• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.505-516
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• 2022

Objective: To evaluate whether artificial intelligence (AI) for detecting breast cancer on mammography can improve the performance and time efficiency of radiologists reading mammograms. Materials and Methods: A commercial deep learning-based software for mammography was validated using external data collected from 200 patients, 100 each with and without breast cancer (40 with benign lesions and 60 without lesions) from one hospital. Ten readers, including five breast specialist radiologists (BSRs) and five general radiologists (GRs), assessed all mammography images using a seven-point scale to rate the likelihood of malignancy in two sessions, with and without the aid of the AI-based software, and the reading time was automatically recorded using a web-based reporting system. Two reading sessions were conducted with a two-month washout period in between. Differences in the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), sensitivity, specificity, and reading time between reading with and without AI were analyzed, accounting for data clustering by readers when indicated. Results: The AUROC of the AI alone, BSR (average across five readers), and GR (average across five readers) groups was 0.915 (95% confidence interval, 0.876-0.954), 0.813 (0.756-0.870), and 0.684 (0.616-0.752), respectively. With AI assistance, the AUROC significantly increased to 0.884 (0.840-0.928) and 0.833 (0.779-0.887) in the BSR and GR groups, respectively (p = 0.007 and p < 0.001, respectively). Sensitivity was improved by AI assistance in both groups (74.6% vs. 88.6% in BSR, p < 0.001; 52.1% vs. 79.4% in GR, p < 0.001), but the specificity did not differ significantly (66.6% vs. 66.4% in BSR, p = 0.238; 70.8% vs. 70.0% in GR, p = 0.689). The average reading time pooled across readers was significantly decreased by AI assistance for BSRs (82.73 vs. 73.04 seconds, p < 0.001) but increased in GRs (35.44 vs. 42.52 seconds, p < 0.001). Conclusion: AI-based software improved the performance of radiologists regardless of their experience and affected the reading time.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.81-95
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• 2023

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, ranking third after lung and breast cancer in terms of global prevalence. With an expected 1.93 million new cases and 935,000 deaths in 2020, it is more prevalent in males than in women. Evidence has shown that during the later stages of colon cancer, STAT1 promotes tumor progression by promoting cell survival and resistance to chemotherapy. Recent studies have shown that inhibiting STAT1 pathway leads to a reduction in tumor cell proliferation and growth, and can also promote apoptosis in colon cancer cells. One of the recent approaches in the field of drug discovery is drug repurposing. In drug repurposing approach we have virtually screened FDA database against STAT1 protein and their interactions have been studied through Molecular docking. Cross docking was performed with the top 10 compounds to be more specific with STAT1 comparing the affinity with STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, STAT5a, STAT5b and STAT6. The drugs that showed higher affinity were subjected to Conceptual - Density functional theory. Besides, the Molecular dynamic simulation was also carried out for the selected leads. We also validated in-vitro against colon cancer cell lines. The results showed mainly Acetyldigitoxin has shown better binding to the target. From this study, we can predict that the drug Acetyldigitoxin has shown noticeable inhibitory efficiency against STAT1, which in turn can also lead to the reduction of tumor cell growth in colon cancer.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.343-351
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• 2013

Purpose: This study was to identify factors affecting mammography screening behavior in job women by attitude, social influence and self-efficacy model. Methods: The data were obtained from 171 job women in one residency area by structural questionnaire from March to June 2013 and analysed by using $x^2$-test, ANOVA, Spearman's correlation and logistic regression analysis. Results: The each performance rate was 45.1% in mammography, 44.9% in breast self examination and 48.5% in physical examination. The mammography performance rate in job women showed higher significance in the groups of 1) older age, urban residency, marital status or high economic state, 2) shorter office hours or higher job position, 3) childbirth experience or menopause and 4) preferring soy bean food, practicing regular exercise, suffering chronic disease or receiving radiation therapy. Attitude, social influences and self-efficacy made significant differences in mammography performance. Logistic regression analysis showed that 50 years or older, urban residency, social influences towards mammography and high self-efficacy were significant relationship. Conclusion: In order to increase the mammography performance rate, the intervention strategies are needed to increase positive social influences or self-efficacy and to offer public information to younger age.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.119-130
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• 2024

