• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7459-7465
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• 2014

Background: A prior study showed blood type A/AB to be associated with an increased risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) compared to subjects with blood type O. However, the relationship between ABO blood groups and prognosis of NPC patients is still questionable. In addition, whether Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection is associated with prognosis of NPC patients with different ABO blood groups is unclear. Materials and Methods: We conducted univariate and multivariable Cox regression analyses based on a consecutive cohort of 1,601 patients to investigate the above issues. Results: There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS) between different ABO blood groups (p=0.629), neither between A vs. non-A blood groups (p=0.895) nor AB vs. non-AB blood group (p=0.309) in univariate analyses and after adjusting for other factors. Interaction tests revealed that high immunoglobulin A against Epstein-Barr virus viral capsid antigen (VcA-IgA) level was associated with a favorable prognosis in male patients with UICC stage II disease who had an A blood type (p=0.008), compared with those with non-A blood type. In addition, male patients with an A blood group with a high blood lymphocyte level showeda tendency towards better survival in UICC stage III (p=0.096). Conclusions: ABO blood group status is not associated with the prognosis of patients with NPC. Additionally, blood group A male NPC patients with high VcA-IgA level or high blood lymphocyte counts might be correlated with a favorable prognosis in UICC stage II or III, respectively.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.14
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• pp.5907-5912
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• 2015

Purpose: To evaluate and update evidence for prognostic effects of kidney-sparing (KS) management and nephroureterectomy (NU) for upper tract urothelial carcinomas. Materials and Methods: Pubmed, Embase and the Cochrane Library were retrieved for the identification of comparative studies of kidney-sparing procedure and nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial carcinoma prior to December 2014. The data were extracted independently by 2 reviewers and the quality of the included studies was assessed. Review Manager 5.3 and STATA 13 were used to perform the meta-analysis. Results: Twenty-three observational studies including 1,587 KS and 3,996 NU were evaluated. The results of the meta-analysis showed that nephroureterectomy had no significant benefit with regard to intravesical recurrence (IRFS), metastasis (MFS), cancer specific survival (CSS) and overall survival (OS) except the total tumor recurrence (RFS) when compared with kidney sparing management. The respectively pooled outcomes were HR 1.36 (0.69-2.68, P=0.38) for IRFS, 1.09 (0.59-2.01, P=0.78) for MFS, 1.17 (0.77-1.79, P=0.47) for CSS, 1.50 (0.90-2.48, P=0.12) for OS and 1.61 (1.03-2.51, P=0.04) for RFS. Conclusions: On the whole, kidney-sparing management had equivalent prognostic effect on upper tract urothelial carcinoma as the standard nephroureterectomy except in tumor recurrence. However, the results should be interpreted with caution for lack of stage and grade stratification and multi-center randomized controlled trials are still needed to verify our results.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2015

Background: The current study examined health-related quality of life (QoL) for patients with esophageal/gastric cardia precursor lesions or cancer before and after treatment to facilitate improved prevention and treatment. Materials and Methods: Patients with different stages of esophageal/gastric cardia lesions completed two QoL questionnaires, EORTC QLQ-C30 and supplemental QLQ-OES 18, before primary treatment, and at 1, 6 and 12 months after treatment. Results: Fifty-nine patients with precursor lesions, 57 with early stage cancer, and 43 with advanced cancer responded to our survey. Patients with precursor lesions or early stage cancer reported better QoL overall than those with advanced cancer before treatment (p<0.01). Global QoL scores before treatment and at 1 month after treatment were $71{\pm}9$ versus $69{\pm}9$ (p>0.01), $71{\pm}8$ versus $61{\pm}11$ (p<0.01), $67{\pm}11$ versus $62{\pm}9$ (p<0.01) for three stages of lesions. At 6 months after treatment, some QoL measures recovered gradually in precursor lesion and early cancer patients, while some continuously deteriorated in advanced cancer patients. At 12 months, all QoL scores were comparable to baseline for patients with precursor lesions (p>0.01), while global QoL, social, pain, and insomnia scores for early stage and advanced cancer were inferior to corresponding baseline levels (difference between means>5, p<0.01). At this time point, compared with patients with early stage cancer, those with advanced cancer showed worse QoL with all function and most symptom measures (p<0.01). Conclusions: Patients with precursor lesions or early stage esophageal/gastric cardia cancer show better QoL than those with advanced cancer. This indicates that screening, early diagnosis and treatment may improve the QoL for esophageal/gastric cardia cancer patients. Target intervention and counseling should be given by health care providers during treatment and follow-up to facilitate QoL improvement.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3239-3245
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• 2014

