• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 1985

This study analyzes fifteen patients who underwent a course of radiation therpy for their vulva cancer in the Department of Radiation Oncology, College of Medicine, Yonsei University from January, 1971 to April, 1985. Four patients had initial surgery for their vulva cancer and were subsequently treated by a course of adjuvant radiation therapy. Eleven patients were given radiation therapy as the initial course of therapy, and one of these was in adjuvant setting before radical surgery. Treatment in each instance was individuilzed and usually consisted of some components of external beam, brachytherapy, and/or electron beam therapy. Primary local control rate in all cases was $53\%(8/15),\;40\%(4/10)$ in the radiation therapy alone group and $80\%(4/5)$ in the radiation therapy combined with surgery group. Treatment failures were noted in 7/10 in the radiation therapy alone group and 2/5 in the radiation therapy combined with surgery group. The most common failure site was primary site failure(vulva).

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.29-34
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• 1986

Thirty-six patients with carcinoma of the tonsillar region treated with radical radiotherapy at Yonsei Cancer Center between Jan. 1971 and Dec. 1980 were retrospectively reviewed. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics and the treatment results. Seventy-five per cent of patients were in advanced stage when they were first seen. Incidence of nodal involvement at the time of initial presentation was $64\%$. Bilateral nodal involvement was found in $19\%$ of cases. Three-year local control rates for T1, T2, T3, and T4 were $88\%,\;46\%,\;25\%,\;and\;11\%$, respectively. Advanced neck nodes were poorly controlled $(N1\;70\%,\;N2\;20\%,\;N3\;12\%)$. The prognosis is mainly affected by the status of the primary and neck nodes Overall three-year local control rate was $42\%$.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7569-7576
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this article is to present preliminary results of simultaneous boost irradiation radiotherapy for locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: Fifty-eight patients who underwent simultaneous boost irradiation radiotherapy for NPC in Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University between September 2004 and December 2009 were eligible. Acute and late toxicities were scored weekly according to the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) acute and late radiation morbidity scoring schemes. An especial focus was on evidence of post-radiation brain injury. Also quality of life was analysed according to the EORTC (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer) recommendations. Discrete variables were compared by ${\chi}^2$ test. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival rates and generate survival curves. Results: A total of 58 patients with a mean follow-up time of 36 months completed clinical trials.Fifty-seven patients (98.3) achieved complete remission in the primary sites and cervical lymph nodes, with only one patient (1.7%) showing partial remission.The most frequently observed acute toxicities during the concurrent chemoradiotherapy were mucositis and leucopenia. Four patients (6.9%) had RTOG grade 3 mucositis, whereas four patients (6.9%) had grade 3 leucopenia. No patient had grade 4 acute toxicity. Three (5.17%) of the patients exhibited injury to the brain on routine MRI examination, with a median observation of 32 months (range, 25-42months). All of them were RTOG grade 0. The 3-year overall, regional-free and distant metastasis-free survival rates were 85%, 94% and 91%, respectively. Conclusion: Simultaneous boost irradiation radiotherapy is feasible in patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The results showed excellent local control and overall survival, with no significant increase the incidence of radiation brain injury or the extent of damage. A larger population of patients and a longer follow-up period are needed to evaluate ultimate tumor control and late toxicity.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.813-818
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• 2014

Aims: To describe our institutional experience with high dose rate (HDR) interstitial brachytherapy (IBT) compared with previously reported results on the low dose rate (LDR) practice for head and neck cancer. Materials and Methods: Eighty-four patients with oral cavity (n=70) or oropharyngeal cancer (n=14) were treated with 192Ir HDR-IBT. Seventy-eight patients had stage I or II tumour. The patients treated with IBT alone (n=42) received 39-42 Gy/10-14 fractions (median=40 Gy/10 fractions). With respect to the combination therapy group (n=42), prescription dose comprised of 12-18 Gy/3-6 fractions (median=15 Gy/5 fractions) for IBT and 40-50 Gy/20-25 fractions (median=50 Gy/25 fractions) for external radiotherapy. Brachytherapy was given as 2 fractions per day 6 hours apart with 4 Gy per fraction for monotherapy and 3 Gy per fraction for combination therapy. Results: Four patients were not evaluable in the analysis of outcome. The primary site relapse rates were 23.8% (10/42) and 68.4% (26/38) in patients treated with IBT alone and combination therapy, respectively (p<0.001). Salvage surgery was performed in 19 patients. The 5-year local control rate was estimated at 62% and the disease-free survival (DFS) rate at 52% for all patients. Local control with respect to T1 and T2 tumours was 84% and 42%, respectively. Conclusions: Our present series on HDR-IBT and the previous report on LDR-IBT for head and neck cancer demonstrated similar DFS rates at 5 years (52%). The rate of regional failure in node-negative patients was <20% in both of our series. HDR-IBT offers similar results to LDR-IBT for head and neck cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-145
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• 1998

