• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.1981-1984
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• 2013

Objective: The optimal duration of adjuvant trastuzumab treatment in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer is not known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of 6 months of adjuvant trastuzumab treatment in patients with stage II or III HER2-positive breast cancer. Methods: The records of patients with HER2-positive stage II or III breast cancer who were admitted to the Breast Center of Taipei Medical University Hospital and Yuan's General Hospital between 2000 and 2008 were reviewed. All patients received adjuvant trastuzumab at an initial dose of 4 mg/kg followed by a maintenance dose of 2 mg/kg/week for 22 weeks in combination with chemotherapy. Results: A total of 51 patients were included with a mean age of 46.9 years. Approximately 55% of the patients had stage III disease. The mean follow-up time from initiation of treatment was 45.2 months (range, 0.9 to 85 months). During follow-up, 46 patients (90.2%) did not experience tumor recurrence. The mean estimated disease free survival was 80.2 months. The estimated 1-, 2-, 5-, and 7-year survival rates were 97.9%, 93.1%, 93.1%, and 93.1%, respectively. The most common adverse effects were gastrointestinal symptoms (21.6%), chills (17.6%), dizziness (9.8%), and bone pain (7.8%). No cardiac or hematologic adverse events occurred. Conclusion: Adjuvant therapy with trastuzumab for 6 months resulted in a clinical benefit in patients with HER2-positive breast cancer.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.121-126
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• 2009

Background: Pemetrexed has been prescribed newly as a second line chemotherapy in advanced non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). The aim of study was to determine the efficacy and toxicity of pemetrexed in advanced NSCLC. Methods: Patients with histologically or cytologically confirmed NSCLC were evaluated from June 2006 to December 2008. The patients had relapsed or progressed after prior chemotherapy treatment. They were treated with intravenous pemetrexed $500mg/m^2$ for 10 min on Day 1 of each 21-day cycle. Results: A total of 89 patients were eligible for analysis. The response rate and disease control rate were 11% and 66%. Non-squamous cell carcinoma histology was significantly associated with a superior response rate (p=0.035) and disease control rate (p=0.009) than squamous cell carcinoma histology. The median survival time was 13 months and the median progression free survival time was 2.3 months. The median survival time of patients with ECOG PS 0~1 was 13.2 months, whereas median survival time was 11.6 months for patients with PS 2 (p=0.002). The median progression free survival time of patients with PS 0~1 were 3.8 months, but 2.1 months for patients with PS 2 (p=0.016). The median progression free survival time of smokers with non-squamous cell carcinoma was 3.4 months, which was significant (p=0.014). Grade 3~4 neutropenia were seen in 7.9% patients. Conclusion: Pemetrexed has efficacy in patients who had prior chemotherapy with advanced NSCLC and less hematologic toxicity.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.137-142
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• 1995

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease of large and small ruminants, causing losses through mortality, abortion, weight loss and reduced milk production. In one dairy farm, for example, 250 of a total of 800 imported goats were diagnosed with a mysterious type of anemia during the summer and autumn of 1992. The etiologic agent was identified as Anaplasma spp by acridine orange and ultrastructure by electron microscopy. In order to monitor variations in blood biochemical and hematological parameters associated with the disease, blood samples were collected by jugular venipuncture from 50 goats at 3 month intervals between the period of February and October, 1993. The levels of RBCs, HB and HCT decreased from $18.48{\pm}1.96$ to $13.47{\pm}2.48X10^6/mm^3$, $12.25{\pm}1.41$ to $9.54{\pm}1.77g/dl$, and $43.09{\pm}4.75$ to $30.93{\pm}5.78%$, respectively. The values of MCH(Mean corpuscular hemoglobin), MCHC(Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration) and PLT(Platelet) were elevated from $6.58{\pm}0.30$ to $7.05{\pm}0.47pg$, $28.40{\pm}1.20$ to $30.82{\pm}1.85g/dl$ and $1688.34{\pm}750$ to $2046.82{\pm}783X10^3/mm^3$, respectively. Percent parasitized erythrocytes(PPE) increased from $0.61{\pm}0.5$ to $2.22{\pm}1.9%$, clinical biochemical parameters aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase were $66.64{\pm}23.1K.U$ and $14.90{\pm}6.59K.U$, respectively and persisted at high levels throughout the observation period. The level of albumin(2.46)0.52 g/dl) was decreased corresponding to an elevated globulin and a reduced albumin/globulin ratio in October as compared with the values in February. It is concluded that caprine anaplasmosis may be an important cause of anemia and hepatic malfunction in goats.

