• Molecules and Cells
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.50-62
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• 2021

Among all cancer types, lung cancer ranks highest worldwide in terms of both incidence and mortality. The crosstalk between lung cancer cells and their tumor microenvironment (TME) has begun to emerge as the "Achilles heel" of the disease and thus constitutes an attractive target for anticancer therapy. We previously revealed that crosstalk between lung cancer cells and endothelial cells (ECs) induces chemoresistance in multicellular tumor spheroids (MCTSs). In this study, we demonstrated that factors secreted in response to crosstalk between ECs and lung cancer cells play pivotal roles in the development of chemoresistance in lung cancer spheroids. We subsequently determined that the expression of hypoxia up-regulated protein 1 (HYOU1) in lung cancer spheroids was increased by factors secreted in response to crosstalk between ECs and lung cancer cells. Direct interaction between lung cancer cells and ECs also caused an elevation in the expression of HYOU1 in MCTSs. Inhibition of HYOU1 expression not only suppressed stemness and malignancy, but also facilitated apoptosis and chemosensitivity in lung cancer MCTSs. Inhibition of HYOU1 expression also significantly increased the expression of interferon signaling components in lung cancer cells. Moreover, the activation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway was involved in the HYOU1-induced aggression of lung cancer cells. Taken together, our results identify HYOU1, which is induced in response to crosstalk between ECs and lung cancer cells within the TME, as a potential therapeutic target for combating the aggressive behavior of cancer cells.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.84 no.2
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• pp.89-95
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• 2021

Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Korea. Although the smoking rate has decreased over time, the prevalence of lung cancer still remains high. In this study, we reviewed recent trends on the incidence, epidemiology, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of lung cancer in Korea by analyzing data from the national lung cancer registry and recently-published studies. Although approximately 40% of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were diagnosed as stage IV, the 5-year relative survival rate improved from 11.3% (1993-1995) to 30.2% (2013-2017), possibly due to advances in methods of diagnosis and therapy. In addition, the 2019 implementation of the national lung cancer screening program with low-dose computed tomography may have also contributed to these improvements in survival rates. Recently, molecular diagnosis has become more widely used in the identification of genetic mutations in tissue specimens. Target therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors have also been successfully used, particularly in cases of advanced NSCLC. In the future, further research on the optimal management of lung cancer remains necessary.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

Lung cancer is a fatal disease, highlighting the importance of research on related topics, including surgery for lung cancer. However, systematic research analyzing surgery on a national scale is limited. This study aimed to investigate the research on lung cancer using nationwide data in South Korea and to analyze trends in lung cancer surgery, including its clinical implications. Published articles and data from the Korean National Health Insurance database were used. Although the incidence and mortality of lung cancer have been improving, it is predicted to be the most common and fatal type of cancer in South Korea in 2021. The number of surgical procedures for lung cancer is increasing, especially among women, those ≥76 years of age, residents of non-metropolitan cities, and middle-income patients. Lobectomy and sublobectomy, including segmentectomy, are increasingly common. However, the proportion of pneumonectomy relative to other procedures is not increasing. Surgery has shown a reasonable survival rate, especially after lobectomy, but survival remains poor in patients ≥76 years of age who undergo pneumonectomy. The frequency of lung cancer surgery is increasing concomitantly with various socioeconomic changes. Lobectomy has become increasingly common, and the clinical results of surgery are satisfactory. Further research on the changing composition of surgical candidates is required.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6899-6903
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• 2013

