• BMB Reports
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• v.51 no.10
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• pp.514-519
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• 2018

Ovarian cancer is the most fatal gynecological malignancy in women and identification of new therapeutic targets is essential for the continued development of therapy for ovarian cancer. TRRAP (transformation/transcription domain-associated protein) is an adaptor protein and a component of histone acetyltransferase complex. The present study was undertaken to investigate the roles played by TRRAP in the proliferation and tumorigenicity of ovarian cancer stem cells. TRRAP expression was found to be up-regulated in the sphere cultures of A2780 ovarian cancer cells. Knockdown of TRRAP significantly decreased cell proliferation and the number of A2780 spheroids. In addition, TRRAP knockdown induced cell cycle arrest and increased apoptotic percentages of A2780 sphere cells. Notably, the mRNA levels of stemness-associated markers, that is, OCT4, SOX2, and NANOG, were suppressed in TRRAP-silenced A2780 sphere cells. In addition, TRRAP overexpression increased the mRNA level of NANOG and the transcriptional activity of NANOG promoter in these cells. Furthermore, TRRAP knockdown significantly reduced tumor growth in a murine xenograft transplantation model. Taken together, the findings of the present study suggest that TRRAP plays an important role in the regulation of the proliferation and stemness of ovarian cancer stem cells.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.123-128
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• 2000

Purpose: This study was aimed to develop a new vaginal applicator(Shin's Applicator) for 2-channel high-dose rate vaginal brachytherapy to evaluate uniformity of surface dose, and to present 3-dimensional dose distribution of the applicator. Methods: Shin's Applicator was inexpensively constructed using human soft tissue equivalent acrylic bar. We evaluated dose uniformity along the applicator surface using film densitometer and performed vaginal intracavitary brachytherapy after insertion of the applicator using HDR brachytherapy planning software and brachytherapy unit(Ralstron-20B). Results: Shin's Applicator allows improved dose distribution than the existing 1-channel cylinder and achieves diminished urinary bladder and rectal dose by 20%. Conclusions: From the above results, it can be concluded that Shin's Applicator may be an improved form of a vaginal applicator. Furthermore, it can be suggested that this applicator has an advantage, for it prevents vaginal stenosis after radiation therapy and can be used as a disposable vaginal dilator. Further follow up examination with radiological study may be helpful to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of this applicator.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1265-1267
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• 2016

Egg white intake during chemotherapy is common advice for cancer patients for the prevention of leukopenia. However, the benefit is uncertain. We conducted this prospective study to identify the relationship of egg white intake for gynecologic cancer patients who received carboplatin and paclitaxel and the occurrence of leukopenia. Between January 2014 and January, 2015, 81 patients were interviewed regarding their intake of egg whites before receiving subsequent chemotherapy. The basic data, the details of egg white intake and the grade of leukopenia in the previous cycle were recorded. The mean age was 54.1 years and 80% of the patients had a diagnosis of ovarian or endometrial cancer. The patients were interviewed at cycles 1-3 in 45 cases, 4-6 in 45 cases and 7-9 in two cases. Subsequent dose reduction was found in 6.2% and granulocyte-stimulating growth factors was given at 4.9%. All the patients ate egg whites with variations in the number of eggs per day as follows: less than one (3), one to two (56), three to four (14) and five to six (8). Over 70% were recommended by nurses to eat egg whites and about 63% of patients received other supplemental food. Some 44.1% of the patients who ate less than or equal to two eggs per day and 36.4% who ate more than two eggs per day developed grade 2-4 leukopenia, P = 0.61. In conclusion, the data did not provide evidence in support of the conclusion that a greater egg white intake could significantly reduce the occurrence of leukopenia.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6375-6379
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• 2015

Background: Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with about 500,000 new cases and 270,000 deaths each year. Globally, it is estimated that over one million women currently have cervical cancer, most of whom have not been diagnosed, or have no access to treatment that could cure them or prolong their lives. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women. Materials and Methods: A population-based cross-sectional retrospective survey of cervical smear abnormalities was conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, from January 2013 to December 2013 by collecting consecutive liquid-based cytology samples from the Department of Pathology at the SKMC Hospital in Abu Dhabi city. Results: The total number of women screened for cervical cancer for the year 2013 at SKMC was 4,593, with 225 (4.89%) abnormal smears. The majority of the abnormal smear results were atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) 114 (2.48%). This study showed 60% increase in the rate of abnormal cervical smears in the UAE over the last 10 years. In this study the highest incidence of high grade abnormalities were seen in women above the age of 61years (1.73%), this might be due to the fact that this group of women missed the chance of screening of cervical cancer earlier in their lives or could be explained by the well-known second peak of HPV infection seen in many prevalence studies. Conclusions: We conclude that the rate of abnormal cervical smear in the screened Abu Dhabi women is not different from the rate in developed countries. A notable increase in both low and high grade abnormalities has occurred within the last decade.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1333-1340
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• 2012

