• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 1996

Purpose: The traditional approach with surgery and/or radiotherapy(RT) for advanced head and neck cancer Provides anticipated cure rates of $10-65\%$ depending on stages and sites. Recently, combined modality with chemotherapy have been extensively investigated in attempts to improve survival and local control. We retrospectively analysed our experience of 31 patients with advanced head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods : November 1983 to October 1994. 31 Patients with Stage III and IV squamous cell head and neck cancer were treated with RT. Sixteen patients were treated with RT alone, and IS patients were treated with combined RT plus chemotherapy. All patients were treated with 4-MV LINAC and radiation dose ranged from 5000 cGy to 7760 cGy (median 7010 cGy). In combined group, 7 patients were treated with cisplatin plus 5-FU 2 patients were treated with methotrexate plus leucovorin plus 5-FU plus cisplatin or carboplatin, and 6 patients were treated with cisplatin as a radiosensitizer. Results : Median follow up period was 16 months (range 4-134 months). The major responses (CR+PR) were noted in 10 patient ($66.6\%$) of the RT alone group and 14 patient ($93.3\%$) of the chemoradiation group. There was no statistical difference in CR rate between the two groups The overall survival rates at 5 years were $23.4\%$ in the radiation alone group, $23.5\%$ in the chemoradiation group Disease-free survival rates at 3 years were $44.5\%$ in the radiation alone group, $40\%$ in the chemoradiation group. There was no statistical differences in overall survival rates and disease-free survival rates between the two groups. Local recurrences occurred in $71.5\%$ of the radiation alone group, $72.7\%$ of the chemoradiation group and distant metastasis occurred in $14.4\%$ of radiation alone group, $9.1\%$ of the chemoradiation group. The frequencies of complications were comparable in both groups except hematologic toxicity Conclusion : Total response rates in the combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy was relatively higher than radiotherapy alone. But our result failed to show any survival benefit of the combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The accrual of large number of patients and long term follow-un may be necessary to confirm the present result of combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.284-293
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• 2015

Purpose: To determine failure patterns and survival outcomes of T4N0-1 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treated with definitive radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: Ninety-five patients with T4N0-1 NSCLC who received definitive radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy from May 2003 to October 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The standard radiotherapy scheme was 66 Gy in 30 fractions. The main concurrent chemotherapy regimen was $50mg/m^2$ weekly paclitaxel combined with $20mg/m^2$ cisplatin or AUC 2 carboplatin. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Secondary outcomes were failure patterns and toxicities. Results: The median age was 64 years (range, 34 to 90 years). Eighty-eight percent of patients (n = 84) had an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0-1, and 42% (n = 40) experienced pretreatment weight loss. Sixty percent of patients (n = 57) had no metastatic regional lymph nodes. The median radiation dose was EQD2 67.1 Gy (range, 56.9 to 83.3 Gy). Seventy-one patients (75%) were treated with concurrent chemotherapy; of these, 13 were also administered neoadjuvant chemotherapy. At a median follow-up of 21 months (range, 1 to 102 months), 3-year OS was 44%. The 3-year cumulative incidences of local recurrence and distant recurrence were 48.8% and 36.3%, respectively. Pretreatment weight loss and combined chemotherapy were significant factors for OS. Acute esophagitis over grade 3 occurred in three patients and grade 3 chronic esophagitis occurred in one patient. There was no grade 3-4 radiation pneumonitis. Conclusion: Definitive radiotherapy for T4N0-1 NSCLC results in favorable survival with acceptable toxicity rates. Local recurrence is the major recurrence pattern. Intensity modulated radiotherapy and radio-sensitizing agents would be needed to improve local tumor control.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.129-135
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• 2011