Background: College students are recommended as the target groups for catch-up human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Systematical exploration of awareness, acceptability, and decision-making factors of HPV vaccination among Chinese college students has been limited. Materials and Methods: A multi-center survey was conducted in mainland China between November 2011 and May 2012. College students aged 18-22 years were stratified by their grade, gender, and major for sampling. Socio-demographic and HPV-related information such as knowledge, perceptions, acceptability, and attitudes were collected through a questionnaire. Results: A total of 3,497 undergraduates completed the questionnaire, among which 1,686 were males. The acceptability of the HPV vaccine was high (70.8%). Undergraduates from high-level universities, at lower grade, or with greater prior knowledge of HPV vaccines showed higher acceptability of HPV vaccination ($p_{trend}$ <0.001). Additionally, undergraduates with vaccination experience outside the National Expanded Program on Immunization (OR=1.29; 95%CI: 1.10-1.51) or fear of HPV-related diseases (OR=2.79; 95%CI: 2.28-3.41) were more willing to accept HPV vaccination. General knowledge of HPV vaccine was low among undergraduates, and safety was a major concern (71.05%). The majority of students wished to pay less than 300RMB for HPV vaccine and chose the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention as the most appropriate venue for vaccination. Conclusions: Although most undergraduates demonstrate positive attitudes towards HPV vaccination, challenges pertaining to introduction exist in China. Corresponding proactive education and governmental subsidy to do so are urgently needed by this age-group population. Suggestions and potential strategies indicated may help shape the future HPV vaccination program in China.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3267-3272
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• 2015

Purpose: To retrospective assess the potential predictors for relapse and create an effective clinical mode for surveillance after orchidectomy in clinical stage I non-seminomatous germ cell testicular tumors (CSI-NSGCTs). Materials and Methods: We analyzed data for CSI-NSGCTs patients with non-lymphatic vascular invasion, %ECa < 50% (percentage of embryonal carcinoma < 50%), and negative or declining tumor markers to their half-life following orchidectomy (defined as low-risk patients); these patients were recruited from four Chinese centers between January 1999 and October 2013. Patients were divided into active surveillance group and retroperitoneal lymph node dissection (RPLND) group according to different therapeutic methods after radical orchidectomy was performed. The disease-free survival rates (DFSR) and overall survival rates (OSR) of the two groups were compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: A total of 121 patients with CSI-NSGCT were collected from four centers, and 81 low-risk patients, including 54 with active surveillance and 27 with RPLND, were enrolled at last. The median follow-up duration was 66.2 (range 6-164) months in the RPLND group and 65.9 (range 8-179) months in the surveillance group. OSR was 100% in active surveillance and RPLND groups, and DFSR was 89.8% and 87.0%, respectively. No significant difference was observed between these two groups ($X_2=0.108$, P=0.743). No significant difference was observed between the patients with a low percentage of embryonal carcinoma (<50%) and those without embryonal carcinoma (87.0% and 91.9%, $X_2=0.154$, P=0.645). No treatment-related complications were observed in the active surveillance group whereas minor and major complications were observed in 13.0% and 26.1% of the RPLND group, respectively. Conclusions: Active surveillance resulted in similar DFSR and OSR compared with RPLND in our trial. Patients with low-risk CSI-NSGCTs could benefit from risk-adapted surveillance after these patients were subjected to radical orchidectomy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.14
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• pp.5773-5779
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• 2014

