• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was performed to objectively evaluate the rate of tumor response to hypofractionated radiotherapy for advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck. Materials and Methods: Thirty-one patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, who were treated by hypofractionated radiotherapy with 3 Gy per fraction for palliative purpose between 1998 and 2008, were reviewed retrospectively. Every tumor-volume was measured and evaluated from CT (computed tomography) images obtained before and 2~3 months after radiotherapy. The radiation toxicity was assessed during and after radiotherapy. A statistical analysis was performed to investigate overall survival, progressionfree survival, and the prognostic factors for survival and response. Results: The median age of the study patients was 70 years. In addition, 85% of the patients were in stage 4 cancer and 66.7% had an ECOG performance status of 1~2. The mean tumor-volume was 128.4 cc. Radiotherapy was administered with a total dose of 24~45 Gy (median: 36 Gy) over 10~25 days. Twenty-nine patients were treated with 30 Gy or more. The observed complete response rate was 12.9% and the partial response rate was 61.3%. Median survival time was 8.9 months and the 1-year progression-free survival rate was 12.9%. The treatment response rate was confirmed as a prognostic factor in the rate of survival. The primary site, stage, tumor-volume, radiotherapy field and overall radiation-dose showed a significant relationship with survival and treatment response. No grade 4 toxicity was observed during and after radiotherapy. Conclusion: There was an objective tumor-regression in about 74% of patients treated by hypofractionated radiotherapy. Further evaluation is needed to select the appropriate fraction-size and patient who may require the additional radiotherapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 1994

There are a number of reports suggesting that there may be a correlation between the clinical response to radiotherapy in various tumors and the clonogenic survival of cell lines derived from these tumors following exposure to 2 Gy(SF2). Authors conducted this study to determine SF2 for cells in primary culture from surgical specimens. The tumor tissues with squamous cell carcinoma of uterine cervix and head and neck were obtained. The tumor tissues were disaggregated to single cells by incubating with collagenase type w for 2 hours with constant stirring. Single cell suspensions were inoculated in four 24-well plates precoated with cell adhesive matrix. After 24 hours of incubation at 37$ ^{\circ}C $, rows of four wells were then irradiated, consisting of control set and five other sets each receiving doses of 1,2,3,4, and 6 Gy. After incubation for a total of 13 days, the cultures were stained with crystal violet and survival at each dose was determined by quantitative image analysis system, To determine whether cell growth was of epithelial origin, immunocytochemical staining with a mixture of cytokeratin and epithelial monoclonal antibodies were performed on cell cultures. During the period of this study, we received 5 squamous cell carcinoma specimens of head and neck and 20 of uterine cervical carcinoma. Of these, 15 yielded enough cells for radiosensitivity testing. This resulted an overall success rate of 60$ \% $. The mean SF2 value for 15 tumours was 0.55$\pm$0.17 ranging from 0.20 to 0.79. These results indicate that there is a broad range of sensitivities to radiation in same histologic type. So with a large patient population, we plan to determine whether a different SF2 value is associated with tumours that are controlled with radiotherapy than those that are not.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 1992

From the one hundred forty eight patients with evidence of biliary tract obstruction, 275 bile samples were obtained from percutaneously placed biliary drainage catheters. Of the 148 patients, ova of Clonorchis sinensis were demonstrated in 17 patients (11.5%), with the epithelial cells. Among them, one case also demonstrated coexisting adenocarcinoma. In 105 patients, the medical records were available for review and the clinical diagnoses were malignancy in 99 patients and benign lesion in 6 patients. Of the 99 patients in which clinico-radiologic diagnosis were malignant, cytologic results were positive in 23.2%. Dividing the patients Into two groups, the ones with tumor of bile duct origin (group I) and the others with tumors producing extrinsic compression of bile duct, such as periampullary carcinoma, pancreas head carcinoma or metastatic carcinoma in lymph nodes from tumors of adjacent organs (group II), the cytologic results were positive in 37% and 11.6%, respectively. In patients with histologic confirmation, the positive correlation was found in 50% and 20% in group I and group II, respectively, with remarkable difference between two groups. There were no false positives in cytologic diangosis. The overall concordance rate of cytologic diagnosis with diagnosis of clinical investigation in both benign and malignant lesions was 27.6% and the diagnostic specificity was 100%.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.691-701
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• 2004

