• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.10
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• pp.6013-6017
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• 2013

Background: To evaluate the clinicopathologic and demographic characteristics of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients and to determine differences from non-triple-negative cases. Materials and Methods: A detailed review of the medical records of 882 breast cancer (BC) patients was conducted to obtain information regarding age, menopausal status, height and weight at the time of diagnosis, presence of diabetes or hypertension, and pathologic characteristics of the tumor (tumor size, lymph node status, histologic grade, ER status, PR status, HER2 status, p53 mutation). Body mass index (BMI) was calculated and a value of ${\geq}30$ was considered as indicative of obesity. Results: 14.9% (n=132) of the patients had TNBC. There was no difference among the patients in terms of median age, comorbid conditions and menopausal status. The proportion of medullary, tubular and mucinous carcinomas was significantly higher (15.9%) in the triple-negative (TN) group, while invasive lobular histology was more frequent (8.2%) among non-triple negative (NTN) cases (p<0.001). Grade 3 (G3) tumors were more frequent in the triple-negative group (p<0.001). The rate of p53 mutation was 44.3% in TN tumors versus 28.2% in the NTN group (p<0.001). The two groups were similar in terms of LN metastasis. In the NTN group, the rate of patients with BMI ${\geq}30$ was 53% among postmenopausal patients, while it was 36% among premenopausal women, and the difference was statistically significant (p<0.001). No significant difference was observed in terms of BMI between postmenopausal and premenopausal patients in the TN group (p=0.08). Conclusions: TNBC rates and clinicopathologic characteristics of the Turkish patient population were consistent with the data from Europe and America. However, no relationship between obesity and TNBC was observed in our study. The association between TNBC and obesity needs to be evaluated in a larger patient population.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 1992

Layer material properties of asphalt concrete changes with climatic conditions. Pavement design and analysis should be performed in the representative climatic condition that gives standard physical properties of pavement layer materials. In this study, an evaluation procedure of pavement design temperature is proposed and programed based on damage effect analysis using fatigue failure criterion. Three regions, Seoul, Daegeon, and Pusan, are chosen to obtain the representative climatic data of South Korea. Domestic pavement design temperature is developed by applying the proposed algorithm to 6 domestic pavement section models with the respective regional climatic data. Asphalt concrete pavement failure criterion is also proposed for the condition of developed domestic pavement design temperature. The design temperature for the region of South Korea is estimated as $l7^{\circ}C$, which is converted to $23.6^{\circ}C$ for the AC surface layer temperature. It is found that the procedure to determine design properties of AC surface layer material at $20^{\circ}C$ gives overestimated results of AC moduli for the domestic pavement system. From the comparison study, it is also found that the estimated pavement design temperature is similar to the result of SHELL Design Chart.

• Composites Research
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.31-36
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• 2010

A new material, carbon-nanofiber/polypyrrole (CNF/PPy) composite films, with different CNF weight ratios were fabricated electrochemically. Compared to the fabrication process based on simple physical mixing, the flexibility of the new film has been improved much better than the previous similar material. Pure PPy films were also fabricated by the new electrochemical process for the comparison of difference. Several SEM images were taken at two locations (electrode-side and solution-side) and at the cross section of the samples. Electrical conductivity of the composite films was measured by the four-probe method. The conductivity of the pure PPy film 0.013cm thick was 79.33S/cm. The CNF/PPy composite film with 5% CNF showed a conductivity of 93S/cm. One with 10% CNF showed a conductivity of 126 S/cm. The conductivity of PPy improves, as the CNF weight ratio increases. The good conductivity of CNF/PPy composites makes them a candidate for a small bending actuator. A bending sensor consists of PPy and PVDF, which can be operated in the air, was designed and the bending deflection was calculated using FEM.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.1153-1163
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• 2013

Bonded concrete overlay is a favorable maintenance method since the material properties are similar to existing concrete pavements. In addition, bonded concrete overlay has advantage of structural performance based on being bonded together, both for the overlay layer and the existing pavement which perform as one monolithic layer. Therefore, it is important to have a suitable bond strength criteria for long term performance of bonded concrete overlay. This study aimed to investigate the affecting of bond strength on various bond characteristics, and to compare the bond strength between direct tensile test and indirect tensile test due to various conditions such as overlay materials, compressive and flexure strength of existing pavement, and deterioration status of existing pavement. As a result of this study, bond strength occurred by both of direct and indirect tensile test due to monotonic load is highly correlated such as coefficient of determination of 0.75 and P-value of 0.002. However, bond strength by indirect tensile test was relatively higher than bond strength by direct tensile test. It was known that correlation between direct and indirect tensile test was possible to use the characteristics analysis of bond fatigue behavior based on bond strength due to cyclic load which can simulate real field behavior of bonded concrete overlay.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.133-139
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• 2002

