• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제14권6호
• /
• pp.3747-3750
• /
• 2013

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of conservative surgery plus chemo-, radio-therapy in treating patients with early stage breast cancer. Patients and Methods: Eligible patients were treated by postoperative chemotherapy as well as whole-breast irradiation with tumor bed boost. Postoperative radiotherapy consisted of 6 MV whole breast linear accelerator irradiation with two tangential half fields to a total dose of 45~50 Gy, followed by $10{\sim}15MeV{\beta}$ boost irradiation to tumor bed for 10~20Gy, total dose 56~66Gy. Results: Fifty-two patients were enrolled. Overall 1-, 2- and 3 year survival rates were 98.1%, 92.3%, and 90.4%, respectively, with a local recurrence rate of 5.77%. Cosmetic results were evaluated as good by doctors in 90.4% of patients. Conclusions: Breast conservative surgery combined with chemo- radio-therapy could be a treatment option for Chinese patients with early stage breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권7호
• /
• pp.2613-2617
• /
• 2015

Radiation induced lung injury has long been considered a treatment limiting factor for patients requiring thoracic radiation. This radiation induced lung injury happens early as well as late. Radiation induced lung injury can occur in two phases viz. early (< 6 months) when it is called radiation pneumonitis and late (>6 months) when it is called radiation induced lung fibrosis. There are multiple factors that can be patient, disease or treatment related that predict the incidence and severity of radiation pneumonitis. Radiation induced damage to the type I pneumocytes is the triggering factor to initiate such reactions. Over the years, radiation therapy has witnessed a paradigm shift in radiation planning and delivery and successfully reduced the incidence of lung injury. Radiation pneumonitis is usually a diagnosis of exclusion. Steroids, ACE inhibitors and pentoxyphylline constitute the cornerstone of therapy. Radiation induced lung fibrosis is another challenging aspect. The pathophysiology of radiation fibrosis includes continuing inflammation and microvascular changes due to pro-angiogenic and profibrogenic stimuli resembling those in adult bronchiectasis. General supportive management, mobilization of airway secretions, anti-inflammatory therapy and management of acute exacerbations remains the treatment option. Radiation induced lung injury is an inevitable accompaniment of thoracic radiation.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제13권4호
• /
• pp.1081-1091
• /
• 2012

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) represent a heterogeneous group of clonal hematologic neoplasms characterized by morphologic dysplasia, aberrant hematopoiesis and peripheral blood refractory cytopenias. MDS is recognized to be associated with an increased risk of symptomatic anemia, infectious complications and bleeding diathesis, as well as a risk of progression to acute myeloid leukemia, particularly in patients with a high IPSS score. The advent of use of hematopoietic growth factors such as granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) and recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) has improved symptoms in MDS patients in addition to some data that suggest there might be an improvement in survival. G-CSF is an effective therapeutic option in MDS patients, and it should be considered for the management of refractory symptomatic cytopenias. G-CSF and EPO in combination can improve outcomes in appropriate MDS patients such as those with lower-risk MDS and refractory anemia with ring sideroblasts (RARS). This article reviews use of growth factors for lower-risk MDS patients, and examines the data for G-CSF, EPO and thrombopietic growth factors (TPO) that are available or being developed as therapeutic modalities for this challenging disease.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제14권11호
• /
• pp.6619-6623
• /
• 2013

Background:The aim of the research was to explore a cost effective, fast, easy to perform, and sensitive method for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation testing. Methods: High resolution melting analysis (HRM) was introduced to evaluate the efficacy of the analysis for dectecting EGFR mutations in exons 18 to 21 using formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissues and plasma free DNA from 120 patients. Results: The total EGFR mutation rate was 37.5% (45/120) detected by direct sequencing. There were 48 mutations in 120 FFPE tissues assessed by HRM. For plasma free DNA, the EGFR mutation rate was 25.8% (31/120). The sensitivity of HRM assays in FFPE samples was 100% by HRM. There was a low false-positive mutation rate but a high false-negative rate in plasma free DNA detected by HRM. Conclusions: Our results show that HRM analysis has the advantage of small tumor sample need. HRM applied with plasma free DNA showed a high false-negative rate but a low false-positive rate. Further research into appropriate methods and analysis needs to be performed before HRM for plasma free DNA could be accepted as an option in diagnostic or screening settings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권7호
• /
• pp.3319-3322
• /
• 2014

