• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.11
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• pp.4711-4716
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• 2014

Introduction: Adiponectin (ApN) is a complement C1q-related protein, mainly secreted from adipose tissue, that signals through ApN receptor1 (Adipo-R1) and ApN receptor 2 (Adipo-R2). Low serum ApN concentrations are associated with obesity-related malignancies. However, there are very few studies on any prognostic role of ApN receptors in gastric cancer. Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between AdipoR1/R2 expression and early/advanced stage gastric cancer in terms of clinicopathologic characteristics and survival. Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients with early and 39 with advanced stage gastric cancer who underwent surgical gastric resection were included in this study. Results: Adipo-R1 expression was low in 2 of the 18 patients with early stage gastric cancer (11.1%), while 4 had low Adipo-R2 expression (22.2%). In those with advanced stage gastric cancer, 7 of 39 had low Adipo-R1 expression (17.9%) and 16 had low Adipo-R2 expression (41%). Adipo-R2 expression was significantly higher (p=0.011) in moderately differentiated tumors when compared to well-differentiated tumors. While there was nearly a statistically significant relationship between TNM stage (T, tumor size; N, regional lymph node; M, whether distant metastases exist) and Adipo-R2 expression (p=0.054), there was no relationship between Adipo-R1/-R2 expression with tumor stage and survival. Conclusion: Adipo-R1/-R2 expression has no prognostic significance of in early/advanced stage gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.7029-7032
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• 2013

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a very common cancer in Northeastern Thailand. Most CCA patients see a physician at a late stage when curative surgery is not possible. After diagnosis, they generally are treated by partial surgery/percutaneous drainage, chemotherapy and supportive treatment. Objective: This study aimed to assess the survival rates of CCA patients after supportive treatment. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was applied in this study. Data for 746 CCA patients were extracted from the hospital-based cancer registry of Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University. The patients were diagnosed (at least by ultrasonography) between 1 January, 2009 and 31 December, 2009 and then followed up for current status until 30 June, 2011. The cumulative survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and independent prognostic factors were investigated using Cox regression. Results: The total follow-up time was 5,878 person-months, and the total number of deaths was 637. The mortality rate was therefore 10.8 per 100 person-year (95%CI : 10.1-11.7). The cumulative 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 month survival rates were 59%, 39%, 31%, 24% and 14%, respectively. The median survival time after supportive treatment was 4 months. After adjusting for gender, age, stage, distant metastasis, histological grading and treatment, stage was a significant predictor of survival of CCA patients. Those in stage III and stage IV had a 6.78 fold higher mortality than the stage I and stage II cases (95% CI : 1.6-28.7). Conclusion: It is very important to encourage patients to see health personnel at an early stage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.881-887
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• 2015

Purpose: To analyze treatment modalities and prognostic factors in patients with Stage I-II endometrial stromal sarcoma (ESS). Materials and Methods: Twenty four patients (nineteen with low-grade ESS [LGESS] and five with high-grade ESS [HGESS]) were assessed retrospectively in terms of general characteristics, prognostic factors, treatment methods and survival. Results: Twenty patients were at Stage I and three were at Stage II. The stage of one patient could not be determined. With respect to age and comorbidity, no statistically significant difference was found among disease-free survival (DFS) (p=0.990; p=0.995). However, DFS was significantly shorter in Stage II than Stage I patients (p=0.002). It was also significantly shorter in HGESS patients than in LGESS patients (p=0.000). There was no statistically significant differences among the overall survival (OVS) times of patients with respect to age at diagnosis and comorbid disease (p=0.905; p=0.979) but OVS was significantly shorter in patients with HGESS (p=0.00) and Stage II disease (p=0.001). No statistically significant difference was found with respect to OVS between patients who received radiotherapy (RT) and those who did not receive RT (p=0.055). It was not statistically possible to include other treatment modalities in the analysis because of the small sample size. Conclusions: Grade and stage of a tumour were found to be the most important prognostic factors. It was not possible to determine the optimal surgical method and the effect of adjuvant treatment since the number of cases was insufficient.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1131-1132
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• 2013

