• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.54-57
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• 2006

Central nervous system[CNS] involvement of acute lymphoblastic leukemia may occur. However, CNS involvement as a first manifestation of leukemia is very rare. An 8-year-old girl complained of a backache after playing in the water. Neurological examination detected progressing paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging[MRI] of the thoracolumbar spine showed a well-circumscribed homogeneous posterior extradural mass lesion extending from T7 to T9. MRI of the brain showed diffused fatty marrow replacement of the calvarium and the skull base. We report a patient with epidural Burkitt's lymphoma of the thoracic and lumbar vertebra causing compression of the spinal cord after pathologic evaluation. The tumor consisted mainly of lymphoblastic cells, which were identical to those originally seen in the bone marrow aspiration and biopsy. After decompressive laminectomy she began consolidation chemotherapy.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.160-165
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• 2008

Purpose: In cases of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), concurrent chemoradiotherapy(CCRT) is the leading therapeutic modality. However, much controversy exists about the chemotherapeutic regimens and radiation methods. Materials and Methods: During concurrent chemoradiotherapy, three or four cycles of gemcitabine ($500\;mg/m^2$) and cisplatin ($30\;mg/m^2$) were administered every two weeks while 50.4 Gy of irradiation was administered in 28 fractions (once/day, 5 treatment days/week) to the tumor site, mediastinum, and the involved lymph node region. In addition, a booster irradiation dose of 18 Gy in 10 fractions was administered to the primary tumor site unless the disease progressed. Two or three cycles of consolidation chemotherapy were performed with gemcitabine ($1,200\;mg/m^2$, $1^{st}$ and 8th day) and cisplatin ($60\;mg/m^2$) every three weeks. Results: A total of 29 patients were evaluable for modality response. Response and treatment toxicities were assessed after concurrent chemoradiotherapy and consolidation chemotherapy, respectively. One patient (4%) achieved a complete response; whereas 20 patients (69%) achieved a partial response after concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Following the consolidation chemotherapy, three patients (10.3%) achieved complete responses and 21 patients (72.4%) achieved partial responses. The median follow-up period was 20 months (range $3{\sim}39$ months) and the median survival time was 16 months (95% CI; $2.4{\sim}39.2$ months). The survival rates in one, two, and three years after the completion of treatment were 62.7%, 43.9%, and 20%, respectively. Complications associated to this treatment modality included grade 3 or 4 esophagitis, which occurred in 15 patients (51.7%). In addition, an incidence of 24% for grade 3 and 14% for grade 4 neutropenia. Lastly, grade 2 radiation pneumonitis occurred in 6 patients (22%). Conclusion: The response rate and survival time of concurrent chemoradiotherapy with biweekly gemcitabine ($500\;mg/m^2$) and cisplatin ($30\;mg/m^2$) were encouraging in patients with locally advanced NSCLC. However, treatment related toxicities were significant, indicating that further modification of therapy seems to be warranted.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.185-190
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• 2013

Purpose: We evaluated the effect of early chemoradiotherapy on the treatment of patients with limited stage small cell lung cancer (LS-SCLC). Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2011, thirty-one patients with histologically proven LS-SCLC who were treated with two cycles of chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy and consolidation chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed. The chemotherapy regimen was composed of etoposide and cisplatin. Thoracic radiotherapy consisted of 50 to 60 Gy (median, 54 Gy) given in 5 to 6.5 weeks. Results: The follow-up period ranged from 5 to 53 months (median, 22 months). After chemoradiotherapy, 35.5% of the patients (11 patients) showed complete response, 61.3% (19 patients) showed partial response, 3.2% (one patient) showed progressive disease, resulting in an overall response rate of 96.8% (30 patients). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival (OS) rates were 66.5%, 41.0%, and 28.1%, respectively, with a median OS of 21.3 months. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year progression free survival (PFS) rates were 49.8%, 22.8%, and 13.7%, respectively, with median PFS of 12 months. The patterns of failure were: locoregional recurrences in 29.0% (nine patients), distant metastasis in 9.7% (three patients), and both locoregional and distant metastasis in 9.7% (three patients). Grade 3 or 4 toxicities of leukopenia, anemia, and thrombocytopenia were observed in 32.2%, 29.0%, and 25.8%, respectively. Grade 3 radiation esophagitis and radiation pneumonitis were shown in 12.9% and 6.4%, respectively. Conclusion: We conclude that early chemoradiotherapy for LS-SCLC provides feasible and acceptable local control and safety.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2015

