• Journal of the Korean Institute of Oriental Medical Informatics
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.95-103
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• 2008

Objectives : The purpose of this case is to report the improvement of a patient with lymphedema due to axillary lymph node dissection after acupuncture therapy and herbal medicine. Methods : We treated the patient with Dong-Qi acupuncture, herbal medication(木通大安湯), lymph absorption massage, compresses, abdominal breathing. We measured the circumference of the patient's elbow and wrist every day at 6pm. Results : Since being hospitalized, the circumference of the patient' elbow and wrist has been decreased and VAS score has gotten lower gradually. Conclusions : We considered Dong-Qi acupuncture, herbal medication had a useful effect on lymphedema due to axillary lymph node dissection with lymph absorption massage, compresses, abdominal breathing.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.464-470
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• 2022

Objective: Axillary web syndrome (AWS) is a condition comprising fibrous band-like cords that appear in the axilla of patients after axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) during breast cancer surgery and result in pain and reduced mobility. The cords appearing with AWS are hardened veins or lymphatic vessels. Manual therapy and stretching are recommended for pain control and mobility improvement. Therefore, this study investigated the effect of cytoskeletal manual therapy (CMT), which is a new soft tissue mobilization technique. Design: A case report Methods: A 41-year-old woman with AWS after breast cancer surgery and ALND visited a physical therapy clinic because of shoulder pain, decreased function, and decreased mobility. The cords were palpable and pain occurred 2 weeks after surgery. CMT was performed three times per week for a total of 6 weeks. Her pain intensity, range of motion (ROM), and shoulder function were measured. Results: Measurements were performed after 2 weeks and 6 weeks of CMT and evaluated using the numeric pain rating scale (NPRS). Her pain intensity largely decreased after 2 weeks (4-point score reduction) and after 6 weeks (5-point score reduction) of CMT. After CMT, her full ROM was restored and her shoulder function was improved (7-point score reduction). Conclusions: CMT is effective for pain control, mobility improvement, and functional improvement of patients with AWS.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.75-81
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• 2006

In the past, most patient of breast cancer suffered side effects due to the useless removement of Axillary Lymph Node, but there is no need to remove it because of the result in this study. The purpose of this study is to save surgery time and side effects after surgical operation for patients with breast cancer by making decisions of operation range for metastasis in first Stenosis Lymph Node using the $^{99m}Tc-Tincolloid$ Scintigraphy and the Micro Probe for radioisotope. As a result of this study, 15 among 20 patients became objects of this study could reduced side effects for operation because there were no axillary lymph node operations. However there is no standard for method of this treatment. It should be standardize where inject point is, how much $^{99m}Tc-Tincolloid$ should be injected(radioactivity value), and the need of massage and Lymph Scintigraphy. Nevertheless I think that this result of study is useful to reduce suffering and side effects from breast cancer and also we should try to do that continuously. The objects for this study were 20 patients diagnosed as breast cancer by Ultrasonography, Mammography & Biopsy. The average of patient age was 45.4 years and its range was between 31 and 71 years. In case of clinical period there were 9 patients of Period I and II patients of Period III. The equipment for this study were $^{99m}Tc-Tincolloid$ describing the Stenosis Lymph Node as a tracer, Micro Probe : Neoprobe 2000(the rest is Gamma Probe) tracing the location, and MS-II Gamma Camera : SIEMENS(the rest is MS-II Gamma Camera) describing the images. There were 3 methods for this study, after selecting one of those methods all 20 patients were performed Stenosis Lymph Node diagnosis & Gamma Probe in operation room. The result was that I imaged all the 20 patients, and seek the Stenosis Lymph Node by using Gamma Probe. Metastasis in Stenosis Lymph Node was 5 and Metastasis in Axillary Lymph Node was 3 between Metastasis in Stenosis Lymph Node cases. Finally 15 patients were also proved that Axillary Lymph Node was Positive and that means there was no Metastasis in Axillary Lymph Node.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.717-722
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• 2013

