• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.72-80
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• 2005

Background: Nasopharyngeal cancer is a rare disease with a relatively poor prognosis because it tends to be diagnosed at an advanced stage. The aim of this study was to establish the clinical characteristics of nasopharyngeal cancer. Materials and Methods: The medical records of 54 patients with nasopharyngeal cancer from January 1993 to December 2002 were reviewed retrospectively. Forty one cases were male (75.9%) and thirteen were female (24.1%). The average age was of 46.9 (range 16 to 78 years) years. The majority of patients (79.6%) were diagnosed in the advanced stage. The most common complaints were a neck mass (55.5%) and the WHO type III (53.7%) was the most frequent histological type. Results: The cumulative survival rate for a 5-year period was 46.5% and the T stage, N stage, pathologic type, and clinical stage were not significantly related to the survival rate. Sixteen of 54 (31.5%) cases presented with a distant metastasis of the bone, lung, brain, spine, and liver, and six cases (11.1%) presented with a locoregional recurrence. Conclusion: TNM staging is not appropriate for predicting survival rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients. Therefore, a newer staging system, which includes new factors, is needed to predict the prognosis.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.118-125
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• 2005

Purpose: The expression of apoptosis-related genes, such as survivin, bcl-2, and bax has been examined in the human osteosarcoma and then evaluated the correlation with clinical data of patients. Materials and Methods: Fifty human osteosarcoma specimens were established from incisional biopsy and examination of survivin, bcl-2, and bax by immunohistochemical study was performed. We investigated the correlation of survivin, bcl-2, bax and their two or three combined expressions with clinical data including the response of chemotherapy, local recurrence, distance metastasis, and oncologic outcome. Results: Survivin was showed in 26 cases (52%), bcl-2 in 23 cases (46%), and bax in 21 cases (42%) osteosarcoma. And coexpression of survivin and bcl-2 was showed in 19 cases (38%), survivin and bax in 13 cases (26%), bcl-2 and bax in 8 cases (16%), and all three expression was showed in 8 cases (16%). There was no correlation between their apoptosis related gene and histologic difference, the presence of local recurrence and distant metastasis. Whereas neoadjuvant chemotherapy response correlated with bcl-2 expression (P=0.04), and survivin and bcl-2 coexpression (P=0.044) with poor chemoresponse. The rate of died of disease was correlated with bcl-2 (P=0.001), survivin and bcl-2 coexpression (P=0.027) with bad outcome. Survival curves of bcl-2 (P=0.0075), survivin and bcl-2 (P=0.0012) was showed negative correlation in the Kaplan-Meier method. Conclusion: The apoptosis related gene expression was relatively high in osteosarcoma, bcl-2 expression was correlated with poor chemotherapy response and poor survival rate, but survivin was correlated with this oncologic outcome only in the bcl-2 coexpression. The examination of immunohistochemical stain of apoptosis related gene in osteosarcoma could be helpful in the judgment of osteosarcoma prognosis.

• Proceedings of the KOR-BRONCHOESO Conference
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• 1982.05a
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• pp.11.2-12
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• 1982

The major advancement in phonosurgery due to recent development of laryngomicrosurgery enabled more accurate diagnosis and treatment of patient with voice disorders. Among large proportion of voice disordered patients, prominent linear furrow running parallel along the free edge of vocal cord extending from the vocal process to anterior commissure can be seen as well as incomplete closure during phonation. These cases were illustrated and coined as sulcus vocalis by Salvi in 1901, since then other similar paper was reported in Europe and Japan, but has not been reported in Korea. The exact etiology and therapeutic methods of sulcus vocalis has not been elaborated. At Department of Otolaryngology of Yonsei University College of Medicine a series of voice analysis were performed among those 35 patients with sulcus vocalis visited to Vocal Dynamics Laboratory from May, 1981 to March, 1982. Following is the result of clinical statistical investgation and therapeutic modality. 1) The incidance of sulcus vocalis among 290 patients with voice disorder visited to Vocal Dynamics Laboratory was approximately 12%(35 cases). 2) Onset of this voice disorder was most frequent among patient under 10 year-old groups; 19 cases (54%) followed by second decade, third decade groups in decreasing frequency respectably. 3) The etiology of sulcus vocalis was mostly unknown. The sequelae after measle (4 cases) and severe upper respiratory infection (3 cases) and congenital deformity (2 cases) were the possible causes of sulcus vocalis. 4) These patients were involved bilaterally in 25 cases (71%), left side only in 8 cases (23%) and right side only in 2 cases (6%). 5) Almost all patients complained hoarseness and 7 patients were suffering from chronic laryngitis. 6) In aerodynamic analysis, Maximal Phonation Time was decreased in 20 cases (57%), Phonation Quotient was increased in 22 cases (63%) and Mean Air Flow Rate was increased in 23 cases (66%). 7) Among them, 33 cases were analyzed with stroboscopy. The findings were as follows; incomplete glottic closure during phonation in 31 cases (93%), regular vocal cord movement in whole cases, asymmetric cord movement in 4 cases (12%), decreased amplitude in 5 cases (21%) and small mucosal wave in 24 cases (73%). 8) Intracordal Teflon injection in 5 cases and Sulcusectomy in 1 cases were performed as therapeutic management, however, the therapeutic results were not effective except one case with Teflon injection.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-31
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• 2007