This report documents a case in which the administration of an herbal product, an extract of the lacquer tree, Rhus verniciflua Stokes, as sequential and concurrent treatment with chemotherapy was associated with a long term survival and good quality of life in a patient with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC). A 51-year-old Korean female was referred to the $M{\cdot}{\mu}$ Integrative Cancer Center, East-West Neo Medical centrer, Kyung Hee University for stage IV, metastatic NSCLC. She was treated with aRVS alone for 19 months and then received 1st line paclitaxel/carboplatin combined with aRVS, 2nd line gefitinib, and 3rd line pemetrexed. The number of cycles of pemetrexed administered was seventeen. aRVS was restarted as the 13th pemetrexed was administered. Pemetrexed with aRVS is currently ongoing. This patient has been alive for 41 months, and has been keeping a good performance status so far. We suggest aRVS as sequential and concurrent treatment with chemotherapy is an effective alternative treatment strategy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9823-9829
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• 2014

Background: High-dose methotrexate (HD-MTX) is recognized as an efficient component of therapy against pediatric osteosarcoma in combination with other drugs such as cisplatin (CDP), carboplatin (CBDCA), doxorubicin (ADM), etoposide (VP-16) and ifosfamide (IFO). Objectives: To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the HD-MTX/CDP/DOX/VP-16/IFO [MTX(+)] protocol comparable to CDP/ADM/CBDCA/IFO [MTX(-)] for treating childhood osteosarcoma at Ramathibodi Hospital (1999-2014). Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted of osteosarcoma patients aged less than 18 years treated with two chemotherapeutic regimens between 1999 and 2014. A total of 45 patients received the MTX(-) and 21 the MTX(+) protocol. Results: Overall limb-salvage and amputation rate were 12.9% and 77.7%, respectively. Kaplan-Meier analysis results for 3-year disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) regardless of treatment regimens were $43.4{\pm}6.0%$ and $53.2{\pm}6.1%$ respectively. The 3-year DFS and OS were improved significantly with the MTX(+) protocol compared to MTX(-) protocol (p=0.010 and p=0.009, log rank test) [$69.8{\pm}10.5%$, $79.8{\pm}9.1%$ for MTX(+) and $31.1{\pm}6.9%$, $42.2{\pm}7.4%$ for MTX(-) protocol, respectively]. Patients with metastatic osteosarcoma treated with the MTX(+) protocol had statistically significant higher 3-year DFS and OS than those treated with the MTX(-) protocol ($66.7{\pm}13.6%$ and $15.0{\pm}8.0%$ for 3-year DFS, p=0.010, $73.3{\pm}13.2%$ and $20{\pm}8.9%$ for 3-year OS, p=0.006, respectively). The independent risk factors for having inferior 3-year DFS and OS were poor histological response (tumor necrosis <90%) and treatment with the MTX(-) protocol. The multivariate analysis identified only the treatment with the MTX(-) protocol as an independent predictor of inferior OS with a hazard ratio (HR) of 3.53 (95% confidence interval of 1.2-10.41, p=0.022). Conclusions: Our study demonstrated the tolerability, feasibility and efficacy of the HDMTX-based regimen improving the survival rate in pediatric osteosarcoma cases, in line with reports from developed countries.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 2004

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of paclitaxel and cisplatin against advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as a second-line chemotherapy. Subjects and Methods: Twenty-five patients were enrolled. The patients received 200 $mg/m^2$ paclitaxel as a 3-hour intravenous infusion and 60 $mg/m^2$ cisplatin as 2D-minute intravenous infusion with vigorous hydration on day 1 every 28 days. The response was assessed every 2 cycles. Results: All 25 patients were assessed for their response and toxicity. Partial responses were observed in 5 patients. The overall response rate was 20%(95% confidence interval, 4%-36%) and the median response duration was 4.5(range, 2-11) months. The median time to progression was 3.3(range, 0-14) months. The median overall survival of all patients was 7.4(range, 1.3-39) months. The hematologic toxicities were minor and easily controlled. Conclusion: The combination chemotherapy of paclitaxel and cisplatin as a second-line treatment has a moderate efficacy with an acceptable toxicity in patients with advanced NSCLC.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.166-175
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• 2019

