• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.22
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• pp.9945-9948
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• 2014

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate Tim-3 expression on peripheral CD3-CD56+ natural killer (NK) cells and CD3+CD56+ natural killer T (NKT) cells in lung cancer patients. Materials and Methods: We analyzed Tim-3+CD3-CD56+ cells, Tim-3+CD3-$CD56^{dim}$ cells, Tim-3+CD3-$CD56^{bright}$ cells, and Tim-3+CD3+CD56+ cells in fresh peripheral blood from 79 lung cancer cases preoperatively and 53 healthy controls by flow cytometry. Postoperative blood samples were also analyzed from 21 members of the lung cancer patient cohort. Results: It was showed that expression of Tim-3 was significantly increased on CD3-CD56+ cells, CD3-$CD56^{dim}$ cells and CD3+CD56+ cells in lung cancer patients as compared to healthy controls (p=0.03, p=0.03 and p=0.04, respectively). When analyzing Tim-3 expression with cancer progression, results revealed more elevated Tim-3 expression in CD3-CD56+ cells, CD3-$CD56^{dim}$ cells and CD3+CD56+ cells in cases with advanced stages (III/IV) than those with stage I and II (p=0.02, p=0.04 and p=0.01, respectively). In addition, Tim-3 expression was significantly reduced on after surgical resection of the primary tumor (p<0.01). Conclusions: Tim-3 expression in natural killer cells from fresh peripheral blood may provide a useful indicator of disease progression of lung cancer. Furthermore, it was indicated that Tim-3 might be as a therapeutic target.

• Korean Journal of Bronchoesophagology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.9-13
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• 2011

Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), which enables visualization of lesions beyond the bronchus, broadens the fields of bronchoscopy. Two types of ultrasound, radial and linear, are used for bronchoscopy. Radial EBUS is performed by inserting an ultrasound mini-probe through the working channel of a flexible bronchoscope. Evaluation of the depth of invasion of early endobronchial lung cancers using radial EBUS is useful in deciding endobronchial treatment. A central tumor limited to within the cartilaginous layer is a good indication for endobronchial photodynamic therapy. EBUS-guide sheath (GS) technique is a sampling method assisted by localization of peripheral lesions using EBUS. The diagnostic yield of EBUS-GS method is higher than that of conventional transbronchial biopsy. High diagnostic values of EBSU-GS method are reported even in small (${\leq}2cm$) peripheral tumors. Linear EBUS is used for endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA). EBUS-TBNA has high diagnostic yields in mediastinal staging of lung cancer even in patients having radiologically early stage lung cancers with normal CT or PET findings in the mediastinum. EBUS is a valuable method in evaluating early endobronchial tumors and peripheral small lung cancers and as well as in mediastinal staging.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.72 no.2
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• pp.156-162
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• 2012

Background: The main goal of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nested PCR) in bronchial washing fluid with MAGE A1-6 common primers for the detection of lung cancers invisible by bronchoscopy. Methods: To determine the expression of MAGE A1-6 gene in 189 lung cancers diagnosed by conventional fluoroscopy-guided lung biopsy and 89 cancer-free controls, RT-nested PCR was performed in bronchial washing specimens. We analyzed MAGE A1-6 RT-nested PCR data according to tumor histology, stage, size, and compared them with cytological data. Results: 189 patients (111 cases in adenocarcinoma, 47 cases in squamous cell carcinoma, 22 cases in small cell lung carcinoma, and 9 cases in other cancers) and 89 benign patients were investigated. The expression of MAGE was performed by nested RT-PCR using common MAGE primer. Among 189 cancer patients, the expression rate of MAGE was 49.2%, and the positive predictive value was 89.4%. However, the expression rate of MAGE in patients with benign lesions was 12.4%. In peripheral lung cancer, the positive rate of MAGE expression was 57.4% in squamous cell carcinoma, 44.1% in adenocarcinoma and 59.1% in small cell lung cancer. Whereas the expression rate of bronchial washing cytology in peripheral lung cancer was 9.0% (p=0.011). Conclusion: MAGE RT-PCR in bronchial washing fluid gave us promising data for the detection of peripheral lung cancer. It could be a useful method for selecting diagnostic tools for peripheral lesions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.2541-2544
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• 2013

Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the serum neuron-specific enolase (NSE) levels in patients with prostate cancer, Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer and peripheral nerve tumors. Materials and Methods: NSE levels were determined by ELISA in the sera of 100 prostate cancer, 47 Hodgkin lymphoma, 35 lung cancer and 35 peripheral nerve tumor patients and also in 132 healthy controls. Results: The median levels of serum NSE were elevated in patients with lung cancer (p=0.018) and peripheral nerve tumors (p=0.008). NSE levels in prostate cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma patients were higher than the controls but there was no statistically significant difference (p>0.05). Conclusions: We conclude that NSE may be applied in routine to gain insight about the clinical statuses of various cancer patients, but more studies are needed to determine the organ specificity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.5179-5183
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• 2016

Background: Prior series investigated the expression of prepro-gastrin releasing peptide (prepro-GRP) in the peripheral blood of lung cancer patients. Our aim was to assess any prepro-GRP role as a prognostic factor for small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and NSCLC and correlations with clinical presentation and treatment outcome. Methods: A prospective study was conducted during the time period from the beginning of January 2012 till the end of January 2014. Prepro-GRP expression was analysed using a nested RT-PCR assay in peripheral blood of 62 untreated lung cancer patients attending the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Cairo University, and 30 age and sex matched healthy volunteers. Results: Among the 62 lung cancer cases, there were 24 (38.7%) SCLC, and 38 (61.3%) NSCLC (10 squamous cell carcinomas, 12 adenocarcinomas, 11 large cell carcinomas, 4 undifferentiated carcinomas, and 1 adenosquamous carcinoma). Twenty six patients (41.9%) were prepro-GRP positive. Prepro-GRP expression was higher (58.3%) among SCLC patients compared to NSCLC (squamous cell carcinoma (15.4%), large cell carcinoma (36.4%), and adenocarcinoma (25%)). Mean OS among prepro-GRP negative cases was longer than that among preprogastrin positive cases (17.6 vs 14.9 months). The mean PFS durations among preprogastrin negative versus positive cases were 7.7 vs 4.6 months (p= 0.041). No difference in response to chemotherapy was identified between the groups (p=0.983). Conclusion: Prepro-GRP is suggested to be a useful prognostic marker for lung cancer patients, especially with the fast- growing, bad prognostic SCLC type. More studies should aim at detailed understanding of the mechanisms of prepro-GRP action and its use in monitoring the response to treatment in a larger cohort.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.73 no.1
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• pp.56-60
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• 2012

A patient who has multiple lung masses with a history of malignancy in organs other than the lung is more likely to be diagnosed with metastatic rather than primary lung cancer. Rarely, metastatic cancer can coexist with primary. We experienced a case of concurrent diagnosis of primary small cell lung cancer and pulmonary metastasis of uterine malignant mixed M$\ddot{u}$llerian tumor (MMMT). The patient was a 52-year-old female with femur fracture and multiple lung masses with a history of an operation for uterine MMMT. The small cell lung cancer was diagnosed by bronchoscopic biopsy. The central lung mass decreased after chemotherapy for small cell lung cancer but multiple peripheral masses increased. A percutaneous biopsy for one of peripheral masses revealed metastatic uterine MMMT. We suggest that we have to consider the possible presence of concomitant malignancies of different origins in one organ especially with patients who had a history of malignancy in another organ.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.174-182
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• 1982