Background: Prevalence is a statistic of primary interest in public health. In the absence of good follow-up facilities, it is difficult to assess the complete prevalence of cancer for a given registry area. Objective: An attempt was here made to arrive at complete prevalence including limited duration prevalence with respect to selected sites of cancer for India by fitting appropriate models to 1, 3 and 5 years cancer survival data available for selected population-based registries. Materials and Methods: Survival data, available for the registries of Bhopal, Chennai, Karunagappally, and Mumbai was pooled to generate survival for breast, cervix, ovary, lung, stomach and mouth cancers. With the available data on survival for 1, 3 and 5 years, a model was fitted and the survival curve was extended beyond 5 years (up to 35 years) for each of the selected sites. This helped in generation of survival proportions by single year and thereby survival of cancer cases. With the help of survival proportions available year-wise and the incidence, prevalence figures were arrived for selected cancer sites and for selected periods. Results: The prevalence to incidence ratio (PI ratio) stabilized after a certain duration for all the cancer sites showing that from the knowledge of incidence, the prevalence can be calculated. The stabilized P/I ratios for the cancer sites of breast, cervix, ovary, stomach, lung, mouth and for life time was observed to be 4.90, 5.33, 2.75, 1.40, 1.37, 4.04 and 3.42 respectively. Conclusions: The validity of the model approach to calculate prevalence could be demonstrated with the help of survival data of Barshi registry for cervix cancer, available for the period 1988-2006.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.225-229
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• 2016

Cancer registration is an important component of a comprehensive cancer control program, providing timely data and information for research and administrative use. Capture-recapture methods have been used as tools to investigate completeness of cancer registry data. This study aimed to estimate the completeness of lung cancer cases registered in Ardabil Population Based Cancer Registry (APBCR) with a three-source capture-recapture method. Data for all new cases of lung cancer reported by three sources (pathology reports, death certificates, and medical records) to APBCR for 2006 and 2008 were obtained. Duplicate cases shared among the three sources were identified based on similarity of first name, last name and father's names. A log-linear model was used to estimate number of missed cases and to control for dependency among sources. A total of 218 new cases of lung cancer was reported by three sources after removing duplicates. The estimated completeness calculated by log-linear method was 26.4 for 2006 and 27.1 for 2008. The completeness differed according to gender. In men, the completeness was 26.0% for 2006 and 28.1 for 2008. In women, the completeness was 36.5% for 2006 and 46.9 for 2008. In conclusion, none of the three sources can be considered as a reliable source for accurate cancer incidence estimation.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.169-174
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• 2017

Background: We assessed the cancer risks of four different Finnish asbestos-exposed cohorts. We also explored if the cohorts with varying profiles of asbestos exposure exhibited varying relative risks of cancer. Methods: The incident cancer cases for the asbestos-exposed worker cohorts were updated to the end of 2012 using the files of the Finnish Cancer Registry. The previously formed cohorts consisted of asbestos mine workers, asbestosis patients, asbestos sprayers, and workers who had taken part in a screening study based on asbestos exposure at work. Results: The standardized incidence ratio (SIR) for mesothelioma varied from about threefold to > 100-fold in the different cohorts. In the screening cohort the SIR for mesothelioma was highest in 2003-2007, In other cohorts it was more constant in 5-year period inspection. The SIR for lung cancer was about twofold to tenfold in all except the screening cohort. Asbestos sprayers were at the highest risk of mesothelioma and lung cancer. Conclusion: The SIR for mesothelioma is high in all of the cohorts that represent different kinds of asbestos exposure. The smaller SIR for mesothelioma in the screening cohort with lowest level of asbestos exposure might suggest dose-responsiveness between asbestos exposure and mesothelioma. It does seem that the highest risk of lung cancer in these cohorts except in the youngest of the cohorts, the screening cohort, is over. The highest SIR for lung cancer of the asbestosis patient and sprayers cohort is explained by their heavy asbestos exposure.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.10
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• pp.4147-4156
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• 2015

Lung cancer is a serious health problem and leading cause of death worldwide due to its high incidence and mortality. More than 80% of lung cancers feature a non-small cell histology. Over few decades, systemic chemotherapy and surgery are the only treatment options in this type of tumor but due to their limited efficacy and overall poor survival of patients, there is an urge to develop newer therapeutic strategies which circumvent the problems. Enhanced knowledge of translational science and molecular biology have revealed that lung tumors carry diverse driver gene mutations and adopt different intracellular pathways leading to carcinogenesis. Hence, the development of targeted agents against molecular subgroups harboring critical mutations is an attractive approach for therapeutic treatment. Targeted therapies are clearly more preferred nowadays over systemic therapies because they target tumor specific molecules resulting with enhanced activity and reduced toxicity to normal tissues. Thus, this review encompasses comprehensive updates on targeted therapies for the driver mutations in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the potential challenges of acquired drug resistance faced i n the field of targeted therapy along with the imminent newer treatment modalities against lung cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3071-3074
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• 2014

