• International journal of thyroidology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.82-87
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• 2018

Skin-related toxicity is one of the most important adverse events from multi-target tyrosine kinase inhibitor (MTKI) to treat radioiodine refractory thyroid cancer. As hand foot skin reaction can limit quality of life and therapeutic effectiveness, it is essential to cope with a variety of severity of skin-related toxicity induced by MTKI. Herein, we will discuss two representative cases of skin-related toxicities which were managed by discontinuation/reduction of therapeutic doses of MTKI and were treated by proper medication in thyroid cancer patients with distant metastasis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.119-123
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• 2016

Thyroid cancer, the most common endocrine neoplasia, consists of four main types of carcinomas: papillary, follicular, and anaplastic, all with thyroid follicular origin, and medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) related to para-follicular cells. Cronic diseases such as diverse cancers may be associated with cachexia, especially at advanced stage. Cancer-induced cachexia is associated with diminished quality of life, functional performance, reduced response to antitumor therapy, and increased morbidity and mortality. Myostatin (Mst) is one of the outstanding molecules in the skeletal muscle loss process in cancer and it may be released by both skeletal muscle and cachexia-inducing tumors. Recently changes in serum levels of Mst have been identified as an important factor of cancer-induced cachexia. The goal of this study was to assessserum Mst levels in MTC patients. In this descriptive and case-control study, 90 participants were selected, comprising 45 MTC patients (20 males, $29{\pm}13.9years$, 25 females, $29{\pm}14.5years$) and 45 control individuals (25 males, $23.1{\pm}11.6years$, 20 females, $31.5{\pm}14.4years$). Serum Mst was determined using an ELISA kit and body mass index (BMI) was calculated by weight and height measurements. The Kolmogorov Simonov test showed a normal distribution for log transformed Mst serum levels in both case and control groups. Geometric means were 5.9 and 8.2 ng/ml respectively, and a significant difference was found according to the independent t-test results (P<0.01). There was also a significant difference mean of Mst between females in control and MTC groups, but not for the males. Pearson correlation test showed no correlation between age and BMI with Mst serum levels. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that Mst serum levels may have a potential ability for early diagnosis of cachexia in MTC patients, especially in females.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.9
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• pp.5249-5255
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• 2013

Background: The purpose of this study was to develop a single measure of cancer burden (SMCB), which can prioritize cancer sites by considering incidence and mortality. Materials and Methods: Incidence data from 1999 to 2010 were obtained from the Korea Central Cancer Registry. Mortality data from 1999 to 2010 were obtained from Statistics Korea. The SMCB was developed by adding incidence and mortality scores. The respective scores were given such that incidence and mortality were classified by ten ranges of equal intervals. Results: According to the SMCB in 2010, stomach cancer ranked $1^{st}$ in males with 20 points, and colorectal cancer was $2^{nd}$ with 11 points. Breast cancer and thyroid cancer were joint $1^{st}$ with 11 points for females. The SMCB for females was less than that for males. The burden of stomach cancer was $1^{st}$ in males from 1999-2010. The incidences of lung cancer and liver cancer decreased, whereas thyroid cancer and colon cancer increased during the period. Breast cancer and thyroid cancer burden showed tendencies to increase in females. Comparison of SMCB with disability-adjusted life years (DALY) and socioeconomic costs in 2005 showed that the top five cancer sites were similar, but there were differences in the size of the cancer burden. Conclusions: The SMCB indicated that the burdens of stomach cancer in males and thyroid and breast cancers in females were large. The single measure showed an advantage, reflected as the equivalent dimensions of incidence and mortality, whereas DALY and economic costs showed tendencies to reflect premature death.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.551-561
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• 2021

