinal cord partial block technique (PBT) with the dynamic Multi-Leaf Collimator (dMLC) has been developed. This technique is an extension of the conventional treatment planning. In the beginning the beam directions are selected as same as the conventional treatment planning to encompass the PTV, then the partial block are designed to shield the spinal cord. The plan comparisons between the conventional therapy plan and the PTB plan were performed to evaluate the validity of this technique. The mean dose and the dose volume histogram (DVH) were used as the plan comparison indices. A series of quality assurance (QA) was performed to guarantee the reliable treatment. The QA consisted of the film dosimetry for the verification of the dose distribution and the point measurements. The PBT plan generated better results than the conventional treatment plan and it was proved to be useful for the H＆N region.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.159-165
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• 2005

The characterization of radiological contamination inside pipes generated during the decommission of a nuclear facility is necessary before pipes can be recycled or disposed. But, existing direct measurements of radioactive contamination level using the survey-meter can not estimate the characteristic of contamination on a local area such as the pipe inside. Moreover, the measurement of surface contamination level using the indirect methods has many problems of an application because of the difficulty of collecting sample and contamination possibility of a worker when collecting sample. In this work, plastic scintillator was simulated by using Monte Carlo simulation method for detection of beta radiation emitted from internal surfaces of small diameter pipe. Simulation results predicted the optimum thickness and geometry of plastic scintillator at which energy absorption for beta radiation was maximized. In addition, the problem of scintillator processing and transferring the detector into the pipe inside was considered when fabricating the plastic detector on the basis of simulation results. The characteristic of detector fabricated was also estimated. As a result, it was confirmed that detector capability was suitable for the measurement of contamination level. Also, the development of a detector for estimating the radiological characteristic of contamination on a local area such as the pipe inside was proven to be feasible.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.91-99
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• 2013

There are many reasons for decommissioning of cyclotron such as not only age-related deficiency, any serious wear or damage but also relocation, upgrade and changing mission. Decommission of cyclotron in USA and EU give rise to a lot of low-level radioactive waste and costs. Various research on decommissioning of particle accelerator have been carried to reduce the cost of decommissioning in USA and EU. In USA, the NRC require DFP (Decommissioning Funding Plan) to authorized licenser by 10 CFR Part 30.35. To resolve radioactive waste problem and reduce the estimated cost of cyclotron decommissioning, we should consider technical aspects (decommissioning procedures, decontamination techniques, etc.) and safety aspects(residual radioactivity, the expected dose, etc) for decommissioning. In this study, we analyzed practical information on the decommissioning of cyclotron in ANL (Argonne National Laboratory) and Belgium (EU). And we investigated the experience on the cyclotron relocation from SNUH (Seoul National University Hospital) to SKKU (Sungkyunkwan University). From these results, we provide the basic data for establishing of relevant standards on domestic cyclotron decommissioning. It is necessary to adopt the DFP for safe and economic decommissioning and waste recycling. These result could be utilized for the establishment on the standards and useful requirements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Crop Science Conference
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• 2017.06a
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• pp.308-308
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• 2017

The low and unstable yield of soybean has been a major problem in Japan. Excess soil moisture conditions are one of the major factors to restrict soybean productivity. More than 80 % of soybean crops are cultivated in converted paddy fields which often have poor drainage. In central and eastern regions of Japan, the early vegetative growth of soybean tends to be restricted by the flooding damage because the early growth period is overlapped with the rainy season. Field observation shows that induced excess water stress in early vegetative stage reduces dry matter production by decreasing intercepted radiation by leaf and radiation use efficiency (RUE) (Bajgain et al., 2015). Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the responses of soybean growth for excess water conditions to assess these effects on soybean productions. In this study, we aim to modify the soybean crop model (Sinclair et al., 2003) by adding the components of the restriction of leaf area development and RUE for adaptable to excess water conditions. This model was consist of five components, phenological model, leaf area development model, dry matter production model, plant nitrogen model and soil water balance model. The model structures and parameters were estimated from the data obtained from the field experiment in Tsukuba. The excess water effects on the leaf area development were modeled with consideration of decrease of blanch emergence and individual leaf expansion as a function of temperature and ground water level from pot experiments. The nitrogen fixation and nitrogen absorption from soil were assumed to be inhibited by excess water stress and the RUE was assumed to be decreasing according to the decline of leaf nitrogen concentration. The results of the modified model were better agreement with the field observations of the induced excess water stress in paddy field. By coupling the crop model and the ground water level model, it may be possible to assess the impact of excess water conditions for soybean production quantitatively.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.275-283
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• 1995

