• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.92-99
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• 1996

The primary treatment of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma is at this time, mainly based on radiotherapy. In most studies for patient treated with radiotherapy, overall 5-year survival rate is in the range of 35 to 55%. Obviously, these therapeutic results may be influenced by various factors such as clinical stages, histopathological types and radiation techniques, etc. Though the radiotherapy had a good therapeutic result, there is a limitation to apply the radiotherapy only in cases of the advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Anatomical complexity of the skull base and difficulties in complete surgical intervention were the trouble of the surgery but in the case of radiation failure, there is no adequate choice of other curative modalities. So it is appropriate to investigate whether surgical resection may improve the outcome of treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The purpose of this papaer is to report our surgical experience of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma, then to take into consideration of the new model of treatment strategy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.200-209
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• 1993

The primary treatment of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma is, at this time, mainly based on radiotherapy. In most studies for patient treated with radiotherapy, overall 5-year survival rate is in the range of 35 to 55%. Obviously, these therapeutic results may be influenced by various factors such as clinical stages, histopathological types and radiation techniques, etc. Though the radiotherapy had a good therapeutic result, there is a limitation to apply the radiotherapy only in cases of the advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Anatomical complexity of the skull base and difficulties in complete surgical intervention were the trouble of the surgery but in the case of radiation failure, there is no adequate cholice of other curative modalities. So it is appropriate to investigate whether surgical resection may improve the results of treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The purpose of this paper is to report the surgical experience with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, then to take into consideration of the new model of treatment strategy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.763-768
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• 2018

Although the development of radiation therapy techniques has made the treatment more precise, exposure by radiation is unavoidable beyond the treatment site. In this study, we wanted to evaluate the absorbed dose according to the thickness of the bolus on the opposite side of the treatment in radiation treatment for breast cancer and to analyze the effect of dose reduction. An experiment was conducted on Rando phantom using VMAT treatment methods. Five points of A, B, C, D, and E were selected for the breast opposite the treatment, and when the dosimeters of 5, 10, 15, and 20 mm were used. The highest absorbed dose at point D closest to the treatment point was measured and lowest at point B furthest from the treatment point. The mean absorbed dose was 8.61 cGy When the bolus is not used and 8.10, 7.94, 8.06, and 8.10 cGy Depending on the thickness of the bolus. In this study, bolus was intended to be used to analyze the dose-reducing effects of breasts on the other side of the treatment. The results of the study showed the effect of dose reduction and the appropriate bolus thickness should be set up to reduce the dose in normal tissues.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.9-16
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• 2004

The intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is believed to be on of the best treatment techniques for the goal of radiation therapy: to irradiate fatal dose to tumor region while minimizing dose to critical organs. It is essential to have comprehensive quality assurance program to assure the precision and the accuracy of the treatment due to the characteristic of the IMRT. The quality assurance technique for the Corvus treatment planning system was developed and its effectiveness was tested with the treatment planning of H&N region. Acrylic phantom, film and ionization chamber were used for this study, the discrepancy between the treatment planning and the film measurements showed 0.03 cm and 0.28 cm for the 90% of isodose line in each directions. Dose measurements showed 1% and 1.2% differences for ionization chamber and TLD, respectively. This concluded that the system can be used for clinic.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.325-331
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• 2017

