• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7377-7381
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• 2014

CYP2E1 PstI polymorphism G-1259C (rs3813867) genotype distributions vary significantly among different populations and are associated with both diseases, like cancer, and adverse drug effects. To date, there have been limited genotype distributions and allele frequencies of this polymorphism reported in the three major indigenous ethnic groups (KadazanDusun, Bajau, and Rungus) in Sabah, also known as North Borneo. The aim of this study was to investigate the genotype distributions and allele frequencies of the CYP2E1 PstI polymorphism G-1259C in these three major indigenous peoples in Sabah. A total of 640 healthy individuals from the three dominant indigenous groups were recruited for this study. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) at G-1259C polymorphic site of CYP2E1 gene was performed using the Pst I restriction enzyme. Fragments were analyzed using agarose gel electrophoresis and confirmed by direct sequencing. Overall, the allele frequencies were 90.3% for c1 allele and 9.7% for c2 allele. The genotype frequencies for c1/c1, c1/c2 and c2/c2 were observed as 80.9%, 18.8%, and 0.3%, respectively. A highly statistical significant difference (p<0.001) was observed in the genotype distributions between indigenous groups in Sabah with all Asian and non-Asian populations. However, among these three indigenous groups, there was no statistical significant difference (p>0.001) in their genotype distributions. The three major indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah show unique genotype distributions when compared with other populations. This finding indicates the importance of establishing the genotype distributions of CYP2E1 PstI polymorphism in the indigenous populations.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1725-1730
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• 2014

Management of patients with stage II colorectal carcinomas remains challenging as 20 - 30% of them will develop recurrence. It is postulated that these patients may harbour nodal micrometastases which are imperceptible by routine histopathological evaluation. The aims of our study were to evaluate (1) the feasibility of multilevel sectioning method utilizing haematoxylin and eosin stain and immunohistochemistry technique with cytokeratin AE1/AE3, in detecting micrometastases in histologically-negative lymph nodes, and (2) correlation between nodal micrometastases with clinicopathological parameters. Sixty two stage I and II cases with a total of 635 lymph nodes were reviewed. Five-level haematoxylin and eosin staining and one-level cytokeratin AE1/AE3 immunostaining were performed on all lymph nodes retrieved. The findings were correlated with clinicopathological parameters. Two (3.2%) lymph nodes in two patients (one in each) were found to harbour micrometastases detected by both methods. With cytokeratin AE1/AE3, we successfully identified four (6.5%) patients with isolated tumour cells, but none through the multilevel sectioning method. Nodal micrometastases detected by both multilevel sectioning and immunohistochemistry methods were not associated with larger tumour size, higher depth of invasion, poorer tumour grade, disease recurrence or distant metastasis. We conclude that there is no difference between the two methods in detecting nodal micrometastases. Therefore it is opined that multilevel sectioning is a feasible and yet inexpensive method that may be incorporated into routine practice to detect nodal micrometastases in centres with limited resources.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6625-6629
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• 2013

Breast cancer accounts for one third of new cancer cases among women. The need for biomarkers for early detection is the stimulus to researchers to evaluate altered expression of genes in tumours. Cancer-testis (CT) genes are a group with limited expression in normal tissues except testis but up-regulation in a wide variety of cancers. We here evaluated expression of two CT genes named FBXO39 and TDRD4 in 32 invasive ductal carcinoma samples, 10 fibroadenomas and 6 normal breast tissue samples, in addition to two breast cancer cell lines, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, by the means of quantitative real time RT-PCR. FBXO39 showed significant up-regulation in invasive ductal carcinoma samples in comparison with normal samples. It also was expressed in both cell lines and after RHOXF1 gene knock down it was down-regulated in MCF-7 but up-regulated in the MDA-MB-231 cell line. TDRD4 was not expressed in the MCF-7 cell line and any of the tissue samples except testis. However, it was expressed in MDA-MB-231 and was up-regulated after RHOXF1 gene knock down. Our results show that FBXO39 but not TDRD4 can be used for cancer detection and if proved to be immunogenic, might be a putative candidate for breast cancer immunotherapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10665-10673
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• 2015

