• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.47-53
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• 2005

Objective : Anti-malaria drugs may modulate tumor resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, but it has not been proven effective in the treatment of malignant gliomas. The aim of this study was to determine whether adequate pre-clinical data on co-administration of chemotherapeutic agents with anti-malaria drugs on malignant cell lines could be obtained that would warrant its further potential consideration for use in a clinical trial for malignant gliomas. Methods : Two malignant glioma cell lines [U87MG, T98G] were treated with chemotherapeutic agents alone or with anti-malaria drugs. Cells were incubated with drugs for 4 days. Following the 4-day incubation, drug sensitivity assays were performed using 3-[4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazol-2-yl] 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide [MTT] assay following optimization of experimental conditions for each cell lines and cell viability was calculated. Results : In all of four chemotherapeutic agents[doxorubicin. vincrisitne, nimustine, and cisplatin], the cell viability was found to be markedly decreased when hydroxychloroquine was co-administered on both U87MG and T98G cell lines. The two way analysis of variance[ANOVA] yielded a statistically significant two-sided p-value of 0.0033[doxorubicin], 0.0005[vincrisitne], 0.0007[nimustine], and 0.0003[cisplatin] on U87MG cell lines and 0.0006[doxorubicin], 0.0421[vincrisitne], 0.0317[nimustine], and 0.0001[cisplatin] on T98G cell lines, respectively. However, treatment with chloroquine and primaquine did not induce a decrease in cell viability on both U87MG and T98G cell lines. Conclusion : Our data support further consideration of the use of hydroxychloroquine prior to systemic chemotherapy to maximize its tumoricidal effect for patients with malignant gliomas.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.29-31
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• 2016

Solid pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is a rare neoplasm with low malignant potential, which has a good prognosis with more than 95% survival at 5 years. Only approximately 10% to 15% cases of SPTs are malignant. This report presents a case of a 38-year-old woman who developed malignant SPT of the pancreas with synchronous multiple hepatic metastases. She underwent a successfully complete surgical resection for multiple hepatic metastatic tumors in addition to primary tumor.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2011

Purpose: It is difficult to obtain biopsies from gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) prior to surgery because GISTs are submucoal tumors, despite being the most common nonepithelial neoplasms of the gastrointestinal tract. Unlike anatomic imaging techniques, PET-CT, which is a molecular imaging tool, can be a useful technique for assessing tumor activity and predicting the malignant potential of certain tumors. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the usefulness of PET-CT as a pre-operative prognostic factor for GISTs by analyzing the correlation between the existing post-operative prognostic factors and the maximum SUV uptake (SUVmax) of pre-operative 18F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET-CT. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 26 patients who were diagnosed with gastric GISTs and underwent surgery after being examined with pre-operative FDG PET-CT. An analysis of the correlation bewteen (i) NIH risk classification and the Ki-67 proliferation index, which are post-operative prognostic factors, and (ii) the SUVmax of PET-CT, which is a pre-operative prognostic factor, was performed. Results: There were significant correlations between (i) SUVmax and (ii) Ki-67 index, tumor size, mitotic count, and NIH risk group (r=0.854, 0.888, 0.791, and 0.756, respectively). The optimal cut-off value for SUVmax was 3.94 between "low-risk malignancy" and "high-risk malignancy" groups. The sensitivity and specificity of SUVmax for predicting the risk of malignancy were 85.7% and 94.7%, respectively. Conclusions: The SUVmax of PET-CT is associated with Ki-67 index, tumor size, mitotic count, and NIH classification. Therefore, it is believed that PET-CT is a relatively safe, non-invasive diagnostic tool for assessing malignant potential pre-operatively.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.314-319
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• 2006

To determine the antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory efficacy of Opuntia ficus-indica for chronic otitis, we evaluated the effects of topical applications of the methanol extracts with 20 cases of dogs which had chronic malignant otitis by pathogens with antibiotic resistance. The dogs had revealed recurrent symptoms of malignant otitis and were not treated by conventional therapeutic agents. However, in this study, the clinical cure rates of Opuntia ficus-indica was 75% and the average alleviation period was $1.21{\pm}0.42$ week, and the mean recovery period was $1.06{\pm}1.06$ week after the initiation of treatment. As the results of this study, topical Opuntia ficus-indica extracts was found to be highly effective for the treatment of chronic malignant otitis with clinical cure rates of 75% within 1.06 weeks of therapy. Further evaluation of Opuntia ficus-indica extracts will allow us to establish and to optimize the therapeutic strategy for the malignant otitis in veterinary practice, and the potential usefulness of this complementary treatment on recurrent infectious pathology.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1471-1476
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• 2012

