• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.4867-4871
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• 2012

Cervical cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Although the human papillomavirus (HPV) is considered the major causative agent of cervical cancer, yet the viral infection alone is not sufficient for cancer progression. The etiopathogenesis of cervical cancer is indeed complex; a precise understanding of the complex cellular/molecular mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression and/or prevention of the uterine cervix is therefore essential. Autophagy is emerging as an important biological mechanism in targeting human cancers, including cervical cancer. Furthermore, autophagy, a process of cytoplasm and cellular organelle degradation in lysosomes, has been implicated in homeostasis. Autophagic flux may vary depending on the cell/tissue type, thereby altering cell fate under stress conditions leading to cell survival and/or cell death. Autophagy may in turn govern tumor metastasis and subsequent carcinogenesis. Inflammation is a known hallmark of cancer. Vascular insufficiency in tumors, including cervical tissue, leads to depletion of glucose and/or oxygen perturbing the osmotic mileu causing extracellular acidosis in the tumor microenvironment that may eventually result in autophagy. Thus, targeted manipulation of complex autophagic signaling may prove to be an innovative strategy in identification of clinically relevant biomarkers in cervical cancer in the near future.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.519-524
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• 2006

Segmentation for the region of nucleus in the image of uterine cervical cytodiagnosis is known as the most difficult and important part in the automatic cervical cancer recognition system. In this paper, the region of nucleus is extracted from an image of uterine cervical cytodiagnosis using the fuzzy grey morphology operation. The characteristics of the nucleus are extracted from the analysis of morphemetric features, densitometric features, colormetric features, and textural features based on the detected region of nucleus area. The classification criterion of a nucleus is defined according to the standard categories of the Bethesda system. The enhanced fuzzy ART algorithm is used to the extracted nucleus and the results show that the proposed method is efficient in nucleus recognition and uterine cervical Pap-Smears extraction.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.95-102
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• 1983

The radical treatment of uterine cervical cancer by interacavitary radium or cesium, in combination with teletherapy are well known. Although the result of such treatment should not give rise to complacency, problem of radiation exposure to medical staff had not been resolved. Fortunately, many attempts have been made to reduce this hazard, most of which take the form of afterloading applicators with a suitably shielded radioisotope. In order to avoid hazardous radiation exposure to staffs concerned with brachytherapy, RALS using high intensity source of Co-60, have been employed at Yonsei Cancer Center since May, 1979. It allows rectal and bladder doses to be kept low, while maintaining a satifactory usual dose distribution of the other type of applicators, and the short treatment time allow four or five patients to be treated per hour. It also removes much patient's discomfort and the difficulties of nursing these patients. Since the first introduction in Korea, over seven hundred cases with various stage of uterine cervical cancer have been treated on a radical basis at this center last 4 years. These authors have strongly attracted attention to the results in terms of local control rate, survival s and morbidity compared with those of conventional low dose rate radiotherapy. Retrospective interim analysis of data was preliminarily accomplished through the labored follow-up study of 340 cases treated during initial 2 years and the radiobiologic standpoint of high dose rate intracavitary irradiation will be discussed.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.216-221
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• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of short-course hypofractionated radiotherapy (RT) for the palliation of uterine cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: Seventeen patients with cancer of the uterine cervix, who underwent palliative hypofractionated 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy between January 2002 and June 2012, were retrospectively analyzed. RT was delivered to symptomatic lesions (both the primary mass and/or metastatic regional lymph nodes). The total dose was 20 to 25 Gy (median, 25 Gy) in 5 Gy daily fractions. Results: The median follow-up duration was 12.2 months (range, 4 to 24 months). The median survival time was 7.8 months (range, 4 to 24 months). Vaginal bleeding was the most common presenting symptom followed by pelvic pain (9 patients). The overall response rates were 93.8% and 66.7% for vaginal bleeding control and pelvic pain, respectively. Nine patients did not have any acute side effects and 7 patients showed minor gastrointestinal toxicity. Only 1 patient had grade 3 diarrhea 1 week after completion of treatment, which was successfully treated conservatively. Late complications occurred in 4 patients; however, none of these were of grade 3 or higher severity. Conclusion: Short-course hypofractionated RT was effective and well tolerated as palliative treatment for uterine cervical cancer.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2015

Purpose: To analyze prognostic factors for locoregional recurrence (LRR), distant metastasis (DM), and overall survival (OS) in cervical cancer patients who underwent radical hysterectomy followed by postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in a single institute. Materials and Methods: Clinicopathologic data of 135 patients with clinical stage IA2 to IIA2 cervical cancer treated with PORT from 2001 to 2012 were reviewed, retrospectively. Postoperative parametrial resection margin (PRM) and vaginal resection margin (VRM) were investigated separately. The median treatment dosage of external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) to the whole pelvis was 50.4 Gy in 1.8 Gy/fraction. High-dose-rate vaginal brachytherapy after EBRT was given to patients with positive or close VRMs. Concurrent platinum-based chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was administered to 73 patients with positive resection margin, lymph node (LN) metastasis, or direct extension of parametrium. Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test were used for analyzing LRR, DM, and OS; Cox regression was applied to analyze prognostic factors. Results: The 5-year disease-free survival was 79% and 5-year OS was 91%. In univariate analysis, positive or close PRM, LN metastasis, direct extension of parametrium, lymphovascular invasion, histology of adenocarcinoma, and chemotherapy were related with more DM and poor OS. In multivariate analysis, PRM and LN metastasis remained independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusion: PORT after radical hysterectomy in uterine cervical cancer showed excellent OS in this study. Positive or close PRM after radical hysterectomy in uterine cervical cancer correlates with poor prognosis even with CCRT. Therefore, additional treatments to improve local control such as radiation boosting need to be considered.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.6423-6427
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• 2012

