• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.43 no.10
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• pp.1467-1476
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• 2014

Recent studies have shown that insufficient or deficient vitamin D status may be linked to increased risk of depressive conditions or depression. The aim of this study was to review all available evidence on vitamin D, depression, and any association between them. Cross-sectional, case-control, and cohort studies have reported contradictory results. Some have reported that low levels of vitamin D may be associated with higher risk of depression or depressive symptoms while others reported that vitamin D status may not be related to depression. Recent clinical trials examining the effects of vitamin D supplementation on depression have also showed discrepant results. However, meta-analysis study results are consistent regarding the beneficial effects of vitamin D. Several mechanisms that account for these beneficial effects of vitamin D on depression have been reported but remain largely speculative. Vitamin D deficiency is very common, and prevalence of depression is increasing in the Asian population, especially females. However, limited literature is available on this population. Considering research results of a potential inverse association between vitamin D level and prevalence of depression, it is important to advance our understanding of the role of vitamin D in depression and conduct well-designed prospective trials in the Asian population.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.25 no.2 s.38
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• pp.148-156
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• 1992

A case-control study was conducted to investigate the relationship between blood cadmium, blood zinc and cadmium/zinc ratio and hypertension. Eighty-three hypertensive and seventy-seven normotensive study subjects matched for age and sex were selected from the workers who had no history of job-related cadmium exposure, in Ulsan city and it's vincinity, Korea. The blood cadmium in hypertensive group was $2.90{\eta}g/mL$, which was significantly higher than that of control group, $1.99{\eta}g/mL$(P<0.01). After stratifing for smoking and age variables, the relationship was still remained. The blood cadmium/zinc ratio in hypertensive group was 2.46, which was significantly higher than that of control group, 1.65(P<0.01), After stratifing for smoking and age variables, the relationship was still remained. There was no significant differance in blood zinc between hypertensive and control group. On multiple logistic regression analysis, the blood cadmium/zinc ratio is highly significant than blood cadmium. In conclusion, there is the possible relationship between blood cadmium level which has been known to be within normal limits and hypertension. But, futrher cohort studies to define the effect of cadmium on human hypertension are required.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.17
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• pp.7867-7869
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• 2015

Objective: To assess the safety and effectiveness of thalidomide (produced by CHANGZHOU PHARMACEUTICAL FACTORY CO.LTD) combined with chemotherapy in treating patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Method: A consecutive cohort of pretreated patients with advanced colorectal cancer were treated with thalidomide combined with chemotherapy. And chemotherapy for patients with advanced colorectal cancer were administered according to the condition of patients. Thalidomide was orally administered at a dosage of 50mg/day to 150mg/day before sleeping for at least 14 days. After at least 14 days of treatment, safety and side effects were evaluated. Results: There were 12 female and 3 male patients with advanced cancer recruited into this study, including 9 patients with colon, 6 patients with rectal cancer. The median age of patients was 57(41-82) years. Partial response was observed in 2 patients (2/15), and stable disease in 3 patients(3/15). Incidences of Grade 1 to 2 myelosuppression was observed in 1/15 patients, and Grade 1 to 2 elevation of hepatic enzyme was recorded in 1/15 patients. Adverse effects on the gastrointestinal tract were documented in 1/15 patients, and were Grade 1. No Grade 3-4 toxicities were diagnosed. No treatment related death was found. Conclusions: Thalidomide combined with chemotherapy was safe and mildly effective in treating patients with advanced colorectal cancer. However, further study should be conducted to clarify the effectiveness of this combination.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1603-1609
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• 2014

