• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.288-293
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• 2002

Allergen-removed-extract was produced from Rush verniciflua by two phase methods. Phase one was high temperature treatment of Rush verniciflua tree to get allergen-removed-extract. Phase two was extraction of solution from phase one product using water or organic solvents. The solutions from above method show high antioxidant activity, anticancer activity, and improvement in lung function, but did not contain urushiol family compounds.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.200-206
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to report the possibility of treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer with Traditional Korean Medicine based allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes (ARVS) following chemoradiotherapy. Methods: A patient with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (stage IIIB) felt chest discomfort, fatigue, and anxiety after chemoradiotherapy. To prevent recurrence, he opted to receive Traditional Korean Medicine. Results: After treatment with ARVS, the size of the residual primary cancer and a metastatic lymph node decreased, without new cancerous regions. The patient has maintained good performance and has shown prolonged overall survival. Conclusions: This report suggests that ARVS may play a therapeutic role in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer after chemoradiotherapy. Further studies will be needed to determine the effect of ARVS on locally-advanced unresectable non-small cell lung cancer.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2012

Objective : We introduce a case of non-small cell lung cancer patient treated with allergen removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes. Methods : This patient started Allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes from Feb 2010 right after his firstline chemotherapy, and maintained his Oriental medicine regimen until now. Results : It shows 12.0 months of progression-free-survival since starting point of maintenance chemotherapy, and 9.3 months of overall-survival since progression disease after 2nd chemotherapy, compared with 6.3 months of its known overall survival. Conclusion : Allergen removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes prolonged overall survival and slowed disease progression of a non-small cell lung cancer patient.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.655-661
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• 2007

Malignant melanoma is rare in Asians and one of the poorer prognostic diseases. Malignant melanoma accounts for only a small ratio of all skin cancers, but it causes the greatest number of skin cancer - related deaths worldwide. Melanoma incidence has continued to increase worldwide and in Korea, like other countries, the number of patients has increased compared with previous cancer incidence data. In this case report, we describe a case of a malignant melanoma patient who showed neck node metastasis (right supraclavicular area) after wide excision of facial melanoma 2 years before the diagnosis of relapse. The patient refused to get conventional western medical treatment including chemotherapy and the size of cancer increased over the 5 months of clinical follow-up. After 4 months of traditional Korean medical treatment using allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes(A-RVS), however, the size of cancer mass decreased and the patient showed no side effects. Further study will be needed in order to determine the long-term effect of allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes on patients with malignant melanoma.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.63-69
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• 2008

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Standard treatment such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery have many limitations in the treatment of this disease. Therefore, new molecular-targeted therapies needed and being developed. Patients with advanced NSCLC have a short life expentancy; therefore, in addition to increasing their survival, improving their quality of life (QoL) is also an important treatment goal. In this case report, we introduce NSCLC patient treated with Allergen Removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes(aRVS). In this case, survival time incresed as traditional korean medicine using aRVS. And the general condition of the patient became better. Further case study will be needed in order to determine the effects of aRVS on NSCLC.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.35-41
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• 2011

Background : Lung cancer is one of the most common malignancy in the world. Types of lung cancer are Non small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Subtypes of Non small cell lung cancer are adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma. Knowing the type of lung cancer is important in determining both treatment and prognosis. Recently, due to newly developed anti-cancer drugs, squamous cell carcinoma has relatively poor prognosis than non-squamous cell carcinoma. Case : We report a squamous cell lung cancer case treated with allergen removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes (aRVS) extract. The patients initially diagnosed stage squamous cell lung carcinoma, but she refused recommended operation. She initiated aRVS extract monotherapy in October. 2006. The follow up Computed tomography in March. 2007, she diagnosed stable disease of tumor response on aRVS treatment. However, this case was lost to follow up for 6 months while she was treated with tomotherapy. In October 2007, she came back to our cancer center after diagnosed stage IV metastasized lung to lung, and aRVS monotherapy was restarted. She had survived 2 years after metastasis of squamous cell lung carcinoma. Conclusion : Allergen removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes(aRVS) sucessfully prolonged overall survival of a squamous cell lung cancer patient.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.827-834
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• 2008

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid malignancy. It has better prognosis and rarer incidence of distant metastasis than other types of thyroid malignancy. However, once distant metastasis happens, its result will be bad. They mostly spread to the lungs and bones. and rarely to the brain. We report a patient with a papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasis to the lymph nodes. the ribs. the brain, and the lungs. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy, radioiodine ablation, rib partial resection, and lung wedge resection. However, upon progress of metastasis. the patient insisted on being treated with traditional Korean medical treatment using allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (A-RVS) instead of the conventional treatment including chemotherapy. The size of the tumor partly decreased, and the patient showed no side effects. This case report brings forth the importance of a thorough study in papillary thyroid carcinomas and their metastasis from the traditional Korean medical point of view, along with the long-term effect of allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (A-RVS).