Background: We wished to analyse patterns of use of needle biopsy procedures by BreastScreen Australia (BSA) accredited programs to identify areas for improvement. Design: BSA services provided anonymous data regarding percutaneous needle biopsy of screen detected lesions assessed between 2005-2009. Results: 12 services, from 5 of 7 Australian states and territories provided data for 18212 lesions biopsied. Preoperative diagnosis rates were 96.84% for lesion other than microcalcification (LOTM) and 93.21% for microcalcifications. At surgery 97.9% impalpable lesions were removed at the first procedure. Of 11548 Microcalcification (LOTM) biopsied, 46.9% were malignant. The final diagnosis was reached by conventional core biopsy (CCB) in 72.46%, FNAB in 21.33%, VACB in 1.69% and open biopsy in 4.52% of lesions. FNA is being limited to LOTM with benign imaging After FNAB, core biopsy was required for 38% of LOTM. In LOTM the mean false positive rate (FPR) was 0.36% for FNAB, 0.06% for NCB and 0% for VACB. Diagnostic accuracy was 72.75% for FNAB and 92.1% for core biopsies combined. Of 6441 microcalcifications biopsied 2305 (35.8%) were malignant. Microcalcifications are being assessed primarily by NCB but 6.57% underwent FNAB, 45.6% of which required NCB. False positive diagnoses were rare. FNR was 5% for NCB and 1.53% for VACB. Diagnostic accuracy was 73.52% for FNAB, 86.29% for NCB and 88.63% for VACB. Only 8 of 12 services had access to VACB facilities. Conclusions: BSA services are selecting lesions effectively for biopsy and are achieving high preoperative diagnosis rates. Gaps in the present accreditation standards require further consideration.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5495-5501
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• 2013

Background: Alu elements are one of the most common repetitive sequences that now constitute more than 10% of the human genome and potential targets for epigenetic alterations. Correspondingly, methylation of these elements can result in a genome-wide event that may have an impact in cancer. However, studies investigating the genome-wide status of Alu methylation in cancer remain limited. Objectives: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) presents with high incidence in South-East Asia and thus the aim of this study was to evaluate the Alu methylation status in OSCCs and explore with the possibility of using this information for diagnostic screening. We evaluated Alu methylation status in a) normal oral mucosa compared to OSCC; b) peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of normal controls comparing to oral cancer patients; c) among oral epithelium of normal controls, smokers and oral cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Alu methylation was detected by combined bisulfite restriction analysis (COBRA) at 2 CpG sites. The amplified products were classified into three patterns; hypermethylation ($^mC^mC$), partial methylation ($^uC^mC+^mC^uC$), and hypomethylation ($^uC^uC$). Results: The results demonstrate that the $%^mC^mC$ value is suitable for differentiating normal and cancer in oral tissues (p=0.0002), but is not significantly observe in PBMCs. In addition, a stepwise decrease in this value was observed in the oral epithelium from normal, light smoker, heavy smoker, low stage and high stage OSCC (p=0.0003). Furthermore, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses demonstrated the potential of combined $%^mC$ or $%^mC^mC$ values as markers for oral cancer detection with sensitivity and specificity of 86.7% and 56.7%, respectively. Conclusions: Alu hypomethylation is likely to be associated with multistep oral carcinogenesis, and might be developed as a screening tool for oral cancer detection.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2017

Objectives : The aim of this study was to report the effect of Korean medical therapy on pain and dysfunction after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction. Methods : A 25-year-old man experienced severe pain after right ACL reconstruction surgery. He received Korean medical treatments such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, and physiotherapy from July 10, 2014 to August 2, 2014. Results : After the treatments, his visual analogue scale scores generally decreased and the range of motion of the right knee improved from $0^{\circ}$ to $90^{\circ}$. Furthermore, the Knee Infury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score increased from 99 to 142. Conclusion : The findings suggest that Korean medical treatments might be effectively used to treat pain and dysfunction after soft-tissue surgeries such as ACL reconstruction. Nevertheless, further research is warranted because of the limited sample size of this study.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.185-192
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• 2015