Background: The response to treatment and overall survival (OS) of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is variable, with a median ranging from 6 months to 11.5 years. TP53 is associated with old age, chemotherapy resistance, and worse OS. Using genetic sequencing, we set out to look at our own experience with AML, and hypothesized that both TP53 mutations and SNPs at codon 72 would mimic the literature by occurring in a minority of patients, and conferring a worse OS. Materials and Methods: We performed a pilot study of randomly selected, newly diagnosed AML patients at Mount Sinai Medical Center, diagnosed from 2005-2008 (n=10). TP53 PCR sequencing was performed using DNA from bone marrow smears. Analysis was accomplished using Mutation Surveyor software with confirmation of the variants using the COSMIC and dbSNP databases. Results: Fewer than half of the patients harbored TP53 mutations (40%). There was no significant difference in OS based on gender, AML history, risk-stratified karyotype, or TP53 mutation. There were possible trends toward improved survival among patients less than 60 (11 vs 4 months, p=0.09), Hispanics (8 vs 1 months, p=0.11), and those not harboring SNP P72R (8 vs 2 months, p=0.10). There was a significant improvement in survival among patients with better performance status (28 vs 4 months, p=0.01) and those who did not have a complex karyotype (8 vs 1 months, p=0.03). The most commonly observed TP53 mutation was a missense N310K (40%) and the most commonly observed SNP was P72R (100.0%). Conclusions: Our study confirms previous reports that poor PS and the presence of a complex karyotype are associated with a decreased OS. In our cohort, TP53 mutations were relatively common, occurring more frequently in male patients with an adverse karyotype. Although there was no significant difference in survival between TP53 mutated and un-mutated patients, there was a possible trend toward worse OS among patients with SNP P72R. Larger studies are needed to validate these findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5715-5719
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy of women in the world. The disease is caused by infectious and non-infectious, environmental and lifestyle factors. Tobacco smoke has been one of the most widely studied environmental factors wiith possible relevance to breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of tobacco smoking in breast cancer patients in a hospital based cohort and to establish prognostic implications if any. Materials and Methods: A retrospective audit of 100 women with pathological diagnosis of invasive breast cancer was included in this study. The verbal questionnaire elicited information on current and previous history of exposure to smoking in addition to active smoking. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounders, including stage at presentation, alcohol intake, hormonal replacement therapy, oral contraceptive intake, obesity and menopausal status. Results: The mean age at presentation of breast cancer was $51.4{\pm}10.86$ years. Mean age of presentation was $53.1{\pm}11.5$ and $45.7{\pm}11.9$ years in never smokers and passive smokers, respectively. Age at presentation varied widely in patients exposed to tobacco smoke for >10 years in childhood from $40.3{\pm}12.0$ years to $47.7{\pm}13.9$ in patients exposed for > 20years as adults. Among passive smokers, 60.9% were premenopausal and 39.1% of patients were postmenopausal. In never smokers, 71.4% were post menopausal. Expression of receptors in non-smokers vs passive smokers was comparable with no significant differences. Metastatic potential in lung parenchyma was slightlyelevated in passive smokers as compared to never smokers although statistically non-significant. Conclusions: An inverse relationship exists between the intensity and duration of smoking and the age at presentation and poor prognostic factors. The results strongly suggest efforts should be taken to prevent smoking, encourage quitting and restrict exposure to second hand smoke in India.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5069-5073
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• 2015

The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs1053004 in Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was recently reported to be associated with chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in a Chinese cohort. This study was aimed at investigating whether the SNP might also contribute to HCC susceptibility in the Thai population. Study subjects were enrolled and divided into 3 groups including CHB-related HCC (n=211), CHB without HCC (n=233) and healthy controls (n=206). The SNP was genotyped using allelic discrimination assays based on TaqMan real-time PCR. Data analysis revealed that the distribution of different genotypes was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (P>0.05). The frequencies of allele T (major allele) in HCC patients, CHB patients and healthy controls were 51.4%, 58.6% and 61.4%, respectively, whereas the frequencies of C allele (minor allele) were 48.6%, 41.4% and 38.6%. The C allele frequency was higher in HCC when compared with CHB patients (odds ratio (OR)=1.34, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.02-1.74, P=0.032). The genotype of SNP rs1053004 (CC versus TT+TC) was significantly associated with an increased risk when compared with CHB patients (OR=1.83, 95% CI=1.13-2.99, P=0.015). In addition, we observed a similar trend of association when comparing HCC patients with healthy controls (OR=1.77, 95% CI=1.07-2.93, P=0.025) and all controls (OR=1.81, 95% CI=1.19-2.74, P=0.005). These findings suggest that the SNP rs1053004 in STAT3 might contribute to HCC susceptibility and could be used as a genetic marker for HCC in the Thai population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5043-5047
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• 2015

Background: Relatively little is known with certainty about the status and role of p53 or MDM2 in predicting prognosis and survival of renal cell carcinoma. The present study aimed to determine the value of P53 and MDM2 over-expression, alone and simultaneously, to predict five-year survival of patients with kidney cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods: Patients with kidney cancer referred to Hasheminejad Kidney Center between 2007 and 2009, underwent radical nephrectomy and had pathology reports of clear cell, papillary or chromophobe renal cell carcinoma were included in our cohort study. Other histological types of renal cell carcinoma were not included. The patients with missed, incomplete or poor quality paraffin blocks were also excluded. Overall ninety one patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. To assess the histopathological features of the tumor, immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of formalin fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor samples were performed. The five-year survival was determined by the patients' medical files and telephone following-up. Results: In total, 1.1% of all samples were revealed to be positive for P53. Also, 20.8% of all samples were revealed to be positive for MDM2.The patients were all followed for 5 years. In this regard, 5-year mortality was 30.5% and thus 5-year survival was 85.3%. According to the Cox proportional hazard analysis, positive P53 marker was only predictor for patients' 5-year survival that the presence of positive p53 increased the risk for long-term mortality up to 2.8 times (HR=2.798, 95%CI: 1.176-6.660, P=0.020). However, the presence of MDM2 could not predict long-term mortality. In this regard, analysis by the ROC curve showed a limited role for predicting long-term survival by confirming P53 positivity (AUC=0.610, 95%CI: 0.471-.750, P=0.106). The best cutoff point for P53 to predict mortality was 0.5 yielding a low sensitivity (32.0%) but a high specificity (97.9%). In similar analysis, measurement of MDM2 positivity could not predict mortality (AUC=0.449, 95%CI: 0.316-.583, P=0.455). Conclusions: The simultaneous presence of both P53 and MDM2 markers in our population is a rare phenomenon and the presence of these markers may not predict long-term survival in patients who undergoing radical nephrectomy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4727-4731
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• 2013