Background: Issues concerning with the classification accuracy of Korean Outpatient Groups (KOPGs) have been raised by providers and researchers. The KOPG is an outpatient classification system used to measure casemix of outpatient visits and to adjust provider risk in charges by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service in managing insurance payments. The objective of this study were to refine KOPGs to improve the classification accuracy and to evaluate the refinement. Methods: We refined the rules used to classify visits with multiple procedures, newly defined chemotherapy drug groups, and modified the medical visit indicators through reviews of other classification systems, data analyses, and consultations with experts. We assessed the improvement by measuring % of variation in case charges reduced by KOPGs and the refined system, Enhanced KOPGs (EKOPGs). We used claims data submitted by providers to the HIRA during the year 2012 in both refinement and evaluation. Results: EKOPGs explicitly allowed additional payments for multiple procedures with exceptions of packaging of routine ancillary services and consolidation of related significant procedures, and discounts ranging from 30% to 70% were defined in additional payments. Thirteen chemotherapy drug KOPGs were added and medical visit indicators were streamlined to include codes for consultation fees for outpatient visits. The % of variance reduction achieved by EKOPGs was 48% for all patients whereas the figure was 40% for KOPGs, and the improvement was larger in data from tertiary and general hospitals than in data from clinics. Conclusion: A significant improvement in the performance of the KOPG was achieved by refining payments for visits with multiple procedures, defining groups for visits with chemotherapy, and revising medical visit indicators.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.311-316
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• 2003

A 34-year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to fever and cough. He received the combination anti-cancer chemotherapy for testicular tumor, including bleomycin. The chest X-ray showed consolidation and ground glass opacity on the right upper lobe and subpleural areas of other lobes. This condition was initially misdiagnosed as a pneuomonia, but consolidation did not disappear after antibiotics treatment. We performed transbronchial lung biopsy and bleomycin induced pulmonary toxicity was confirmed. The bleomycin induced lung injury is the most common chemotherapeutically induced pulmonary disease. Bleomycin induced Bronchiolitis Obliterans Organizing Pneumonia(BOOP) is less common than interstitial pneumonitis and responds well to corticosteroid treatment.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.435-438
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• 2015

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a condition of uncertain etiology, choriocarcioma, or placental-site hydatidiform moles, invasive moles, choriocarcinoma, and placental-site trophoblastic tumors. It arises from the abnormal proliferation of trophoblastic tissue and spreads beyond the uterus hematogenously. The early diagnosis of GTD is important to ensure timely and successful management and the preservation of fertility. We report the unusual case of a metastatic choriocarcinoma that formed bullae on the lung surface and presented as recurrent pneumothorax in a 38-year-old woman with elevated beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) levels. She underwent thoracoscopic wedge resection of the involved lung and four subsequent cycles of consolidation chemotherapy. No other evidence of metastatic disease or recurrent pneumothorax was noted during 22 months of follow-up. GTD should be considered in the differential diagnosis of spontaneous pneumothorax in reproductive-age women with an antecedent pregnancy and abnormal beta-hCG levels.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1089-1092
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• 2013

Background: Elderly patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a poor outcome because of co-morbidities, poor tolerance to intensive chemotherapy and inherently more resistant disease. Clofarabine is a second generation nucleoside analogue which has shown promising activity in elderly patients with AML. This study was conducted to review the outcome of treatment with clofarabine in a group of such patients. Methods: The records of 5 elderly patients who were diagnosed to have AML and treated with clofarabine over a 12 month period were reviewed retrospectively. Results: There were 2 female and 3 male patients with a median age of 68 years (range 65-82). At the time of treatment, 2 patients had newly diagnosed AML not considered suitable for intensive therapy, while 3 patients had partial or no response to conventional chemotherapy. The overall response rate was 100%, all patients achieving a complete remission. Induction and consolidation were well tolerated. All patients developed neutropenia with a median duration of 20 days (range 17-42). One patient developed hand and foot syndrome and a generalized rash but recovered. There was no mortality and all patients remained in remission after a median follow-up of 5.2 months (Range 3-10). Conclusion: Clofarabine (alone or in combination) is active in elderly AML patients with an acceptable safety profile and should be considered a potential option in this group.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.230-236
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• 2006