While trust and commitment are core mediating variables for the purpose of maintaining the long-term relationship, in the context of the characteristics of company and the relationship performance of its members, there have been limited studies which explore as to how each of the dimensions has affects differently. The basic purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between an automobile manufacturer and its agencies. The main purpose of this study is to examine how each different dimension of trust and commitment on the automobile manufacturer has different mediating effects between the characteristics of company(organization characteristics, relationship characteristics) and relationship performance perceived by its agents. Another purpose is to investigate the mechanism by which the relationship performance of the agencies is improved. An empirical study surveying 115 sales office managers at a leading automobile manufacturer in Korea was conducted. An analysis of the collected data indicates that while the characteristics of company have a positive influence on the agencies' relational performance through the mediating role of both trust of benevolence and commitment, agencies' trust of their headquarter's benevolence has a different influence on the dimensions of commitment. Finally, the authors discussed some theoretical contributions and managerial implications. And then, they presented limitations of this study and the future research directions.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.81-87
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• 2007

Purpose: Chondroblastoma of bone is rare with the potential for local recurrence and metastasis. A retrospective review of 30 patients with chondroblastoma of bone treated at a single institution during a 24-year period was conducted to determine the clinical outcome and relevant prognostic factors. Materials and Methods: Thirty patients with biopsy-proven chondroblastoma of bone, treated between September of 1981 and September of 2005, were retrospectively reviewed. There were 16 men and 14 women with an average follow-up period of 7.2 years (range, 1.6~21.2). The most common sites were the distal femur (n=7), proximal humerus (n=6), proximal tibia (n=6) and proximal femur (n=4). The average age of the patients was 20 years (range, 12~47) with closed physes in 20 patients(67%.) Twenty-seven patients(90%) were treated by curettage of the tumor with or without bone grafting or cementing. Three patients(10%) were treated with en bloc resection. Clinical and pathological factors reported to be associated with poor outcome were analyzed. Results: Four local recurrences(13%) developed in postoperative 4, 6, 7 and 16 months. These patients underwent further curettage (once in 2 patients and twice 2) and had no further recurrence. All patients showed no evidence of disease at the final follow-up. Local recurrence developed in the two cases which removal of the tumor was incomplete. Curettage and bone-grafting (1) and cementing (1) were performed in the two other cases with local recurrences. In contrast, no local recurrences were observed in the 3 cases treated with en-bloc resection. The status of physes or the histologic presence of aneurysmal bone cyst, the anatomic location of the tumor did not affect local recurrence. Conclusion: Adequate removal of the tumor with aggressive curettage or en bloc resection seems to be necessary to prevent local recurrence in chondroblastoma. The status of physes, the histologic presence of aneurysmal bone cyst or the anatomic location of the tumor was not related with local recurrence.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.2 s.271
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• pp.109-113
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• 2007

