• International Journal of Contents
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.33-36
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• 2009

Since the diagnosis of malignancy and benign of thyroid gland diseases is difficult only by using ultrasonogram opinions, the combination of fine needle aspiration (FNA) has been generalized trend for precise pathological diagnosis. Therefore, the current study aimed to know about its availability. The study subjected 500 patients who received the FNA along with the ultrasonogram screening for thyroid gland from October, 2007 to April, 2008. As the equipments for the study, Philips HDI-3500 and Philips UITRAMARKer-9 (UM-9) were used to conduct the comparative analysis of pathological results that were obtained through the inspection of ultrasonogram screening and through ultrasonogram guided FNA. Among the 464 patients who were found to be benign from the ultrasonogram screening inspection, II cases of the FNA diagnosis results judged to be malignancy, and 13 cases of the FNA diagnosis resulted to be benign among 36 patients who were diagnosed to be malignancy. The cases observed as solid from the opinions of ultrasonogram screening were often found to be malignancy, and most of the malignancy results were observed to show the hypoechoic pattern. Among the patients diagnosed with malignancy from the diagnosis of FNA, the 32 patients were found to have the papillary carcinoma, and the benign type was observed to be goiter and hyperplasia in 263 patients, which took up 52.6%. The ultrasonogram screening test that is performed for the purpose of diagnosing thyroid gland diseases, it is distinctively an useful inspection to diagnosis the presence, size and shape of nodules. However, the results of performing of FNA for those of nodules which were observed to be benign from the ultrasonogram were often came up with malignancy and there were cases that the nodules diagnosed with malignancy were diagnosed as benign from the FNA diagnosis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2009

Urinary bladder cancer is diagnosed through urine cytology and cytoscopy with biopsy. An atypical urothelial cast is often found by voided urine cytology in a papillary urothelial cell carcinoma. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the significance of the evaluation of urinary nuclear matrix protein (NMP22) level and Sure Path Liquid-based cytology (SP-LBC) as compared to the examination of atypical urothelial cast in voided urine sediment for monitoring bladder cancer. From October 2007 to January 2008, we observed 3240 patients who visited the emergency laboratory of urology of Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan Hospital. Both NMP22 measurement and SP-LBC were performed in 31 patients who were positive in an atypical urothelial cast test. In particular, 26 men and 5 women were found to be atypical urothelial cast-positive persons. The average age for both men and women is 61.8. NMP22 test is positive in 23 of 31 cases (74.2%) from patients with atypical urothelial cast, while the test is negative in 8 of 31 cases (25.8%). The percentages of negativity, atypicality, suspicious malignancy, and malignancy in SP-LBC are 25.8% (8/31), 58.1% (18/31), 9.7% (3/31), and 6.5% (2/31), respectively. The relation of NMP22 positivity with the malignant degree in LBC is significant (P<0.01). Two malignant patients resulting from SP-LBC show the same results in histological examination. Overall, the study suggests the usefulness of NMP22 measurement and LBC as well as the examination of atypical urothelial cast for the diagnosis of early bladder cancer.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.99-105
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• 2014

Isolating total DNA from small samples using traditional methods is difficult and inefficient mainly due to loss of DNA during filtration and precipitation. With advances in molecular pathology, DNA extraction from micro-dissected cells has become essential in handling clinical samples. Genomic DNA extraction using small numbers of cells can be very important to successfully PCR amplify DNA from small biopsy specimens. We compared our experimental genomic DNA extraction method (A) with two other commercially available methods: using spin columns (B), and conventional resins (C), and determined the efficacy of DNA extraction from small numbers of cells smeared on a glass slide. Approximately 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 cells were isolated from fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) slides aspirated from histologically proven papillary thyroid carcinoma masses. DNA was extracted using the three techniques. After measuring DNA quantity, PCR amplification was performed to detect the ${\beta}$-globin and $BRAF^{V600E}$ gene mutations. DNA extracted by method (A) showed better yield than the other methods in all cell groups. With our method, a suitable amount of genomic DNA to produce amplification was extracted from as few as 50 cells, while more than 100 to 200 cells were required when methods (B) or (C) were applied. Our genomic DNA extraction method provides high quality and improved yields for molecular analysis. It will be especially useful for paucicellular clinical samples which molecular pathologists often confront when handling fine needle aspiration cytology, exfoliative cytology and small biopsy specimens.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2024

The Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology (TBSRCT) is crucial for cytopathologists to use a standardized, category-based reporting system for thyroid fine needle aspirations and is effective for clear communication with the referring physicians. The new Bethesda System for Reporting Thyroid Cytopathology, the third edition in 2023, provides several key updates. The most important update is the assignment of only single name for each of the six diagnostic categories: (I) nondiagnostic; (II) benign; (III) atypia of undetermined significance; (IV) follicular neoplasm; (V) suspicious for malignancy; and (VI) malignant. An implied risk of malignancy (ROM) for each of six categories has been updated based on extensively published data since the second edition of TBSRTC in 2017 and offers both an average ROM for each category and the expected range of cancer risk. Estimated final ROM after excluding "Noninvasive Follicular Thyroid Neoplasm with Papillary Like Nuclear Features (NIFTP)" for each of six categories has been updated based on the reported mean decreases in the ROM if excluding NIFTP. For atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) category, the subcategorization is simplified and more formalized into 2 subgroups, AUS-nuclear atypia or AUS-other, based on the implied ROM and molecular profiling. For the pediatric thyroid disease, pediatric ROMs and management algorithms are newly added for the same six reporting categories for this age group. New or revised disease nomenclatures including high-grade follicular-derived carcinoma has been updated according to the recently published 2022 World Health Organization Classification of Thyroid Neoplasms. Brand new two chapters are added including clinical perspectives and imaging studies (Chap. 13) and the use of molecular and other ancillary tests (Chap. 14). The atlas is updated with new images to illustrate more effectively for new disease entity and diagnostic criteria.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
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• v.61 no.11
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• pp.600-604
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• 2018

Background and Objectives This study aimed to identify a reliable preoperative predictive factor for the development of thyroid cancer in patients with atypia of undetermined significance (AUS) identified by fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB). Subjects and Method This was a retrospective cohort study. Two hundred and ninety-nine patients diagnosed with AUS by preoperative FNAB who underwent curative thyroid surgery at our institution between September 2005 and February 2014 were analyzed. Clinical, radiological and molecular features were investigated as preoperative predictors for postoperative permanent malignant pathology. Results The final pathologic results revealed 36 benign tumors including nodular hyperplasia, follicular adenoma, adenomatous goiter, nontoxic goiter, and lymphocytic thyroiditis, as well as 263 malignant tumors including 1 follicular carcinoma and 1 invasive follicular carcinoma; the rest were papillary thyroid carcinomas. The malignancy rate was 87.9%. The following were identified as risk factors for malignancy by univariate analysis: $BRAF^{V600E}$ gene mutation, specific ultrasonographic findings including smaller nodule size, low echogenicity of the nodule, and irregular or spiculated margin (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis revealed that only $BRAF^{V600E}$ mutation was a statistically significant risk factor for malignancy (p<0.05). When $BRAF^{V600E}$ mutation was positive, 98.5% of enrolled patients developed malignant tumors. In addition, the diagnostic rate of malignancy in these cases was approximately 16-fold higher than BRAF-negative cases. Conclusion Patients with AUS thyroid nodules should undergo $BRAF^{V600E}$ gene mutation analysis to improve diagnostic accuracy and if the mutation is confirmed, surgery is recommended due to the high risk of malignancy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.9
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• pp.903-911
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• 2023

