• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2011

Due to improved life spans, cancer incidence has increased with more aged patients presenting with cancer. Elderly cancer patients could have compromised organ function and/or comorbidities. Due to poor social support or lack of early diagnosis, treatment outcomes for elderly cancer patients are poor in general. However, with aggressive support during cancer management as well as careful selection, most elderly cancer patients can tolerate standard radiation therapy with good results based on published articles. Here, we reviewed existing articles regarding compliance and treatment results in elderly cancer patients based on tumor site.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.126-136
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• 2016

Due to poor nutrition and abnormal energy metabolism, cancer patients typically experience the loss of muscle mass. Although the diabetic conditions or dyslipidemia have been reported as a causal link of cancer but the consequence of such conditions in relation to gain or loss of skeletal muscle mass in cancer patients has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of lean body mass and systemic parameters related to lipid metabolism in non-diabetic cancer patients using data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2008-2011. As results the level of serum total cholesterol (total-C) was negatively associated with both total lean body mass and appendicular lean body mass in cancer patients after adjustment for sex, physical activity, energy intake and comorbidity. The associations between consumption of dietary factors (energy, carbohydrate, protein and fat) and lean body mass were disappeared after adjusting comorbidities of cancer patients. Multivariate-adjusted linear regression analysis by quartiles of serum total-C showed that higher quartile group of total-C had significantly lower percent of lean body mass than reference group in cancer patients. The data indicate that serum lipid status can be the potential estimate of loss of skeletal muscle mass in cancer patients and be referenced in nutrition care of cancer patients under the onset of cachexia or parenteral/enteral nutrition. This data need to be confirmed with large pool of subjects and should be specified by stage of cancer or the site of cancer in future studies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.4095-4099
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• 2016

Background: Use of spiritual/ religious resources is one important coping strategy for breast cancer patients. However, the relationship between spiritual coping and adjustment to cancer diagnosis has not been well investigated among Iranian breast cancer patients. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was undertaken among 266 breast cancer patients referred to two educational centers in north-western Iran. They were selected using a convenience sampling method. The Iranian Religious Coping Scale and Iranian Coping Operations Preference Enquiry were used for data collection. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 13.0. Results: The study findings showed that Iranian cancer patients had a high level of spiritual coping. Also, positive religious coping strategies were used more frequently than negative approaches. In addition, there was a positive and significant correlation between spiritual coping and adjustment to cancer among study participants. Conclusions: Using spiritual coping strategies may play a vital role in adjustment process in patients with breast cancer. Therefore, having spiritual counseling and incorporating coping strategies into the treatment regimen may be effective for enhancing illness adjustment in such patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.193-199
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• 2012

Objective : The objective of study is to evaluate the incidence of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis (LMC) in breast cancer patients with parenchymal brain metastases (PBM) and clinical risk factors for the development of LMC. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed 27 patients who had undergone surgical resection (SR) and 156 patients with whole brain radiation therapy (WBRT) as an initial treatment for their PBM from breast cancer in our institution and compared the difference of incidence of LMC according to clinical factors. The diagnosis of LMC was made by cerebrospinal fluid cytology and/or magnetic resonance imaging. Results : A total of 27 patients (14%) in the study population developed LMC at a median of 6.0 months (range, 1.0-50). Ten of 27 patients (37%) developed LMC after SR, whereas 17 of 156 (11%) patients who received WBRT were diagnosed with LMC after the index procedure. The incidence of LMC was significantly higher in the SR group compared with the WBRT group and the hazard ratio was 2.95 (95% confidence interval; 1.33-6.54, p<0.01). Three additional factors were identified in the multivariable analysis : the younger age group (<40 years old), the progressing systemic disease showed significantly increased incidence of LMC, whereas the adjuvant chemotherapy reduce the incidence. Conclusion : There is an increased risk of LMC after SR for PBM from breast cancer compared with WBRT. The young age (<40) and systemic burden of cancer in terms of progressing systemic disease without adjuvant chemotherapy could be additional risk factors for the development of LMC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4791-4794
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• 2013

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of Javanica oil emulsion injection (Yadanzi$^{(R)}$) combined with pemetrexed and platinum (PP) for treating patients with advanced lung cancer. Patients and Methods: From June 2011 to June 2013, we recruited 58 patients with advanced lung cancer, and divided them into two groups. Twenty eight patients received Yadanzi$^{(R)}$ (from ZheJiang Jiuxu Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.) together with PP chemotherapy (combined group), while the others were given only PP chemotherapy (control group). After two cycles of treatment, efficacy and safety of treatment were evaluated. Results: The overall respnse rate [(CR+PR+SD)/(CR+PR+SD+PD)] of the combined group was higher than that of control group (89.7% vs. 86.2%, p>0.05). Regarding rate of life improvement, it was 82.8% in combined group, and 51.7% in the control group (p<0.05). In terms of side effects, leukopenia in combined group was less frequent than that in control group (p<0.05). More patients in the control group were found to suffer liver toxicity. Conclusions: Javanica oil emulsion injection combined with chemotherapy could be considered as a safe and effective regimen in treating patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. It can improve the quality of life and reduce the possibility of leukopenia. Further clinical trials with a large sample size should be conducted to confirm whether addition of Yadanzi$^{(R)}$ to chemotherapy could increase the response rate, reduce toxicity, enhance tolerability and improve quality of life for patients with advanced lung cancer.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.181-188
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• 1989

