• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.23-40
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• 2021

In pancreatic cancer, imaging plays an essential role in surveillance, diagnosis, resectability evaluation, and treatment response evaluation. Pancreatic cancer surveillance in high-risk individuals has been attempted using endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging diagnosis and resectability evaluation are the most important factors influencing treatment decisions, where computed tomography (CT) is the preferred modality. EUS, MRI, and positron emission tomography play a complementary role to CT. Treatment response evaluation is of increasing clinical importance, especially in patients undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. This review aimed to comprehensively review the role of imaging in relation to the current treatment strategy for pancreatic cancer, including surveillance, diagnosis, evaluation of resectability and treatment response, and prediction of prognosis.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.184-196
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• 2022

Purpose: Total or proximal gastrectomy of the upper-third early gastric cancer (u-EGC) often causes severe post-gastrectomy syndrome, suggesting that these procedures are extremely invasive for patients without pathologically positive lymph node (LN) metastasis. This study aimed to evaluate the clinical applicability of a stomach function-preserving surgery, local resection (LR), with prophylactic left gastric artery (LGA)-basin dissection (LGA-BD). Materials and Methods: The data of patients with u-EGC (pathologically diagnosed as T1) were retrospectively analyzed. Total gastrectomy was performed in 30 patients, proximal gastrectomy in 45, and subtotal gastrectomy in 6; the LN status was evaluated assuming that the patients had already underwent LR + LGA-BD. This procedure was considered feasible in patients without LN metastases or in patients with cancer in the LGA basin. The reproducibility of the results was also evaluated using an external validation dataset. Results: Of the 82 eligible patients, 79 (96.3%) were cured after undergoing LR + LGA-BD, 74 (90.2%) were pathologically negative for LN metastases, and 5 (6.1%) had LN metastases, but these findings were only observed in the LGA basin. Similarly, of the 406 eligible tumors in the validation dataset, 396 (97.5%) were potentially curative. Tumors in the lesser curvature, post-endoscopic resection status, and small tumors (<20 mm) were considered to be stronger indicators of LR + LGA-BD as all subpopulation cases met our feasibility criteria. Conclusions: More than 95% of the patients with u-EGC might be eligible for LR + LGA-BD. This function-preserving procedure may contribute to the development of u-EGC without pathological LN metastases, especially for tumors located at the lesser curvature.

• Journal of Korean Traditional Oncology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study is to report effects and potential of Integrative Cancer Treatment (ICT) on metastatic pancreatic cancer patient. Methods: A 79-year-old pancreatic cancer patient diagnosed with metastasis on liver visited the Daejeon Korean medicine hospital of Daejeon university East West Cancer Center (EWCC) on May 2021. The patient has been received chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus abraxane) and concurrently treated with ICT since May 2021. The clinical outcomes were measured by computed tomography, laboratory findings including tumor markers (CEA, CA19-9) and numeric rating scales (NRS). Laboratory analysis and National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE), version 5.0 were used to evaluate the safety of ICT. Results: After treatment, constipation was relieved from NRS 5-6 to 2, both leg numbness was improved from NRS 9 to 2. Tumor size was generally decreased accompanying by reducing the levels of tumor markers. There were no severe adverse events induced by ICT based on NCI CTCAE version 5.0. Conclusion: This case study suggests that ICT in combination with chemotherapy may help in the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.31-37
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• 2024

Pancreatic cancer is a highly fatal malignancy with a 5-year survival rate of < 10%. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is a useful noninvasive tool for differential diagnosis of pancreatic malignancy and treatment decision-making. However, the performance of EUS is suboptimal, and its accuracy for differentiating pancreatic malignancy has increased interest in the application of artificial intelligence (AI). Recent studies have reported that EUS-based AI models can facilitate early and more accurate diagnosis than other preexisting methods. This article provides a review of the literature on EUS-based AI studies of pancreatic malignancies.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.217-231
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• 2015

This study aims to infer the gene-protein 'brings_about' chains of pancreatic cancer which were referred to in the pancreatic cancer related researches by constructing the gene-protein interaction network of pancreatic cancer. The chains can help us uncover publicly unknown knowledge that would develop as empirical studies for investigating the cause of pancreatic cancer. In this study, we applied a novel approach that grafts text mining and the main path analysis into Swanson's ABC model for expanding intermediate concepts to multi-levels and extracting the most significant path. We carried out text mining analysis on the full texts of the pancreatic cancer research papers published during the last ten-year period and extracted the gene-protein entities and relations. The 'brings_about' network was established with bio relations represented by bio verbs. We also applied main path analysis to the network. We found the main direct 'brings_about' path of pancreatic cancer which includes 14 nodes and 13 arcs. 9 arcs were confirmed as the actual relations emerged on the related researches while the other 4 arcs were arisen in the network transformation process for main path analysis. We believe that our approach to combining text mining analysis with main path analysis can be a useful tool for inferring undiscovered knowledge in the situation where either a starting or an ending point is unknown.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.247-252
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• 2012

