• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-38
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• 2003

Cancers of the cervical esophagus occur uncommonly, but treatment is remaining a challenging problem and surgery demands special knowledge of abdominal, thoracic, and neck surgery. The primary risk factor is chronic heartburn, leading to a sequence of esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, reflux esophagitis and etc. Among the various treatment modalities, Surgery is still a mainstay of treatment. The main aim of surgery is not only oncologically adequate resection but also preservation or restoration of physiologic functions, such as deglutition and phonation. Surgical treatment of cervical esophageal cancer is influenced by special problems arising from tumor factors, patient factors and surgeon factors. Complete clearance of loco-regional disease and prevention of postoperative complications are of particular importance for the improvement of long-term survival in patients with these cancers. So the cervical and thoracic extension of these tumors usually required an extensive lymphadenectomy with primary resection. Radical resection of the primary site almostly include sacrifice of the larynx, but the voice could be rehabilitated with various methods, such as tracheoesophageal prosthesis or tracheoesophageal shunts, etc. Restoration of the esophageal conduit can be performed using gastric or colon interposition, radial forearm free flap or jejunum free flap, etc. Recently, the advances of radiation therapy and chemotherapy will enable less extended resections with greater rates of laryngeal preservation. At initial presentation, up to 50％ to 70％ of patients will have advanced locoregional or distant disease with virtually no chance for cure. Patients with advanced but potentially resectable esophageal cancer are generally treated by surgery with some form of neoadjuvant chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or both, with 5-year survivals in the 20％ to 30％ range. So the significant adverse factors affecting survival should be taken into account to select the candidates for surgery.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.271-276
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• 2016

Pregnancy-associated gastric cancer is extremely rare. In many cases, it is diagnosed at an advanced stage because the symptoms during pregnancy are generally overlooked. We report three cases of gastric cancer during pregnancy with various outcomes. The first case included a patient with stage IV gastric cancer who received palliative chemotherapy. This patient had a preterm birth and died 7 months after diagnosis. The second case received neoadjuvant chemotherapy during pregnancy and a total gastrectomy was performed after delivery. She then received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. This patient developed pulmonary metastasis and died of recurrence 41 months after surgery. In the third case, a distal subtotal gastrectomy was performed at week 14 of pregnancy, with no complications. The patient received adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. She is currently without recurrence 14 months after surgery. In patients with pregnancy-associated gastric cancer, treatment decisions are predominantly influenced by clinical stage and gestational age at diagnosis.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.151-159
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• 2007

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to present the treatment results and to identify possible prognostic indicators in patients with locally advanced hypopharyngeal carcinoma. Materials and Methods: Between October 1985 to December 2000, 90 patients who had locally advanced stage IV hypopharyngeal carcinoma were studied retrospectively. Twelve patients were treated with radiotherapy alone, 65 patients were treated with a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and 13 patients were treated with surgery and postoperative radiotherapy with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Total radiation dose ranged from 59.0 to 88.2 Gy (median 70 Gy) for radiotherpay alone. Most patients had ciplatin and 5-fluorouracil, and others had cisplatin and pepleomycin or vincristin. Median follow-up period was 15 months. Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival rate and Cox proportional hazard model for multivariate analysis of prognostic factors. Results: Overall 3-and 5-year survival rates were 27% and 17%, respectively. The 2-year locoregional control rates were 33% for radiotherapy alone, 32% for combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy, and 81 % for combined surgery and radiotherapy (p=0.006). The prognostic factors affecting overall survival were T stage, concurrent chemoradiation and treatment response. Overall 3-and 5-year laryngeal preservation rates in combined chemotherapy and radiotherapy were 26% and 22%, respectively. Of these, the 5-year laryngeal preservation rates were 52% for concurrent chemoradiation group (n=11), and 16% for neoadjuvant chemotherapy and radiotherapy (n=54, p=0.012). Conclusion: Surgery and postoperative radiotherapy showed better results than radiotherapy alone or with chemotherapy. Radiotherapy combined with concurrent chemotherapy is an effective modality to achieve organ preservation in locally advanced hypopharyngeal cancer. Further prospective randomized studies will be required.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.228-234
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• 2000

