• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.13
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• pp.5215-5221
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• 2014

Background: To study the response rate (RR), progression-free survival (PFS) and toxicity profiles of recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients treated with gemcitabine. Materials and Methods: Recurrent EOC patients who were treated with gemcitabine between January 2000 and December 2013 at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital were identified and medical records were reviewed. Clinico-pathological features including data of gemcitabine treatment, response and toxicity were collected. Results: We identified 43 EOC patients who had gemcitabine treatment. All except one patient who did not receive any adjuvant treatment, had received platinum-based chemotherapy. Among these 42 patients, 31.0% had refractory cancer to first-line chemotherapy while 69.0% had recurrence with 48.8% being platinum-sensitive. The total cycles of gemcitabine used were 203 (median 4, range 2-9 cycles). Overall RR was 11.6%: 19% in platinum-sensitive vs 4.5% in platinum-resistant groups (p=0.158) and 42.9% in the patients having gemcitabine together with platinum vs 5.6% using gemcitabine alone (P=0.024). Median PFS was 3.6 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.73-4.49 months): 8.1 months (95% CI, 2.73-4.49 months) in combination regimen vs 3.2 months (95% CI, 2.01-4.42 months) in single regimen (p=0.077) and 8.1 months (95% CI, 4.73-11.48 months) with the gemcitabine combination vs 2.7 months (95% CI, 1.98-3.38 months) by single gemcitabine in platinum sensitive patients (P=0.007). Common toxicities were hematologic which were well tolerated and manageable. Conclusions: Gemcitabine has modest activity in pre-treated EOC. A combination regimen had higher activity than single agent in platinum sensitive patients with a significant improvement in RR and PFS.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4583-4589
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• 2013

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effect of multimodality treatment of advanced paediatric hepatoblastoma (HB) and the factors affecting prognosis. Methods: A total of 35 children underwent multimodality treatments consisting of chemotherapy, surgery, interventional therapy, and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The patients were followed up every month. Results: Serum AFP levels in 33 out of 35 patients in this study were significantly increased (P = 0.0002). According to the statistical scatter plot, the values of serum AFP on the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentages were 1,210, 1,210 and 28,318 ng/dl, respectively. Of the 35 cases, 21 were stage IV. 18 cases were treated with systemic chemotherapy before surgery, and 3 cases with locally interventional chemotherapy before surgery. Statistical analysis showed that the preferred interventional treatment affected prognosis, and that there was a statistically significant difference (P = 0.024). Some 33 patients completed the follow-up, of which 17 were in complete remission (CR), 5 were in partial remission (PR), 1 became disease progressive (DP), and 10 died. The remission and overall survival rates were 66.7% (22/33) and 69.7% (23/33), respectively. Patients with the mixed HB phenotypes had worse prognoses than the epithelial phenotype (P < 0.001), and patients in stage IV had a lower survival rate than those in stage III (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Multimodality treatment can effectively improve remission rate and prolong the survival of children with advanced HB. In addition, alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), a tumor marker of liver malignant tumors, HB pathological classification, and staging are highly useful in predicting prognosis.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.77-82
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• 1997

One of the most important prerequisites of the industrial microorganism is that it should not be virulent to humans or economically important animals or plants. In this investigation, the microbiological characterization of T. madida N-5-3 strain was performed. And then, the virulence of the test strain in mouse model was examined systematically. The microbiological characteristics of the test strain were found to be fully consistent with those of typical T. madida. The i.p. lethal dose(LD)$_{50}$ of the test strain was greater than 1$\times$10$^8$, because there was no dead animal with the challenge doses upto the level of 1$\times$10$^8$. When 1$\times$10$^8$ yeast cells were challenged to the laboratory mice, T. madida N-5-3 strain was completely cleared from the liver and spleen in 4 days after challenge. And no pathological changes in the histological examination of the internal organs from challenged mice was observed. Above results can provide the predictability of the safety of T. madida N-5-3 strain for the industrial use in the view point of the public health aspect.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.1759-1767
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• 2016

