• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.2527-2530
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• 2015

Background: The cancer of the prostate risk assessment (CAPRA) score has been defined to predict prostate cancer recurrence based on the pre-clinical data, then pathological data have also been incorporated. Thus, CAPRA post-surgical (CAPRA-S) score has been developed based on six criteria (prostate specific antigen (PSA) at diagnosis, pathological Gleason score, and information on surgical margin, seminal vesicle invasion, extracapsular extension and lymph node involvement) for the prediction of post-surgical recurrences. In the present study, biochemical recurrence (BCR)-free probabilities after open retropubic radical prostatectomy (RP) were evaluated by the CAPRA-S scoring system and its three-risk level model. Materials and Methods: CAPRA-S scores (0-12) of our 240 radical prostatectomies performed between January 2000-May 2011 were calculated. Patients were distributed into CAPRA-S score groups and also into three-risk groups as low, intermediate and high. BCR-free probabilities were assessed and compared using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression. Ability of CAPRA-S in BCR detection was evaluated by concordance index (c-index). Results: BCR was present in 41 of total 240 patients (17.1%) and the mean follow-up time was $51.7{\pm}33.0$ months. Mean BCR-free survival time was 98.3 months (95% CI: 92.3-104.2). Of the patients in low, intermediate and high risk groups, 5.4%, 22.0% and 58.8% had BCR, respectively and the difference among the three groups was significant (P = 0.0001). C-indices of CAPRA-S score and three-risk groups for detecting BCR-free probabilities in 5-yr were 0.87 and 0.81, respectively. Conclusions: Both CAPRA-S score and its three-risk level model well predicted BCR after RP with high c-index levels in our center. Therefore, it is a clinically reliable post-operative risk stratifier and disease recurrence predictor for prostate cancer.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.249-256
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• 2014

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The traditional Korean diet is plant-based and rich in antioxidants. Previous studies have investigated the potential health benefits of individual nutrients of Korean foods. However, the cumulative effects of a Korean diet on inflammation remain poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of a plant-based Korean diet. MATERIALS/METHODS: Using data from the Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 75 individual plant food items were selected which represent over 1% of the total diet intake of the Korean diet. These items were classified into ten different food groups, and the vegetable (Veg) and fruit (Fruit) groups were studied based on their high antioxidant capacity. For comparison, a mixture of all ten groups (Mix) was prepared. To produce a model of inflammation with which to test these Veg, Fruit, and Mix plant-based Korean food extracts (PKE), RAW264.7 macrophages were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). RESULTS: Levels of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin $E_2$ ($PGE_2$), as well as protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were found to be lower following PKE treatment. Furthermore, PKE treatment was found to suppress tumor necrosis factor-${\alpha}$ (TNF-${\alpha}$) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) via the nuclear transcription factor kappa-B ($NF-{\kappa}B$) signaling pathway. Overall, the Mix group exhibited the greatest anti-inflammatory effects compared with Veg and Fruit PKE group. CONCLUSIONS: Inhibition of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory mediators by the PKE tested was found to involve an inhibition of NF-kB activation. Moreover, PKE tested have the potential to ameliorate various inflammation-related diseases by limiting the excessive production of pro-inflammatory mediators.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.724-728
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• 2008

Background: The purpose of this study was to identify factors associated with recurrent pneumothorax after wedge resection in primary spontaneous pneumothorax in our hospital. Material and Method: Two hundred thirty-five consecutive patient (98% males; mean age, $23.9{\pm}4.5$ years) who had undergone video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) were reviewed retrospectively. The two groups were divided as follows: group A, non-recurrent patients (225 patients [96%]); and group B, recurrent group (10 patients [4%]); the risk factors were compared between the two groups. The single and multiple factors that influenced the recurrence rate were analyzed using Cox's proportional hazard model. Result: There were no significant differences between the recurrent and non-recurrent groups in terms of gender, smoking, site of recurrence, degree of collapse, operative time, and number or weight of resected bullae. The recurrence rate was significantly more common in the following: younger ages, increased height/weight ratio, longer initial air leakage period, and shorter duration of chest drainage. Early aggressive exercise (<30 days) of patients after wedge resection increased the tendency for recurrence. Conclusion: Thoracoscopic wedge resection does not have a higher recurrence rate than open thoracotomy. However, young age, height/weight ratio, continuous air, and duration of chest tube placement were risk factors for a recurrent pneumothorax.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.5-44
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• 1996

