• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2012

Objectives : The aim of this study was to find the desirable way for the acupuncture treatment of breast cancer. Methods : We reviewed several literatures about breast cancer. Based on the review, we analyzed the causes of breast cancer through meridian theory of oriental medicine and looked for the desirable ways to treat it. Results and Conclusions : The breast cancer results from the unbalance between reverting yin and lesser yang. Especially, exasperation of PC(pericardium meridian) seems to paly an important role, and accordingly, it is needed to activate GB(gall bladder meridian). Also, enhancing the function of HT(heart meridian) should be considered for the acupuncture treatment of breast cancer.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.87-93
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of life (QOL) between breast cancer patients with lymphedema and without using the SF-36 (Korean version). Fifty-three consecutive, unselected patients who underwent treatment for breast cancer patients with lymphedema and 37 patients without lymphedema from August 4, 2004 to October 13, 2005 were interviewed and asked to complete the SF-36. These data were used to test the hypothesis that breast cancer patients with lymphedema experience impaired quality of life relative to their control group. The lymphedema group scored poorer than the control group on six of the eight subscales as well as the physical component summary scale of the SF-36 (p<.05). Only bodily pain didn't show statistical difference (p>.05). Breast cancer patients with lymphedema appear to experience problems in multiple quality of life domains compared with without lymphedema group. These findings demonstrate the need for interventions to improve the quality of life in breast cancer patients with lymphedema.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.635-644
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• 2007

Purpose: This study examined what characteristics and variables predict participation in support groups for women with breast cancer. Method: 282 women with breast cancer from 4 hospitals located in Busan were included in the study. Data was measured on each participant from September 2006 to February 2007. Data was collected using structured researcher-administered sheets and analyzed by descriptive statistics, t-test, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis. Results: The clients reported medium levels of illness perception, anxiety and depression, stress with coping, social support and self-efficacy. 48.9% of women with breast cancer participated in support groups. Significant influencing factors on the participation in support groups were 'operation time(+)', 'illness perception(+)', 'social support(-)', and 'self-efficacy(+)' Those variables explained 73.4%. Conclusion: It is necessary to develop a strategy or promoting program for promotion of illness perception and self-efficacy of women with breast cancer. Thus, it is essential to provide participation to a support group to a women with breast cancer.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.510-519
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• 2008

This study was conducted to develop and evaluate nutrition education media for breast cancer. The booklet was developed and consisted of breast cancer and diet, breast cancer and nutrition, breast cancer and food safety and Ingredients and recipes for breast cancer. The questionnaire requested information related to demographics, importance and satisfaction of evaluation for nutrition education media, evaluation of each chapter, and satisfaction of educational media. The data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows(version 12.0). The results were summarized as follows. The importance score for nutrition education media was higher than the satisfaction score. As a result of IPA analysis, quadrant I included 'comprehension', 'appropriateness of media', 'emphasis of the point'. Quadrant II classified with 'appropriateness of terms', 'interest', 'authenticity', 'appropriateness of illustrations'. Quadrant III included 'appropriateness of color and calligraphy', 'simplicity'. Quadrant IV classified with 'appropriateness of examples', 'concreteness'.

• The Journal of Korean Obstetrics and Gynecology
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.47-66
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• 2016

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to present the clinical practice guidelines for breast cancer through the analysis of existing clinical practice guidelines in Western and Chinese medicine. Methods : The literature search was performed regarding conventional and integrative medical treatment of breast cancer using Google Scholar, KIOM OASIS, PUBMED and Jisan library of Daejeon university. Results : Breast cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Korea. Recent studies revealed that combining conventional and integrative medical treatment can reduce the sequela of surgical operation and improve survival rate. However there isn’t still a systemic clinical guideline for breast cancer in korean medicine. This study will be a preliminary study to establish clinical practice guidelines of Korean Medicine for breast cancer.Conclusions : Further objective and systemic clinical studies related to Korean Medicine are needed to develope more advanced clinical practice guidelines of breast cancer.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• v.35
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• pp.44.1-44.11
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• 2023

Background: A series of breast cancer cases were recently reported in a tertiary university hospital in South Korea. Nurses are generally exposed to risk factors for breast cancer such as night shift work, antineoplastic agents, and job strain. However, the epidemiological evidence of excess incidence among nurses remains lacking. This study aims to investigate the excess incidence of breast cancer among nurses in a tertiary university hospital and provide epidemiological evidence of occupational risk factors. Methods: A retrospective cohort was developed using personnel records of female workers in the nursing department who worked from January 2011 to June 2021 in a tertiary university hospital in South Korea. Sick leave records were used to identify cases of breast cancer. The standardized incidence ratio of breast cancer among nurses was compared to the general population. Results: A total of 5,509 nurses were followed up for 30,404 person-years, and 26 breast cancer cases were identified. This study revealed a significantly increased breast cancer incidence among all included nurses, with a standardized incidence ratio of 1.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.08-2.41), compared to the general population. Workers, who handle antineoplastic agents in their representative department and current and/or former department, had significantly elevated breast cancer standardized incidence ratios of 2.73 (95% CI: 1.008-5.94) and 3.39 (95% CI: 1.46-6.68), respectively. Conclusions: This study provides significant evidence of increased breast cancer risk among nursing staff in a hospital setting, particularly those who handle antineoplastic drugs. Measures that reduce exposure to risk factors should be implemented, especially anticancer drugs, to protect healthcare professionals. Further research at a national level that focuses on healthcare workers is necessary to validate breast cancer incidence and its contributing factors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.91-97
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• 2021