Background: Uterine sarcoma is a group of rare gynecologic tumors with various natures, and different lines of treatment. Most have a poor treatment outcome. This study targeted clinical characteristics, treatment, overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and prognostic factors in uterine sarcoma patients in one tertiary center for cancer care. Materials and Methods: Uterine sarcoma patients who were treated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine Vajira Hospital between January 1994 and December 2014 were identified. Clinico-pathological data were analyzed. Prognostic outcomes were examined by Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis. Results: We identified 46 uterine sarcoma patients: 25 carcinosarcoma (CS) (54.3%), 15 leiomyosarcoma (LMS) (32.6%), and 6 undifferentiated uterine sarcoma (UUS) (13.1%) cases. Mean age was $54.0{\pm}11.9years$ (range 25-82 years). Abnormal uterine bleeding was the most common presenting symptom (63.0%). Among 33 patients (71.7%) who had pre-operative tissue collected, diagnosis of malignancy was correct in 29 (87.9%). All patients received primary surgery and retroperitoneal lymph nodes were resected in 34 (73.9%). After surgery, 5 (10.9%) had gross residual tumors. Stage I disease was most commonly found (56.5%). Adjuvant treatment was given to 27 (58.7%), most commonly chemotherapy. After a median follow-up of 16.0 months (range 0.8-187.4 months), recurrence was encountered in 22 patients (47.8%). Median time to recurrence was 5.8 months (range1.0-105.5 months). Distant metastasis was more common than local or locoregional failure. The 2-year PFS was 45.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 30.6%-59.7%) and the 2-year OS was 48.3% (95% CI, 33.3%-60.7%). Multivariable analyses found residual disease after surgery as a significant factor only for PFS. Conclusions: Uterine sarcoma is a rare tumor entity. Even with multimodalities of treatment, the prognosis is still poor. Successful cytoreductive surgery is a key factor for a good survival outcome.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1545-1551
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• 2015

Purpose: Rectal cancers with high microsatellite-instable have clinical and pathological features that differentiate them from microsatellite-stable or low-frequency carcinomas, which was studied rarely in stage II rectal cancer, promoting the present investigation of the usefulness of microsatellite-instability status as a predictor of the benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy with fluorouracil in stage II rectal cancer. Patients and Methods: Data of 460 patients who underwent primary anterior resection with a double stapling technique for rectal carcinoma at a single institution from 2008 to 2012 were retrospectively collected. All patients experienced a total mesorectal excision (TME) operation. Survival analysis were analyzed using the Cox regression method. Results: Five-year rate of disease-free survival (DFS) was noted in 390 (84.8%) of 460 patients with stage II rectal cancer. Of 460 tissue specimens, 97 (21.1%) exhibited high-frequency microsatellite instability. Median age of the patients was 65 (50-71) and 185 (40.2%) were male. After univariate and multivariate analysis, microsatellite instability (p= 0.001), female sex (p<0.05) and fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy (p<0.001), the 3 factors were attributed to a favorable survival status independently. Among 201 patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy, those cancers displaying high-frequency microsatellite instability had a better 5-year rate of DFS than tumors exhibiting microsatellite stability or low-frequency instability (HR, 13.61 [95% CI, 1.88 to 99.28]; p= 0.010), while in 259 patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy, there was no DFS difference between the two groups (p= 0.145). Furthermore, patients exhibiting microsatellite stability or low-frequency instability who received adjuvant chemotherapy had a better 5-year rate of DFS than patients did not (HR, 5.16 [95% CI, 2.90 to 9.18]; p<0.001), while patients exhibiting high-frequency microsatellite instability were not connected with increased DFS (p= 0.696). It was implied that female patients had better survival than male. Conclusion: Survival status after anterior resection of rectal carcinoma is related to the microsatellite instability status, adjuvant chemotherapy and gender. Fluorouracil-based adjuvant chemotherapy benefits patients of stage II rectal cancer with microsatellite-stable or low microsatellite-instable, but not those with high microsatellite-instable. Additionally, free of adjuvant chemotherapy, carcinomas with high microsatellite-instable have a better 5-year rate of DFS than those with microsatellite-stable or low microsatellite-instable, and female patients have a better survival as well.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.1887-1893
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• 2012