Pancreatic cancer is the fourth commonest cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. However, no adequate therapy for pancreatic cancer has yet been found. In this study, the antitumor activity of cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells against the human pancreatic cancer was evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Human peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured with IL-2-containing medium in anti-CD3 for 14 days. The resulting populations of CIK cells comprised 94% $CD3^+$, 4% $CD3^-CD56^+$, 41% $CD3^+CD56^+$, 11% $CD4^+$, and 73% $CD8^+$. This heterogeneous cell population was called cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells. At an effector-target cell ratio of 100 : 1, CIK cells destroyed 51% of AsPC-1 human pancreatic cancer cells, as measured by the $^{51}Cr$-release assay. In addition, CIK cells at doses of 3 and 10 million cells per mouse inhibited 42% and 70% of AsPC-1 tumor growth in nude mouse xenograft assays, respectively. This study suggests that CIK cells may be used as an adoptive immunotherapy for pancreatic cancer patients.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.124-132
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• 2022

Background: Despite recent advances in first-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer, standard treatment after the failure of initial chemotherapy has not been established. Hence, we aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of second-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: We reviewed the clinical data of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who underwent palliative chemotherapy at Kosin University Gospel Hospital between January 2013 and October 2020. Results: Among 366 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who had received palliative chemotherapy, 104 (28.4%) underwent at least one cycle of second-line chemotherapy. The median age of the patients at the time of initiating second-line treatment was 62 years (interquartile range, 57-62 years), and 58.7% (61 patients) of them were male. The common second-line chemotherapy regimens were 5-fluorouracil (FU) plus leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (33 patients, 31.7%); gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel (29, 27.9%), gemcitabine±erlotinib (13, 12.5%); and oxaliplatin and 5-FU/leucovorin (12, 11.5%). The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival were 6.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5-8.6 months) and 4.5 months (95% CI, 2.7-6.3 months), respectively. In a multivariate analysis, poor performance status (PS) (hazard ratio [HR], 2.247; p=0.021), metastatic disease (HR, 2.745; p=0.011), and elevated carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (HR, 1.939; p=0.030) at the beginning of second-line chemotherapy were associated with poor OS. Conclusion: The survival outcome of second-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer remains poor. However, PS, disease extent (locally advanced or metastatic), and CEA level may help determine patients who could benefit from second-line treatment.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.449-462
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• 2023

Previously, we confirmed that Mychonastes sp. 246 methanolic extract (ME) markedly reduced the viability of BxPC-3 human pancreatic cancer cells. However, the underlying mechanism ME remained unclear. Hence, we attempted to elucidate the anticancer effect of ME on BxPC-3 human pancreatic cancer cells. First, we investigated the components of ME and their cytotoxicity in normal cells. Then, we confirmed the G1 phase arrest mediated growth inhibitory effect of ME using a cell counting assay and cell cycle analysis. Moreover, we found that the migration-inhibitory effect of ME using a Transwell migration assay. Through RNA sequencing, Gene Ontology-based network analysis, and western blotting, we explored the intracellular mechanisms of ME in BxPC-3 cells. ME modulated the intracellular energy metabolism-related pathway by altering the mRNA levels of IGFBP3 and PPARGC1A in BxPC-3 cells and reduced PI3K and mTOR phosphorylation by upregulating IGFBP3 and 4E-BP1 expression. Finally, we verified that ME reduced the growth of three-dimensional (3D) pancreatic cancer spheroids. Our study demonstrates that ME suppresses pancreatic cancer proliferation through the IGFBP3-PI3K-mTOR signaling pathway. This is the first study on the anticancer effect of the ME against pancreatic cancer, suggesting therapeutic possibilities and the underlying mechanism of ME action.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.18-21
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• 2019

Serine protease inhibitor Kazal-type 1 (SPINK1) is a gene expressed from pancreatic acinar cell which its mutation is known to be associated with chronic pancreatitis (CP) and pancreatic cancer. We report a case of a 47-years-old female with nausea and weight loss with yellow discoloration of skin. Initial imaging and endoscopic study led us to an impression of chronic pancreatitis with pancreatic cancer with common bile-duct dilation. Biopsy result was confirmed with pancreatic adenocarcinoma and additional imaging revealed lymph node and bone metastasis. Our genetic analysis revealed 194+2T>C mutation of SPINK1. Biliary obstruction was successfully decompressed by stent insertion and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Although there is accumulating evidence of association between SPINK1 mutation and CP, the relationship between SPINK1 mutation and pancreatic cancer in CP patient is an emerging concept. Genetic analysis should be considered in patients with young age especially when diagnosed with both CP and pancreatic cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.156-159
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• 2016

Although carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9 is a useful tumor marker for pancreatic cancer, it can also become elevated from a variety of benign and malignant conditions. Herein we describe an unusual presentation of elevated CA 19-9 in an asymptomatic patient who had previously undergone adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy for resected early stage pancreatic cancer. The rise in CA 19-9 might be due to delayed radiation-induced inflammation related to previous intra-abdominal radiation therapy with or without radiation recall induced by gemcitabine. After treatment with corticosteroids the CA 19-9 level decreased to normal, and the patient has not developed any evidence of recurrent cancer to date.