• Korean Journal of Radiology
• /
• v.20 no.8
• /
• pp.1293-1299
• /
• 2019

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT) for chronic empyema-associated malignancy (CEAM). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images of 33 patients with chronic empyema, and analyzed the following findings: 1) shape of the empyema cavity, 2) presence of fistula, 3) maximum standardized uptake value (SUV) of the empyema cavity, 4) uptake pattern of the empyema cavity, 5) presence of a protruding soft tissue mass within the empyema cavity, and 6) involvement of adjacent structures. Final diagnosis was determined based on histopathology or clinical follow-up for at least 6 months. The abovementioned findings were compared between the ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT images of CEAM and chronic empyema. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was also performed. Results: Six lesions were histopathologically proven as malignant; there were three cases of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, two of squamous cell carcinoma, and one of poorly differentiated carcinoma. Maximum SUV within the empyema cavity (p < 0.001) presence of a protruding soft tissue mass (p = 0.002), and involvement of the adjacent structures (p < 0.001) were significantly different between the CEAM and chronic empyema images. The maximum SUV exhibited the highest diagnostic performance, with the highest specificity (96.3%, 26/27), positive predictive value (85.7%, 6/7), and accuracy (97.0%, 32/33) among all criteria. On ROC analysis, the area under the curve of maximum SUV was 0.994. Conclusion: ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT can be useful for diagnosing CEAM in patients with chronic empyema. The maximum SUV within the empyema cavity is the most accurate ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT diagnostic criterion for CEAM.

• Annals of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.329-341
• /
• 2023

Vascular tumors of the liver are mesenchymal lesions from endothelial cells. They range from common benign lesions such as haemangioma, intermediate tumors like Kaposi sarcoma, and perivascular epithelioid cell tumor to malignant tumors such as hepatic epithelioid hemangioendothelioma and hepatic angiosarcoma in adults. Pediatric vascular tumors of the liver also include benign, locally aggressive, borderline, and malignant masses with haemangiomas being the most common benign tumors and epithelioid hemangioendothelioma being an uncommon pediatric malignancy. The list of these lesions is completed by nodular regenerative hyperplasia, solitary fibrous tumour, and hepatic small vessel neoplasms (HSVN). Some of these tumors are uncommon and rare. This review article aimed to enumerate hepatic vascular tumors along with their imaging, histopathology, molecular findings for accurate diagnosis that can result in better management.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.35-39
• /
• 2016

Castleman's disease (CD) is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder. The disease entity is classified into 2 clinical subtypes, unicentric and multicentric type. Prevalence of lymphoid malignancy in multicentric CD (MCD) is very low. In this case, we report a case of 77 years old woman who developed high fever and swelling in both side of her neck. Neck lymph node biopsy revealed plasma cell hyperplasia. Patient's symptom was subsided after treatment with Dexamethasone. Three months later, multiple lymph node enlargement was developed in abdomen and neck area again. Repeated neck lymph node biopsy confirmed diffuse large B cell lymphoma. The patient started chemotherapy.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.28-34
• /
• 2003

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women in Western countries, and its prevalence is also increasing in Asia. The major risk factor for breast cancer can be traced to reproductive events that influence the lifetime levels of hormones. However, a large percentage of breast cancer cases cannot, be explained by these risk factors. The identification of susceptibility factors that predispose individuals to breast cancer (for instance, if they are exposed to particular environmental agents) could possibly give further insight into the etiology of this malignancy and provide targets for the future development of therapeutics. The most interesting candidate genes include those that mediate a range of functions. These include carcinogen metabolism, DNA repair, steroid hormone metabolism, signal transduction, and cell cycle control. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study in South Korea to evaluate the potential modifying role of the genetic polymorphisms of selected low penetrance genes that are involved in carcinogen metabolisms (i.e., CYP1A1, CYP2E1, GSTM1/T1/P1, NAT1/2, etc.), estrogen synthesis and metabolism (i.e., CYP19, CYP17, CYP1B1, COMT, ER-$\alpha$, etc.), DNA repair (i.e., XRCC1/3, ERCC2/4, ATM, AGT, etc.), and signal transduction as well as others (i.e., TGF-$\beta$, IGF-1, TNF-$\beta$, IL-1B, IL-1RN, etc.). We also took into account the potential interaction between these and the known risk factors of breast cancer. The results of selected genes will be presented in this mini-review.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.8
• /
• pp.4009-4011
• /
• 2016

Background: Classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) is a B-cell lymphoid neoplasm characterized by a distinctive biological behavior with potentially curable disease characteristics. It is an uncommon hematological malignancy which primarily affects younger individuals. The rationale of this study was to determine its clinico-hematological profile along with stage stratification in Pakistani patients. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, adult patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma were enrolled from January 2010 to December 2014. Results: Sixty two histopathologically confirmed cases of cHL were identified. There were 42 males and 20 females, with a male to female ratio of 2: 1. The mean age was $29.7{\pm}13.8$ years with the median age of 30 years. B symptoms were present in 72.5% of patients. Histopathologically, the mixed cellularity type constituted 62.9% of cases, followed by nodular sclerosis in 25.8%, lymphocyte predominant in 9.6% and lymphocyte depleted in 1.6%. Stages I and II were present in 43.5% of patients at disease presentation, with 56.4% in stages III and IV. Conclusions: Our analysis shows that clinico-pathological features of Hodgkin's lymphoma in Pakistan are comparable to published data. Mixed cellularity is the commonest histological variant and advanced stage at presentation are common findings in our patients.