Background: Since cervical cancer can be prevented and controlled through human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, it is important to train health care providers and provide them with appropriate knowledge. This study aimed to understand the level of HPV related knowledge among medical students and correlates in Southwest China in order to address any potential gap in their knowledge base. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey among medical students in six selected universities across Southwest China based on a pretested questionnaire regarding HPV infection, cervical cancer, and HPV vaccines. Results: We successfully surveyed 1, 878 medical students, of whom 32.1% were males and 67.9% were females. Their mean age was 20.8 (standard deviation: 1.3) years. 91.8% of them were ethnic Han Chinese, and 43.8% were students in clinical medicine. While 76.5% had heard of HPV only 48.8% knew that the prevention of cervical cancer was possible through HPV vaccination. Only 42.9% of the male and 49.2% of the female students correctly answered over 10 out of 22 questions on HPV related knowledge. Female students appeared to know more about HPV and HPV vaccination (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.11-1.75). In addition, the student knowledge improved with the grade (p<0.001). University courses were the most selected source of knowledge about HPV vaccination (66.4%). 83.6% of males and 91.4% of females were willing to have more HPV related education by experts (p<0.001). Only 10.1% of the students acknowledged that people had asked for their advice regarding HPV vaccination. Conclusions: Our survey indicates that medical students from Southwest China have poor knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination, but are willing to receive more relevant information. Targeted education should be incorporated into school courses to inform these future health care providers and ensure success of programs for cervical cancer control and prevention.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.150-162
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• 2023

Objective: To investigate craniofacial differences in individuals with hypodontia and explore the relationship between craniofacial features and the number of congenitally missing teeth. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 261 Chinese patients (males, 124; females, 137; age, 7-24 years), divided into four groups (without hypodontia: no teeth missing, mild: one or two missing teeth, moderate: three to five missing teeth, severe: six or more missing teeth) according to the number of congenitally missing teeth. Differences in cephalometric measurements among the groups were analyzed. Further, multivariate linear regression and smooth curve fitting were performed to evaluate the relationship between the number of congenitally missing teeth and the cephalometric measurements. Results: In patients with hypodontia, SNA, NA-AP, FH-NA, ANB, Wits, ANS-Me/N-Me, GoGn-SN, UL-EP, and LL-EP significantly decreased, while Pog-NB, AB-NP, N-ANS, and S-Go/N-Me significantly increased. In multivariate linear regression analysis, SNB, Pog-NB, and S-Go/N-Me were positively related to the number of congenitally missing teeth. In contrast, NA-AP, FH-NA, ANB, Wits, N-Me, ANS-Me, ANS-Me/N-Me, GoGn-SN, SGn-FH (Y-axis), UL-EP, and LL-EP were negatively related, with absolute values of regression coefficients ranging from 0.147 to 0.357. Further, NA-AP, Pog-NB, S-Go/N-Me, and GoGn-SN showed the same tendency in both sexes, whereas UL-EP and LL-EP were different. Conclusions: Compared with controls, patients with hypodontia tend toward a Class III skeletal relationship, reduced lower anterior face height, flatter mandibular plane, and more retrusive lips. The number of congenitally missing teeth had a greater effect on certain characteristics of craniofacial morphology in males than in females.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.2951-2957
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• 2014