Background: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between tumor size and axillary lymph node involvement (ALNI) in patients with invasive lesions, to find the best candidates for a full axillary dissection. Additionally, we evaluated the association between tumor size and invasive behavior. The study was based on data from 789 patients with histopathologically proven invasive breast cancer diagnosed in Shohada University hospital in Tehran, Iran (1993-2009). Cinical and histopathological characteristics of tumors were collected. Patients were divided into 6 groups according to primary tumor size: group I ($0.1-{\leq}1cm$), II ($1.1-{\leq}2cm$), III ($2.1-{\leq}3cm$), IV ($3.1-{\leq}4cm$), V ($4.1-{\leq}5cm$) and VI (>5cm). The mean(${\pm}SD$) size of primary tumor at the time of diagnosis was $3.59{\pm}2.69$ cm that gradually declined during the course of study. There was a significant correlation between tumor size and ALNI (p<0.001). A significant positive correlation between primary tumor size and involvement of surrounding tissue was also found (p<0.001). The mean number of LNI in group VI was significantly higher than other groups (p<0.05). We observed more involvement of lymph nodes, blood vessels, skin and areola-nipple tissue with increase in tumor size. We found 15.3% overall incidence of ALNI in tumors ${\leq}2cm$, indicating the need for more investigation to omit full axillary lymph node dissection with an acceptable risk for tumors below this diameter. While in patients with tumors ${\geq}2cm$, 84.3% of them had nodal metastases, so the best management for this group would be a full ALND. Tumor size is a significant predictor of ALNM and involvement of surrounding tissue, so that an exact estimation of the size of primary tumor is necessary prior to surgery to make the best decision for management of patients with invasive breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2225-2229
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• 2013

Background: As data on the relation between obesity and lymph node ratio are missing in the literature, we here aimed to assess the impact of obesity on this parameter and other clinicopathological features of breast cancer cases and patient survival. Materials and Methods: Medical data of 646 patients, all referred to two centers in Tehran, Iran, were reviewed. Factors that showed significant association on univariate analysis were entered in a regression model. Kaplan-Meier and Cox-regression were employed for survival analysis. Results: Obesity was correlated with the expression of estrogen and progesterone receptor (p=0.004 and p=0.039, respectively), metastasis to axillary lymph nodes (p=0.017), higher lymph node rate (p<0.001) and larger tumor size (p<0.001). The effect of obesity was stronger in premenopausal women. There was no association between obesity and expression of human epidermal growth factor receptor. Three factors showed independent association with BMI on multivariate analysis; tumor size, estrogen receptor and lymph node ratio. Obesity was predictive of shorter disease-free survival with a hazard ratio of 3.324 (95%CI: 1.225-9.017) after controlling for the above-mentioned variables. Conclusions: The findings of this study support the idea that obese women experience more advanced disease with higher axillary lymph node ratio, and therefore higher stage at the time of diagnosis. Furthermore, obesity was associated with poorer survival independent of lymph node rate.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5517-5523
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• 2012

Purpose: To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonograph and fine-needle aspiration cytologic examination (USG-FNAC) in the staging of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer patients.Methods: We conducted an electronic search of the literature addressing the performance of USG-FNAC in diagnosis of axillary lymph node metastasis in databases such as Pubmed, Medline, Embase, Ovid and Cochrane library. We introduced a series of diagnostic test indices to evaluate the performance of USG-FNAC by the random effect model (REM), including sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios and area under the curve (AUC). Results: A total of 20 studies including 1371 cases and 1289 controls were identified. The pooled sensitivity was determined to be 0.66 (95% CI 0.64-0.69), specificity 0.98 (95% CI 0.98-0.99), positive likelihood ratio 22.7 (95% CI 15.0-34.49), negative likelihood ratio 0.32 (95% CI 0.25-0.41), diagnostic OR 84.2 (95% CI 53.3-133.0). Due to the marginal threshold effect found in some indices of diagnostic validity, we used a summary SROC curve to aggregate data, and obtained a symmetrical curve with an AUC of 0.942. Conclusion: The results of this meta-analysis indicated that the USG-FNAC techniques have acceptable diagnostic validity indices and can be used for early staging of axillary lymph node in breast cancer patients.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.430-435
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• 2022