Background: Neuropathic pain is a global clinical problem; nevertheless, nerve injury treatment methods remain limited. Olanzapine has antinociceptive and anti-nueropathic properties; however, its preventive effects have not been assessed in nerve injury models. Methods: We prepared a partial sciatic nerve ligation (Seltzer model) or sham-operated model in male Sprague-Dawley rats under isoflurane anesthesia. In a pre-treatment study, we administered olanzapine (10 mg/kg) intraperitoneally 1 h before nerve ligation. In post-treatment and dose-dependent studies, we injected 3 different doses of olanzapine intraperitoneally 1 h after nerve ligation. Mechanical allodynia was measured before and 7 days after surgery. Immunohistochemical analysis using anti-Iba-1 antibody was used to assess the effect of olanzapine at the spinal level. Results: In the pre-treatment study, median withdrawal thresholds of the normal saline groups were significantly lower than those of the sham-operated groups; however, those of the olanzapine (10 mg/kg) and sham-operated groups were not different. In the post-treatment and dose-dependent studies, the median withdrawal thresholds of the olanzapine (2.5 mg/kg) and normal saline groups were not different; however, those of the olanzapine (10 and 50 mg/kg) groups were significantly higher than those of the normal saline groups. Olanzapine did not have a significant effect on the density of Iba-1 staining. Conclusions: Olanzapine attenuated mechanical allodynia dose-dependently in the Seltzer model. This anti-allodynic effect of olanzapine was observed even when injected 1 h after nerve ligation. This effect of olanzapine appeared to be unrelated to microglia activation in the ipsilateral dorsal horn of the lumbar spinal cord.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.107-114
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• 1987

Clinical application of hyperthermia using 8 MHz radiofrequency(capacitive type THERMOTRON RF-8) in cancer treatment was begun at Yonsei Cancer Center in 1985. From April 1985 to April 1986, 23 patients with loco-regionally advanced and persistent or recurrent carcinomas of the head and neck were treated with hyperthermia at the Department of Radiation Oncology, Yonsei University College of Medicine. Radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy were combined with hyperthermia to improve the tumor response. The response rate of 23 patients was 52%, 4 had complete response, and 7 had partial response. The factors affecting the tumor response were dose of irradiation(P=0.009). Complications related to treatment were found in 8 patients and all of them were self-limited. The result of this study indicates that localized hyperthermia as a combined modality has a significant role in palliation of advanced and recurrent head and neck cancer.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-187
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• 2017

Group A streptococcus is a common cause of upper respiratory infection in children; however, it is a rare cause of pseudoaneurysm in pediatrics with only limited reports of cases associated with cardiac surgery and underlying disease. We report a case of infectious pseudoaneurysm of the right internal iliac artery caused by group A streptococcus in a previously healthy 5-year-old boy who presented with scarlet fever and group A streptococcal bacteremia. He was admitted to the hospital with fever, rash on the whole body, and sore throat, accompanied by severe leg pain. He was treated with surgical removal and antibiotics. Because a pseudoaneurysm may develop in children without vascular-related underlying diseases, we should consider the possibility of this important clinical diagnosis in patients with scarlet fever.

• Restorative Dentistry and Endodontics
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.306-313
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• 2015

Objectives: Molecular mechanism of the pathogenicity of Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), a suspected endodontic pathogen, has not yet been adequately elucidated due to limited information on its virulence factors. Here we report the identification of in vivo expressed antigens of E. faecalis by using a novel immunoscreening technique called change-mediated antigen technology (CMAT) and an experimental animal model of endodontic infection. Materials and Methods: Among 4,500 E. coli recombinant clones screened, 19 positive clones reacted reproducibly with hyperimmune sera obtained from rabbits immunized with E. faecalis cells isolated from an experimental endodontic infection. DNA sequences from 16 of these in vivo-induced (IVI) genes were determined. Results: Identified protein antigens of E. faecalis included enzymes involved in housekeeping functions, copper resistance protein, putative outer membrane proteins, and proteins of unknown function. Conclusions: In vivo expressed antigens of E. faecalis could be identified by using a novel immune-screening technique CMAT and an experimental animal model of endodontic infection. Detailed analysis of these IVI genes will lead to a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the endodontic infection of E. faecalis.