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine malignancy. Patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancers, such as papillary and follicular cancers, have a favorable prognosis. However, poorly differentiated thyroid cancers, such as medullary, squamous and anaplastic advanced thyroid cancers, are very aggressive and insensitive to radioiodine treatment. Thus, novel therapies that attenuate metastasis are urgently needed. We found that both PDGFC and PDGFRA are predominantly expressed in thyroid cancers and that the survival rate is significantly lower in patients with high PDGFRA expression. This finding indicates the important role of PDGF/PDGFR signaling in thyroid cancer development. Next, we established a SW579 squamous thyroid cancer cell line with 95.6% PDGFRA gene insertion and deletions (indels) through CRISPR/Cas9. Protein and invasion analysis showed a dramatic loss in EMT marker expression and metastatic ability. Furthermore, xenograft tumors derived from PDGFRA geneedited SW579 cells exhibited a minor decrease in tumor growth. However, distant lung metastasis was completely abolished upon PDGFRA gene editing, implying that PDGFRA could be an effective target to inhibit distant metastasis in advanced thyroid cancers. To translate this finding to the clinic, we used the most relevant multikinase inhibitor, imatinib, to inhibit PDGFRA signaling. The results showed that imatinib significantly suppressed cell growth, induced cell cycle arrest and cell death in SW579 cells. Our developed noninvasive apoptosis detection sensor (NIADS) indicated that imatinib induced cell apoptosis through caspase-3 activation. In conclusion, we believe that developing a specific and selective targeted therapy for PDGFRA would effectively suppress PDGFRA-mediated cancer aggressiveness in advanced thyroid cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.2675-2680
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• 2014

Background: To investigate differentiated thyroid cancer risk factors in natives of French Polynesia is of interest because of the very high incidence of this cancer in the archipelago. Materials and Methods: To assess the role of various potential risk factors of thyroid cancer in the natives of French Polynesia we performed a case-control study. The study included almost all the French Polynesians diagnosed with differentiated thyroid carcinoma between 1981 and 2003 (n=229) and 373 French Polynesian control individuals from the general population without cancer. Results: Thyroid radiation dose received from nuclear fallout before the age of 15, a personal history of neck or/and head medical irradiation, obesity, tallness, large number of children, an artificial menopause, a familial history of thyroid cancer, a low dietary iodine intake, and having a spring as the main source of drinking water were found to be significant risk factors. No roles of smoking habits, alcohol consumption, iodine containing drugs, and exposure to pesticides were evidenced. Conclusions: Except for smoking, differentiated thyroid carcinoma risk factors in natives of French Polynesia are similar to those in other populations. Our finding on the role of having a spring as a drinking water origin is coherent with some other studies and could be due to geological factors.

• Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.73-80
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• 2006

Thyroid disease is highly Prevalent, and many Physicians encounter the Patients with thyroid disease on many occasions. However, many doctors may make an erroneous diagnosis because of its variable clinical manifestation. Thyroid tumor is the most common disease which is detected in more than 30% of general population. Recently, the incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing to be a leading position in female cancer. Therefore, clinical physicians should be familiar with thyroid disease due to its high prevalence and heterogeneous clinical features.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.827-834
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• 2008

Papillary thyroid carcinoma is the most common type of thyroid malignancy. It has better prognosis and rarer incidence of distant metastasis than other types of thyroid malignancy. However, once distant metastasis happens, its result will be bad. They mostly spread to the lungs and bones. and rarely to the brain. We report a patient with a papillary thyroid carcinoma metastasis to the lymph nodes. the ribs. the brain, and the lungs. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy, radioiodine ablation, rib partial resection, and lung wedge resection. However, upon progress of metastasis. the patient insisted on being treated with traditional Korean medical treatment using allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (A-RVS) instead of the conventional treatment including chemotherapy. The size of the tumor partly decreased, and the patient showed no side effects. This case report brings forth the importance of a thorough study in papillary thyroid carcinomas and their metastasis from the traditional Korean medical point of view, along with the long-term effect of allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes (A-RVS).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.4689-4692
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• 2016