Objectives : The objective of this review is to examine the variety of evaluation parameters utilized in clinical trials that assess the anticancer efficacy of herbal medicine, focusing on the importance of including both symptomatic management and direct anticancer effectiveness. Methods : A detailed literature review was conducted across PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library to identify clinical trials investigating the antitumor efficacy of herbal medicine. The search was performed on February 22, 2024. This review specifically examined the employed outcome measures, which were then categorized and analyzed to understand their relevance and application in evaluating the anticancer properties of herbal medicine. Results : From an initial search of 900 records, 15 clinical trials were selected for in-depth analysis after deduplication and screening. These studies evaluated the efficacy of herbal medicine across various cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer, using outcome measures such as survival rates, disease control rates, and quality of life improvements. The research spanned multiple countries, primarily in East Asia and the United States, reflecting a global interest in herbal medicine as a complementary approach to cancer treatment. The present study demonstrated that herbal medicine, especially when used alongside standard treatments, potentially improved clinical outcomes and patient well-being. Conclusions : The findings of this review highlight the need for a broader focus on the full range of therapeutic capabilities of herbal medicine, including its direct anticancer effects, in the management of cancer patients. Future oncology research involving herbal medicine should integrate a wide spectrum of clinical endpoints to fully ascertain its impact on cancer treatment and patient health.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.416-423
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• 2000

There is a growing concern that a wide variety of chemicals released into the environment can disrupt the endocrine system of fish, wildlife and humans. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) include pesticides such as DDT lindane and atrazine, the food packaging chemicals, phthalates and bisphenol A, alkylphenol ethoxylate detergents and the chemical industry by-products, dioxins. Xenoestrogens in the environment have been argued about health risk, because of estrogen mimetic chemicals are exposed only small amounts to human. A number of in vivo and in vitro assays are now in use to assess the activity of xenoestrogens in the environment. A human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) was used to develop in vitro screening assay for the detection of xenoestrogenic environmental pollutants. The E-SCREEN (MCF7-BUS) assay is proposed as a reliable, easy and rapid-to-perform method. To optimize and validate this method before it can be used routinely, several phenol compounds and pesticides suspected to be estrogenic were tested using I-SCREEN assay. The results showed that this method is a valuable tool for screening potential estrogen-mimicking environmental pollutants and quantitative determination of estrogeniciy.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.443-451
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• 2017

Mammography is commonly used for screening early breast cancer. However, mammographic images, which depend on the physical properties of breast components, are limited to provide information about whether a lesion is malignant or benign. Although a dual-energy subtraction technique decomposes a certain material from a mixture, it increases radiation dose and degrades the accuracy of material decomposition. In this study, we simulated a breast phantom using attenuation characteristics, and we proposed a technique to enable the accurate material decomposition by applying weighting factors for the dual-energy mammography based on a photon-counting detector using a Monte Carlo simulation tool. We also evaluated the contrast and noise of simulated breast images for validating the proposed technique. As a result, the contrast for a malignant tumor in the dual-energy weighted subtraction technique was 0.98 and 1.06 times similar than those in the general mammography and dual-energy subtraction techniques, respectively. However the contrast between malignant and benign tumors dramatically increased 13.54 times due to the low contrast of a benign tumor. Therefore, the proposed technique can increase the material decomposition accuracy for malignant tumor and improve the diagnostic accuracy of mammography.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6073-6076
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• 2012

Discovery of anticancer drugs that kill or disable tumor cells in the presence of normal cells without undue toxicity is a potential challenge for therapeutic care. Several papers in the literature have emphasized the potential implications of marine products such as seaweeds which exhibit antitumor activity. Study attempts to screen the antitumor effect of Sargassum sp, against chosen cell lines such as MCF-7 (Breast cancer) and Hep-2 (Liver Cancer). Ethanol extract of Sargassum sp. was concentrated using a Soxhlet apparatus and dissolved in DMSO. In vitro cytotoxic activity of Sargassum sp at various concentrations ($100{\mu}g/ml-300{\mu}g/ml$) screened for antitumor effect against the chosen cell lines using MTT assay (3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide, a yellow tetrazole). The study documented that the percentage of cell viability has been reduced with increased concentration, as evidenced by cell death. Sargassum sp extract shows potential cytotoxic activity ($P{\leq}0.05$) with $IC_{50}$ of $200{\mu}g/ml$ and $250{\mu}g/ml$ against Hep-2 and MCF-7 cell lines respectively. The ethanol fraction of Sargassum sp induced cell shrinkage, cell membrane blebbing and formation of apoptotic bodies with evidence of bioactive components as profound influencing factors for anti-tumor effects. Further research need to be explored for the successful application of Sargassum sp as a potent therapeutic tool against cancer.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.39.1-39.8
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• 2021