Background: Upper tract transitional cell carcinomas (UTCC) are relatively uncommon but prognosis is generally worse than TCC of bladder. Methods: Between March 2004 and June 2012, patients with initial non-metastatic UTCC were assessed in the Medical Oncology and Urology Departments of Ataturk Training and Research Hospital. Results: A total of 11 patients with initially non-metastatic UTCC were detected in the 8 year period, all males. Median age of was 62 (range, 38-74). Six lesions were located in the renal pelvis and 5 in the ureter. Nephroureterectomy was performed in 9 patients, and distal ureterectomy and cuff excision of the bladder in the remaining 2. The majority (n= 9) had high grade tumors. Median primary tumor diameter was 3.5 cm (range, 0.7-10). Five patients (45.5%) were stage I, 2 (18.2%) were stage II, and 4 (36.4%) were stage III. While adjuvant chemotherapy was not applied for stage I and II disease (n= 7), 4 to 6 courses were applied for 3 of the stage III patients. Also one stage III case received adjuvant radiotherapy. Up to 100 months follow-up, median overall survival was 13 months (range, 5-100 months). While stage I and II patients are following-up without muscle-invasive progression, 2 of stage III patients demonstrated progression. Conclusion: We need more collaborative studies to determine management of especially pT3-pT4 patients with UTCC.

• 한국방재학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.02a
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• pp.309-312
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• 2008

In Korea, although the damage from disaster (flood and storm) is increasing, the early stage warning and countermeasure are not in operation rapidly. The research areas of transportation engineering arenot diverse, so once the road is flooded and interrupted, drivers, the system operators and managers are in panic, and nearby roads are in terrible traffic congestion. In case of Korea, the research of evacuation is highly needed, because it is very necessary and easy to apply in real field. In this paper, we establish the concept of transportation disaster prevention system and suggest the directions of it. In addition, based on this research, we choose one example of disasters and establish an example of the transportation disaster prevention system. Our goal is to make steps; prevention, preparation, countermeasure and restoration in the view of minimizing on social chaos and damages emphasizing aspect of transportation countermeasure. This research will be the good precedent of approach, analysis and countermeasure when the disasters are occurred, and a basis of transportation disaster prevention system and manual in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.35 no.8
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• pp.1443-1450
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• 2005

Purpose. The study was conducted to identify predictors of mammography screening for rural Korean women according to 'Stage of Change' from the Transtheoretical Model which, along with the Health Belief Model, formed the theoretical basis for this study. Methods. A cross-sectional descriptive design was utilized. Through convenience sampling 432 women were selected from 2 rural areas. Data were collected by survey. Health beliefs constructs were measured with Champion's HBM Scale-Korea version. Mammography participation was measured using the Stage of Mammography Adoption Scale developed. by Rakowski, et al.(1992). Results. The most frequent stage of mammography adoption was 'contemplation' ($40.5\%$). Predictors of stage of mammography adoption included 'mammogram recommended by health professional' (beta==0.59, t=16.12, p=.000), 'perceived benefits' (beta=0.09, t=2.21, p=.050), 'perceived susceptibility' (beta=0.09, t=1.98, p=.050), and 'perceived barriers' (beta=-0.07, t=-2.05, p=.041). 'Mammogram recommended by health professional' demonstrated the greatest association with having a mammogram. Conclusion. Health professionals play key roles in improving mammography participation and should recognize the importance of their role in cancer prevention and be more actively involved in education and counseling on prevention of breast cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.521-525
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• 2012