Purpose: Scintillation Proximity Assay (SPA) does not require the physical separation of receptor bound form from free form. SPA was applied to the study of interaction of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and $anti-{\alpha}$ hCG in serum. Materials and methods: $Anti-{\alpha}$ hCG was biotinylated for the binding to streptavidin. The assay was based on the simple competitive binding method between $[^{125}I]hCG$ and the hCG in sample serum, with $anti-{\alpha}$ hCG-coated beads. Aliquots of biotinylated $anti-{\alpha}$ hCG were dispensed into scintillation vials containing $100{\mu}{\ell}\;[^125}I]hCG\;and\;200{\mu}{\ell}$ of either a standard concentration of hCG for preparation of standard curve or unknown sample, and incubated for 20 min. at room temperature. Then $20{\mu}{\ell}$ streptavidin-coated beads were added to vials, and finally incubated for 10 min at room temperature. Values for unknown samples were then calculated from the standard curve. Results: Optimal background counts were certificated using varied radioactivity of radionuclides. Appropriate standard curve was obtained from SPA method successively, and the concentration of hCG from unknown serum was determined by standard curve. The result from SPA assay was similar to that of RIA. Conclusion: This observation confirms that SPA method could be useful for clinical diagnosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1917-1923
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• 2016

Background: Lynch Syndrome (LS) is a familial cancer condition caused by germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair genes. Individuals with LS have a greatly increased risk of developing colorectal cancer (CRC) and it is therefore important to identify mutation carriers so they can undergo regular surveillance. Tumor DNA from LS patients characteristically shows microsatellite instability (MSI). Our aim here was to screen young CRC patients for MSI as a first step in the identification of unrecognized cases of LS in the Saudi population. Materials and Methods: Archival tumor tissue was obtained from 284 CRC patients treated at 4 institutes in Dammam and Riyadh between 2006 and 2015 and aged less than 60 years at diagnosis. MSI screening was performed using the BAT-26 microsatellite marker and positive cases confirmed using the pentaplex MSI analysis system. Positive cases were screened for BRAF mutations to exclude sporadic CRC and were evaluated for loss of expression of 4 DNA mismatch repair proteins using immunohistochemistry. Results: MSI was found in 33/284 (11.6%) cases, of which only one showed a BRAF mutation. Saudi MSI cases showed similar instability in the BAT-26 and BAT-25 markers to Australian MSI cases, but significantly lower frequencies of instability in 3 other microsatellite markers. Conclusions: MSI screening of young Saudi CRC patients reveals that approximately 1 in 9 are candidates for LS. Patients with MSI are strongly recommended to undergo genetic counselling and germline mutation testing for LS. Other affected family members can then be identified and offered regular surveillance for early detection of LS-associated cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2255-2258
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• 2016

Background: Awareness about prostate cancer has increased in the community, and prostate cancer screening examinations, including prostate specific antigen (PSA) assays, are now widely available. Prior to the PSA era, up to 27% of prostate cancers were detected incidentally at the time of transurethral resection of prostate (TURP). After PSA testing became widely available, the incidence of incidentally detected carcinoma prostate in TURP specimens without prior diagnosis reduced to 5-13%. However, the incidence of incidentally detected carcinoma prostate has been reported to vary across the globe since various factors can influence the identification of this malignancy in TURP specimens. In this paper, we focus on rates of incidentally detected prostate cancer in TURP specimens in our hospital and correlate it with various parameters. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study of histopathological findings of biopsy specimens was conducted for patients undergoing TURP during a period of 5 years from April 2010. The inclusion criteria were patients diagnosed with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) (digital rectal examination (DRE) not showing any abnormally hard areas and normal age adjusted PSA values). Patients with elevated PSA, abnormal DRE, documented urinary tract infection and proved adenocarcinoma prostate (CaP) were excluded from the study. The total weight of prostatectomy specimen, occurrence of carcinoma prostate in the chips, percentage of total tissue resected showing malignancy and Gleason's scores were recorded. Results: A total of 597 patients belonging to the inclusion criteria were studied. The incidence of occult CaP in the study group was 5.2 % (31/597). Out of these, 8 belonged to T1a and 23 belonged to T1b stages. The age group 70 - 79 years had the maximum incidence of occult CaP. It was observed that the clinical grading of prostate did not have a bearing on the incidence of occult CaP whereas the weight of resected specimen correlated with the incidence of CaP. The incidence of occult CaP was greater with low volume prostates (<20 g). (P=0.15). Conclusions: The rate of incidentally detected adenocarcinoma prostate in patients undergoing TURP for clinically diagnosed BPH was found to be only 5.2 % in our study which is low when compared with similar studies done elsewhere. The age of the patient and weight of the resected specimen correlated with incidence of occult prostate cancer. The clinical grading of prostate by DRE however, demonstrated no correlation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3279-3283
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• 2015