Objective: Regrowth after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of symptomatic large thyroid nodules, initially treated as benign, sometimes turns out to be malignancies. This study aimed to assess the ultrasound (US) characteristics of thyroid nodules initially treated as benign with RFA and later diagnosed as cancers, predictive factors for cancers masquerading as benign, and methods to avoid RFA in these cancers. Materials and Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 134 consecutive patients with 148 nodules who underwent RFA between February 2008 and November 2016 for the debulking of symptomatic thyroid nodules diagnosed as benign using US-guided biopsy. We investigated the pre-RFA characteristics of the thyroid nodules, changes at follow-up after RFA, and the final surgical pathology. Results: Nodule regrowth after RFA was observed in 36 (24.3%) of the 148 benign nodules. Twenty-two of the 36 nodules were surgically removed, and malignancies were confirmed in seven (19.4% of 36). Of the 22 nodules removed surgically, pre-RFA median volume (range) was significantly larger for malignant nodules than for benign nodules: 22.4 (13.9-84.5) vs. 13.4 (7.3-16.8) mL (P = 0.04). There was no significant difference in the regrowth interval between benign and malignant nodules (P = 0.49). The median volume reduction rate (range) at 12 months was significantly lower for malignant nodules than for benign nodules (51.4% [0-57.8] vs. 83.8% [47.9-89.6]) (P = 0.01). The pre-RFA benignity of all seven malignant nodules was confirmed using two US-guided fine-needle aspirations (FNAs), except for one nodule, which was confirmed using US-guided core-needle biopsy (CNB). Regrown malignant nodules were diagnosed as suspicious follicular neoplasms by CNB. Histological examination of the malignant nodules revealed follicular thyroid carcinomas, except for one follicular variant, a papillary thyroid carcinoma. Conclusion: Symptomatic large benign thyroid nodules showing regrowth or suboptimal reduction after RFA may have malignant potential. The confirmation of these nodules is better with CNB than with FNA.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.149-155
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• 2013

The Korean Thyroid Association recommends fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) for nodules more than 0.5 cm in diameter. But nodules, smaller than 0.5 cm have been found in papillary carcinomas of the thyroid (PTC) at the health promotion center at SMC. We wanted to evaluate the ultrasonographic findings according to size of nodule in proven PTCs by FNAB, especially less than 0.5 cm. All nodules were classified into three groups by their longest diameter : less than 0.5 cm, more than 0.5 cm but less than 1 cm, and more than 1 cm. Sonographic findings suggesting malignancy were analyzed according to their size groups. Of 288 malignant nodules, 21.5 % (62/288) were less than 0.5 cm, 54.9 % (158/288) were more than 0.5 cm but less than 1 cm, 23.6 % (68/288) exceeded 1 cm. A taller-than-wide shape was observed in 90.3 % (56/62) of nodules less than 0.5 cm, and 48.5 % (33/68) of nodules exceeding 1 cm (p<0.001). There were no well-defined smooth nodules among nodules less than 0.5 cm, and spiculated or irregular margin nodules increased as the size increased (p=0.024). Nodules of size less than 0.5 cm did not showed hyper or isoechogenicity. Hypoechogenicity was greater than the marked hypoechogenicity in each group (p=0.034). Micro- or macro-calcifications were not founded in 77.4 % (48/62) of the nodule group sized less than 0.5 cm. From the small size of the group, micro- or macrocalcifications were observed 21.0 % (13/62), 48.1 % (76/158), 64.7 % (44/68), so the number of nodules containing micro- or macro-calcification increased as size increased (p<0.001). PTCs less than 0.5 cm in size on ultrasonography had taller than-wide shape, spiculated or irregular and ill-defined margins, and exhibited hypo and markedly hypoechogenicity, but microor macro-calcifications were not common. These ultrasonographic features of nodules less than 0.5 cm can be useful in reporting and guiding FNABs or follow-up exams.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.244-252
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• 1998