Objectives: Esthesioneuroblastoma is a rare malignant neoplasm that originates from the olfactory sensory cells. This tumor grows from the upper nasal cavity and ethmoid sinus and invades surrounding structures through the cribriform plate into intracranium or orbit in advanced stage. Even though there has been some controversies in determining standard treatment due to rarity of this tumor, the combination treatment of surgery and adjuvant radiation has been recommended for the locally advanced esthesioneuroblastomas. However, the recent clinical experiences of advanced cases showed that combination chemotherapy is highly effective to reduce tumor mass and improve clinical outcomes. Materials and Methods: The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of 6 esthesioneuroblastoma patients who were treated in our hospital from 1986. Results: The age of these patients was between 19 and 86 year-old. Among the 6 cases, 2 were diagnosed at stage B and 4 at stage C, according to Kadish classification. Anti-tumor treatments were performed in 5 patients. One patient refused active treatment and was lost to follow-up. Better survival outcome were observed in 3 patients who were treated with combination chemotherapy alone or combined modality treatment including chemotherapy. Conclusion: Based on our retrospective study, the combined treatment consisting of surgery, radiotherapy, and combination chemotherapy should be used to improve treatment results. And furthermore, innovative clinical approaches such as neoadjuvant chemotherapy, high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral stem cell transplantation, which have been reported to have good therapeutic results, should be considered and applied actively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1449-1453
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• 2015

Background: Oral capecitabine is increasingly replacing intravenous 5-fluorouracil in many chemotherapy regimens. However, data on the risk of febrile neutropaenia (FN) and treatment related death (TRD) with the drug remain sparse outside of clinical trial settings despite its widespread usage. This study aimed to determine these rates in a large cohort of patients treated in the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Materials and Methods: We reviewed the clinical notes of all patients prescribed with oral capecitabine chemotherapy for any tumour sites in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from $1^{st}$ January 2009 till $31^{st}$ June 2010. Information collected included patient demographics, histopathological features, treatment received including the different chemotherapy regimens and intent of treatment whether the chemotherapy was given for neoadjuvant, concurrent with radiation, adjuvant or palliative intent. The aim of this study is to establish the pattern of usage, FN and TRD rates with capecitabine in clinical practice outside of clinical trial setting. FN is defined as an oral temperature > $38.5^{\circ}C$ or two consecutive readings of > $38.0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours and an absolute neutrophil count < $0.5{\times}10^9/L$, or expected to fall below $0.5{\times}10^9/L$ (de Naurois et al., 2010). Treatment related death was defined as death occurring during or within 30 days of last chemotherapy treatment. Results: Between $1^{st}$ January 2009 and $30^{th}$ June 2010, 274 patients were treated with capecitabine chemotherapy in UMMC. The mean age was 58 years (range 22 to 82 years). Capecitabine was used in 14 different tumour sites with the colorectal site predominating with a total of 128 cases (46.7%), followed by breast cancer (35.8%). Capecitabine was most commonly used in the palliative setting accounting for 63.9% of the cases, followed by the adjuvant setting (19.7%). The most common regimen was single agent capecitabine with 129 cases (47.1%). The other common regimens were XELOX (21.5%) and ECX (10.2%). The main result of this study showed an overall FN rate of 2.2% (6/274). The overall TRD rate was 5.1% (14/274). The FN rate for the single agent capecitabine regimen was 1.6% (2/129) and the TRD rate was 5.4% (7/129). All the TRDs were with single agent capecitabine regimen were used for palliative intent. Conclusions: Oral capecitabine is used widely in clinical practice in a myriad of tumour sites and bears a low risk of febrile neutropaenia. However, capecitabine like any other intravenous chemotherapeutic agent carries a significant risk of treatment related death.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 1997