Background: Tissue hypoxia is a characteristic of many human malignant neoplasms, and hypoxia inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) plays a pivotal role in essential adaptive response to hypoxia, and activates a signal pathway for the expression of the hypoxia-regulated genes, resulting in increased oxygen delivery or facilitating metabolic adaptation to hypoxia. Increased level of HIF-1 a has been reported in many human malignancies, but in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, the influence of HIF-1 a on tumor biology, including neovascularization, is not still defined. Material and Method: The influence of HIF-1 a expression on angiogenic factors, correlation between the tumor proliferation and HIF-1 a expression, interaction of HIF-1 a expression and p53, and correlation between HIF-1 a expression and clinicopathological prognostic parameters were investigated, using immunohistochemical stains for HIF-1 a, VEGF, CD34, p53, and Ki-67 on 77 cases of resected esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Result: HIF-1 a expression in cancer cells was found in 33 of 77 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cases. The 33 cases (42.9%) showed positive stain for HIF-1 a. High HIF-1 a expression was significantly associated with several pathological parameters, such as histologic grade (p=0.032), pathological TMN stage (p=0.002), the depth of tumor invasion (p=0.022), regional lymph node metastasis (p=0.002), distant metastasis (p=0.049), and lymphatic invasion (p=0.004). High HIF-1 a expression had significant VEGF immunoreactivity (p=0.008) and Ki-67 labeling index (p<0.001), but was not correlated with microvascular density within tumors (p=0.088). The high HIF-1 a expression was correlated with aberrant p53 accumulation with a marginal significance (p=0.056). The overall 5-year survival rate was 34.9%. The survival rate of patients with a high HIF-1 a expression was worse than that of patients with low-expression tumors (log-rank test, p=0.0001). High HIF-1 a expression was independent unfavorable factors although statistical significance is marginal in multivariate analysis. Conclusion: It is suggested that (1) high HIF-1 a expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is associated with tumor hypoxia, or with genetic alteration in early carcinogenesis and progressive stages, (2) high HIF-1 a expression may be associated with intratumoral neovascularization through HIF-VEGF pathway, and (3) high HIF-1 a expression is associated with poor prognosis in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and may playa role as biomarker for regional lymph node metastasis.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.59 no.2
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• pp.198-203
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• 2005

Patients with acromegaly have high incidence of benign or malignant neoplasia than general population. Around fifteen percent of the deaths reported in acromegaly are attributable to malignancy of cancer. On the whole, mortality in acromegaly has been shown to be correlated with the degree of growth hormone (GH) control. Especially, the levels of insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) may be higher in neoplasm, but there is no clear evidence to prove that tumor development is triggered by IGF-1 in acromegaly. Henceforth, we report a case of acromegaly associated with lung and gastric cancer in a 58-year-old man, suggesting the possible carcinogenic role of IGF-1.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.13-18
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• 2004

Objectives: Cancer lethality is usually the result of local invasion and metastasis of neoplastic cell from the primary tumor. Because of their ability to degrade extracellular matrix components, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) have been implicated in the breakdown of basement membrane and underlying stroma, thereby facilitating tumor growth and invasion. It has been well established that MMPs and bFGF expression correlate with cervical lymph node metastasis, but studies on expression in the metastatic cervical lymph node itself are not enough. We have analyzed matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck and metastatic cervical lymph node, and evaluated their relationship and clinicophathologic significance. Material and Methods: 20 cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck were entered on the study of immunohistochemical stains for MMP-9 and bFGF in the obtained tissue from primary tumor and metastatic cervical lymph node. We analyzed the relationship between MMP-9, bFGF expression of the primary tumor and metastatic node with age, sex, T-stage, N-stage, histologic grade, pathologic stage and disease free survival. Results: Expression of MMP-9 and bFGF in cancer cell and metastatic lymph node was higher than that in normal cell and lymph node. According to histologic differentiation, expression of MMP-9 of the metastatic cervical lymph node was higher than primary tumor. Considering to other clinicopathologic factor, no statistical significance was seen in MMP-9 and bFGF. Conclusion: We found that expression of MMP-9 is higher in the metastatic lymph node than primary tumor in the poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma. But we don't find out the statistical significance in relation between bFGF and clinical factors. So we guess that some different mechanism of MMP-9 and bFGF in Head & Neck squamous cell carcinoma exist. Further studies will be necessary to establish their pathogenesis in the Head and Neck cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.271-278
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• 1998

