• Journal of Life Science
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.1777-1786
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• 2009

Thymosin ${\beta}4$, a small protein containing 43 amino acids, has multi-functional roles in cell physiology. It was first identified as a thymic maturation factor and recently has been shown to accelerate wound healing, hair growth, angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. It was also reported to play a key role in developing organs, including the nervous system and heart. Thymosin ${\beta}4$ induces the expression of vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF), laminin-5, and other important biologically active genes. Using tissue microarray analysis, we investigated the expression patterns of thymosin ${\beta}4$ and VEGF in various normal human adult tissues. Thymosin ${\beta}4$ was highly expressed in the liver, pancreas, ductal epithelium of the salivary gland, and heart, and moderately expressed in the skin, lung, spleen, lymph node, thymus, ureter, and blood endothelial cells in both the lung and adrenal gland. The expression of VEGF generally co-localized with thymosin ${\beta}4$ and VEGF was highly expressed in the pancreas, ureter, mammary gland, liver, esophagus, and blood endothelial cells in both the lung and adrenal gland. These results suggest that thymosin ${\beta}4$ plays an important role in the function of various organs and since the expression pattern of thymosin ${\beta}4$ co-localized with VEGF, part of that function may be to induce or maintain angiogenesis.

• Korean journal of applied entomology
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.91-100
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• 2022

Ticks are the arthropod vector capable of transmitting diverse pathogens, which include bacteria, viruses, protozoan and fungi. Ticks are able to survive under stressful environmental conditions. One of evolutionary outcomes of these obligatory hematophagous arthropods is the survival for extended periods of time without a blood meal during off-host periods. Water conservation biology and heat tolerance have allowed ticks to thrive even under high temperatures and low relative humidity, thus they have become highly successful arthropods as they are distributed globally. Tick osmoregulatory physiology is a complex mechanism, which involves multiple osmoregulatory organs (salivary glands, Malpighian tubules, hindgut and synganglion) for the acquisition and excretion of water and ions. Blood feeding and water vapor uptake have been early reported as the primary passages for ixodid tick to acquire water. Recently, we have learned that ticks can actively drink environmental water allowing hydration. The acquired water can be traced to the salivary glands (type I acini) and the midgut diverticula. This opens new avenues for tick management through the delivery of toxic agents into their drinking water, in addition to an alternative strategy for the study of tick physiology. Here we address the osmoregulatory physiology in the ixodid ticks as a potential target physiological mechanism for tick control. We discuss the implications of water drinking behavior for tick control through the delivery of toxic agents and discuss the dermal excretion physiology as an additional pathway to induce tick dehydration and tick death.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.40-44
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• 2004

To evaluate the quality of fine needle aspiration cytology diagnosis on malignant salivary gland neoplasms, cytologic findings were correlated with histologic diagnosis of 56 surgically removed malignant salivary gland tumors. Seven cases (12.5%) were insufficient, 23 cases (41.1%) were diagnosed as malignant, 17 (30.4%) cases were accurately diagnosed by histologic subtype, and 9 cases (16%) were diagnosed as benign. Five out of 9 false negative cases were misdiagnosed as pleomorphic adenomas. Except the cases with insufficient specimen, overall sensitivity was 81.6%, and the sensitivity varied according to the histologic subtype; 91% in salivary duct carcinoma, 100% in carcinoma ex pleomorphic adenoma, 50% in mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 63% in adenoid cystic carcinoma, and 50% in acinic cell carcinoma. The diagnostic accuracy differed among cytopathologists irrespective of periods after acquisition of board of pathologists. These results confirm that salivary gland neoplasm can be easily misdiagnosed in fine needle aspiration cytology and a great caution should be given in diagnosing the benign appearing salivary aspirates to avoid under-diagnosis of malignant neoplasm with low grade cytologic atypia.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.54-57
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• 2015

Angiosarcoma is a rare and highly malignant neoplasm which develops from the endothelium of blood vessels. A few cases of primary angiosarcoma of the parotid gland have been reported. However, there is no report of primary angiosarcoma of the accessory parotid gland. In this case, we report a primary angiosarcoma of the accessory parotid gland in a 45-year-old man with growing cheek mass. Ultrasonography revealed a $2.0{\times}2.6cm$ sized homogeneous hypoechoic mass and computed tomography showed a contrast enhanced homogeneous mass. Fine needle aspiration biopsy suggested a benign tumor. The mass was completely excised with a minimal vertical incision. The histopathology showed anastomosing vascular channels lined by atypical endothelial cells and many branching vessels with staghorn appearance with positive immunohistochemical staining for CD34, a highly specific endothelial marker. The patient underwent postoperative radiotherapy and was followed for 8 years without recurrence and metastasis.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.24-26
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• 2010

Necrotizing sialometaplasia was defined by Abrams et al. in 1973 as a reactive necrotizing inflammatory process involving minor salivary glands. Prior to recognition of necrotizing sialometaplasia as a benign, self-limited lesion, it was all too often diagnosed as either squamous cell carcinoma or mucoepidermoid carcinoma and had been improperly treated because of its clinical and histological resemblance to malignancy. We report two cases of necrotizing sialometaplasia. One case involved a 56-year-old female who developed a necrotizing sialometaplasia in association with palato-pharyngeal flap wound after excision of soft palate cancer and reconstruction. Another case involved a 55-year-old male who had a soft palate mass.