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of curative radiotherapy in the management of supralottic cancer. Materials and Methods : Twenty-one Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the supralottis were treated with radiotherapy at Gyeongsang National University Hospital between 1590 and 1994. Median follow-up period was 36 months and 95% were observed for at least 2 years. Results : Actuarial survival rate at 5 years was 39.3% for 21 patients. The 5-rear actuarial survival rate was 75.0% in Stage I, 42.9% in Stage II, 33.3% in Stage III and 28.6% in Stage IV(p=0.54), The 5-year local control rate was 52.0% for 21 patients. The 5-rear local control rate was 75.0% in Stage I, 57.1% in Stage II, 66.7% in Stage III, and 28.6% in Stage IV(p=0.33). Double primary cancer was developed in 3 patients and those were all esophageal cancers. Conclusion : In early stage(Stage I and II) supralottic cancer, curative radiotherapy would be a treatment of choice and surgery would be better to be reserved for salvage of radiotherapy failure. In advanced stage(Stage III and IV), radiotherapy alone is inadequate for curative therapy and combination with surgery should be done in operable patients. This report emphasizes the importance of esophagoscopy and esophagogram at the follow-up of patients with supralottic cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.421-425
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• 2012

Cancer can be a major cause of poverty. This may be due either to the costs of treating and managing the illness as well as its impact upon people's ability to work. This is a concern that particularly affects countries that lack comprehensive social health insurance systems and other types of social safety nets. The ACTION study is a longitudinal cohort study of 10,000 hospital patients with a first time diagnosis of cancer. It aims to assess the impact of cancer on the economic circumstances of patients and their households, patients' quality of life, costs of treatment and survival. Patients will be followed throughout the first year after their cancer diagnosis, with interviews conducted at baseline (after diagnosis), three and 12 months. A cross-section of public and private hospitals as well as cancer centers across eight member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will invite patients to participate. The primary outcome is incidence of financial catastrophe following treatment for cancer, defined as out-of-pocket health care expenditure at 12 months exceeding 30% of household income. Secondary outcomes include illness induced poverty, quality of life, psychological distress, economic hardship, survival and disease status. The findings can raise awareness of the extent of the cancer problem in South East Asia and its breadth in terms of its implications for households and the communities in which cancer patients live, identify priorities for further research and catalyze political action to put in place effective cancer control policies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.1129-1134
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• 2016

Vulva and Vaginal cancers are rare among all gynecological cancers worldwide, including Thailand, and typically affect women in later life. Persistent high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection is one of several important causes of cancer development. In this study, we focused on HPV investigation and specific type distribution from Thai women with abnormality lesions and cancers of the vulva and Vaginal. A total of ninety paraffin-embedded samples of vulva and Vaginal abnormalities and cancer cells with histologically confirmed were collected from Thai women, who were diagnosed in 2003-2012 at the National Cancer Institute, Thailand. HPV DNA was detected and genotyped using polymerase chain reaction and enzyme immunoassay with GP5+/bio 6+ consensus specific primers and digoxigenin-labeled specific oligoprobes, respectively. The human ${\beta}$-globin gene was used as an internal control. Overall results represented that HPV frequency was 16/34 (47.1%) and 8/20 (40.0%) samples of vulva with cancer and abnormal cytology lesions, respectively, while, 3/5 (60%) and 16/33 (51.61%) samples of Vaginal cancer and abnormal cytology lesions, respectively, were HPV DNA positive. Single HPV type and multiple HPV type infection could be observed in both type of cancers and abnormal lesion samples in the different histological categorizes. HPV16 was the most frequent type in all cancers and abnormal cytology lesions, whereas HPV 18 was less frequent and could be detected as co-infection with other high risk HPV types. In addition, low risk types such as HPV 6, 11 and 70 could be detected in Vulva cancer and abnormal cytology lesion samples, whereas, all Vaginal cancer samples exhibited only high risk HPV types; HPV 16 and 31. In conclusion, from our results in this study we suggest that women with persistent high risk HPV type infection are at risk of developing vulva and Vaginal cancers and HPV 16 was observed at the highest frequent both of these, similar to the cervical cancer cases. Although the number of samples in this study was limited and might not represent the overall incidence and prevalence in Thai women, but the baseline data are of interest and suggest further study for primary cancer screening and/or developing the efficiency of prophylactic HPV vaccines in Thailand.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2000