Neurolytic splanchnic nerve block is an effective method for the relief of pain of upper abdominal cancer. Nine cases of intractable upper abdominal cancer pain were treated by splanchnic nerve block with absolute alcohol (25 ml) at the pain clinic of Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital, Hallym University, during a 19 month period from March, 1988 to September, 1989. The group included six patients with stomach cancer, two patients with pancreatic cancer, and one patient with hepatobiliary cancer. We used fluoroscopy in all cases of alcohol spianchnic nerve block to determine both, the position of the needle tip, and the spread of the neurolytic solution. Of the 9 patients, 6 patients had excellent pain relief, and 3 patients who had combined upper abdominal and lower back pain had relieved upper abdominal pain only, but remaining lower back pain. Of the 9 patients', 5 patients had excellent pain relief through the patients remaining life (1-2 months) in which follow up was possible.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.428-450
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• 2023

This meta-analysis examined the surgical management of older patients (>80 years) with gastric cancer, who were often excluded from randomized controlled trials. We analyzed 23 retrospective cohort studies involving 18,372 patients and found that older patients had a higher in-hospital mortality rate (relative risk [RR], 3.23; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.46-7.17; P<0.01) and more post-operative complications (RR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.19-1.56; P<0.01) than did younger patients. However, the surgical complications were similar between the two groups. Older patients were more likely to undergo less extensive lymph node dissection and longer hospital stays. Although older patients had statistically significant post-operative medical complications, they were not deprived of surgery for gastric cancer. The comorbidities and potential risks of post-operative complications should be carefully evaluated in older patients, highlighting the importance of careful patient selection. Overall, this meta-analysis provides recommendations for the surgical management of older patients with gastric cancer. Careful patient selection and evaluation of comorbidities should be performed to minimize the risk of post-operative complications in older patients, while recognizing that they should not be deprived of surgery for gastric cancer.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.232-238
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• 2013

Background: Although thromboembolism is common and one of the major causes of mortality in cancer patients, maintaining therapeutic anticoagulation effect with warfarin is challenging. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the causes of non-therapeutic INR (International Normalized Ratio) in cancer patients. Methods: Medical and pharmacy records for cancer patients managed by the pharmacist-run anticoagulation service (ACS) between May, 2010 and April, 2011 at Seoul National University Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The causes of non-therapeutic INR were identified and compared with the results from a former study with mechanical heart valve patients. Results: A total of 335 cancer patients and 6,737 patient-visits were analyzed producing 68% (n=4,590) of non-therapeutic INR readings. Eighty-five percent of the non-therapeutic INR readings were categorized as sub-therapeutic. Frequent causes linked to non-therapeutic INR included inadequate dosage adjustment (21.8%), changes in health status (11.8%), dietary changes (8.1%), and drug interactions (4.2%). More than half of the non-therapeutic INR values had no known etiology. As causes for non-therapeutic INR, changes in health status (p<0.0001), adverse reactions (p<0.0001), and dietary changes (p=0.017) were statistically more frequent in cancer patients than in patients with mechanical heart valves. Furthermore, exposure to sub-therapeutic INR were more prevalent in cancer patients than in patients with mechanical heart valve (p<0.0001). Conclusions: This study shows that there is a tendency to keep the level of INR low and that health status change, dietary change, and drug interactions are found to be frequent causes for non-therapeutic INR in cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6287-6293
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• 2014

Background: Invasion of breast cancer cells into blood and lymphatic vessels is one of the most important steps for metastasis. In this study the prognostic relevance of lymphangiogenesis and lymphovascular invasion (LVI) in breast cancer patients was evaluated in terms of survival. Materials and Methods: This retrospective study concerned 518 breast cancer patients who were treated at Department of Surgical Oncology, Saroj Gupta Cancer Centre and Research Institute, Kolkata-700063, West Bengal, India, a reputed cancer centre and research institute of eastern India between January 2006 and December 2007. Results: The median overall survival and disease free survival of the patients were 60 months and 54 months respectively. As per Log-rank test, poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for LVI positive patients as compared with LVI negative patients (p<0.01). Also poor overall as well as disease free survival pattern was observed for perineural invasion (PNI) positive patients as compared to PNI negative patients (p<0.01). Conclusions: From this study it is evident that LVI and PNI are strongly associated with outcome in terms of disease free as well as overall survival in breast cancer patients. Thus LVI and PNI constitute potential targets for treatment of breast cancer patients. We advocate incorporating their status into breast cancer staging systems.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8587-8589
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• 2014

Background: Although a great deal of progress has been made in the management of colorectal cancer in terms of neoadjuvant modalities, surgical techniques and adjuvant therapies, the recurrence of tumors remains an enigmatic complication in patients. A better understanding of colorectal cancer and of factors that lead to recurrence of disease can provide helpful information for designing more effective screening and surveillance methods. Aim: To investigate the factors that may lead to local recurrence of colorectal cancers. Materials and Methods: The current retrospective case study evaluated 617 patients admitted to the Iranian Cancer Institute (the largest referral cancer center in the country) from 1995 to 2009 with confirmed colorectal cancer. Patients with distant metastasis, or with pathology other than adenocarcinoma and no follow-up, were excluded (175 patients). The remainder (442) included 294 (66.5%) with rectal cancer and 148 (33.5%) with colon cancer. The median duration of follow-up was 26 months. Results: The total rate of recurrence was 17.4%, comprising 19.6% and 16.3% recurrence rates in colon and rectal cancer, respectively. Conclusions: Recurrence of colorectal cancer was significantly correlated to tumor grade (p<0.008).