$\underline{Purpose}$: To analyze the response, toxicity, patterns of failure and survival rate of patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer who were treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly paclitaxel. $\underline{Materials\;and\;Methods}$: Twenty-three patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients who received radical chemoradiotherapy from October 1999 to September 2004 were included in this retrospective study. Patients received total $55.4{\sim}64.8$ (median 64.8) Gy (daily 1.8 Gy per fraction, 5 days per weeks) over $7{\sim}8$ weeks. 50 or $60\;mg/m^2$ of paclitaxel was administered on day 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 and 36 of radiotherapy. Four weeks after the concurrent chemoradiotherapy, three cycles of consolidation chemotherapy consisted of paclitaxel $135\;mg/m^2$ and cisplatin $75\;mg/m^2$ was administered every 3 weeks. $\underline{Results}$: Of the 23 patients, 3 patients refused to receive the treatment during the concurrent chemoradiotherapy. One patient died of bacterial pneumonia during the concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Grade 2 radiation esophagitis was observed in 4 patients (17%). Sixteen patients received consolidation chemotherapy. During the consolidation chemotherapy, 8 patients (50%) experienced grade 3 or 4 neutropenia and one of those patients died of neutropenic sepsis. Overall response rate for 20 evaluable patients was 90% including 4 complete responses (20%) and 14 partial responses (70%). Among 18 responders, 9 had local failure, 3 had local and distant failure and 2 had distant failure only. Median progression-free survival time was 9.5 months and 2-year progression-free survival rate was 19%. Eleven patients received second-line or third-line chemotherapy after the treatment failure. The median overall survival time was 21 months. 2-year and 5-year survival rate were 43% and 33%, respectively. Age, performance status, tumor size were significant prognostic factors for progression-free survival. $\underline{Conclusion}$: Concurrent chemoradiotherapy with weekly paclitaxel revealed high response rate and low toxicity rate. But local failure occurred frequently after the remission and large tumor size was a poor prognostic factor. Further investigations are needed to improve the local control.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.69-72
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• 2011

Pulmonary paragonimiasis is a relatively rare cause of lung disease revealing a wide variety of radiologic findings, such as air-space consolidation, nodules, and cysts. We describe here a case of pulmonary paragonimiasis in a 27-year-old woman who presented with a 2-month history of cough and sputum. Based on chest computed tomography (CT) scans and fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) findings, the patient was suspected to have a metastatic lung tumor. However, she was diagnosed as having Paragonimus westermani infection by an immunoserological examination using ELISA. Follow-up chest X-ray and CT scans after chemotherapy with praziquantel showed an obvious improvement. There have been several reported cases of pulmonary paragonimiasis mimicking lung tumors on FDG-PET. However, all of them were suspected as primary lung tumors. To our knowledge, this patient represents the first case of paragonimiasis mimicking metastatic lung disease on FDG-PET CT imaging.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1999-2006
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• 2016

Background: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APML) is characterized by the reciprocal translocation t(15;17) (p22;p12) resulting in the PML-$RAR{\alpha}$ fusion gene. A dual diagnostic and follow up approach was applied including cytogenetic demonstration of the t(15;17) translocation and detection dg PML-$RAR{\alpha}$ chimeric transcripts by molecular means. Purpose: Conventional cytogenetics involving bone marrow is beset with high probability of poor metaphase index and was substituted with phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-induced peripheral blood culture based cytogenetic analysis as a diagnostic & follow up modality in APML patients of Kashmir (North India). Both qualitative (RT-PCR) and quantitative (Q-PCR) tests were simultaneously carried out to authenticte the modified cytogenetics. Materials and Method: Patient samples were subjected to the said techniques to establish their baseline as well as follow-up status. Results: Initial cytogenetics revealed 30 patients (81%) Positive for t(15;17) whereas 7 (19%) had either cryptic translocation or were negative for t(15;17). Two cases had chromosome 16q deletion and no hallmark translocation t(15;17). Q-PCR status for PML-$RAR{\alpha}$ was found to be positive for all patients. All the APML patients were reassessed at the end of consolidation phase and during maintenance phase of chemotherapy where 6 patients had molecular relapse, wherein 4 also demonstrated cytogenetic relapse. Conclusions: It was found that PHA-induced peripheral blood cytogenetics along with molecular analysis could prove a reliable modality in the diagnosis and assessment of follow up response of APML patients.