The thyroid nodules are the most common endocrine disease requiring surgical management. We perfomed a clinical study of 298 cases with thyroid nodules, who were admitted to and operated at the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Gyeong sang National University from January 1987 to April 1997 and the results were summarized as follows: 1) Patients were composed of 214 cases(71.8%) of benign nodule and 84 cases(28.2%) of malignant nodule. Benign and malignant nodules were prevalent in fifth decade. 2) The sex distribution showed a preponderance of females with ratio of 5.88:1 in benign nodule and 11:1 in malignant nodule. 3) The nodules were located in the right lobe(134 cases, 44.9%), the left lobe(121 cases, 40.6%), both lobes(34 cases, 11.4%), and isthmus(8 cases, 2.7%). The possibility of malignancy was higher in the solid rather than cystic lesions. 4) Radioactive iodine scintiscans were perfomed in 273 cases and revealed cold nodules in 237 cases(86.8%), 58 of these cases(24.4%) were malignant. 5) According to the histopathologic classification, benign nodules included follicular adenomas 136 cases(63.5%), adenomatous goiters 67 cases(31.3%), Hurthle cell adenomas 4 cases(1.9%), cysts 3 cases(1.4%) and thyroiditis 4 cases(1.4%). In malignant nodules, papillary carcinomas 72 cases(85.7%), follicular carcinoma 8 cases(9.5%), undifferentiated carcinoma 2 cases(2.4%), medullary carcinoma 1 case(1.2%) and malignant lymphoma 1 case(1.2%). 6) The most commonly performed operative procedure was a lobectomy with isthmusectomy(85.5%) for bengn nodules and a total thyroidectomy(51.2%) for malignant nodules. 7) The rate of complications was higher in the cases with malignant nodules(20.2%) than in the benign cases(0.5%). The recurrence rate was 8.3%(7 cases).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9599-9602
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• 2014

Background: Postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy (RT) in the management of early stage endometrial cancer (EC) is still controversial. Here we report our institutional experience with patients who received postoperative RT for stage I-II EC over a period of 35 years and assess potential predictors of local recurrence (LR), distant metastasis (DM), and overall survival (OS). Materials and Methods: A total of 188 patients undergoing postoperative RT for stage IA-II EC between 1977 and 2012 were evaluated. Some 96 received median 46 Gy whole pelvic radiotherapy (WPRT) (range: 40-60 Gy), 37 were given WPRT with vaginal cuff therapy (VCT), and 55 received only VCT either with brachytherapy (BT) or stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT). Chemotherapy was given to 5 patients with uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC). Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the effect of clinicopathological factors on LR, DM, and OS. Results: Median follow-up time was 11 years (range: 1-35 years). At the time of analysis, 34 patients were not alive. Of the 15 patients with LR, 7 (46.7%) recurred in the vaginal stump, 5 (33.3%) in the pelvic region, and 3 (20%) in the paraaortic nodal region, while 12 had distant metastasis. UPSC histology (p=0.027), sole VCT (p=0.041), high histologic grade (p=0.034), and age ${\geq}71$ (p=0.04) were poor prognostic factors on univariate analysis. Conclusions: In our patients receiving radiotherapy for early-stage EC, grade III disease and age ${\geq}71$ were associated with shorter OS whereas UPSC histology was an independent predictor for both LR and DM.

• Molecular & Cellular Toxicology
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.190-194
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• 2007

Gastric adenocarcinoma (GA) is a major tumor type of gastric cancers and subdivides into several different tumors such as papillary, tubular mucinous, signet-ring cell and adenosquamous carcinoma according to histopatholigical determination. In other hand, GA is also subdivided into intestinal and diffuse type of adenocarcinoma by the Lauren?fs classification. In this study, we have examined differential gene expression pattern analysis of three histologically different GAs of 24 samples by using DNA microarray containing approximately 19000 genetic elements. The hierarchical clustering analysis of 24 gastric adenocarcinomas (12 of intestinal type, 7 of diffuse type and 5 of mixed type) resulted in two major subgroup on dendrogram, and two subgroups included most of intestinal and diffused type of GAs respectively. Supervised analysis of 19 intestinal and diffuse type GAs by using Wilcoxon rank T-test (P<0.01) resulted in 100 outlier genes which exactly separated intestinal and diffuse type of GA by differential gene expression. In conclusion, genome-wide analysis of gene expression of GAs suggested that GAs may subclassify as intestinal and diffused type of GA by their characteristic molecular expression. Our results also provide large-scale genetic elements which reflect molecular differences of intestinal and diffuse type of GAs, and this may facilitate to understand different molecular carcinogenesis of gastric cancer.