Microsomal epoxide hydrolase (mEH) plays a significant role in the metabolism of numerous xenobiotics and is associated with several forms of cancer. Here, we investigated the role of mEH expression in bladder carcinogenesis, subsequent progression and recurrence. The expression of mEH was analyzed by Western blot in 50 bladder urothelial carcinoma and 20 normal epithelial tissues. There was a significantly higher mEH expression in the normal epithelium (P<0.05) and mEH expression was lower in high stage than in low stage tumors (P<0.05). Further, immunohistochmistry in 106 bladder urothelial carcinoma demonstrated mEH expression to be negatively correlated with histological grade, pT stage and recurrence (P<0.05). These findings suggest the important role of mEH in bladder carcinogenesis, cancer development and recurrence, providing support for efforts to develop mEH-based gene therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1579-1582
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• 2012

Objective: To assess differences in serum proteins in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients. Methods: 144 esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients and 50 healthy volunteers were included in this study, with surface-enhanced laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and weak cation exchange magnetic beads. Follow-up allowed the relations between serum proteins and prognosis to be analyzed. Results: A total of 93 protein peaks were detected (molecular weight range: 1500-30000), 10 demonstrating statistically significant differences. There were no differences in protein peaks between 92 patients with a survival more than 2 years and 52 patients with survival less than 2 years. There were two significantly different protein peaks between 45 stage II patients with a survival more than 2 years and 14 stage II patients with survival less than 2 years. There was one significantly different protein peak between 22 stage III patients with a survival more than 2 years and 29 stage III patients with survival less than 2 years. Conclusion: Differences of serum proteins in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma are related to prognosis of patients. The protein fingerprint can be helpful for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6251-6255
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• 2012

Radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis are major complications for patients with cervical carcinoma following radiotherapy. In the present study, we aimed to determine the potential risk factors for the development of radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis after irradiation. A total of 1,518 patients with cervical carcinoma received external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) followed by high-dose-rate intracavitary brachytherapy (HDRICB) in our hospital. The incidences of radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis were recorded and associations with different factors (age, time period, tumor stage) were analyzed with ${\chi}^2$ (chi-squared) and Fisher exact tests. We found that 161 and 94 patients with cervical carcinoma were diagnosed with radiation proctitis and radiation cystitis, respectively, following radiotherapy. The prevalence of Grade I-II radiation proctitis or radiation cystitis was significantly lower than that of Grade III (radiation proctitis: 3.82% vs. 6.76%, P < 0.05; radiation cystitis: 2.31% vs. 3.87%, P < 0.05) and was significantly enhanced in patients with late stage (IIIb) tumor progression compared to those in early stage (Ib, IIa) (P < 0.05). Moreover, the incidence of radiation proctitis and cystitis was not correlated with age or, time period following radiation, for each patient (P > 0.05). These observations indicate that a late stage of tumor progression is a potential risk factor for the incidence of radiation proctitis and cystitis in cervical carcinoma patients receiving radiotherapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5169-5173
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• 2015

To determine the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel plus cisplatin (Taxol + DDP, TP therapy) for stage IIA esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and to investigate the expression of RUNX3 in lymph node metastasis-negative esophageal cancer and its relationship with medical prognosis, a retrospective summary of clinical treatment of 143 cases of stage IIA esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients was made. The patients were divided into two groups, a surgery alone control group (52 patients) and a chemotherapy group that received postoperative TP therapy (91 patients). The disease-free and 5 year survival rates were compared between the groups and a multivariate analysis of prognostic factors was performed. The same analysis was performed for cases classified as RUNX3 positive and negative, with post-operative specimens assessed by immunohistochemistry. Although the disease-free and 5 year survival rates in control and chemotherapy groups did not significantly differ and there was no significance in RUNX3 negative cases, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy in the chemotherapy group was shown to improve disease-free and 5 year survival rate compared to the control group in RUNX3 positive cases. On Cox regression multivariate analysis, postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy (P<0.01) was an independent prognostic factor for RUNX3 positive cases, suggesting that postoperative TP may be effective as adjuvant chemotherapy for stage IIA esophageal cancer patients with RUNX3 positive lesions.