Background and Aim: Currently available systemic therapies for malignant melanoma produce low response rates in patients, and more effective treatment modalities are clearly needed. The tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-related apoptosis-inducing ligand has a significant impact on therapy for patients with X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein-downregulation malignant melanoma. The primary objective of this study was to assess its therapeutic potential. Materials and Methods: We employed a conditionally replicating oncolytic adenoviral vector, named CRAd5.TRAIL/siXIAP, with the characteristics of over-expression of the therapeutic gene TRAIL and downregulation of XIAP in one vector. B16F10-luc cells were employed to detect anti-tumor activity of CRAd5.TRAIL/siXIAP in vitro and in vivo. Results: CRAd5.TRAIL/siXIAP enhanced caspase-8 activation and caspase-3 maturation in B16F10 cells in vitro. Furthermore, it more effectively infected and killed melanoma cells in vitro and in vivo than other adenoviruses. Conclusion: Taken together, the combination of upregulation of TRAIL and downregulation of siXIAP with one oncolytic adenoviral vector holds promise for development of an effective therapy for melanomas and other common cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3265-3270
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• 2012

Clinically, elevated cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) in blood predicts tumor burden in a woman's body, especially in the ovary, but cannot differentiate between malignant or benign. We here used intensive modern proteomic approaches to identify predictive proteins in the serum of women with elevated CA-125 to differentiate malignant from benign ovarian tumors. We identified differentially expressed proteins in serum samples of ovarian cancer (OC) patients, benign ovarian tumor (BT) patients, and healthy control women using mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics. Both the OC and BT patients had elevated CA-125. Quantitation was achieved using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation. We obtained 124 quantified differential serum proteins in OC compared with BT. Two proteins, apolipoprotein A-4 (APOA4) and natural resistance-associated macrophage 1, were verified using Western blotting. Proteome profiling applied to OC cases identified several differential serum proteins in the serum of women with elevated CA-125. A novel protein, APOA4, has the potential to be a marker for malignant tumor differentiation in the serum of women with elevated CA-125.

• International Journal of Oral Biology
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.107-115
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• 2017

Human malignant melanoma is an aggressive skin cancer which has been rising at a greater rate than any other cancers. Although various new therapeutic methods have been developed in previous studies, this disease has properties of high proliferation and metastasis rate which remain obstacles that have lead to a poor prognosis in patients. It has been reported that a specific Lactobacillus extract has anti-cancer and -metastasis effect in vitro and in vivo. However, previous research has not specified precisely what effect the Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG) extract has had on human malignant melanomas. In this study, we showed that the LGG extract has anti-cancer and -metastasis effects on the human malignant melanoma cell lines, A375P and A375SM. At first, it was found that, while the LGG extract affects human neonatal dermal fibroblasts slightly, it induced the dose-dependent anti-cancer effect on A375P and A375SM by a WST-1 proliferation assay. As a result of a real-time PCR analysis, the expression patterns of several genes related to cell cycle, proliferation, and apoptosis were modulating in a manner that inhibited the growth of both malignant melanoma cell lines after the treatment of the LGG extract. Furthermore, genes related to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition were down-regulated, and migration rates were also decreased significantly by the LGG extract. Our study showed that the LGG extract could be used as a potential therapeutic source.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.44.1-44.10
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• 2023