Background: To investigate the related risk factors of postoperative nosocomial pneumonia (POP) in patients withI-IIIa lung cancer. Methods: Medical records of 511 patients who underwent resection for lung cancer between January 2012 to December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Risk factors of postoperative pneumonia were identified and evaluated by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results: The incidence of postoperative pneumonia in these lung cancer patients was 2.9% (15 cases). Compared with 496 patients who had no pneumonia infection after operation, older age (>60), histopathological type of squamous cell carcinoma and longer surgery time (>3h) were significant risk factors by univariate analysis. Other potential risk factors such as alcohol consumption, history of smoking, hypersensitivity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and so on were not showed such significance in this study. Further, the multivariate analysis revealed that old age (>60 years) (OR 5.813, p=0.018) and histopathological type of squamous cell carcinoma (OR 5.831, p<0.001) were also statistically significant independent risk factors for postoperative pneumonia. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that being old aged (>60 years) and having squamous cell carcinoma histopathological type might be important factors in determining the risk of postoperative pneumonia in lung cancer patients after surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.373-379
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• 1993

Primary lung cancer has increased markedly in its incidence and prevalence rate recently in Korea. In frequency, it occupies the second rank cancer preceded by stomach cancer in korean male. From February 1986 to December 1992, we have operated on 55 cases of primary lung cancer in Korea Veterans Hospital and followed them. The results are as follows; 1. The peak incidence of age of primary lung cancer was 6th decade and 5th decade and those were 87.3% of study group, mainly in male. 2. Symptoms were cough [63.6%], dyspnea [41.8%], chest pain and discomfort [38.2%], blood tinged sputum and hemoptysis [21.8%]. Symptoms were frequently encountered before hospitalization and asymptomatic cases were 9.1% of study group. 3. Methods of diagnostic confirmation were bronchoscopic biopsy [52.7%], percutaneous needle aspiration[PCNA][21.8%], sputum cytolgy [12.7%], open biopsy [12.7%]. 4. Histopathologically, squamous cell carcinoma [76.4%] was the most frequent cancer and adenocarcinoma [10.9%], giant cell cancer [7.3%], and the others in order. 5. Methods of operation were pneumonectomy [32.7%], bilobectomy [18.2%], lobectomy [27.3%], lobectomy and segmenectomy [1.8%], exploration [20%], and overall resectability was 80%. 6. Operative mortality was 5.5% [3 cases] and there were 5 cases of complication. 7. Postoperative long-term follow up reveals that the cumulative survival rates in 6 months, 12 months, 26 months, 34 months, 43 months, 64 months were 89.5%, 71.7%, 66.7%, 57.2%, 50.8%, 42.3% respecively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.3581-3585
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• 2013

Background: Accurate statistics on the cancer burden are essential, both for purposes of research and for setting priorities in healthcare management. So that in vast countries with partial registration coverage, such as Iran, local data are more useful. We here estimated the incidence, prevalence and mortality time trend of four major cancer site, lung, stomach, breast and prostate, over the period 2001-2010 and provided short-range projections to 2015 in Isfahan. Materials and Methods: Estimates were derived by applying the mortality-incidence analysis method, a back-calculation approach to estimate and project incidence, prevalence and mortality of chronic degenerative disease, starting from knowledge of mortality and relative survival information. Results: Age adjusted incidence, mortality and prevalence rates in Isfahan exhibited a clear upward trend for all four sites during the period 2001-2015, with marked increasees in prostate and breast predicted for the future. Difference in incidence trends between males and females might be attributable to the difference in risk factors specific to certain cancer sites, with smoking being the main risk factor. Conclusions: In this study, males and females displayed an increasing pattern for incidence and mortality rate over the entire study period until 2015. This information can be used as basis for planning healthcare management and allocating recourses in public health.