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.529-534
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• 2008

Renal cell carcinoma(RCC) is one of the major malignant renal cell tumors. Although RCC can metastasize to almost every organ, the most common metastatic sites are the lung parenchyma, the bones, the liver, and the brain. Adrenal metastasis from RCC is extremely rare. Adrenal metastasis from RCC shows poor prognosis, with little benefit from chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy. In this report, we describe a case of an RCC patient who showed lung and adrenal metastasis. The patient underwent left nephrectomy and chemotherapy(sunitinib), which were not effective. He refused further conventional medical treatment, and instead started treatment with Traditional Korean Medicine using allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes. After about 3 months of this treatment, the size of the adrenal tumor had decreased significantly with good performance status. Further study will be needed to demonstrate the tumor regression effect of allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes on patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

• The Korea Journal of Herbology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.71-78
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• 2019

Objective : The purpose of the study was to identify expression profiling of miRNAs associated with cancers after treating allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes and allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes fumigaed Angelica gigas on leukemia cell lines. Methods : miRNA expression has been analyzed using miRNA array method through denaturation and hybridization after isolating the total RNA from leukemic cell line treated with 100 ㎍/㎖ of aRVS and aRVS-A each. Microarray expressions were interpreted as 'significant' on miRNAs when decreased less than 0.5 fold or increased more than 1.5 fold compared with the control group. Results : Among 158 miRNAs in total, 32 miRNAs were significantly presented in miRNAs expression. miRNA has been activated with a variety of genes for predicted targets, and the overexpressed miRNAs were categorized according to proliferation and metastasis of cancer in this study. The findings were reported that seven miRNAs (let-7b, miR-193a-5p, 296-3p, 26a, 22, 124a, 92b) showed significant expressions on proliferation and growth, seven miRNAs (miR-193a-5p, 26a, 200c, 183, 124a, 198, 210) presented meaningful expressions on invasion and metastasis, two miRNAs (let-7b, miR-210) were highly expressed on angiogenesis, five miRNAs (let-7b, miR-26a, 181d, 181c, 296-5p) related with apoptosis, and six miRNAs (let-7b, miR-200c, 183, 370, 124a, 191) were associated with prognosis of cancer and early diagnostic factors for cancer. Conclusion : The mechanism of miRNA takes a role in diagnosis, treatment, and prognotic factors for cancer as well. This study suggested that further detailed research on overexpression of specific miRNA should be carried out continuously in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.98-103
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• 2014

Objectives: Advanced malignant melanoma (MM) has a poor prognosis, with an expected 2-year survival rate of 10 to 20%. It has long been recognized as an immunogenic tumor, and is worse for elderly patients. Many studies have suggested that herbal treatments improve immune functions, but few clinical studies have reported on this topic. Patients and History: We present two cases of female patients (72 and 77 years old, respectively) with advanced MM. The 72-year-old female patient was, at first, diagnosed with MM with multiple bone metastases. She received resection of the primary lesion, but refused further chemotherapy. The 77-year-old female patient was diagnosed with cutaneous MM of the left heel, with suspicion of sentinel node lymphadenopathy; however, she also refused any conventional treatment due to old age. Course of Therapy and Results: Both patients were exclusively treated with standardized allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua stokes (aRVS) extract combined with Bojungikki-tang (BT, Bu-Zhong-Yi-Qi-Tang in Chinese or Hochu-ekki-to in Japanese). Both patients are still alive and doing well (Feb. 2014), demonstrating that the 72-year-old patient has lived for 27 months and the 77-year-old patient has lived for 31 months without disease progression since the aRVS and BT administration. Conclusion: We suggest that the combination of aRVS extract and BT could be a candidate for overcoming the cancer's immunoediting process especially for elderly MM patients intolerant of conventional treatment.