• Clinical and Experimental Vaccine Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.319-327
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• 2023

Purpose: Patients with hematological malignancies are at an increased risk of severe infection with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, developing an adequate immune response after vaccination is difficult, especially in patients with lymphoid neoplasms. Since the long-term effects of the BNT162b2 vaccine are unclear, the humoral immune response 5 months after the two vaccinations in patients with hematological disorders was analyzed. Materials and Methods: Samples were collected from 96 patients vaccinated twice with BNT162b2 and treated with at least one line of an antitumor or immunosuppressive drug in our hospital from November 2021 to February 2022. Serum anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (anti-SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) antibody titers were analyzed. Patients were age- and sex-matched using propensity matching and compared with a healthy control group. Patients with serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 S antibodies were defined as 'responder' if >50 U/mL. The patients had B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL), multiple myeloma, chronic myeloid leukemia, etc. Results: Patients had significantly low antibody levels (median, 55.3 U/mL vs. 809.8 U/mL; p<0.001) and a significantly low response rate (p<0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that patients with B-NHL, aged >72 years, were associated with a low response to vaccination. There were no significant differences between patients with chronic myeloid leukemia and healthy controls. Conclusion: Our study shows that patients with hematological disorders are at risk of developing severe COVID-19 infections because of low responsiveness to vaccination. Moreover, the rate of antibody positivity differed between the disease groups. Further studies are warranted to determine an appropriate preventive method for these patients, especially those with B-NHL.

• Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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• v.27 no.7
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• pp.434-446
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• 2024

The efficacy of Chromolaena odorata leaf flour components (CO) to increase the growth performance, non-specific immune activity, and resistance against Vibrio parahaemolyticus of whiteleg shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) culture was evaluated. To this purpose, whiteleg shrimp post larvae were fed on diets supplemented with 0 and a 1.5 g CO/kg diet for 45 days in a pond. After feeding trials, the shrimps were identified for their growth parameters, collected, and injected with V. parahaemolyticus, then their non-specific immune activity and resistance to V. parahaemolyticus was observed for 14 days. Findings showed that CO increased the average body weight (7.71 g, 37%), weight gain (7.69 g, 40%), and specific growth rate (13.23%/day, 5.7%) as compared to the control. In addition, CO supplementation also increases shrimp's hematologic and immune activity (total hemocyte counts [6.8 × 10⁷ CFU/mL, 242.9%], differential hemocyte counts [27%, 142.1%], and prophenoloxidase activity [0.085%, 566.7%]). Finally, shrimp resistance to V. parahaemolyticus infection also increased after CO supplementation, with survival rates of 73.33% as compared to 23.33% for the control. It suggests that C. odorata leaf flour component supplementation at an optimal dose in the diet may be an effective strategy to increase growth and resistance to bacterial disease with reduced mortality in shrimp farms.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.130-136
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• 2001

Purpose : It is very important to endow the cancer patients underwent chemotherapy with satisfactory quality of life (QOL). However, little is known about the factors influencing QOL during chemotherapy. Therefore, we designed this study to find out the factors influencing QOL in the cancer patients who underwent chemotherapy. Methods : Ninety-seven cancer patients were studied, prospectively. The patients' characteristics were as follows; median age(range): 48(19{\sim}83) years, male:female; 57:40, PS:0,1/2,3;55/42 patients, diagnosis(number): lymphoma (28), lung cancer (22), gastrointestinal cancer (18), sarcoma (12), breast cancer (12), gynecological cancer (5), Stage: I,II/III.IV;37/60 patients. We used EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaires to evaluate QOL. EORTC QLQ-C30 scores were performed before the onset of chemotherapy and after the end of 3 cycles of chemotherapy. The correlation of these scores with performance status (PS), diagnosis, disease stage, response to chemotherapy, and regimen related toxicity was evaluated. Results : The responder group (CR, PR) demonstrated marked improvement of social functional and emotional scales to non-responder group (SD,PD) (P=0.024, 0.045). Non-hematologic regimen related toxicity such as mucositis, nausea and vomiting was significantly correlated with pain scale change (P=0.043). Other factors had no notable correlation with QOL changes. Conclusion : Our preliminary study results may suggest as follows. The response to chemotherapy is associated with the change of social functional and emotional scales and the severity of non-hematologic regimen related toxicity is associated with pain scale change.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.87-97
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• 2017

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a malignant disease caused by an abnormal proliferation of plasma cells, of which the prognostic factors include chromosomal abnormality, ${\beta}$-2 microglobulin, and albumin. Recently, the term chromothripsis has emerged, which is the massive but highly localized chromosomal rearrangement in response to a one-step catastrophic event. Many studies have shown an association of chromothripsis with the prognosis in several cancers; however, few studies have investigated it in MM. Here, we studied the association between chromothripsis-like patterns and treatment resistance or prognosis. First, we analyzed nine MM cell lines (U266, MM.1S, RPMI8226, KMS-11, KMS-12-BM, KMS-12-PE, KMS-28-BM, KMS-28-PE, and NCI-H929) and bone marrow samples of four patients who were diagnosed with MM by next-generation sequencing-based copy number variation analysis. The frequency of the chromothripsis-like pattern was observed in seven cell lines. We analyzed the treatment-induced chromothripsis-like patterns in KMS-12-BM and KMS-12-PE cells. As a result, breakpoints and chromothripsis-like patterns were increased after drug treatment in the relatively resistant KMS-12-BM. We further analyzed the patients' results according to the therapeutic response, which was divided into sensitive and resistant, as suggested by the International Myeloma Working Group. The chromothripsis-like pattern was more frequently observed in the resistant group. In the sensitive group, the frequency of the chromothripsis-like pattern decreased after treatment, whereas the resistant group showed increased chromothripsis-like patterns after the treatment. These results suggest that the chromothripsis-like pattern is associated with treatment response in MM.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2011