Background: In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), malignant pleural effusion is a frequently observed com-plication, and is an important negative prognostic factor. Although many studies concerned to diagnosis and treatment of malignant pleural effusion have been performed, prognostic factors of malignant pleural effusion have rarely been investigated. This study was performed to determine the prognostic factors of malignant pleural effusion n non-small cell lung cancer. Material and Method: We evaluated 33 NSCLC patients with malignant effusion treated between January 2002 and December 2003. We analyzed possible factors: gender, age, TNM Stage, fluid analysis (pH, CEA, LDH, glucose, albumin) and treatment modality. Median survival time of each factor was calculated by Kaplan-Meier method and difference of median survival time between groups of factor compared by log-rank test. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to confirm the significance of prognostic factor. Results: Of the 33 patients, 23 (69.7%) patients were adenocarcinoma. The median interval of the diagnosis of lung cancer and malignant effusion was 7.3 months ($25^{th}{\sim}75^{th}:\;3.9{\sim}11.8$), and the median survival time was 3.6 months (95% Confidence Interval: $1.14{\sim}5.99$). In the univariate analysis, using the log-rank test, those with an adenocarcinoma showed a relatively longer median survival time than those of a non-adenocarcinoma (4.067 vs. 1.867 months, p=0.067) without statistical significance. In the multivariate analysis, using the Cox regression, those with a non-adenocarcinoma showed a trend of high risk of cancer death than those with an adenocarcinoma without statistical significance (Relative risk; 2.754, 95% Cl: $0.988{\sim}7.672$, p=0.053). Conclusion: We could not find an independent prognostic factor of malignant pleural effusion in NSCLC. As there was a trend of high risk of cancer death according to histology, further study will be needed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.334-342
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• 2002

Purpose : The aim of this study was to determine if postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (CT) alone and concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT), following radical surgery, improved the disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in rectal cancer AJCC stage II and III patients. Materials and Methods : A total of 144 patients with AJCC stage II and III rectal cancer who had had radical surgery between 1989 and 1999 were included in the study. Of these patients, 72 had been treated with postoperative CT, and the other 72 with postoperative CCRT. The chemotherapy regimen consisted of oral UFT on a daily basis for $1\~12$ months (median 12 months) or 5-FU ($500\;mg/m^2$ for 5 days) intravenous (IV) chemotherapy with 4 week intervals for $1\~18$ cycles (median 6 cycles). Radiation of 4,500 cGy was delivered to the surgical bed and regional pelvic lymph nodes area, followed by $540\~1,440\;cGy$ (median 540 cGy) boost to the surgical bed. The follow-up period ranged from 20 to 150 months, with a median of 44 months. Results : The 5-year OS was $60.9\%\;and\;68.9\%$ (p=0.0915), and the 5-year DFS was $56.1\%\;and\;63.8\%$ (p=0.3510) for postoperative CT and postoperative CCRT, respectively. In the stage nm patients, the 5-year OS was $71.1\%\;and\;92.2\%$, and the 5-year DFS was $57.3\%\;and\;85.4\%$ for postoperative CT and CCRT, respectively. The OS was significantly improved (p=0.0379) but the DFS was not with postoperative CCRT compared to the postoperative CT (p=0.1482). In the stage III patients, the 5-year OS was $52.0\%\;and\;55.0\%$, and the 5-year DFS was $47.8\%\;and\;49.8\%$ for postoperative CT and postoperative CCRT. There were no statistically significant differences between postoperative CT and CCRT (p=0.4280 and p=0.7891) in OS and DFS. The locoregional relapses were $16.7\%\;and\;12.5\%$ for postoperative CT and CCRT, respectively. The distant relapses were $25.0\%\;and\;26.4\%$ for postoperative CT and CCRT, respectively. Conclusion : These results showed that postoperative CCRT compared with CT alone improved OS in stage II patients. Although there was no statistical significance, the addition of postoperative RT to CT reduced locoregional relapses compared to CT alone.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.335-344
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• 2001