User interface for cancer classification system is a software application with clinician's friendly tools and functions to diagnose cancer from pathology images. Pathology evolved from manual diagnosis to computer-aided diagnosis with the help of Artificial Intelligence tools and algorithms. In this paper, we explained each block of the project life cycle for the implementation of automated breast cancer classification software using AI and machine learning algorithms to classify normal and invasive breast histology images. The system was designed to help the pathologists in an automatic and efficient diagnosis of breast cancer. To design the classification model, Hematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) stained breast histology images were obtained from the ICIAR Breast Cancer challenge. These images are stain normalized to minimize the error that can occur during model training due to pathological stains. The normalized dataset was fed into the ResNet-34 for the classification of normal and invasive breast cancer images. ResNet-34 gave 94% accuracy, 93% F Score, 95% of model Recall, and 91% precision.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

Cancer stem cells, which are known to drive tumor formation and maintenance, are a major obstacle in the effective treatment of various types of cancer. Trans-membrane glycoprotein mucin 1 antigen and cell surface glycogen CD44 antigen are well-known surface markers of breast cancer cells and breast cancer stem cells, respectively. To effectively treat cancer cells and cancer stem cells, we developed a new drug-encapsulating liposome conjugated with dual-DNA aptamers specific to the surface markers of breast cancer cells and their cancer stem cells. These two aptamer (Apt)-targeted liposomes, which were prepared to encapsulate doxorubicin (Dox), were named "Dual-Apt-Dox". Dual-Apt-Dox is significantly more cytotoxic to both cancer stem cells and cancer cells compared to liposomes lacking the aptamers. Furthermore, we demonstrated the inhibitory efficacy of Dual-Apt-Dox against the experimental lung metastasis of breast cancer stem cells and cancer cells in athymic nude mice. We also showed the potent antitumor effects of dual-aptamer-conjugated liposome systems by targeting cancer cells as well as cancer stem cells. Thus, our data indicate that dual-aptamer-conjugated liposome systems can prove to be effective drug delivery vehicles for breast cancer therapy.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.101-120
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• 2024

Purpose : This study aimed to carry out a scoping review to investigate the research trends in non-pharmacological interventions for physical rehabilitation following breast cancer treatment. Methods : A scoping review was conducted according to the five steps outlined by Arksey and O'Malley and PRISMA-ScR. We searched three domestic databases (ScienceOn, Riss, KCI) and two international databases (PubMed, Cochrane Central) between January 2014 and April 2024. The keywords used were 'breast cancer surgery', 'breast cancer treatment', 'breast cancer lymphedema', 'intervention', 'management', 'therapy', 'disorder', and 'dysfunction'. Results : In terms of publication, the number of studies in the past five years has increased compared to the previous five years, with most studies focusing on patients aged 41 to 60 and who underwent surgical treatment for breast cancer. A total of 43 different types of non-pharmacological interventions were applied: 21 single interventions and 22 combination interventions. Among the intervention methods, complete decongestive treatment (CDT), resistance training, and manual lymphatic drainage were the most frequently utilized. The most common duration of intervention turned out to be 4~5 weeks and more than 8 weeks, with frequencies of 2~3 sessions per week and more than 4 sessions per week. The most frequently used dependent variables included range of motion (ROM) and disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand (DASH) for the function and disorder of the upper limb category; arm circumference or volume and bio-impedance for the lymphedema category; visual analogue scale (VAS) and numerical rating scale (NRS) for the pain category; and the European organization for research and treatment of cancer quality of life questionnaire breast cancer module (EORTC QLQ) and functional assessment of cancer therapy-breast (FACT-B) for the quality of life category. Conclusion : The findings of this scoping review provide valuable mapping data for non-pharmacological interventions for physical rehabilitation following breast cancer treatment. We recommend further research, particularly systematic reviews and meta-analyses, to build upon these findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1413-1418
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• 2012

Background: Previous studies generally indicate that synchronous bilateral breast cancers (SBBC) have an equivalent or moderately poorer survival compared with unilateral cases. The prognostic characteristics of SBBC would be relevant when planning adjuvant therapies and follow-up medical surveillance. The frequency of SBBC among early breast cancers in clinical settings in Australia and New Zealand was investigated, plus their prognostic significance, using the Breast Cancer Audit Database of the Society of Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand, which covered an estimated 60% of early invasive lesions in those countries. Design: Rate ratios (95% confidence limits) of SBBC were investigated among 35,370 female breast cancer cases by age of woman, histology type, grade, tumour diameter, nodal status, lymphatic/vascular invasion and oestrogen receptor status. Univariate and multivariable disease-specific survival analyses were undertaken. Results: 2.3% of cases were found to be SBBC (i.e., diagnoses occurring within 3 months). The figure increased from 1.4% in women less than 40 years to 4.1% in those aged 80 years or more. Disease-specific survivals did not vary by SBBC status (p=0.206). After adjusting for age, histology type, diameter, grade, nodal status, lymphatic/vascular invasion, and oestrogen receptor status, the relative risk of breast cancer death for SBBC was 1.17 (95% CL: 0.91, 1.51). After adjusting for favourable prognostic factors more common in SBBC cases (i.e., histology type, grade, lymphatic/vascular invasion, and oestrogen receptor status), the relative risk of breast cancer death for SBBC was 1.42 (95% CL: 1.10, 1.82). After adjusting for unfavourable prognostic factors more common in SBBC cases (i.e., older age and large tumour diameter), the relative risk of breast cancer death for SBBC was 0.98 (95% CL: 0.76, 1.26). Conclusions: Results confirm previous findings of an equivalent or moderately poorer survival for SBBC but indicate that SBBC status is likely to be an important prognostic indicator for some cases.