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR) as prognostic factors in patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 66 patients with locally advanced NSCLC treated with definitive CCRT. Among these patients, 95% received paclitaxel/carboplatin or docetaxel/cisplatin. The median radiation dose was 66 Gy in 33 fractions. The NLR and PLR before/after CCRT were evaluated. The maximally selected log-rank test was used to obtain the cutoff values related to the overall survival (OS). Results: Patients with high post-CCRT NLR (>3.12) showed worse OS, locoregional progression-free survival (LRPFS), and distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS) than those with low NLR (2-year OS: 25.8% vs. 68.2%, p < 0.001; 2-year LRPFS: 12.9% vs. 33.8%, p = 0.010; 2-year DMFS: 22.6% vs. 38.2%, p = 0.030). Patients with high post-CCRT PLR (>141) showed worse OS and LRPFS than those with low PLR (2-year OS: 37.5% vs. 71.1%, p = 0.004; 2-year LRPFS: 16.5% vs. 40.3%, p = 0.040). Patients with high NLR change (>1.61) showed worse OS and LRPFS than those with low NLR change (2-year OS: 26.0% vs. 59.0%, p < 0.001; 2-year LRPFS: 6.8% vs. 31.8%, p = 0.004). The planning target volume (hazard ration [HR] = 2.05, p = 0.028) and NLR change (HR = 3.17, p = 0.025) were the significant factors for OS in the multivariate analysis. Conclusion: NLR change after CCRT was associated with poor prognosis of survival in patients with locally advanced NSCLC. An elevated NLR after CCRT might be an indicator of an increased treatment failure risk.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.176-189
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• 2002

The purpose of this study were to illustrate the various medication error types and causes and identified to related drugs to provide basic data for preventing nurses' medication error by analysing 73 cases of AJN 'medication Error' column(1993, Oct -2000, Nov). Nurses' types of medication error were classified into 7 types. The most frequent error types are wrong medication$(21.9\%)$ and the wrong dose$(21.9\%)$ together. The others are wrong $time(4.1\%)$, $omission(2.7\%)$, mechanical $error(2.7\%)$, incorrect IV $rate(1.4\%)$. wrong route $administration(1.4\%)$ in order. Nurses' causes of medication error were 9 kinds. The most frequent type is confusing between similar drug shape, color, size, name, injection devices and patient's $name(43.9\%)$ and the others are lack of knowledge about $drugs(26.8\%),\; slips(7.3\%),\; miscalculating\;dose(4.9\%)$, incorrect adjusts $devices(4.9\%)$, difficulty to read or illegible decimal $point(4.9\%),$ $abbreviation(2.4\%)$, fatigue with $overwork(2.4\%)$ and no communication with $patient(2.4\%)$ in order. Related drugs with medication error are as follows. - dose unit(IU. minims. mcg/min. mEq) : Heparin. insulin. synthetic calcitonin, some enzymes and hormones, vitamins, some antibiotics, tuberculin injection. MgSO4 injection. nitroglycerin - similar size, color and shape drug : $0.9\%$ N/S and acetic acid $0.25\%$ for irrigation. premixed 2mg lidocaine sol. and $0.9\%$ N/S, gentamycin 20mg/2mL for children and 80mg/2mL for adult, dextroamphetamine 5mg and 10mg capsule. sedatives chloral hydrate 250mg/5mL and 500mg/5mL - similar name :Aredia(pamidronate disodium) and Adriamycin(doxorubicin), Lamictal (lamotrigine) and Lamisil 250mg. Elderpryl and enalapril, cefotaxime and cefoxitin, carboplatin and cisplatin, sumatriptan and zolmitriptan, Celebrex and Celexa, Humulin and Humalog, Percodan and Percocet, Diabeta and Diabinese, Epivir and Retrovir, Xanax(alprazolam) and Zantac(ranitidine) - decimal point : low molecular weight warfarin, methotrexate - unfamiliar drug uses of familiar drug ; methotrexate. droperidol, imipramine, propranolol - number of drug name(misleading chemical name) : 6-thioguanine, 6-mercaptopurine, 5-fluorouracil - type of administration route : Oxycodone(OxyContin). - administration time : acarbose(Precose). - injection way (Z-track method): hydroxyzine - epidural cathether : LMWHs(enoxaparin, dalteparin), - ADD Vantage self contained delivery system : ceftriaxone(Rocephin)