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the most common gastrointestinal cancer and the incidence is increasing. CRC is more common with increasing age, but a proportion occurs in young adults, termed young CRC. This study assessed the incidence and the demographic of young CRC in Brunei Darussalam. Materials and Methods: All histologically proven CRC between 1986 and 2014 registered with the Department of Pathology cancer registry were reviewed and data extracted for analyses. Young CRC was defined as cancer in patients aged less than 45 years. The various population groups were categorized into locals (Malays, Chinese and Indigenous) and expatriates. Results: Over the study period, there were 1,126 histologically proven CRC (mean age $59.1{\pm}14.7$ years, Male 58.0%, Locals 91.8% and 8.2% expatriates). Young CRC accounted for 15.1% with the proportion declining over the years, from 29% (1986-1990) to 13.2% (2011-2014). The proportion of young CRC was highest among the indigenous (30.8%), followed by the expatriates (29.3%), Malays (14.3%) and lowest among the Chinese (10.8%). The mean age of young CRC was $35.9{\pm}6.2$; lowest among the indigenous ($33.5{\pm}6.7$), expatriate ($34.9{\pm}6.0$) groupd and the Malays ($35.6{\pm}6.5$) compared to the Chinese ($38.6{\pm}4.6$), a similar trend being observed in the non-young CRC groups. There were no difference between the genders and tumor locations (rectum or colon) between the young and the non-young CRC cases. Female young CRC was significantly younger than male (p<0.05) without any significant variation between the various population groups (p>0.05). Conclusions: Our study showed that the young CRC accounted for 15.1% of all CRC with declining trend observed over recent years. Young CRC was more common among indigenous, expatriates and Malays and least common among the Chinese. There were no differences in the gender and tumor locations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1471-1477
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• 2015

Background: Adding taxanes to adjuvant antracycline and cyclophosphamide (AC) in combination may provide significant improvement in node-positive and high risk node-negative breast cancer (BC) patients. However, the optimal dose and the role of dose-dense (DD) chemotherapy have yet to be determined. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of a DD paclitaxel (P)-AC combination with conventional weekly P-AC or docetaxel D-AC combinations in patients with node-positive breast cancer. Materials and Methods: Newly diagnosed 280 node-positive BC patients diagnosed from 1998 to 2013 in three clinics were retrospectively analyzed. Demographic and medical data were collected from the medical charts. Patients were categorized to 3 groups according to treatment arms: arm A, ddAC-P; arm B, weekly P and AC combination; and arm C; T and AC combination. Adjuvant trastuzumab was added for HER2-positive patients. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was carried out for disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). The log-rank test was used to examine the statistical significance of the differences observed between the groups. Two-sided P values <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results: Of the total of 280 patients, 101 were in arm A, 114 in arm B and 65 in arm C.The median ages were 49, 50 and 46, respectively (p=0.11). Median follow-up was 39 (3-193) months. Stage, lymphovascular and perineural invasion, receptor patern, and menopausal status were similar in the 3 treatment arms, but HER2 positivity was significantly lower in arm A, compared to arms B and C (25.7%, 53.1%, 41.5% in arms A, B and C, respectively; p<0.001). Also grade 3 tumors were significantly less frequent in treatment arm A compared to arm B and C (27.3%, 56.8% and 49.2%, respectively, p=0.01). Afterunivariate and multivariate analysis were performed, 3-year DFS rates were 89%, 81%, and 75%, respectively (p=0.12) and three year OS rates were 96.6%, 89%, and 75% (p=0.62). Conclusions: In this study, no significant difference was found between adjuvant dose dense and conventional taxane treatment regimens.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3267-3272
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• 2015

Purpose: To retrospective assess the potential predictors for relapse and create an effective clinical mode for surveillance after orchidectomy in clinical stage I non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumors (CSI-NSGCTs). Materials and Methods: We analyzed data for CSI-NSGCTs patients with non-lymphatic vascular invasion, %ECa < 50% (percentage of embryonal carcinoma < 50%), and negative or declining tumor markers to their half-life following orchidectomy (defined as low-risk patients); these patients were recruited from four Chinese centers between January 1999 and October 2013. Patients were divided into active surveillance group and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) group according to different therapeutic methods after radical orchidectomy was performed. The disease-free survival rates (DFSR) and overall survival rates (OSR) of the two groups were compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: A total of 121 patients with CSI-NSGCT were collected from four centers, and 81 low-risk patients, including 54 with active surveillance and 27 with RPLND, were enrolled at last. The median follow-up duration was 66.2 (range 6-164) months in the RPLND group and 65.9 (range 8-179) months in the surveillance group. OSR was 100% in active surveillance and RPLND groups, and DFSR was 89.8% and 87.0%, respectively. No significant difference was observed between these two groups ($X_2=0.108$, P=0.743). No significant difference was observed between the patients with a low percentage of embryonal carcinoma (<50%) and those without embryonal carcinoma (87.0% and 91.9%, $X_2=0.154$, P=0.645). No treatment-related complications were observed in the active surveillance group whereas minor and major complications were observed in 13.0% and 26.1% of the RPLND group, respectively. Conclusions: Active surveillance resulted in similar DFSR and OSR compared with RPLND in our trial. Patients with low-risk CSI-NSGCTs could benefit from risk-adapted surveillance after these patients were subjected to radical orchidectomy.