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Jamaican women. This study assessed the clinicopathologic features of cases in a hospital-based specialist clinic in Kingston, Jamaica. A retrospective chart review was performed for the 2-year study period and relevant clinical and surgico-pathologic data were recorded and analyzed. Median age of the 121 breast cancer patients was 52 years (range 22-84, IQR 20) and there was 1 case of male breast cancer. Most patients (65%) were referred from the surgical service after definitive breast cancer surgery, 20% were referred for pre-operative systemic therapy, and 15% had a diagnosis of metastatic disease. The surgico-pathologic group comprised 78 women who were referred for adjuvant therapy. The majority had presented with a palpable breast lump (91%), with median tumour size 3.5cm (range 0.4-13, IQR 4). Most tumours were node positive (56%). Approximately one-third of patients had stage III disease (33%). Most women presented with large palpable tumours and had lymph node involvement confirmed on surgicopathological evaluation, indicative of limited early breast cancer detection. A national screening mammography programme is recommended for detection of earlier lesions. Pre-operative systemic therapy should be considered as an option for eligible patients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• 제10권6호
• /
• pp.621-628
• /
• 1997

This study aimed to quantify the impact of crossbreeding at farm level, in mixed farm systems in Gujarat. Households with crossbred cattle did not differ from households without crossbreds in terms of farm resources, crop gross margins and off-farm income. The use of crossbred animals did increase livestock gross margins by 64% and household income by 22%. The three agro-ecological zones included in this study differed considerably according to farm system and household income. However, in all three zones, households with crossbreds had higher livestock gross margins than households without crossbreds. There was no real difference in work load and labour division between households with and without crossbreds. There was also no difference in the use of bullocks for draught purposes between the two types of households. In particular buffaloes are being replaced by crossbred cattle. There was a large variation in farm income, largely because of land area. The milk offake per average cow and the number of buffaloes also related positively to farm income in both types of households. Crossbreeding has proved technically and financially viable in different Gujarat mixed farming systems. It can be concluded that crossbreeding is an important development option for landless farmers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권4호
• /
• pp.1671-1674
• /
• 2015

Cancer genomics and proteomics have undergone considerable broadening in the past decades and increasingly it is being realized that solid/liquid phase microarrays and high-throughput resequencing have provided platforms to improve our existing knowledge of determinants of cancer development, progression and survival. Loss of apoptosis is a widely and deeply studied process and different approaches are being used to restore apoptosis in resistant cancer phenotype. Modulating the balance between pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic proteins is essential to induce apoptosis. It is becoming more understood that pharmacological inhibition of the proteasome might prove to be an effective option in improving TRAIL induced apoptosis in cancer cells. Keeping in view rapidly accumulating evidence of carcinogenesis, metastasis, resistance against wide ranging therapeutics and loss of apoptosis, better knowledge regarding tumor suppressors, oncogenes, pro-apoptotic and anti-apotptic proteins will be helpful in translating the findings from benchtop to bedside.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• 제32권2호
• /
• pp.95-98
• /
• 2014

Extramammary Paget disease (EMPD) is a rare disease, especially in Asian populations. Surgical resection is considered the primary treatment option. Recently, radiotherapy has been suggested as an EMPD treatment, either as an alternative to surgical resection or in combination with surgical resection. This report reviewed a patient with EMPD who was treated with wide excision of the EMPD site followed by radiotherapy for remaining gross lymph node metastases. The aim of this report was to determine the optimal treatment for advanced EMPD.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• 제17권1호
• /
• pp.3-25
• /
• 2013

This paper evaluates whether the proposed FTAAP is a desirable policy option for APEC member economies and the world economy. More specifically, this paper qualitatively investigates whether the FTAAP satisfies conditions for a trade bloc to generate positive and sufficient net trade creation effect. In addition, this paper estimates the likely impact of the FTAAP by using a CGE model analysis. From the qualitative analysis based on statistical data, this paper strongly argues that the FTAAP can be a desirable regional trade bloc able to generate positive gains from freer trade. From the ex-ante scenario analysis using both static and capital accumulation CGE Models, this paper concludes that the FTAAP has great potential for improving welfare of participating APEC economies and will boost economic growth in the region. In particular, the FTAAP would be even better if it can be linked with liberalization of trade in services and enhanced trade facilitation.

• East Asian Economic Review
• /
• 제21권2호
• /
• pp.147-165
• /
• 2017

This study quantifies the dynamic interrelationship between the KOSPI index return and search query data derived from the Naver DataLab. The empirical estimation using a bivariate GARCH model reveals that negative contemporaneous correlations between the stock return and the search frequency prevail during the sample period. Meanwhile, the search frequency has a negative association with the one-week- ahead stock return but not vice versa. In addition to identifying dynamic correlations, the paper also aims to serve as a test bed in which the existence of profitable trading strategies based on big data is explored. Specifically, the strategy interpreting the heightened investor attention as a negative signal for future returns appears to have been superior to the benchmark strategy in terms of the expected utility over wealth. This paper also demonstrates that the big data-based option trading strategy might be able to beat the market under certain conditions. These results highlight the possibility of big data as a potential source-which has been left largely untapped-for establishing profitable trading strategies as well as developing insights on stock market dynamics.