Purpose: Natural history and consequences of the novel 2009 influenza A H1N1(2009 H1N1) infection in immunocompromised pediatric patients are not yet fully understood. In this study, we investigated the clinical features and outcomes of the 2009 H1N1 infection in pediatric patients with hematological and oncological diseases. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 528 patients who had hematological and oncological diseases and who were treated at 7 referral centers located in the Yeungnam region. Among the 528 patients, 27 with definite diagnosis of 2009 H1N1 infection were the subjects of this study. All patients were divided into the following 3 groups: patients who were receiving chemotherapy (group 1), patients who were immunosuppressed due to a nonmalignant hematological disease (group 2), and patients who were off chemotherapy and had undergone their last chemotherapy course within 2 years from the influenza A pandemic (group 3). Results: All 28 episodes of 2009 H1N1 infection were treated with the antiviral agent oseltamivir ($Tamiflu^{(R)}$), and 20 episodes were treated after hospitalization. Group 1 patients had higher frequencies of lower respiratory tract infection and longer durations of fever and hospitalization as compared to those in group 2. Ultimately, all episodes resolved completely with no complications. Conclusion: These results suggest that early antiviral therapy did not influence the morbidity or mortality of pediatric patients with hematological and oncological diseases in the Yeungnam region of Korea after the 2009 H1N1 infection. However, no definite conclusions can be drawn because of the small sample size.

• Korean Journal of Ichthyology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.201-207
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• 2019

Temperature is one of the most important criteria considered in species preference for aquaculture. Acute drop in temperature during winter is a cause of disease and mass mortality in farmed fish. This study was carried out the low water temperature tolerance, oxygen consumption, hematologic and histological responses to use as basic data for the management of fish farming which frequently cause death due to winter water temperature drop. Low-lethal water temperature for 4 days of file fish Thamnaconus modestus (4day-LT₅₀) was 6.97℃ (6.69~7.27℃). Oxygen consumption rate decreased with decreasing water temperature, showing a significant difference between water temperatures. SOD activity increased significantly at 6℃ experimental group than control group (10℃) (p<0.05), but CAT did not show any significant difference between experimental temperatures (p>0.05). Cortisol increased with decreasing experimental water temperature compared to control group. Histological changes in the liver include decreased blood vessels in the blood vessels, proliferation of acid cells, condensation of the nucleus, atrophy of pancreatic exocrine gland cells, and enzyme source granules.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.481-492
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• 2024

Objective: To evaluate the clinical and imaging characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 breakthrough infection in hospitalized immunocompromised patients in comparison with immunocompetent patients. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study analyzed consecutive adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 who received at least one dose of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine at two academic medical centers between June 2021 and December 2022. Immunocompromised patients (with active solid organ cancer, active hematologic cancer, active immune-mediated inflammatory disease, status post solid organ transplantation, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome) were compared with immunocompetent patients. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of immune status on severe clinical outcomes (in-hospital death, mechanical ventilation, or intensive care unit admission), severe radiologic pneumonia (≥ 25% of lung involvement), and typical CT pneumonia. Results: Of 2218 patients (mean age, 69.5 ± 16.1 years), 274 (12.4%), and 1944 (87.6%) were immunocompromised an immunocompetent, respectively. Patients with active solid organ cancer and patients status post solid organ transplantation had significantly higher risks for severe clinical outcomes (adjusted odds ratio = 1.58 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 1.01-2.47], P = 0.042; and 3.12 [95% CI, 1.47-6.60], P = 0.003, respectively). Patient status post solid organ transplantation and patients with active hematologic cancer were associated with increased risks for severe pneumonia based on chest radiographs (2.96 [95% CI, 1.54-5.67], P = 0.001; and 2.87 [95% CI, 1.50-5.49], P = 0.001, respectively) and for typical CT pneumonia (9.03 [95% CI, 2.49-32.66], P < 0.001; and 4.18 [95% CI, 1.70-10.25], P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusion: Immunocompromised patients with COVID-19 breakthrough infection showed an increased risk of severe clinical outcome, severe pneumonia based on chest radiographs, and typical CT pneumonia. In particular, patients status post solid organ transplantation was specifically found to be associated with a higher risk of all three outcomes than hospitalized immunocompetent patients.