• BMB Reports
• /
• v.52 no.5
• /
• pp.330-335
• /
• 2019

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) encoding the HBV x protein (HBx) is a known causative agent of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Its pathogenic activities in HCC include interference with several signaling pathways associated with cell proliferation and apoptosis. Mutant C-terminal-truncated HBx isoforms are frequently found in human HCC and have been shown to enhance proliferation and invasiveness leading to HCC malignancy. We investigated the molecular mechanism of the reduced doxorubicin cytotoxicity by C-terminal truncated HBx. Cells transfected with C-terminal truncated HBx exhibited reduced cytotoxicity to doxorubicin compared to those transfected with full-length HBx. The doxorubicin resistance of cells expressing C-terminal truncated HBx correlated with upregulation of the ATP binding cassette subfamily B member 1(ABCB1) transporter, resulting in the enhanced efflux of doxorubicin. Inhibiting the activity of ABCB1 and silencing ABCB1 expression by small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) increased the cytotoxicity of doxorubicin. These results indicate that elevated ABCB1 expression induced by C-terminal truncation of HBx was responsible for doxorubicin resistance in HCC. Hence, co-treatment with an ABCB1 inhibitor and an anticancer agent may be effective for the treatment of patients with liver cancer containing the C-terminal truncated HBx.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
• /
• v.28 no.2
• /
• pp.135-138
• /
• 2012

Primary thyroid lymphoma is rare and accounts for less than 5% of all thyroid malignancy. The clinical presentation includes a rapidly enlarging neck mass, associated with dysphagia, dyspnea or hoarseness. The most common histologic type is diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid malignancy. Co-occurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma and primary thyroid lymphoma is very rare. Recently, we experienced a case with co-occurrence of papillary thyroid carcinoma and primary thyroid lymphoma in a 79-year-old woman, who had tuberculous lymphadenitis presented as lateral neck mass. We present this case with a review of the literature.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.105-109
• /
• 2000

X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is a primary inherited B-cell immunodeficiency. The prevalence of neoplastic disease in patients with XLA is approximatedly 0.7%. The most frequent tumor is lymphoreticular malignancy. We report a case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a 13-year-old boy with XLA, after probable maternal transmission of hepatitis B virus. The authors consider that the vertical transmission of hepatitis B virus might play an important role in the development of HCC in a child with XLA who could not eliminate hepatitis B virus effectively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.sup3
• /
• pp.219-224
• /
• 2016

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary malignancy of the liver making up more than 80 percent of cases. It is known to be the sixth most prevalent cancer and the third most frequent cause of cancer related death worldwide. Epigenetic regulation constitutes an important mechanism by which dietary components can selectively activate or inactivate target gene expression. The miR-34 family members including mir-34a, mir-34b and mir-34c are tumor suppressor micro RNAs, which are expressed in the majority of normal tissues. Several studies have indicated silencing of miR-34 expression via DNA methylation in multiple types of cancers. Bioactive nutrients like curcumin (Cur) have excellent anticarcinogenic activity and minimal toxic manifestations in biological systems. This compound has recently been determined to induce epigenetic changes. However, Cur is lipophilic and has a poor systemic bioavailability and poor absorption. Its bioavailability is increased through employing dendrosome nanoparticles. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of dendrosomal nanocurcumin (DNC) on expression of mir-34 family members in two HCC cell lines, HepG2 and Huh7. We performed the MTT assay to evaluate DNC and dendrosome effects on cell viability. The ability of DNC to alter expression of the mir-34 family and DNA methyltransferases (DNMT1, DNMT3A and 3B) was evaluated using semi-quantitative and quantitative PCR. We observed the entrance of DNC into HepG2 and Huh7 cells. Gene expression assays indicated that DNC treatment upregulated mir34a, mir34b and mir34c expression (P<0.05) as well as downregulated DNMT1, DNMT3A and DNMT3B expression (P<0.05) in both HepG2 and Huh7 cell lines. DNC also reduced viability of Huh7 and HepG2 cells through restoration of miR-34s expression. We showed that DNC could awaken the epigenetically silenced miR-34 family by downregulation of DNMTs. Our findings suggest that DNC has potential in epigenetic therapy of HCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.17 no.5
• /
• pp.2513-2518
• /
• 2016

Background: In 2008, non-Hodgkin lymphoma ranked tenth among other malignancies worldwide with an incidence of around 5 cases per 100,000 in both genders. The latest available rates in Tunisia are from 2006. Materials and Methods: This study aimed to provide an update about NHL incidence for 2009 and its trend between 1998 and 2009 as well as a projection until 2024, using data from the Salah Azaiz Institute hospital registry and the Noth Tunisia cancer registry. Results: In 2009, the NHL incidence in the north of Tunisia was 4.03 cases per 100,000, 4.97 for men and 3.10 for women. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) accounted for 63.2% of all NHL subtypes. Between 1998 and 2009, the overall trend showed no significant change. When we compared the trend between two periods (1998-2005 and 2005-2009), joinpoint regression showed a significant decrease of NHL incidence in the first period with an annual percentage change (APC) of -6.7% (95% CI:[-11.2%;-2%]), then the incidence significantly increased from 2005 to 2009 with an APC of 30.5% (95% CI: [16.1%; 46.6%]. The analyses of the different subtype trends showed a significant decrease in DLBCL incidence between 1998 and 2000 (APC:-21.5; 95% CI: [-31.4%;-10.2%]) then the incidence significantly increased between 2004 and 2007 (APC: 18.5; 95% CI: [3,6%;35.5%]). Joint point analysis of the age-period-cohort model projection showed a significant increase between 2002 and 2024 with an APC of 4.5% (%95 CI: [1.5%; 7.5%]). The estimated ASR for 2024 was 4.55/100 000 (95% CI: [3.37; 6.15]). Conclusions: This study revealed an overall steady trend in the incidence of NHL in northern Tunisia between 1998 and 2009. Projection showed an increase in the incidence in NHL in both genders which draw the attention to the national and worldwide burden of this malignancy.