• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.3873-3877
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• 2014

Melanoma of the skin is a malignant tumor, which incidence is still increasing. It was estimated that in the United States one person died from this cause every hour. The major risk factor of this disease is exposure to ultraviolet radiation, especially associated with the occurrence of sunburns. Patients diagnosed with distant metastases have median survival of 6-9 months. The aim of this paper was to identify the causes of delayed diagnosis of melanoma as diagnosis at an early stage seems to be the key to improve the survival rates. For this purpose, a search of medical databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar and Cancer Registers was conducted and an analysis of the literature from the years 1979-2013 was conducted.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2022

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a comorbidity of COVID-19; therefore, routine early diagnosis is crucial. A large number of examination attributes in the context of diagnosing CHD is a distinct obstacle during the pandemic when the number of health service users is significant. The development of a precise machine learning model for diagnosis with a minimum number of examination attributes can allow examinations and healthcare actions to be undertaken quickly. This study proposes a CHD diagnosis model based on feature selection, data balancing, and ensemble-based classification methods. In the feature selection stage, a hybrid SVM-GA combined with fast correlation-based filter (FCBF) is used. The proposed system achieved an accuracy of 94.60% and area under the curve (AUC) of 97.5% when tested on the z-Alizadeh Sani dataset and used only 8 of 54 inspection attributes. In terms of performance, the proposed model can be placed in the very good category.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.73-90
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• 2002

Objectives: This study investigated significant factors that influence functional evaluation of stroke so as to be a fundamental data for estimating prognosis of stroke patients. Methods: 204 patients were studied within 7 days of admission, after the diagnosis of stroke through brain CT scan, brain MRI scan and clinical observations. They were hospitalized in the oriental medical hospital of Dongeui University from February to July in 2001. They were examined at the early stage of onset, after 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks, and measured for average mark and the degree of improvement by using the Activity Index. Results: Ischemic stroke, past history of stroke, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, risk factor of obesity, non-professional emergency treatment and hospitalizing time after 1 day from onset, high blood pressure, tachycardia pulse and high blood sugar in abnormal vital sign in acute stage, conscious, cognitive or communication disorder, motor aphasia, dysphagia, constipation for more than 3 days, urinary incontinence, visual field defect, insomnia, and chest discomfort in early stage of onset had a negative influence on functional evaluation. Conclusions: Type of stroke, past history, risk factors, emergency treatment and hospitalizing time after onset, abnormal vital sign and intercurrent symptoms in Acute stage were relevant factors in predicting functional evaluation of stroke.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.167-172
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• 2007

Objective: The purpose of this study is to find out the differences of clinical characteristics of endometriosis and to emphasize the significance of early diagnosis of endometriosis to protect disease progression in adolescents. Methods: A retrospective analysis was carried out. All cases (n=130) were diagnosed surgically as endometriosis between January 2000 and August 2007 in two university hospitals in Daegu. Adolescents were 23 cases and unmarried young women were 107 cases. Data were collected through review of medical records. Results: The predominant symptom in adolescents was cyclic pain. 52.2% of adolescent patients were stage I or II. And stage III was 47.8% but stage IV was none. The other side 82.2% of unmarried young women patients were stage II or III and stage IV was 15.8%. Serum CA-125 level was elevated in adolescents, also. But there was no significant difference between the two groups. Conclusions: Endometriosis is progressive disease. Early diagnosis is necessary for prevention of the disease progression and free from pain. Appropriate gynecologic examination and careful concerns about adolescents are mandatory.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.11
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• pp.5729-5733
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• 2012

Background and Objectives: This study aimed to present the clinicopathological characteristics and treatment of patients with bladder carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation at our institution. Methods: Between 1995-2009, 950 patients were followed-up for bladder carcinoma. Among them, 14 patients with sarcomatoid carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed, and their clinical, pathological features and treatment were recorded. Results: Median age of the patients was 65 years (range: 41-86 years), 12 (86%) being male and 2 (14%) female. All the patients presented with hematuria and 11 (88%) had a history of smoking. The tumor growth pattern was solid in 10 patients, papillary in 2, and mixed in 2. In all, 5 of the patients had urothelial carcinoma with sarcomatoid differentiation and 9 were diagnosed with sarcomatoid carcinoma. Five patients underwent radical cystectomy with ileal conduit surgery, 2 patients refused cystectomy, and 8 patients underwent re-TUR. Following diagnosis, 12 of the patients died in mean 10.7 months (range: 1-48 months). Conclusion: Urothelial carcinomas with sarcomatoid features are aggressive and are usually at advanced stage at the time of diagnosis. The outcomes of multimodal treatment are not satisfactory. Significant findings of the present study are that early diagnosis positively affect survival and that gemcitabine and cisplatin in combination can positively affect survival.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.302-309
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• 2010

The present study proposed a method of measuring uroflow and urophonography at the same time for more accurate diagnosis in case uroflow looks normal due to compensatory function hypertrophy in the expression of early obstruction. In case of early obstruction, there happens turbulent uroflow by the obstruction even if the uroflow looks normal and thus obstruction can be detected by measuring and analyzing signal caused by turbulent flow. We implemented a system that can measure both uroflow and urophonography, and evaluated its performance. In the experiment, we observed changes in uroflow and urophonography according to artificial pressure and the degree of obstruction, and confirmed that it is possible to determine the effect of compensatory function hypertrophy by analyzing urophonographyic parameter under the same uroflow. The results of our experiment show that the effect of compensatory function hypertrophy in the early-stage obstruction of lower urinary tract, which is not detectible with uroflowmetry alone, can be assessed through urophonographic analysis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.8
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• pp.688-692
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• 2000