Wornen's lahor market participation as well as the policy concern for wider utilization of married women, have continuously grown up. However, research efforts on the determinants of women's labor market participation, in the context of the relationship hetween life courses and active entry into lahor market, has been far behind the growing interest in this field. This study has conducted an event histoiry analysis of women's labor market transition utilizing personal occupational history data collected by the Korea Institute for Women's Development in 1991. The analysis is divided into tow parts: First part introduces logit regression to analyze the determinants of women's labor market participation and exit. The second part employs Cox regression to see the variation of transition rate between employment and non-employment. The result shows that there is a wide variation in women's labor market participation according to age, cohort, and family formation. Special note is needed for the significantly negative effect of marriage and child birth on labor market participation. The transition pattern of lower class women with less education fits well to the prediction of neo-classical economics; but the tendency of highly educated women's regression to non-employment reveals the strong influence of the unfavorable labor market structure, which can be better explained by the neo-structuralist perspective. There is a strong trade-off between productive and reproductive labor of women, which can only be corrected by strong policy implementation, such as extended child care facilities, abolition of discriminatory employment practices, and expansion of flexible part-time employment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.3955-3960
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• 2012

Objective: To investigate the effects of $CD4^+$, IL17 and Foxp3 expression on prognosis of operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with different pTNM stages. Methods: Expression of $CD4^+$, IL17 and Foxp3 in 102 cases of NSCLC tissues and adjacent cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry and associations with prognosis with different pTNM stages were analyzed. The Chi-square test was used to compare count data. Survival differences were evaluated by Kaplan-Meier single factor analysis and the COX regression model was used to analyze the relationship between influential factors and the disease prognosis. The significance level was ${\alpha}$=0.05. Results: Expression of CD4, IL-17 and Foxp3 significantly varied in different pTNM stages of NSCLC tissues (P < 0.05). The same was true for CD4 expression (P < 0.05). The median survival time (MST) in the positive CD4 expression group was evidently higher than that in the negative group (25.8/23.9 months). Compared with stage III, the MST difference of stages I and II in the positive CD4 expression group were statistically significant (P < 0.05). The MST in positive IL-17 and Foxp3 expression groups was obviously lower than that in the corresponding negative group (P < 0.05) (25.6/35.1 months and 24/35.3 months, respectively). There was a significant difference of MST between any two of three stages of positive IL-17 expression group (P < 0.05), and it was the same with positive Foxp3 expression group. TNM stage, negative CD4 expression, and positive IL-17 and Foxp3 expression were the main risk factors for the prognosis of NSCLC. Conclusion: Surgical prognosis of NSCLC can be better assessed by the combination of clinical staging and expression of IL17 and Foxp3.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7459-7465
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• 2014

Background: A prior study showed blood type A/AB to be associated with an increased risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to subjects with blood type O. However, the relationship between ABO blood groups and prognosis of NPC patients is still questionable. In addition, whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with prognosis of NPC patients with different ABO blood groups is unclear. Materials and Methods: We conducted univariate and multivariable Cox regression analyses based on a consecutive cohort of 1,601 patients to investigate the above issues. Results: There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between different ABO blood groups (p=0.629), neither between A vs. non-A blood groups (p=0.895) nor AB vs. non-AB blood group (p=0.309) in univariate analyses and after adjusting for other factors. Interaction tests revealed that high immunoglobulin A against Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen (VcA-IgA) level was associated with a favorable prognosis in male patients with UICC stage II disease who had an A blood type (p=0.008), compared with those with non-A blood type. In addition, male patients with an A blood group with a high blood lymphocyte level showeda tendency towards better survival in UICC stage III (p=0.096). Conclusions: ABO blood group status is not associated with the prognosis of patients with NPC. Additionally, blood group A male NPC patients with high VcA-IgA level or high blood lymphocyte counts might be correlated with a favorable prognosis in UICC stage II or III, respectively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6523-6528
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• 2013

Background: Cigarette smoking is the largest single recognized cause of human cancers. In Western countries, many epidemiologists have reported risk factors for kidney cancer including smoking. However, little is known about the Japanese population. Materials and Methods: We evaluated the association of smoking with the risk of kidney cancer death in the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) Study. Participants included 46,395 males and 64,190 females. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to determine age-and-sex adjusted relative risks. Results: A total of 62 males and 26 females died from kidney cancer during the follow-up of 707,136 and 1,025,703 person-years, respectively. Heavy smokers (Brinkman index >1200), fondness of fatty foods, hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM), and obesity were suggested to increase the risk of renal cell carcinoma while walking was suggested to decrease the risk. Even after controlling for age, sex, alcohol drinking and DM, heavy smoking significantly increased the risk. Conclusions: The present study suggests that six factors including smoking may increase and/or reduce the risk of kidney cancer in the Japanese population. Because of the small number of outcomes, however, we did not evaluate these factors after adjusting for all possible confounding factors. Further studies may be needed to confirm the findings in this study.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.193-204
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• 2006