In order to access the value of computed tomography in mediastinal LN staging of NSCLCa, 581 LN stations of 77 patients were selected from 552 patients who were diagnosed as Lung Ca and operated in Seoul National University Hospital from 1992 to 1995. The selection criteria were as follows ; the patients 1) whose preoperative chest CTs were available; 2) underwent curative resection (lobectomy or more) with complete lymph node dissection; 3) whose final pathologic diagnosis were proven to be non-small cell lung cancer. We adopted Receiver Operating Characteristic curve method to determine a proper size criterion for diagnosing malignant mediastinal adenopathy. From curve analysis, we decided the size criterion of lymph node to 1 cm in their short axis. Using this size criterion, it's sensitivity was 43.9%, specificity was 87.4%, and accuracy was 83.1%. Eventhough we couldn't determine the precise size criterion for the adenoca, it seemed that shorter than 1 cm size criterion should be applied in that particular cell type. Lymph node stations associated with the tuberculosis or bronchiectasis tend to be overestimated in nodal staging and have relatively high false positive rate. The low sensitivity of CT scan suggest that radical and complete dissection or precise mediastinal lymph node evaluation through the surgical approach is mandatory.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1996

From march 1989 to October 1993, 57 patients were diagnosed and operated for primary non-small cell lung cancer, and evaluated clinically. 1. There were 45 males and 12 females (M:F=3.8:1), and the peak incidence of age was 6th decade of life (45.6%). In the preoperative diagnostic methods and their positive rate, sputum cytology was 11%, bronchial washing cytology 50%, bronchoscopic biopsy 73%, and CT guided percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy 83%. 3. Histopathologically, squamous cell carcinoma was 56.1%, adenocarcinoma 22.8%, bronchioloal veolar cell carcinoma 1%, and undifferentiated large cell carcinoma 1.8%. 4. In the operation, pneumonectomy was 35.1%, lobectomy 38.6%, bilobectomy 3.5%, segmentec tony 7%, and exploratory thoracotomy 15.8%, and overall resectability was 84.2%. 5. In postoperative stagings, stage I was 28.1%, st ge II 22.8%, stage IIIa 31.6% and stage IIIb 17.5%. 6. Postoperative complications were developed in 11 cases (19.3%) and operative mortality was none. 7. One year survival rate in rejectable cases was 87.0%, 2 year 61.6% and 5 year 44.9%. According to stage, 3 year survival rate was 75.8% in stage I, 16.9% in stage II, 60.9% in stage IIIa, 50% in stage IIIb.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.12 s.269
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• pp.949-952
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• 2006

Spontaneous pneumothorax is rarely occurred as an initial sign of primary lung cancer. As a lot of these cases have already advanced, even then surgical resection is performed, the prognosis is often undesirable, We happened to find a ruptured cavity on a 65-year-old male patient who had suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis in the past, while performing VATS bullectomy for simple spontaneous pneumothorax, Then, as a result of frozen biopsy, it was diagnosed as squamous cell cancer Because the tumor was infiltrated from the upper lobe into the lower lobe passing by fissure, we should remove by pneumonectomy and the pathologic stage was found stage I(T2N0M0). When we made an follow-up observation for one year and a half, there was neither relapse nor complication. When there appears spontaneous pneumothorax to the high risk group for lung cancer who were smokers over forty-year old, with chronic bronchitis or pulmonary emphysema, it needs to have a closer observation on a base lung disease such as lung cancer through chest CT, and it is also necessary to make more active approach by performing the surgical operation through a thoracoscopy when there is a continued air release.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.331-335
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• 2007

A thymoma commonly occurs in the superior mediastinum or the upper part of the anterior mediastinum but can be located in other places in rare cases. Cystic degeneration in a thymoma is a relatively common but focal event. In rare cases, the process proceeds to the extent that most if not all of the lesion becomes cystic. We report a case of a patient with a paracardial cystic thymoma in the lower aspect of the anterior mediastinum. A 49-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of a mass discovered incidentally on a chest X-ray. She showed no symptoms or signs. Contrast-enhanced chest CT scan revealed a $5{\times}5cm$ sized, well-marginated, right paracardial cystic mass with a curvilinear and oval enhancing solid portion. A Surgical resection was performed. The mass was discontinuous with normal thymic tissue. Microscopy revealed a type B1 thymoma with prominent foci of medullary differentiation according to the WHO classification. There was no capsular or local invasion. The postoperative course was uneventful and the patient was discharged in good health.