Descending Necrotizing Mediastinitis(DNM) is a complication of oropharyngeal infections that can spread to the mediastinum. It is difficult to diagnose early because clinical and radiologic findings appear in the late stage of the infection. late diagnosis is the principal reason for the high mortality in DNM. An 18-year-old female admitted with Ludwig's angina from dental caries. Despite of combined antibiotics, dental extraction and drainge of submental abscess, infection spread to the cervical area. Chest computed tomogram revealed extension of the abscess to the pretracheal and periaortic space and development of bilateral pleural empyema. We performed bilateral cervical mediastinotomy and thoracotomy for drainage and debridement. Tracheostomy to secure the airway and postoperative pleural irrigation were performed. Postoperative course was uneventful and patient was discharged on the 40th postoperative day. It is important to perform chest CT scanning for early diagnosis of DNM when oropharyngeal infection spreads to the cervical area. Improved survival of patients with DNM implies early and radical surgical drainage and debridement via a cervical mediastinomy and thoracotomy.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2015

This study aims to design a monolayer cell adsorption apparatus that would help to produce high-quality slides for Liquid-Based Cytology (LBC) of an early cancer diagnosis for human bodies. The LBC collects exfoliated cells of human bodies and spreads the cells on the slides. Through processes of dyeing and cytological examination, the LBC screens for cancers in early stage. In this study, both of a cell suction module and a cell adsorption module, which are the key elements of the monolayer cell adsorption apparatus, were developed, and using those modules, the study set, first, conditions to help both GYN and NON-GYN apply principal cells without de-endothelialization before conducting its own analysis on the utility. As a results, for GYN, apparatus was determined to be able to produce high-quality slides under the condition of 4 and for NON-GYN, the apparatus would come up with other slides of high-quality under the condition of 2. The study carried out a repetitive test on selected conditions and proved 96% of the repetitive success rate. By the results of what has been learned so far, the study presents that the apparatus has a possibility to replace device from South Korea as one of those other currently-applied systems to run the LBC and that the system will also present a new paradigm for cancer diagnosis as it makes a contribution to the improvement in the LBC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1421-1425
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• 2015

Aims: Pleiotrophin (PTN), an angiogenic factor, is associated with various types of cancer, including lung cancer. Our aim was to investigate the possibility of using serum PTN as an early indicator regarding disease diagnosis, classification and prognosis, for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Significant differences among PTN levels in patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC, n=40), NSCLC (n=136), and control subjects with benign pulmonary lesions (n=21), as well as patients with different pathological subtypes of NSCLC were observed. Results: A serum level of PTN of 300.1 ng/ml, was determined as the cutoff value differentiating lung cancer patients and controls, with a sensitivity and specificity of 78.4% and 66.7%, respectively. Negative correlations between serum PTN level and pathological differentiation level, stage, and survival time were observed in our cohort of patients with NSCLC. In addition, specific elevation of PTN levels in pulmonary tissue in and around NSCLC lesions in comparison to normal pulmonary tissue obtained from the same subjects was also observed (n=2). Conclusion: This study suggests that the serum PTN level of patients with NSCLC could be an early indicator for diagnosis and prognosis. This conclusion should be further assessed in randomized clinical trials.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3595-3604
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• 2015

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been one of the most fatal malignant tumors worldwide and its associated morbidity and mortality remain of significant concern. Based on in-depth reviews of serological diagnosis of HCC, in addition to AFP, there are other biomarkers: Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive AFP (AFP-L3), descarboxyprothrombin (DCP), tyrosine kinase with Ig and eprdermal growth factor (EGF) homology domains 2 (TIE2)-espressing monocytes (TEMs), glypican-3 (GPC3), Golgi protein 73 (GP73), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) have been proposed as biomarkers for the early detection of HCC. The diagnosis of HCC is primarily based on noninvasive standard imaging methods, such as ultrasound (US), dynamic multiphasic multidetector-row CT (MDCT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Some experts advocate gadolinium diethyl-enetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA) MRI and contrast-enhanced US as the promising imaging madalities of choice. With regard to recent advancements in tissue markers, many cuting-edge technologies using genome-wide DNA microarrays, qRT-PCR, and proteomic and inmunostaining studies have been implemented in an attempt to identify markers for early diagnosis of HCC. Only less than half of HCC patients at initial diagnosis are at an early stage treatable with curative options: local ablation, surgical resection, or liver transplant. Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is considered the standard of care with palliation for intermediate stage HCC. Recent innovative procedures using drug-eluting-beads and radioembolization using Yttrium-90 may exhibit beneficial effects in HCC treatment. During the past few years, several molecular targeted agents have been evaluated in clinical trials in advanced HCC. Sorafenib is currently the only approved systemic treatment for HCC. It has been approved for the therapy of asymptomatic HCC patients with well-preserved liver function who are not candidates for potentially curative treatments, such as surgical resection or liver transplantation. In the USA, Europe and particularly Japan, hepatitis C virus (HCV) related HCC accounts for most liver cancer, as compared with Asia-Pacific regions, where hepatitis B virus (HBV) may play a more important role in HCC development. HBV vaccination, while a vaccine is not yet available against HCV, has been recognized as a best primary prevention method for HBV-related HCC, although in patients already infected with HBV or HCV, secondary prevention with antiviral therapy is still a reasonable strategy. In addition to HBV and HCV, attention should be paid to other relevant HCC risk factors, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease due to obesity and diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, and prolonged aflatoxin exposure. Interestingly, coffee and vitamin K2 have been proven to provide protective effects against HCC. Regarding tertiary prevention of HCC recurrence after surgical resection, addition of antiviral treatment has proven to be a rational strategy.