On the right lower lobe, scar carcinoma was presented in the Korean male, 56 years old, in February, 1982. His tumor is moderate differentiated adenocarcinoma. Scar carcinoma, a rare form of adenocarcinoma, is usually discovered on autopsy and rarely on surgical resected specimen and these tumors are found in areas of lung scarring. Most of the tumors are adenocarcinoma and found in the upper lobes and related to infarcts, tuberculous scars. No relationship between smoking and scar cancers were reported. The scar cancers are becoming more common. An apparent increase in scar cancer in the periphery of the lung was reported in America. Scar cancer does not present special clinical symptoms and signs, except manifestations of surrounded tissue compressed by large tumors in far advanced stage. These tumors progress slowly and metastasize late but characteristic signs on scar area of the lung can be discovered from the early stage on X-ray examination [solitary peripheral nodule and scar]. So careful study on chest x-ray film was acquired and if necessary, conservative resection of the lesion is indicated because the long term prognosis is not at all bad.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.147-154
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• 2001

Background : Bronchoscopy has been widely used for a histologic diagnosis through a transbronchial lung biopsy or for staging of patients with peripheral lung cancer. However a transthoracic needle aspiration (TTNA) has been used more widely for a histologic diagnosis in patient with a small size nodule or a nodule located in the outer portion of the lung because of the low diagnostic yield of bronchoscopy in these cases. The role of bronchoscopy for staging is not well established in patients with peripheral lung cancer diagnosed by a TTNA or patients who are undergoing surgery without a histologic diagnosis. Method: To evaluate the role of bronchoscopy for the staging in patients with peripheral lung cancer, who were diagnosed by TTNA, the medical records of 86 patients with peripheral lung cancer who underwent bronchoscopyat Kyungpook National University Hospital between January 1995 and May 1997 were reviewed. Results : While 53 cases had normal bronchoscopic findings, 33 cases had abnormal bronchoscopic findings comprising 9 cases of tumor, 10 cases of infiltration and 14 cases of compression of which there were 25 cases of T1 and 8 T2 endoscopically. The bronchoscopic staging did not influence the changes of the clinical stage of lung cancer. The frequencies of bronchial involvement tended to increase as the sizes of the nodule increased. Among the 42 patients who underwent surgery, 9 patients staged higher after operation because of lymph node involvement in 8 patients and the involvement of the pulmonary artery in 1 patient. No case staged above after operation due to a bronchial invasion. Conclusion : These findings suggests that bronchoscopy is not useful for staging in patients with peripheral lung cancer diagnosed by a TTNA.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.423-431
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• 2004

Background : Tumor size in lung cancer is not as good a prognostic factor for adenocarcinoma as it is for other types of lung cancer; therefore it is difficult to estimate the prognosis preoperative. However, there have recently been some reports on the radiologic findings correlating to the clinicopathologic prognostic factors in peripheral small adenocarcinoma of lung. We tried to evaluate the prognostic importance of High-Resolution CT (HRCT) findings of such adenoearcinoma, Material and Method: One houndred and seventy-six surgically resected small peripheral adenocarcinoma measuring 3 cm or less in greatest dimension were reviewed radiologically and clinicopathologically. Result: The patients with greater extent of ground-glass attenuation (GGA) had better clinico-pathological factors. The tumors with gross appearance of GGA or bubble-like shape showed better clinicopathological prognostic factors than scar-like or solid shape. Conclusion: HRCT findings of small peripheral adenocarcinomas of the lung correlated well with the histologic and clinical prognostic factors. We can predict the post-operative prognosis with the radiologic findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2491-2494
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• 2012

The current study was performed to assess any association between the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T polymorphism and risk of lung cancer in Henan province. This case-control study involved94 patients with newly histological confirmed lung cancer and 78 healthy controls. Genotyping was achieved with peripheral blood lymphocytes DNA and association of the polymorphism with risk of lung cancer was estimated by unconditional logistic regression analysis. The frequencies of the MTHFR 667TT genotype were 37.2% in cases compared with 23.1% in controls (${\chi}^2$ = 4.008, P = 0.045). Individuals with the 667CC/CT genotype displayed a significantly reduced risk of lung cancer compared with those with the TT genotypes [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 0.506; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.258 - 0.991]. The C667T polymorphism might have a significant effect on the occurrence of lung cancer in Henan province.