Epithelial ovarian cancer represents the most lethal gynecological cancer, and the high mortality rate makes this malignancy a major health concern. Poor prognosis results from an inability to detect ovarian cancers at an early, curable stage, as well as from the lack of an effective therapy. Thus, effective and novel strategies for prevention and treatment with non-toxic agents merit serious consideration. Resveratrol, obtained from grapes, berries, peanuts and red wine, has been shown to have a potent growth-inhibitory effect against various human cancer cells as well as in in vivo preclinical cancer models. The objective here was to evaluate potential antitumor effects of resveratrol in both in vitro and in vivo NuTu-19 ovarian cancer models. In vitro an invasion assay was performed. After 48 h, the numbers of viable cells that invaded the extracellular matrix layer were reduced by 94% with resveratrol in comparison to control. For the in vivo anti-tumor assessment, 10 rats were injected with NuTu-19 cells into the ovarian bursa. Thereafter, half were provided with a diet mixed with a dose of 100 mg resveratrol/kg body weight/day for 28 days. Following sacrifice, anticancer effects were assessed by histological evaluation of ovarian as well as surrounding tissues, and immunohistochemical detection of cell proliferation and apoptosis, but there were no observable differences between the control and resveratrol-treated groups for any of the biological endpoints. While resveratrol is effective in suppressing the in vitro cellular invasion of NuTu-19 ovarian cancer cells, these effects do not appear to impact on in vivo NuTu-19 ovarian cancers in rats.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7333-7336
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• 2014

Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been implicated as a causative of cervical cancer. In the present study, a total of 578 samples from females attending the gynecological outpatient clinic in Henan province, China, were collected and the HPV genotypes were detected by gene chip and flow-through hybridization. Overall, 44.5% (257/578) females were found to be HPV DNA positive, and the high risk HPV (HR-HPV) rate was 35.1% (203/578). The first peak of HR-HPV infection appeared in the >60 year-old group (55.0%), and the second was within the 51-55 year-old group (50.0%) (${\chi}^2$=19.497, p<0.05). HPV 16 was the most prevalent genotype (9.2%), followed by HPV 52 (7.8%), HPV 6 (6.9%), HPV 11 (5.9%) and HPV 42 (5.0%). The single type HPV infection was 30.4%, with the five majority prevalent genotype HPV 16 (16.5%), HPV 52 (14.3%), HPV 6 (12.6%), HPV 42 (8.6%), HPV 31 (5.1%). The multiple-type HPV infections were 14.0%, and HPV 16 was the most prevalent type (29.6%), followed by HPV 52 (24.7%), HPV 6 (22.2%), HPV 11 (22.2%), HPV 42 (17.3%) and HPV 39 (17.3%).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6389-6392
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• 2013

Background: Cervical cancer is one of the ten most frequent cancers in Turkey. We here examined knowledge about cervical cancer in relation to Papanicolaou (Pap) testing among female primary health care workers in Hatay, a city is located in the south of Turkey. Materials and Methods: The study was completed on 261 women healthcare workers who were or had been sexually active and who accepted to participate to the study. The participants gave verbal informed consent and thereafter questionnaires prepared by the investigators were administered by personal interview. Results: Only 30.3% (n=79) of the participants regularly had a gynecologic examination. While 87.4% (n=228) of the participants reported that they had already heard about the Pap smear test, only 45.2% (n=118) had undergone this test. It was determined that had undergone an average of $1.66{\pm}0.89$ times (1-4) within the last five years. Some 56.0% (n=117) of the participants were well informed about the Pap smear test (p<0,001) and 81.1% (n=63) of the participants who regularly had gynecological examinations (p<0,001) had this test. Conclusions: For the early diagnosis of the cervical cancer, regularly having a Pap smear test is crucial. Healthcare workers should also demonstrate sensitivity about this issue. We think that the importance of the issue should be re-highlighted by organizing in-service training for female primary healthcare workers. Studies are warranted to determine the psychosociological factors that cause individuals to not have the test.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.64-72
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• 2015