Purpose: There is controversy regarding the cosmetic outcome after accelerated partial breast radiation (APBR). We report the cosmetic outcome from a single-arm prospective clinical trial of APBR delivered using intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) in elderly patients with stage I breast cancer (BC), using a novel fractionation schedule. Materials and Methods: Forty-two patients aged ${\geq}65$, with Stage I BC who underwent breast-conserving surgery were enrolled in a phase I/II study evaluating a 2-week course of APBR. Thirty eligible patients received 40 Gy in 4 Gy daily fractions. Cosmetic outcome was assessed subjectively by physician/patient and objectively by using a computer program (BCCT.core) before APBR, during, and after completion of the treatment. Results: The median age was 72 years, the median tumor size was 0.8 cm, and the median follow-up was 50.5 months. The 5-year locoregional control in this cohort was 97% and overall survival 87%. At the last follow-up, patients and physicians rated cosmesis as 'excellent' or 'good' in 100% and 91 %, respectively. The BCCT.core program scored the cosmesis as 'excellent' or 'good' in 87% of the patients at baseline and 81% at the last follow-up. The median $V_{50}$ (20 Gy) of the whole breast volume (WBV) was 37.2%, with the median WBV $V_{100}$ (40 Gy) of 10.9%. Conclusion: An excellent rate of tumor control was observed in this prospective trial. By using multiple assessment techniques, we are showing acceptable cosmesis, supporting the use of IMRT planned APBR with daily schedule in elderly patients with early stage BC.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 2008

Purpose: Various treatment techniques have been attempted for the radiotherapy of anal cancer because of acute side effects such as perineal skin reactions. This study was performed to investigate an optimal radiotherapy technique in anal cancer. Materials and Methods: The study subjects included 35 patients who underwent definitive concurrent chemoradiotherapy for anal cancer in Yonsei Cancer Center between 1990 and 2007. The patients' clinical data, including irradiation technique, were reviewed retrospectively. The primary lesion, regional lymph nodes, and both inguinal lymph nodes were irradiated by $41.4{\sim}45\;Gy$ with a conventional schedule, followed by a boost does to the primary lesion or metastatic lymph nodes. The radiotherapy technique was classified into four categories according to the irradiation field and number of portals. In turn, acute skin reactions associated with the treatment interruption period were investigated according to each of the four techniques. Results: 28 patients (80.0%) had grade 2 radiation dermatitis or greater, whereas 10 patients (28.6%) had grade 3 radiation dermatitis or greater during radiotherapy. Radiation dermatitis and the treatment interruption period were relatively lower in patients belonging to the posterior-right-left 3 x-ray field with inguinal electron boost and in patients belonging to electron thunderbird techniques. The interruption periods were $8.2{\pm}10.2$ and $5.7{\pm}7.7$ for the two technique groups, respectively. Twenty-seven patients (77.1%) went into complete remission at 1 month after radiotherapy and the overall 5 year survival rates were 67.7%. Conclusion: Field size and beam arrangement can affect patients' compliance in anal cancer radiotherapy, whereas a small x-ray field for the perineum seems to be helpful by decreasing severe radiation dermatitis.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.125-134
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• 2014

This study is to provide basic information regarding photoneutron doses in terms of radiation treatment techniques and the number of portals in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) by measuring the photoneutron doses. Subjects of experiment were 10 patients who were diagnosed with prostate cancer and have received radiation treatment for 5 months from September 2013 to January 2014 in the department of radiation oncology in S hospital located in Seoul. Thus, radiation treatment plans were created for 3-Dimensional Conformal Radiotherapy (3D-CRT), Volumetric-Modulated Arc Radiotherapy (VMAT), IMRT 5, 7, and 9 portals. The average difference of photoneutron dose was compared through descriptive statistics and variance analysis, and analyzed influence factors through correlation analysis and regression analysis. In summarized results, 3D-CRT showed the lowest average photoneutron dose, while IMRT caused the highest dose with statistically significance (p <.01). The photoneutron dose by number of portals of IMRT was $4.37{\pm}1.08mSv$ in average and statistically showed very significant difference among the number of portals (p <.01). Number of portals and photoneutron dose are shown that the correlation coefficient is 0.570, highly statistically significant positive correlation (p <.01). As a result of the linear regression analysis of number of portals and photoneutron dose, it showed that photoneutron dose significantly increased by 0.373 times in average as the number of portals increased by 1 stage. In conclusion, this study can be expected to be used as a quantitative basic data to select an appropriate IMRT plans regarding photoneutron dose in radiation treatment for prostate cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.236-242
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• 2011