Background: Functional single nucleotide polymorphisms of x-ray repair cross-complementing protein 1 (XRCC1) have been suspected to contribute to uterine cervical cancer risk for a long time; however, most previous case-control studies were small sized and biased. Additionally, recent studies suggested that XRCC1 polymorphisms could be a biomarker of response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted to retrieve eligible studies and odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated to measure association strength. Results: A total of 13 studies were identified and analyzed. We found that the Arg194Trp polymorphism (Trp vs. Arg, OR=1.342, 95% CI: 1.176) was associated with increased risk of cervical cancer, while no significant association was found with Arg280His (His vs. Arg, OR=1.059, 95% CI: 0.863, 1.299) or Arg399Gln (Gln vs. Arg, OR=1.144, 95% CI: 0.938, 1.394). As for response to platinum-based chemotherapy, the variant XRCC1 399Gln allele (Gln vs. Arg, OR=0.345, 95% CI: 0.163, 0.729) was linked with a poor response; however, the Arg194Trp polymorphism (TrpArg vs. ArgArg, OR=6.421, 95% CI: 1.573, 26.205) predicted a good response. Conclusion: The Arg194Trp polymorphism of XRCC1 increases risk of cervical cancer; the variant 399Gln allele predicts poor response to platinum-based chemotherapy, while the Arg194Trp polymorphism indicates a good response.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.225-231
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• 2009

Purpose: This study was conducted to find out how much female university students knew about cervical cancer and Human papillomavirus (HPV) and to develop preventive behavior strategies for HPV infection. Method: In total, 511 students were involved and the assessment was done by means of cervical cancer knowledge questions, HPV knowledge questions and Alert questions. Result: The value regarding the knowledge of cervical cancer and of HPV turned out lower than the median while the degree of HPV prevention behavior intention was approximately mean. The values of the three variables, i.e. the knowledge of cervical cancer, knowledge of HPV, and the degree of preventive behavior intention were higher proportionately, showing a statistically significant difference, as the age of the subjects went higher, as long as they were nursing majors, and were more knowledgeable about HPV (p<.05). The three variables correlated positively (p<.05). Conclusion: Since the lack of knowledge with regard to cervical cancer and HPV is seen to cause a certain portion of female students to be vulnerable to the disease and lead them to a low degree of prevention, it is highly recommended to organize systematic sex education and thereby increase the willingness for preventive actions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.23
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• pp.10053-10056
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• 2015

The human papilloma virus (HPV) is the main aetiological agent for cervical cancer, one of the most frequent cancers observed in women throughout the world. There are effective programs for reducing the incidence of cervical cancer with HPV vaccination. The objective of this study was to discuss the applicability of the HPV vaccination and the role of nurses in prevention of cervical cancer. Use of bivalent and quadrivalent vaccines has been initiated against the types of HPV which are the primary cause of cancer. The quadrivalent HPV vaccination has entered into the routine vaccination schedule in many European countries for use in children and adolescents between 9-15 years of age and for women between 16-26 years of age, whereas it has been proposed that the bivalent vaccination should be given to girls between 9-18 years of age. While cervical cancer is among the cancers that can be prevented, it is essential to continue screening tests while introducing vaccination in a systematic manner for protection. On this subject, among the most important roles of nurses is to implement the screening programs by fulfilling the caregiving, training and consultancy roles for the society and especially, for high risk groups and to increase the awareness of the people.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.327-336
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• 2016

Cervical cancer is the second most prevalent cancer among women, and it arises from cells that originate in the cervix uteri. Among several causes of cervical malignancies, infection with some types of human papilloma virus (HPV) is well known to be the greatest cervical cancer risk factor. Over 150 subtypes of HPV have been identified; more than 40 types of HPVs are typically transmitted through sexual contact and infect the anogenital region and oral cavity. The recently introduced vaccine for HPV infection is effective against certain subtypes of HPV that are associated with cervical cancer, genital warts, and some less common cancers, including oropharyngeal cancer. Two HPV vaccines, quadrivalent and bivalent types that use virus-like particles (VLPs), are currently used in the medical commercial market. While the value of HPV vaccination for oral cancer prevention is still controversial, some evidence supports the possibility that HPV vaccination may be effective in reducing the incidence of oral cancer. This paper reviews HPV-related pathogenesis in cancer, covering HPV structure and classification, trends in worldwide applications of HPV vaccines, effectiveness and complications of HPV vaccination, and the relationship of HPV with oral cancer prevalence.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.158-168
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• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge of cervical cancer, HPV and intention for vaccination in Korean soldiers on active duty. Methods: Participants were 494 army men aged 18 to 26 serving in D area. Knowledge of cervical cancer was measured using the 8 item scale developed by Han et al. (2007) and knowledge of HPV was measured using the 13 item scale developed by Pitts et al. (2009). Collected data were analyzed with t-test, $x^2$-test, and ANOVA. Results: Mean scores for cervical cancer and HPV knowledge were $6.03{\pm}1.52$ and $8.15{\pm}1.75$ respectively and vaccination intention was 75.6%. HPV vaccination intention had significant differences depending on knowledge about cervical cancer (${\chi}^2=12.76$, p=.001), and HPV (${\chi}^2=9.00$, p=.003), education (${\chi}^2=12.24$, p=.002), sexual intercourse after first meeting (${\chi}^2=11.79$, p=.003), and sexual education in the military service (${\chi}^2=12.27$, p=.001). Conclusion: When planning education program for men in military service, it is necessary to consider include content to increase knowledge of cervical cancer and HPV.