• The Korean Journal of Cytopathology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.56-62
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• 2006

Salivary duct carcinoma (SDC) is a rare primary salivary gland malignancy characterized by histological features similar to those of ductal carcinomas of the breast. It is regarded as a high-grade malignancy associated with frequent local recurrences and early distant metastases that require aggressive treatment. The typical fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) findings in SDC include cellular smears showing tumor cells with eccentric pleomorphic nuclei and a granular cytoplasm arranged in flat sheets or cribriform patterns against a necrotic background. However, the presence of mucin-containing cells in SDC has been rarely described. We report the FNAC findings in a patient with histologically confirmed SDC that demonstrated numerous mucin-containing cells and was subsequently misdiagnosed as a high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma. Here we discuss the problems involved in distinguishing SDC from high-grade mucoepidermoid carcinoma on the basis of cytologic findings alone.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.71-74
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• 2013

Neck mass is a common manifestation from head and neck malignancy, most of which come from mucosal squamous cell carcinomas in the upper aero-digestive tract. However, once aspiration cytology suggests atypical malignant cells in the neck mass rather than metastatic squamous cell carcinomas, it is confusing to decide the adequate diagnostic work-ups and treatment planning. Here, we report a 29-year-old woman presenting with a growing neck mass mimicking malignancy of unknown origin, which was finally diagnosed as primary lymphoepithelial carcinoma in the parotid gland with multiple metastases to the lymph nodes. The patient underwent comprehensive neck dissection and total parotidectomy and the adjuvant radiation treatment was given. Our report highlight that the primary salivary gland cancer should be considered as the potential tumor origin in case of malignancy of unknown origin in the head and neck region and neck mass suggestive of atypical carcinomas.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.173-177
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• 2008

Sialoblastoma is a rare tumor of salivary gland origin, developing in the fetal or neonatal period. Most tumors arise in parotid gland, and rarely in submandibular gland. Because of its rare incidence, diagnosis of the sialoblastoma in head and neck tumors of children is not easy. The case of a congenital submandibular gland sialoblastoma is presented. A neonate was transferred right after birth due to a submandibular mass. CT scan showed a lobulating mass located posterior to the left submandibular gland, suggesting neurogenic tumor or myofibroma. The tumor was excised easily after division of a duct-like structure connecting with the submandibular gland. The microscopic findings showed the basaloid cells and ductules forming cellular nests, separated by thin fibrous tissue. Immunohistochemical staining was positive for cytokeratin, vimentin and Ki-67, which was consistent with sialoblastoma.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.110-122
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• 2005

Adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of salivary glands has a protracted clinical course with perineural invasion, delayed onset of hematogenous metastasis, and poor responses to classical cytotoxic chemotherapic agents. Most deaths from salivary ACC are caused by lung metastases that are resistant to conventional therapy. Therefore, knowledge of cellular properties and tumor-host interactions that influence the dissemination of metastatic cells is important for the design of more effective therapy of salivary cancer. I determined in vitro expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its downstream effectors and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-2 on a human salivary ACC cell line (ACC2). I also evaluated the expression of EGF and VEGF signaling molecules and metastasis-related proteins on human salivary ACC cells orthotopically growing in nude mice. In Western blot and immunohistochemical analyses, EGFR and VEGFR-2 were presented and phosphorylated in ACC2 cells. In human parotid cancer xenografts in nude mice, EGF and VEGF signaling molecules, IL-8, and MMP-9 were expressed at markedly higher levels than in normal parotid tissues. Moreover, tumor-associated endothelial cells of this orthotopic parotid tumor expressed phosphorylated VEGFR-2 and phosphorylated Akt, which is a cell-survival protein. These data show that those biomarkers can be molecular targets for therapy of salivary ACC, which has a propensity for delayed lung metastasis.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.1062-1073
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• 2021

Objectives: This study examined the case of a patient with recurrent salivary duct carcinoma and hepatic metastasis. Methods: The patient was treated with Casodex/Nolvadex from January 25^th 2021 onward with doses of bicalutamide (150 mg/day) and tamoxifen (10 mg/day) every four weeks. Simultaneously, the patient was treated with Korean medicine. The tumor size was measured using computed tomography (CT). Adverse events were evaluated according to the National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE), version 5.0. Results: Following the four-month treatment, the extent of the proximal portion of hepatic metastasis decreased, and discomfort and physical activity gradually improved. Conclusions: The results suggest that combined chemotherapy and Korean medicine may help to reduce tumor size and improve quality of life.