Purpose : The aim of this study was to clarify the role of VEGF expression as an independent prognostic factor and to identify the patients at high risk for poor prognosis in stage IB cervical cancer. Materials and methods : A total of 118 patients with stage IB cervical cancer who had radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymph node dissection were included in the study. All known high risk factors of the patients were pathologically confirmed from the surgical specimen. Of the 118 patients, n patients were treated with postoperative radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy. VEGF expression was examined using immunohistochemistry in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens of post-hysterectomy surgical materials. A semiquantitative analysis was made using a scoring system of 0, +, ++, and +++ for increasing intensity of stain. We classified the patients with scores from 0 to ++ as low VEGF expression and the patients with a score of +++ as high VEGF expression. Results : Of the 118 patients, 35 patients $(29.7\%)$ showed high VEGF expression. Strong correlations were found between the high VEGF expression and both deep stromal invasion (p=0.01) and the positive pelvic node (p=0.03). The 5-year overall and disease-free survival rates for all 118 patients were $95.5\%\;and\;93.8\%$. The 5-year overall (p=0.03) and disease-free survival (p<0.001) rates were $98.5\%\;and\;100%$ for low VEGF expression (0, +, and ++) and $85.5\%\;and\;79.7\%$ for high VEGF expression, respectively. Pelvic and distant failures for low versus high VEGF expression were $1.2\%$ versus $17.1\%$, (p=0.001) and $0\%$ versus $14.3\%$ (p<0.001), respectively. In a Cox multivariate analysis of survival, the high VEGF expression (p=0.02) and the bulky mass (p=0.02) were significant prognostic factors for overall survival. The high VEGF expression (p=0.002), and bulky mass (p=0.01) demonstrated as significant prognostic indicators for disease free survival. Conclusion : These results showed that VEGF expression was a highly significant predictor for pelvic and distant failure and the most significant prognostic factor of overall and disease free survival for the patients with stage IB cervix cancer treated with radical surgery. We strongly suggest that the immune-histochemistry for VEGF expression be performed in a routine clinical setting in order to identify the patients at high risk for poor prognosis in early stage cervical cancer. Furthermore, postoperative and/or chemotherapy did not reduce the pelvic failure and distant metastasis. To improve the cure rate for the patients with high VEGF expression in stage IB cervical cancer, antiangiogenic therapy including anti-VEGF Ab may be new treatment option.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.395-401
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• 2009

Purpose: We evaluated $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT findings in initially diagnosed adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the head and neck in association with pathological subtype, staging, uptake comparison with squamous cell carcinoma (SqCC) and prognosis. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 16 patients with initially diagnosed ACC of head and neck who underwent pretreatment $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT. Histological subtype (solid pattern vs. tubular/cribriform pattern), $SUV_{max}$ of size-matched SqCC of the head and neck as control group, disease-free survival (DFS) were compared with the $SUV_{max}$ of ACC of the head and neck. Results: Of total 16 patients, 6 had solid pattern and the remaining 10 had tubular/cribriform pattern. The $SUV_{max}$ were significantly higher in solid pattern group than in tubular/cribriform pattern group ($6.7{\pm}3.2$ vs. $4.2{\pm}0.9$, p=0.03). PET/CT found unexpected distant metastasis in 18.7% of patients (3/16) and changed the therapeutic plan in those patients. The $SUV_{max}$ of ACC was significantly lower than that of size-matched SqCC ($5.1{\pm}2.4$ vs. $13.6{\pm}6.0$, p<0.001). DFS was not significantly different according to the histological subtype. In contrast, patients with high $^{18}F$-FDG uptake ($SUV_{max}$ ${\geq}$6.0) had significantly shorter DFS than those with low $^{18}F$-FDG uptake ($SUV_{max}$ <6.0). Conclusion: $^{18}F$-FDG uptake of ACC of the head and neck is significantly associated with histological subtype and DFS. $^{18}F$-FDG PET/CT may be useful for detecting unexpected metastasis. Since $^{18}F$-FDG uptake of tubular/cribriform ACC compared with SqCC is relatively low, it is necessary to interpret PET images carefully in patients without alleged ACC.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.18-24
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• 2006

Purpose: The prognosis of stage IV gastric cancer is poor with the 5-year survival rate still being about 10%. We investigated the prognostic factors of stage IV gastric cancer patients who underwent resection. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of 383 patients with stage IV gastric cancer who underwent surgery in our department between September 1983 to December 2000 was conducted. We classified the 383 patients into two groups: patients surviving 2 years or more (n=77) and those surviving less than 2 years (n=306). Clinicopathologic differences were analyzed between the two groups. We also performed univariate and multivariate analyses of various clinicopathologic factors concerning survival. Results: Statistically significant clinicopathologic differences between the two groups were observed in regard to macroscopic type, distant metastasis, lymph node dissection, curability, and histology. Curability and histology were significant survival factors in 2-year survival. The 5-year survival rate was 5.4% in stage IV gastric cancer. Significant differences in survival among macroscopic type, distant metastasis, lymph node dissection, curability and histology were observed in the univariate analysis. In the Multivariate analysis, Curability, lymph node dissection, and histology were significantly beneficial factors for survival. Conclusion: Lymph node dissection, curability, and histology were independent prognostic factors in stage IV gastric cancer, and radical treatment is recommended to improve survival.