Purpose: To compare photon thunderbird with deep match (technique 1) with 3-field technique with electron inguinal boost (technique 2) in acute skin toxicity, toxicity-related treatment breaks and patterns of failure in elective inguinal radiation therapy (RT) for curative chemoradiation in anal cancer. Materials and Methods: Seventeen patients treated between January 2008 and September 2010 without evidence of inguinal and distant metastasis were retrospectively reviewed. In 9 patients with technique 1, dose to inguinal and whole pelvis area was 41.4 to 45 Gy and total dose was 59.4 Gy. In 8 patients with technique 2, doses to inguinal, whole pelvis, gross tumor were 36 to 41.4 Gy, 36 to 41.4 Gy, and 45 to 54 Gy, respectively. The median follow-up period was 27.6 and 14.8 months in group technique 1 and 2, respectively. Results: The incidences of grade 3 radiation dermatitis were 56% (5 patients) and 50% (4 patients), dose ranges grade 3 dermatitis appeared were 41.4 to 50.4 Gy and 45 to 54 Gy in group technique 1 and 2, respectively (p = 0.819). The areas affected by grade 3 dermatitis in 2 groups were as follow: perianal and perineal areas in 40% and 25%, perianal and inguinal areas in 0% and 50%, and perianal area only in 60% and 25%, respectively (p = 0.196). No inguinal failure has been observed. Conclusion: Photon thunderbird with deep match technique and 3-field technique with electron inguinal boost showed similar incidence of radiation dermatitis. However, photon thunderbird with deep match seems to increase the possibility of severe perineal dermatitis.

• Yonsei Medical Journal
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• v.59 no.9
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• pp.1049-1056
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• 2018

Purpose: Local recurrence is the most common cause of failure in retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma patients after surgical resection. Postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) is infrequently used due to its high complication risk. We investigated the efficacy of PORT using modern techniques in patients with retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma. Materials and Methods: Eighty patients, who underwent surgical resection for non-metastatic primary retroperitoneal soft tissue sarcoma at the Yonsei Cancer Center between 1994 and 2015, were retrospectively reviewed. Thirty-eight (47.5%) patients received PORT: three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy in 29 and intensity-modulated radiotherapy in nine patients. Local failure-free survival (LFFS), overall survival (OS), and RT-related toxicities were investigated. Results: Median follow-up was 37.1 months (range, 5.8-207.9). Treatment failure occurred in 47 (58.8%) patients including local recurrence in 33 (41.3%), distant metastasis in eight (10%), and both occurred in six (7.5%) patients. The 2-year and 5-year LFFS rates were 63.9% and 47.9%, respectively. The 2-year and 5-year OS rates were 87.5% and 71.1%. The 5-year LFFS rate was significantly higher in PORT group than in no-PORT group (74.2% vs. 24.3%, p<0.001). In multivariate analysis, PORT was the only independent prognostic factor for LFFS. However, there was no significant correlation between RT dose and LFFS. OS showed no significant difference between the two groups. Grade ${\leq}2$ acute toxicities were observed in 63% of patients, but no acute toxicity ${\geq}$ grade 3 was observed. Conclusion: PORT using modern technique markedly reduced local recurrence in retroperitoneal sarcoma patients, with low toxicity. The optimal RT technique, in terms of RT dose and target volume, should be further investigated.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.354-360
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• 2005

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) hydrogels were prepared by the irradiation and heating. Irradiation and heating processes were carried out to improve the heat resistance of PVA hydrogels at high temperature. The physical properties such as gel content, degree of swelling and gel strength for the synthesized hydrogels were examined. The structure variations were investigated using the following techniques: differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Gel content and gel strength of the hydrogels were higher when the two steps of irradiation followed by heat treatment were used rather than only with the irradiation. The hydrogels prepared by the irradiation and the two steps had good heat resistance at high temperature.