Purpose: Various postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy regimens have been proposed for the patients with advanced gastric cancer. The majority of clinical trials have shown no significant difference in the survival benefit. The aim of this study was to compare the survival rates of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapies used in stage III gastric cancer patients who received curative gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: Between 1990 and 1999, a survival analysis was performed in 260 patients who received curative gastric resection and postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. The patients were divided into four groups according to the chemotherapeutic regimens received. The groups were: the F group: furtulon alone, FM group: furtulon and mitomycin, FAM group: 5-FU, adriamycin and mitomycin, FLEP group: 5-FU, leucovorin, etoposide and cisplatin. The survival rates were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and the Cox proportional hazards model. Results: There were no differences among the groups of patients with regard to tumor characteristics except for lymph node metastasis and the ratio of metastasis to lymph nodes. In the FLEP group, the ratio of metastasis to lymph nodes was higher than in the other groups. The five and ten year survival rates of F, FM, FAM and FLEP were 51.9%, 28.9%, 59.5%, 49.8%, 66.1%, 57.4% and 30.0%, 27.5%, respectively. The univariate analysis showed that age, Borrmann type, lymph node metastasis, ratio of metastasis to lymph nodes, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy and recurrence were significant factors for survival. For the multivariate analysis, recurrence, age, Borrmann type, ratio of lymph node metastasis and lymph node dissection were independent prognostic factors; however, the postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy was not an independent prognostic factor. Conclusion: The FAM regimen was the most beneficial postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy for improved survival rates; the FM regimen was the second and the FLEP regimen was the last. In order to determine the effectiveness of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in stage III gastric cancer, well designed prospective studies including a surgery only group will be needed.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3173-3178
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• 2012

The enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2) methyl transferase and histone 3 lysine 27 (H3K27me3) protein can repress gene transcription, and their aberrant expression has been observed in various human cancers. This study determined their expression levels in gastric cancer tissues with reference to clinicopathological features and patient survival. We collected 117 gastric cancer and corresponding normal tissues for immunohistochemistry analysis. In gastric cancers, 82/117 (70.1%) were positive for EZH2 and 66/117 (56.4%) for H3K27me3 proteins in contrast to only 5.41% and 7.25% of normal gastric mucosa specimens, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival data showed the average overall and disease-free survival of EZH2 high expression patients was 25.2 and 20.2 months, respectively, shorter than that with EZH2 low expression (40.5 and 35.9 months). The average overall survival and disease-free survival of high H3K27me3 expression patients was 23.4 and 17.4 months, shorter than without H3K27me3 expression (37.6 and 34.5 months). The average overall survival and disease-free survival of patients with both EZH2 and H3K27me3 expression was 18.8 and 12.9 months, respectively, shorter than that with either alone (34.7 and 31.2 months) or with low levels of both (43.9 and 39.9 months). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that H3K27me3 and EZH2 expression, tumor size differentiation and clinical stage were all independent prognostic factors for predicting patient survival. This study demonstrated that detection of both EZH2 and H3K27me3 proteins can predict poor survival of gastric cancer patients, superior to single protein detection. In addition, H3K27me3 and EZH2 protein expression could predict lymph node metastasis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6449-6453
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• 2014

Background: Prior studies showed a relationship between serum albumin and the albumin to globulin ratio with different types of cancer. We aimed to evaluate the predictive value of the albumin-globulin ratio (AGR) for survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study included 240 lung adenocarcinoma patients. Biochemical parameters before chemotherapy were collected and survival status was obtained from the hospital registry. The AGR was calculated using the equation AGR=albumin/(total protein-albumin) and ranked from lowest to highest, the total number of patients being divided into three equal tertiles according to the AGR values. Furthermore, AGR was divided into two groups (low and high tertiles) for ROC curve analysis. Cox model analysis was used to evaluate the prognostic value of AGR and AGR tertiles. Results: The mean survival time for each tertile was: for the $1^{st}$ 9.8 months (95%CI:7.765-11.848), $2^{nd}$ 15.4 months (95%CI:12.685-18.186), and $3^{rd}$ 19.9 months (95%CI:16.495-23.455) (p<0.001). Kaplan-Meier curves showed significantly higher survival rates with the third and high tertiles of AGR in comparison with the first and low tertiles, respectively. At multivariate analysis low levels of albumin and AGR, low tertile of AGR and high performance status remained an independent predictors of mortality. Conclusions: Low AGR was a significant predictor of long-term mortality in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. Serum albumin measurement and calculation of AGR are easily accessible and cheap to use for predicting mortality in patients with lung adenocarcinoma.