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bony malignancy and its survivorship has been progressed markedly through refined chemotherapy and surgery. But still there are many non-responders and analysis of prognostic factors may be helpful for them. Two hundred and sixty-six patients were enlisted between Mar, 1985 and Sep. 1994. Among them our inclusion criteria were: 1)primary, nonmetastatic classical osteosarcoma 2)extremity in location 3)no prior treatment at other institute and completed neoadjuvant chemotherapy and surgery according to our protocol. One hundred and eleven cases were eligible. Analyzed factors were:age, sex, location, tumor size, and pathologic response. Statistical methods were log-rank test for univariate and Cox's test for multivariate analysis. Male to female ratio was 69:42 with an average age of 17.2 years. Locations of tumor were distal femur 59, proximal tibia 29, and proximal humerus 8. Tumor size were measured by its maximal diameter and 48 cases were above 10cm and 47 cases were below 10cm. For pathologic response, 57 cases showed more than 90% and 54 cases were less than that. Limb salvage procedure was 101 cases and amputation was 10 cases and their local recurrence rate were 3.6%. Average follow-up period was 24(9-78.2) months and their final status was CDF 86, AWD 8, NED 5, and DOD 12 cases. In univariate study: type of operation(p=0.005), tumor size(p=0.005), and pathologic response(p=0.02) were significant variables. Pathologic response(p=0.03) and type of operation(p=0.01) were meaningful prognostic factors on multivariate analysis. But the latter result was interpreted as a bias, so pathologic response remained as a sole meaningful prognostic factor. More aggressive chemotherapy will be needed to improve the survival.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10837-10840
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• 2015

To assess survival outcomes in a retrospective study, recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer patients were divided into three groups according to the platinum free interval as follows: platinum refractory that included the patients with tumor progression during treatment; platinum resistant and platinum sensitive that included the patients with tumor progression less than or more than six months, respectively. Clinical data for tumor progression in epithelial ovarian cancer patients treated at Chiang Mai University Hospital between January, 2006 and December, 2010 were reviewed. Thirty-nine patients were in the platinum refractory group while 27 were in the platinum resistant group and 75 in the platinum sensitive group. The mean age, the parity, the administration of neoadjuvant chemotherapy and the serous type did not significantly different across groups while the mean total number of chemotherapy regimens, the early stage patients, the patients with complete surgery and the surviving patients were significant more frequent in the platinum sensitive group. Regarding subsequent treatment after tumor recurrence, 87.2% underwent chemotherapy. With the median follow up time at 29 months, the median overall survival rates were 20 months, 14 months and 42 months in platinum refractory, platinum resistant and platinum sensitive groups, respectively (p<0.001). In addition, when the platinum sensitive patients developed the next episode of tumor progression, the median progression free interval time was only three to four months. In conclusion, the outcomes for platinum refractory the and platinum resistant groups was poorer than the platinum sensitive group. However, subsequent progression in the platinum sensitive group was also associated with a poor outcome.

• 대한두경부종양학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.11a
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• pp.216-216
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• 2006

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.17-28
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• 2008

This review focuses on the clinical use of $^{18}F-FDG$ PET to evaluate solitary pulmonary nodule (SPN) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). When SPN or mass without calcification is found on chest X-ray or CT, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET is an effective modality to differentiate benign from malignant lesions. For initial staging of NSCLC, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET is useful, and proved to be cost-effective in several countries. $^{18}F-FDG$ is useful for detecting recurrence, restaging and evaluating residual tumor after curative therapy in NSCLC. For therapy response assessment, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET may be effective after chemotherapy or radiation therapy. $^{18}F-FDG$ PET is useful to predict pathological response after neoadjuvant therapy in NSCLC. For radiation therapy planning, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET may be helpful, but requires further investigations. PET/CT is better for evaluating NSCLC than conventional PET.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.sup1
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• pp.76-90
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• 2008

$^{18}F-FDG$ PET in combination with conventional imaging modalities could help avoid unnecessary biopsy for the primary mass, and it also has a high diagnostic accuracy in patients with dense breasts. In the assessment of metastasis, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET was useful to select patients who required sentinel lymph node biopsy and to detect extra-axillary lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. To increase the sensitivity for osteoblastic bone metastasis, bone scintigraphy should be added. In the detection of recurrence, $^{18}F-FDG$ PET showed a higher diagnostic accuracy than tumor marker or computed tomography, and therefore it can be used in routine breast cancer follow-up. $^{18}F-FDG$ PET has been reported that it correctly predicted the response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on as early as 8th day of treatment. Therefore, it is useful for the early detect of therapeutic response in advanced breast cancer.