The aim of this study was to detail characteristics of mammary Paget's disease (PD) representing the whole population in China. A total of 4211 female breast cancer inpatients at seven tertiary hospitals from seven representative geographical regions of China were collected randomly during 1999 to 2008. Data for demography, risk factors, diagnostic imaging test, physical examination and pathologic characters were surveyed and biomarker status was tested by immunohistochemistry. The differences of demography and risk factors between PD with breast cancer and other lesions were compared using Chi-square test or t-test, with attention to physical examination and pathological characters. The percentage of PD was 1.6% (68/4211) in all breast cancers. The mean age at diagnosis was 48.1, and 63.2% (43/68) patients were premenopausal. There is no difference in demography and risk factors between PD with breast cancer and other breast cancer (P > 0.05). The main pattern of PD in physical exam and pathologic pattern were patients presenting with a palpable mass in breast (65/68, 95.6%) and PD with underlying invasive cancer (82.4%, 56/68) respectively. The rate of multifocal disease was 7.4% (5/68). PD with invasive breast cancer showed larger tumor size, more multifocal disease, lower ER and PR expression and higher HER2 overexpression than those in other invasive breast cancer (P < 0.05). These results suggested that PD in China is a concomitant disease of breast cancer, and that PD with underlying invasive cancer has more multiple foci and more aggressive behavior compared with other breast invasive cancer. We address the urgent needs for establishing diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines for mammary PD in China.

• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.389-398
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• 2018

This study was to investigate the antioxidant and anti-amyloid activities of the extract (KP-HE) from Kalopanax pictus (KP) fermented with Hericium erinaceum (HE) mycelium. Antioxidant activity was evaluated based on 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) radical(ABTS) scavenging assays. In all assays, the extracts from KP, HE and KP-HE had the potential for antioxidant activities. However, antioxidant activity of KP-HE significantly scavenged DPPH radical as compared to the KP and HE. The result suggested that the antioxidant component was increased in the process of KP fermented with HE. KP-HE was shown to significantly inhibite peroxyl radical-mediated DNA strand breakage whereas KP and HE did not inhibit DNA strand breakage. The aggregation of the amyloid-${\beta}$ ($A{\beta}$) peptide is involved in the pathological process of Alzheimer's disease(AD). In this study, the effects of KP, HE and KP-HE on the aggregation of $A{\beta}_{1-42}$ were investigated. KP and HE had little effect on $A{\beta}$ aggregation and KP-HE effectively inhibited $A{\beta}$ aggregation. KP-HE effectively inhibited $A{\beta}$ induced cell death and significantly increased of the 20.3% cell survival at $300{\mu}g/mL$ concentration. KP-HE also decreased intracellular reactive oxygen specie levels in $A{\beta}$-treated cells. The results suggested that KP-HE had antioxidant and anti-amyloid activities. Therefore, KP-HE could potentially be used as a valuable functional food ingredient to prevent neurodegenerative disorders such as AD.

• Journal of Korean Medical classics
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.109-122
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• 2018