PERALS(Photon Electron Rejecting Alpha Liquid Scintillation) spectrometry coupled with solvent extraction method has been set up for the analysis of $^{222}Rn\;and\;^{226}Ra$ in the groundwater. This analytical method offers low background, better energy resolution and lower quenching problem than the other techniques. By the analysis of NIST SRM 4966 $^{226}Ra$ standard, the analytical accuracy and precision were found to be 3% and 1%, respectively, and the relative standard deviation of the recovery of Rn extraction between pH2 and pH10 was 7%. Detection limits of $^{222}Rn$ and $^{226}Ra$ for 10 hours counting were counted to be $0.42 pCi/{\iota}\;and\;0.016 pCi/{\iota}$, respectively. For the test analysis of $^{222}Rn\;and\;^{226}Ra$ in the graundwater, hot spring water samples of 17 regions were analyzed. The concentration of $^{222}Rn$ were in the range of $90{\sim}5200pCi/{\iota}$ and average value was $1470pCi/{\iota}\;^{226}Ra$ concentration showed a peak value of $97.9pCi/{\iota}$ in a Kangwon region, but the average value was $1.14pCi/{\iota}$ except that region.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 1999

The ion-exchange method for the purification of primary coolant has been used broadly in PWR(pressurized water reactor)-type nuclear power plants due to its high decontamination efficiency, simple system, and easy operation. However, its non-selective removal of metal and non-radionuclides shortens its life, resulting in the generation of a large amount of waste ion-exchange resin. In this study, the feasibility of electrodeionization (EDI) was investigated for the purification of primary cooling water using synthetic solutions under various experimental conditions as an alternative method for the ion exchange. The results shows that as the feed flow-rate increased, the removal efficiency increased and the power consumption decreased. The removal rate was observed as a 1000 decontamination factor(DF) at a nearly constant level. For the synthetic solution of 3 ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solid), the power consumption was 40.3 mWh/L at 2.0 L/min of feed flow rate. The higher removal rate of metal species and lower power consumption were obtained with greater resin volume per diluting compartment. However, the flow rate of the EDI process decreased with the elapsed time because of the hydrodynamic resistivity of resin itself and resin fouling by suspended solids. Thus, the ion-exchange resin was replaced by an ion-conducting spacer in order to overcome the drawback. The system equipped with the ion-conducting spacer resolved the problem of the decreasing flow rate but showed a lower efficiency in terms of the power consumption, the removal rate of metal species and current efficiency. In the repeated batch operation, it was found that the removal efficiency of metal species was stably maintained at DF 1000.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5331-5336
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• 2014

Background: Early onset breast cancer is associated with poor outcomes but variable results have been reported. It is a significant problem in Pakistani women but remains under reported. Breast conservation plays an important role in surgical management of this younger patient group. The objective of this study was to determine the outcome of breast conservative therapy in patients with early onset breast cancer in our population and compare it with their older counterparts. Materials and Methods: A review of patients with invasive breast cancer who underwent breast conservation surgery at Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital from 1997 to 2009 was performed. Patients were divided into two groups i.e. Group I age ${\leq}40$ and Group II >40 years. A total of 401 patients with breast cancer were identified in Group I and 405 patients in Group II. Demographics, histopathological findings and receptor status of the two groups were compared. The Chi square test was used for categorical variables. Outcome was assessed on basis of 10 year locoregional recurrence free survival (LRRFS), disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). For survival analysis Kaplan Meier curves were used and significance was determined using the Log rank test. Cox regression was applied for multivariate analysis. Results: Median follow up was 4.31 (0.1-15.5) years. Median age at presentation was 34.6 years (17-40) and 51.9 years (41-82) for the two groups. Groups were significantly different from each other with respect to grade, receptor status, tumor stage and use of neoadjuvant therapy. No significant difference was present between the two groups for estimated 10 year LRRFS (86% vs 95%) (p=0.1), DFS (70% vs 70%) (p=0.5) and OS (75% vs 63%) (p=0.1). On multivariate analysis, tumor stage was an independent predictor of LRRFS, DFS and OS. Conclusions: Early onset breast cancer is associated with a distinct biology but does not lead to poorer outcomes in our population.