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effect of active movement with skin mobilization on range of motion, pain, and rating of perceived exertion in patients diagnosed with axillary web syndrome after axillary lymph node dissection. Design: A Case report Methods: It was performed on 7 patients diagnosed with axillary web syndrome after lymph node dissection. The subjects experienced a decrease in the range of joint motion and pain in movement when raising their arms in their daily lives, and complained of discomfort. The active range of motion, numeric rating scale, and modified Borg scale of shoulder joint flexion were measured, and the differences after active movement with skin mobilization were compared. Results: All subjects increased by 24.9 degree on average in active range of motion after active movement with skin mobilization intervention. There was no pain in the maximum range of joint motion measured before intervention, and rating of perceived exertion was significantly reduced. Conclusions: Active movement with skin mobilization can be a very useful way to help improve and treat axillary web syndrome, and it is recommended for improving the function and quality of life of axillary web syndrome patients. and It is also believed that it can be used steadily at home through the education of patients and families.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.132-137
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate non-sentinel lymph node (LN) status after sentinel lymph node biopsy (SNB) in patients with breast cancer and to identify the predictive factors for disease failure. Materials and Methods: From January 2006 to December 2007, axillary lymph node (ALN) dissection after SNB was performed for patients with primary invasive breast cancer who had no clinical evidence of LN metastasis. A total of 320 patients were treated with breast-conserving surgery and radiotherapy. Results: The median age of patients was 48 years, and the median follow-up time was 72.8 months. Close resection margin (RM) was observed in 13 patients. The median number of dissected SNB was two, and that of total retrieved ALNs was 11. Sentinel node accuracy was 94.7%, and the overall false negative rate (FNR) was 5.3%. Eleven patients experienced treatment failure. Local recurrence, regional LN recurrence, and distant metastasis were identified in 0.9%, 1.9%, and 2.8% of these patients, respectively. Sentinel LN status were not associated with locoregional recurrence (p > 0.05). Close RM was the only significant factor for disease-free survival (DFS) in univariate and multivariate analysis. The 5-year overall survival, DFS, and locoregional DFS were 100%, 96.8%, and 98.1%, respectively. Conclusion: In this study, SNB was performed with high accuracy and low FNR and high locoregional control was achieved.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.142-148
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• 2016

Purpose: The aim of this pilot study was to determine the effect of soft tissue technique (STT) in Axillary Web Syndrome (AWS) following sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy in breast cancer patients by examining the upper extremity function, range of motion, and pain. Methods: Nineteen patients with breast cancer-related AWS were evaluated. STT was performed on the symptom area for treatment of AWS symptoms. We evaluated AWS symptoms and pain intensity using a visual analogue scale (VAS), and functional disability using the Korean version of the Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, glenohumeral joint (GHJ) flexion and abduction range of motion (ROM) with or without elbow extension. Results: Visual analyses of the data suggest a modest effect of STT in improving GHJ flexion, abduction ROM with or without elbow extension, DASH for upper extremity function, and Pain. The statistically significant improvement in baseline observed for pain, DASH, and ROM data made it impossible to assess the effects of STT on those outcomes. There were no adverse events. Conclusions: STT may be an effective and safe treatment option for AWS patients recovering from breast cancer treatment; however, further research is needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6181-6185
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• 2012

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the available breast nomograms (MSKCC, Stanford, Tenon) to predict non-sentinel lymph node metastasis (NSLNM) and to determine variables for NSLNM in SLN positive breast cancer patients in our population. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 170 patients who underwent completion axillary lymph node dissection between Jul 2008 and Aug 2010 in our hospital. We validated three nomograms (MSKCC, Stanford, Tenon). The likelihood of having positive NSLNM based on various factors was evaluated by use of univariate analysis. Stepwise multivariate analysis was applied to estimate a predictive model for NSLNM. Four factors were found to contribute significantly to the logistic regression model, allowing design of a new formula to predict non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. The AUCs of the ROCs were used to describe the performance of the diagnostic value of MSKCC, Stanford, Tenon nomograms and our new nomogram. Results: After stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis, multifocality, proportion of positive SLN to total SLN, LVI, SLN extracapsular extention were found to be statistically significant. AUC results were MSKCC: 0.713/Tenon: 0.671/Stanford: 0.534/DEU: 0.814. Conclusions: The MSKCC nomogram proved to be a good discriminator of NSLN metastasis in SLN positive BC patients for our population. Stanford and Tenon nomograms were not as predictive of NSLN metastasis. Our newly created formula was the best prediction tool for discriminate of NSLN metastasis in SLN positive BC patients for our population. We recommend that nomograms be validated before use in specific populations, and more than one validated nomogram may be used together while consulting patients.