Objectives : The teaching which states, "Pi is the source of the phlegm and lung is the container of the phlegm" is a sentence that is regarded to have been based on the understanding of the production and container of phlegm based on physiology and pathology of viscera and bowels. However, the author's suspicion that this sentence has not received enough research as to truly understand its meaning has led to further study into this sentence. Methods : Medical book database was searched and historic medical books were reviewed in order to understanding the true meaning of this sentence. First, the meaning of the sentence was pondered upon based on how it was introduced in the original text, and each of the two parts of the sentence were closely analyzed for its relations in order to get a clear meaning of the sentence. Results : The source of this sentence is Bencaogangmu, and it describes the phenomenon of cough in the phlegm appearing more than that from pi and lungs. Later, some disagreements on this sentence developed, claiming that kidney is the source of phlegm whereas stomach is the container. Pi deficiency derives from abnormality in the transportation and transformation of pi, and it originates from kidney deficiency. Thus, kidney can be understood as the origin of phlegm. When phlegm is dispersed all around the body, it's difficult to see the stomach as a container of the phlegm. Conclusions : The pathology of the production and container of phlegm is that deficiency in kidney qi leads to the malfunction of transportation and transformation of pi, and this creates the bodily fluid to become stagnant, making pathological products such as dampness, phlegm, and retained fluid. This can be expressed as "Kidney is the origin of the phlegm, and pi is the source of the phlegm." Here, phlegm is created and stored either when phlegm enters the lungs in the process of pi dissipating into the lungs, or when pi affects the lungs which inhibits the pi movement in the lungs. This is the true meaning of "lung is the container of the phelgm."

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.461-469
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBSECTIVE: Airway inflammation by eosinophils, neutrophils and alveolar macrophages is a characteristic feature of asthma that leads to pathological subepithelial thickening and remodeling. Our previous study showed that oxidative stress in airways resulted in eosinophilia and epithelial apoptosis. The current study investigated whether glutathione-containing dry yeast extract (dry-YE) ameliorated eosinophilia, goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction. MATERIALS/METHOD: This study employed $2{\mu}g$/mL lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- or 20 ng/mL eotaxin-1-exposed human bronchial epithelial cells and ovalbumin (OVA)-challenged mice. Dry-YE employed in this study contained a significant amount of glutathione (140 mg in 100 g dry yeast). RESULTS: Human bronchial epithelial cell eotaxin-1 and mucin 5AC (MUC5AC) were markedly induced by the endotoxin LPS, which was dose-dependently attenuated by nontoxic dry-YE at 10-50 ${\mu}g$/mL. Moreover, dry-YE inhibited the MUC5AC induction enhanced by eotaxin-1, indicating that eotaxin-1-mediated eosinophilia may prompt the MUC5AC induction. Oral supplementation with 10-100 mg/kg dry-YE inhibited inflammatory cell accumulation in airway subepithelial regions with a reduction of lung tissue level of intracellular adhesion molecule-1. In addition, ${\geq}50$ mg/kg dry-YE diminished the lung tissue levels of eotaxin-1, eosinophil major basic protein and MUC5AC in OVA-exposed mice. Alcian blue/periodic acid schiff staining revealed that the dry-YE supplementation inhibited goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus overproduction in the trachea and bronchiolar airways of OVA-challenged mice. CONCLUSIONS: Oxidative stress may be involved in the induction of eotaxin-1 and MUC5AC by endotoxin episode and OVA challenge. Dry-YE effectively ameliorated oxidative stress-responsive epithelial eosinophilia and mucus-secreting goblet cell hyperplasia in cellular and murine models of asthma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10643-10646
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• 2015

Background: To study the relationship between mammographic findings and clinical/pathologic features in women with 1-15mm sized invasive breast cancer. Materials and Methods: We investigated a consecutive series of 134 cases diagnosed in Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital in 2007. Mammographic findings were classified into five groups as follows :1) stellate mass without calcification; 2) non-stellate mass without calcification; 3) intermediate suspicious calcification with or without associated mass; 4) higher probability malignant calcification with or without associated mass; 5) focal asymmetry/distortion without associated calcification. Associations between mammographic and clinical/pathological features (menopause status/family history/histologic grade/lymph node status and ER/PR/HER2 status) was analyzed through logistic regression and chi square tests. Results: Compared to the stellate mass without calcification group, higher probability malignant calcification patients were associated significantly with a positive lymph node status, always presenting in patients who were non-menopausal and with a family history of carcinoma. Conclusions: Higher probability malignant calcifications with or without associated tumor masses are associated with clinical/pathologic features of poor prognosis.