Purpose: To study the clinical application value of ultrasound guided thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy and thinprep cytology testing in diagnosis of thyroid disease. Methods: A total of 78 patients with thyroid nodules were enrolled, 34 males and 44 females, aged 33-64 years old with mean age of 47.6 years. All underwent thyroid module fine needle puncture after surgery to assess cell pathology and histopathological features. Results: Sufficient specimens were obtained from all of 78 patients, the cytological results of 73 cases (93.6 %) being consistent with pathological results. While 20 cases (25.6 %) were malignant tumors, 44 (56.4 %) were benign and 9 (11.5 %) were non-tumor lesions. The sensitivity of benign and malignant thyroid nodule by thyroid fine needle puncture was 90.9 %, specificity was 98.1 % and the positive predictive value was 96.3 %. Conclusions: It is demonstrated that ultrasound-guided thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy and thinprep cytology testing have diagnostic value in clinical application for thyroid disease,showing good diagnostic coincidence rates with histopathological examination. They can thus be regarded as safe and effective for preoperative diagnosis and providing an appropriate basis for selection of surgery.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.11
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• pp.6331-6335
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• 2013

Objective:To evaluate the performance of combined quantitative analysis of thyroid blood flow and static imaging data in the differential diagnosis of thyroid nodules. Method: Thyroid blood flow and static imaging were performed in 165 patients with thyroid nodules. Patients were divided into a benign thyroid nodule group (BTN, n=135) and a malignant thyroid nodule group (MTN, n=30) based on the results of post-surgical pathologic examination. Carotid artery thyroid transit times (CTTT), perfusion ratio of thyroid nodule blood/thyroid blood (TNB/TB), and perfusion ratio of thyroid nodule blood/carotid artery blood (TNB/CAB) were measured using thyroid blood flow imaging. The ratios between thyroid nodule and ipsilateral submandibular gland (TN/SG) and thyroid nodule and normal thyroid tissue (TN/T) were measured from thyroid static imaging. The differences between the BTN and MTN groups were compared. Results: 1) CTTT was markedly lower in the MTN group than the BTN group, the difference being statistically significant. 2) TNB/TB and TNB/CAB were both significantly higher in MTN than BTN groups. 3) TN/T was significantly lower in MTN group than BTN group. 4) TN/SG was lower in MTN group than BTN group, but the difference was not statistically significant. 5) Using the combination of CTTT and TN/T, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy were 93.1%, 95.3% and 94.9% respectively for the diagnosis of MTN. Using the combination of CTTT, TNB/TB and TN/T, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy changed to 89.7%, 100%, and 98.1% respectively. 6) Correlation analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between TN/T and TNB/TB (r=-0.384, P=0.036) and TNB/CAB (r=-0.466, P=0.009) in the MTN group. Conclusion: The combination of quantitative markers from thyroid blood flow and thyroid static imaging had high specificity and accuracy in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant thyroid nodules, thus providing an important imaging diagnostic approach.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.177-181
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• 1999

Objective: The clinical significance of mass screening for thyroid carcinoma remains unclear. This study was carried out to clarify the value of mass screening for thyroid carcinoma. Materials and Methods: From December 1997 through July 1998, a total of 1,401 subjects who were enrolled to receive breast screening or follow-up examination for breast cancer were included in this study. Thyroid glands were examined by 10 MHz ultrasonography by one experienced radiologist. The patients with thyroid nodules were classified into 2 groups according to their potential risk of malignancy by ultrasonographic findings(high-risk : hypoechogenicity, microcalcification, irregular margin, taller than wider shape). High-risk patients were advised to undergo fine-needle aspiration biopsy and thyroidectomy. The characteristics of the thyroid cancers detected by ultrasonographic mass screening were compared by those of clinical thyroid cancer excluding male patients during the same period. Results: Thyroid nodules were detected in 353(25.2%) of the subjects and 259(73.4%) were listed in the low-risk group and 94(26.6%) in high-risk group. Among 94 patients in the high-risk group, 43 underwent thyroidectomy and 37 turned out to have thyroid carcinomas. Thus, the detection rates for carcinoma were 2.6% of all subject, 10.5% of the detected nodules, 36.4% of the high risk women and 86.0% of the operated cases. The tumor size was significantly smaller in the mass-screening group than in the clinical cancer group(p<0.05). However, there was no statistical differences between two groups in the prevalences of neck node involvement and extracapsular invasion and the patients distributions by AMES score, MACIS score and TNM stage. Conclusion: Ultrasonogrpahic mass screening may be useful for the early detection of thyroid carcinoma in women who are scheduled to have breast examination.