Background: There have been no large-scale population-based studies to estimate the subsequent risk of primary liver cancer (PLC) among patients with pyogenic liver abscess (PLA). This study aimed to provide relevant data. Materials and Methods: The Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database for the years 2000 and 2005 was used. The PLA group were adult inpatients who were newly diagnosed with PLA from 2000 to 2008. The control group was randomly selected and matched with the PLA group in terms of age, sex, and date in which medical treatment was sought other than for PLA. Results: There were 1,987 patients each in the PLA and control groups. In total, 56 had PLC, 48 (2.4%, 601.5 per 100,000 person-years) from the PLA group, and 8 from the control group. After adjusting for potential covariates, the hazard ratio of PLC for the PLA group was 3.4 times that of the control group (95% confidence interval = 1.6-7.3, p <0.001). The PLC risk for the PLA group was significantly higher within the first year after PLA diagnosis (hazard ratio: 35.4) as compared with the control group and became insignificant (hazard ratio: 2.0, 95% confidence interval = 0.8-4.9) more than one year after PLA diagnosis. Conclusions: Patients with PLA have a higher rate of PLC than matched controls, especially within the first year after the diagnosis of PLA, suggesting PLA is a warning sign for PLC.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.376-394
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• 1996

This study evaluated the reproducibility and validity of the self-administered semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire used in a large prospective cohort study(Korean Cancer Research Survey) in middle-aged men. The questionnaire was administered twice at an interval of approximately two years(December, 1992-January, 1995), and four or five 24-hour recalls for each subject were collected at intervals of approximately three months. The results were as follows; 1) Although the distributions of the data estimated by the questionnaire were somewhat wider, the mean nutrient intakes of group estimated by our questionnaires and the multiple 24-hour recalls were roughly comparable. 2) The reproducibility determined by correlation of absolute(unadjusted nutrient intake) and calorie adjusted nutrient intakes from two semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires were more than 0.5, and the weighted kappa values were more than 0.4. 3) The Pearson correlation coefficients between unadjusted nutrient intakes values were average 0.40 on the average(Ca, 0.13-Carbohydrate, 0.58) at the first questionnaire vs. 24-hour recalls, and 0.28 at the second questionnaire vs. 24-hour recalls. The spearman rank order correlation coefficients were similar. When energy intake was adjusted, there was a slight reduction : 0.28 at the second questionnaire, 0.25 average on the second. In order to correct the measurement error of 24-hour recall data, the deattenuated correlation coefficient was calculated. It averaged 0.53 on the first questionnaire, 0.37 on the second questionnaire for unadjusted nutrient intake. for calorie-adjusted nutrient intake, it averaged 0.44 on the first questionnaire, 0.37 on the second questionnarie. 4) There was lower agreement(k<0.4) between the questionnaries and the 24-hour recalls. And the subjects classified in the same quartile by 24-hour recalls and first questionnaire were average 37$\%$(energy-adjusted values) and 40$\%$(unadjusted values) on the average. More than k10$\%$(average) of subjects were in the extreme quartile of the questionnarie and 24-hour recall method. But 8.2$\%$(average) of subjects classified in the lowest quartile of unadjusted nutrient intake level by the 24-hour recalls were in the highest quartile by the first questionnaire. These data indicate that our self-administered semiquantitative food frequency questionnarie is reproducible. Correlation coefficients comparing nutrient intakes measured by two different dietary assessment methods were less than 0.5. The validity of our questionnarie is not high enough.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.295-302
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• 2014

Objective : This study was conducted to clarify the association factors and clinical significance of the CT angiography (CTA) spot sign and hematoma growth in Korean patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Methods : We retrospectively collected the data of 287 consecutive patients presenting with acute ICH who arrived within 12 hours of ictus. Baseline clinical and radiological characteristics as well as the mortality rate within one month were assessed. A binary logistic regression was conducted to obtain association factors for the CTA spot sign and hematoma growth. Results : We identified a CTA spot sign in 40 patients (13.9%) and hematoma growth in 78 patients (27.2%). An elapsed time to CT scan of less than 3 hours (OR, 5.14; 95% CI, 1.76-15.02; p=0.003) was associated with the spot sign. A CTA spot sign (OR, 5.70; 95% CI, 2.70-12.01; p<0.001), elevated alanine transaminase (GPT) level >40 IU (OR, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.01-4.01; p=0.047), and an international normalized ratio ${\geq}1.8$ or warfarin medication (OR, 5.64; 95% CI, 1.29-24.57; p=0.021) were independent predictors for hematoma growth. Antiplatelet agent medication (OR, 4.92; 95% CI, 1.31-18.50; p= 0.019) was significantly associated with hematoma growth within 6 hours of ictus. Conclusion : As previous other populations, CTA spot sign was a strong predictor for hematoma growth especially in hyper-acute stage of ICH in Korea. Antithrombotics medication might also be associated with hyper-acute hematoma growth. In our population, elevated GPT was newly identified as a predictor for hematoma growth and its effect for hematoma growth is necessary to be confirmed through a further research.