Tumor hypoxia, oxygen deprivation state, occurs in most cancers and promotes angiogenesis, enhancing the potential for metastasis. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family genes play crucial roles in tumorigenesis by promoting angiogenesis. To investigate the malignant processes triggered by hypoxia-induced angiogenesis across pan-cancers, we comprehensively analyzed the relationships between the expression of VEGF family genes and hypoxic microenvironment based on integrated bioinformatics methods. Our results suggest that the expression of VEGF family genes differs significantly among various cancers, highlighting their heterogeneity effect on human cancers. Across the 33 cancers, VEGFB and VEGFD showed the highest and lowest expression levels, respectively. The survival analysis showed that VEGFA and placental growth factor (PGF) were correlated with poor prognosis in many cancers, including kidney renal cell and liver hepatocellular carcinoma. VEGFC expression was positively correlated with glioma and stomach cancer. VEGFA and PGF showed distinct positive correlations with hypoxia scores in most cancers, indicating a potential correlation with tumor aggressiveness. The expression of miRNAs targeting VEGF family genes, including hsa-miR-130b-5p and hsa-miR-940, was positively correlated with hypoxia. In immune subtypes analysis, VEGFC was highly expressed in C3 (inflammatory) and C6 (transforming growth factor β dominant) across various cancers, indicating its potential role as a tumor promotor. VEGFC expression exhibited positive correlations with immune infiltration scores, suggesting low tumor purity. High expression of VEGFA and VEGFC showed favorable responses to various drugs, including BLU-667, which abrogates RET signaling, an oncogenic driver in liver and thyroid cancers. Our findings suggest potential roles of VEGF family genes in malignant processes related with hypoxia-induced angiogenesis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.4491-4501
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• 2016

Verruco-papillary lesions (VPLs) of the oral cavity described in the literature involve a spectrum of conditions including squamous papilloma, verruca vulgaris, focal epithelial hyperplasia, condyloma, proliferative verrucous leukoplakia and verrucous carcinoma. A majority of the VPLs are slow growing, benign in nature and have a viral aetiology. Virus associated benign mucosal outgrowths are not too difficult to diagnose either clinically or by microscopy. Apart from virus-associated lesions, VPLs harboring malignant potential or behaviour such as verrucous carcinoma, proliferative verrucous leukoplakia, oral verrucous hyperplasia (OVH), oral papillary squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) and oral conventional squamous cell carcinoma with papillary features (CSCC) need to be further clarified for better understanding of their predictable biologic behavior and appropriate treatment. Current understanding of potentially malignant VPLs is perplexing and is primarily attributed to the use of confusing and unsatisfactory terminology. In particular, the condition referred to as oral verrucous hyperplasia (OVH) poses a major diagnostic challenge. OVH represents a histopathological entity whose clinical features are not well recognised and is usually clinically indistinguishable from a verrucous carcinoma and a PSCC or a CSCC. A consensus report published by an expert working group from South Asia as an outcome of the 'First Asian Regional Meeting on the Terminology and Criteria for Verruco-papillary Lesions of the Oral Cavity' held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recognised the clinical description of these OVH as a new entity named 'Exophytic Verrucous Hyperplasia'. Previously described clinical features of OVH such as the 'blunt' or 'sharp' variants; and the 'mass' or 'plaque' variants can now collectively fall under this newly described entity. This paper discusses in detail the application of the standardized criteria guidelines of 'Exophytic Verrucous Hyperplasia' as published by the expert group which will enable clinicians and pathologists to uniformly interpret their pool of OVH cases and facilitate a better understanding of OVH malignant potential.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.3-8
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• 1997

Malignant melanoma has a very poor prognosis compared to other cancers. There are no specific tumor markers other than clinical staging and depth of invasion to predict the prognosis of the malignant melanoma. The nm23 has been known to inhibit the metastasis of the malignant melanoma, some studies showed that it is highly expressed in the malignant melanoma cell line which has a relatively weak metastatic potential. In this study, we compared the expression of nm23 in mucosal type with that in cutaneous type of the malignant melanoma in the head and neck according to the stage and survival rate to identify the role of nm23 expression as a prognostic factor in mucosal melanoma of the head and neck. Six out of eight cases in mucosal type and seven out of 11 cases in cutaneous type expressed nm23, which showed no significant differences. Between the two groups there were no significant differences in expression of nm23 according to clinicopathologic staging or two year survival rate. However, in cases with low cliniopathological staging and those surviving more than two years the expression was significantly increased which suggests that expression of nm23 can be used as an aid in determining the prognosis of mucosal melanoma.