Menstrual problem (premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dysmenorrhea) is a common gynecological complaints among women in reproductive age. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of isoflavone and Cynanchum wilfordii for improvement of premenstrual syndrome, dysmenorrhea. Subjects were 30 college women in Busan, divided into three groups (CG; control group, n=10; IS group; isoflavone supplement group, n=10; CS group; Cynanchum wilfordii supplement group, n=10). They showed 5.0 or higher for menstrual pain when tested by the VAS. IS group was allocated a isoflavone pill (500 mg/day) for 8 weeks, and CS group was allocated a Cynanchum wilfordii pill (6 g/day) for 8 weeks. We administered a menstrual distress questionnaire (MDQ), and visual analogue scale(VAS). There were no differences among the three groups in general characteristics, nutrients intake, MDQ, or VAS. In the CG group, there were no differences in MDQ, or VAS after 8 weeks. In the IS group, negative emotions, behavioral changes, concentration, pain, autonomic nervous system response, water retention, and skin changes significantly improved (P<0.05). In the CS group, negative emotions, pain, autonomic nervous system response, and water retention significantly decreased after 8 weeks (P<0.05). Changes in negative emotion, pain, autonomic nervous system response, water retention, skin changes significantly improved in the CS group compared to the control group (P<0.05). VAS significantly decreased in the IS and CS groups (P<0.05). The decrease in VAS differed among three groups, with the CS group showing a larger decrease than the control group and IS group (P<0.001).

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.177-189
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• 2002

Sexual health education for the patients is an independent function as well as a professional responsibility of nurses. Education should be based on the needs of patients in order to be successful and effective. Therefore nurses must identify sexual health education needs of their patients. A sexual health education protocol for hysterectomy patients was developed by the researcher for this study and included physiosexual and psychosexual topics as well as the topic of sexual interaction. The subject pool was composed of 108 post op total hysterectomy patients who had undergone doing a hysterectomy 5 to 10 days previously at 5 hospitals located in the Seoul and Kyunggi-do area from July 23 to September 30, 2001. The questionnaire was composed of 60 items on sexual health education and used a Likert-type 4-point scale. Internal consistency of this questionnaire in this study was cronbach's $\alpha$=.9495 for sexual health educational needs. For data analysis, the study executed a t-test, ANOVA, and Duncan's Test, in accordance with the purpose of the study using SPSS/PC Win 10.0. The results were as follows: The need for education was highest in the psychosexual area (3.38 point) with education related to sexual interaction the lowest (3.20 point). Osteoporosis (3.75 point) was ranked overall as the highest area of educational need. The degree of educational need varied in correlation with other characteristics of the patients including age, status of marriage, duration of marriage, religion, academic career, monthly income, occupation, the number of children age of menarche, menstruation, other diseases except gynecological disease, previous genital organ operation experience, disease discovery method, pre-explanation for the hysterectomy, average sexual intercourse frequency, how to acquire sexual health information and previous sexual health education (p<.05). In conclusion, the degree of sexual health education needs of hysterectomy patients was very high. Therefore, sexual health educational programs planned according to characteristics of the participating women is necessary.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5807-5815
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• 2015

Background: Ovarian cancer is the most common gynecological malignancy and constitutes the fifth leading cause of female cancer death. Some biological parameters have prognostic roles in patients with advanced ovarian cancer and their expression may contribute to tumor progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential prognostic value of SKP2, genes P27Kip1, K-ras, c-Myc, COX2 and HER2 genes expression in ovarian cancer. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on two hundred formalin fixed paraffin embedded ovarian cancer and normal adjacent tissues (NAT). Gene expression levels were assessed using real time PCR and Western blotting. Results: Elevated expression levels of SKP2, K-ras, c-Myc, HER2 and COX2 genes were observed in 61.5% (123/200), 92.5% (185/200), 74% (148/200), 96 % (192/200), 90% (180/200) and 78.5% (157/200) of cancer tissues, respectively. High expression of SKP2 and down-regulation of P27 was associated with advanced stages of cancer. Conclusions: The association between high expression of c-Myc and SKP2 with low expression of P27 suggested that the Skp2-P27 pathway may play an important role in ovarian carcinogenesis. Reduced expression of P27 is associated with advanced stage of cancer and can be used as a biological marker in clinical routine assessment and management of women with advanced ovarian cancer.