Objectives: To compare the outcomes of treatment with a focus on the effectiveness of the two primary techniques of radiation used for treating parotid gland malignancies. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 70 patients with parotid gland cancer treated between 1981-1997. Radiation was delivered through an ipsilateral field of high energy electron and photon in 37 patients(52.9%). Two wedge paired photon was used to treat in 33 patients(47.1%). The median dose was 60 Gy, typically delivered at 1.8-2.0Gy per fraction. The median follow-up times for surviving patients was 60 months. Results: The overall and disease free 5 year survival rates were 71.6% and 69.5%, respectively. Wedge paired photon and photon-electron treatment disease tree 5 year survival rates were 61.1% and 80.5%, respectively. Overall local failure rate was 18.6%. Local failure rate of wedge paired photon technique was higher than that of mixed beam technique. Late complication rate was 37.1%, but most of them were mild grade. Conclusion: Techniques of radiation were associated with local control. The technique of using an ipsilateral field encompassing the parotid bed and treated with high energy electrons often mixed photons was effective with minimal severe late toxicity. To irradiate deep sited tumors, we consider 3-D conformal treatment plan for well encompassing the target volume.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.68-72
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• 2002

This study was done to implement intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) for the treatment of primary prostate cancer and to compare this technique with conventional treatment methods. A 72-year-old male patient with prostate cancer stage T2a was treated with IMRT delivered with dynamic multi-leaf collimation. Treatment was designed using an inverse planning algorithm, which accepts dose and dose-volume constraints for targets and normal structures. The IMRT plan was compared with a three-dimensional (3D) plan using the same 6 fields technique. Lower normal tissue doses and improved target coverage were achieved using IMRT at current dose levels, and facilitate dose escalation to further enhance locoregional control and organ movement during radiotherapy is an important issue of IMRT in prostate cancer.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.5
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• pp.458-464
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• 2014

Background: The effort to detect lung cancer in ever-earlier stages leads to the identification of an increasing number of patients without preoperative histological diagnosis. The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence and characteristics of benign lesions excised in the context of lung cancer surgery. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 125 surgical procedures. We compared the preoperative clinical or cyto-histological diagnosis with the surgical-pathologic diagnosis in order to identify the percentage of benign lesions excised. Furthermore, other parameters were analyzed, such as age, sex, tumor size, the presence of calcification, and the type of surgery according to subgroup. Results: Of the 125 patients included in the study, 63 (50.4%) had a preoperative histological diagnosis of malignancy, corresponding to 56 cases (44.8%) of primary lung cancer and 7 cases (5.6%) of metastases. The 62 (49.6%) remaining cases without preoperative histological diagnosis were divided among 50 (40%) solitary pulmonary nodules and 12 (9.6%) pulmonary masses. According to the postoperative pathologic examination, we identified 12 (9.6%) benign lesions excised during lung cancer surgery. There were no statistically significant differences by subgroups with respect to age or sex. We found statistically significant evidence regarding the size and wedge resection as the surgical technique of choice for this type of benign lesion. Conclusion: Our study obtained results similar to those published by other groups regarding the resection of benign lesions in lung cancer surgery. This percentage could be a quality management index of indeterminate lung lesions.