Tamoxifen (TAM) is an anticancer drug used to treat estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancer. However, its ER-independent cytotoxic and antifungal activities have prompted debates on its mechanism of action. To achieve a better understanding of the ER-independent antifungal action mechanisms of TAM, we systematically identified TAM-sensitive genes through microarray screening of the heterozygous gene deletion library in fission yeast (Schizosaccharomyces pombe). Secondary confirmation was followed by a spotting assay, finally yielding 13 TAM-sensitive genes under the drug-induced haploinsufficient condition. For these 13 TAM-sensitive genes, we conducted a comparative analysis of their Gene Ontology (GO) 'biological process' terms identified from other genome-wide screenings of the budding yeast deletion library and the MCF7 breast cancer cell line. Several TAM-sensitive genes overlapped between the yeast strains and MCF7 in GO terms including 'cell cycle' (cdc2, rik1, pas1, and leo1), 'signaling' (sck2, oga1, and cki3), and 'vesicle-mediated transport' (SPCC126.08c, vps54, sec72, and tvp15), suggesting their roles in the ER-independent cytotoxic effects of TAM. We recently reported that the cki3 gene with the 'signaling' GO term was related to the ER-independent antifungal action mechanisms of TAM in yeast. In this study, we report that haploinsufficiency of the essential vps54 gene, which encodes the GARP complex subunit, significantly aggravated TAM sensitivity and led to an enlarged vesicle structure in comparison with the SP286 control strain. These results strongly suggest that the vesicle-mediated transport process might be another action mechanism of the ER-independent antifungal or cytotoxic effects of TAM.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.1443-1450
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• 2005

Purpose. The study was conducted to identify predictors of mammography screening for rural Korean women according to 'Stage of Change' from the Transtheoretical Model which, along with the Health Belief Model, formed the theoretical basis for this study. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive design was utilized. Through convenience sampling 432 women were selected from 2 rural areas. Data were collected by survey. Health beliefs constructs were measured with Champion's HBM Scale-Korea version. Mammography participation was measured using the Stage of Mammography Adoption Scale developed. by Rakowski, et al.(1992). Results. The most frequent stage of mammography adoption was 'contemplation' ($40.5\%$). Predictors of stage of mammography adoption included 'mammogram recommended by health professional' (beta==0.59, t=16.12, p=.000), 'perceived benefits' (beta=0.09, t=2.21, p=.050), 'perceived susceptibility' (beta=0.09, t=1.98, p=.050), and 'perceived barriers' (beta=-0.07, t=-2.05, p=.041). 'Mammogram recommended by health professional' demonstrated the greatest association with having a mammogram. Conclusion. Health professionals play key roles in improving mammography participation and should recognize the importance of their role in cancer prevention and be more actively involved in education and counseling on prevention of breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.7
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• pp.4387-4392
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• 2013

Projection of load of cancer mortality helps in quantifying the burden of cancer and is essential for planning cancer control activities. As per our knowledge, there have not been many attempts to project the cancer mortality burden at the country level in India mainly due to lack of data on cancer mortality at the national and state level. This is an attempt to understand the magnitude of cancer mortality problem for the various calendar years from 2011 to 2026 at 5-yearly intervals. Age, sex and site-wise specific cancer mortality data along with populations covered by the registries were obtained from the report of National Cancer Registry Programme published by Indian Council of Medical Research for the period 2001-2004. Pooled age sex specific cancer mortality rates were obtained by taking weighted average of these six registries with respective registry populations as weights. The pooled mortality rates were assumed to represent the country's mortality rates. Populations of the country according to age and sex exposed to the risk of cancer mortality in different calendar years were obtained from the report of Registrar General of India providing population projections for the country for the years from 2011 to 2026. Population forecasts were combined with the pooled mortality rates to estimate the projected number of cancer mortality cases by age, sex and site of cancer at various 5-yearly periods Viz. 2011, 2016, 2021 and 2026. The projections were carried out for the various cancer-leading sites as well as for 'all sites' of cancer. The results revealed that an estimated 0.44 million died due to cancer during the year 2011, while 0.51 million and 0.60 million persons are likely to die from cancer in 2016 and 2021. In the year 2011 male mortality was estimated to be 0.23 million and female mortality to be 0.20 million. The estimated cancer mortality would increase to 0.70 million by the year 2026 as a result of change in size and composition of population. In males increase will be to 0.38 millions and in females to 0.32 millions. Among women, cancer of the breast, cervical and ovary account for 34 percent of all cancer deaths. The leading sites of cancer mortality in males are lung, oesophagus, prostrate and stomach. The above results show a need for commitment for tackling cancer by reducing risk factors and strengthening the existing screening and treatment facilities.