Background: Gastric carcinogenesis is a complicated process that involves environmental and genetic factors like interleukin-4 (IL-4) and IL-8. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in their genes are associated with changed levels of gene expression. Here, we investigated the association between IL4-590 C>T and IL8-251T>A and gastric cancer (GC) risk in Sichuan of Southwestern China. Materials and Methods: We surveyed the research subjects using a self-designed questionnaire with questions on demographic factors and putative risk factors. Approximately 2-5ml of whole blood was collected after field survey to analyze IL4-590 C>T and IL8-251T>A genotypes using MALDI-TOF MS. Results: Our study recruited 308 pairs of GC patients and controls, including 224 (72.7%) men and 84 (27.3%) women in each group. There were 99 cardia and 176 noncardia GC patients in the case group. The case and control groups had an average age of $57.7{\pm}10.6$ ($mean{\pm}SD$) and $57.6{\pm}11.1$ years. GC patients reported a significantly greater proportion of family history of cancer (29.9% vs 10.7%, p<0.01) and drinking (54.6% vs 43.2%, p<0.01) than did controls. Variant genotypes of IL-4-590 C>T and IL-8-251 T>A were not associated with overall GC risk (adjusted OR, 0.89; 95%CI, 0.61-1.28 for CT or CC vs TT; adjusted OR, 1.14; 95%CI, 0.86-1.79 for TA or AA vs TT). Stratification analysis of two SNPs for risk by subsites only found that variant IL-8-251 TA or AA genotype was associated with increased noncardia GC risk (adjusted OR, 2.58; 95%CI, 1.19-5.57). We did not observe interactions between the IL-8-251 T>A genotype and smoking (adjusted OR, 0.38; 95%CI, 0.08-1.79) or drinking (adjusted OR, 0.36; 95%CI, 0.08-1.65) for risk of noncardia GC. Conclusions: Our data indicate no association between the two SNPs of IL-4-590 and IL-8-251 with overall GC risk, while the IL-8-251 TA or AA genotype conferred risk of cardia GC. Our findings contribute to the evidence body for risk of SNPs associated with the development of gastric cancer in this region.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.761-767
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• 2007

This study was conducted to determine the effects of exogenous zinc-metallothionein (Zn-MT) on anti-oxidative function and pork quality. After feeding a corn-soybean meal-based diet for two weeks, 48 pigs ($Duroc{\times}Landrace{\times}Chinese\;Black Pig$) were assigned randomly to four groups. Pigs in Group 1 were maintained under non-stress conditions, whereas pigs in Groups 2, 3 and 4 were aggressively handled for 25 min to produce stress. Pigs in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 received intramuscular administration of saline (control group; CON), 0 (negative control group; NCON), 0.8 (low dose group; LOW), and 1.6 (high dose group; HIGH) mg rabbit liver Zn-MT per kg body weight, respectively. Pigs were slaughtered at 3 and 6 h post-injection. Zn-MT treatment increased (p<0.05) the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione-peroxidase (GSH-PX) while decreasing the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in liver. These responses were greater (p<0.05) at 6 h than at 3 h post Zn-MT injection. Zn-MT treatment increased (p<0.05) hepatic SOD mRNA levels in a time and dose-dependent manner and decreased (p<0.05) serum glutamate-pyruvate transaminase and lactate dehydrogenase activities (indicators of tissue integrity). Zn-MT administration decreased (p<0.05) lactate concentration and increased (p<0.05) pH and water-holding capacity in the longissimus thorasis meat. Collectively, our results indicate that intramuscular administration of Zn-MT to pre-slaughter stressed pigs improved tissue anti-oxidative ability and meat quality.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.9
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• pp.3773-3777
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• 2015

Background: This study aimed to establish a nomogram by combining clinicopathologic factors with overall survival of stage IA-IIB cervical cancer patients after complete resection with pelvic lymphadenectomy. Materials and Methods: This nomogram was based on a retrospective study on 1,563 stage IA-IIB cervical cancer patients who underwent complete resection and lymphadenectomy from 2002 to 2008. The nomogram was constructed based on multivariate analysis using Cox proportional hazard regression. The accuracy and discriminative ability of the nomogram were measured by concordance index (C-index) and calibration curve. Results: Multivariate analysis identified lymph node metastasis (LNM), lymph-vascular space invasion (LVSI), stromal invasion, parametrial invasion, tumor diameter and histology as independent prognostic factors associated with cervical cancer survival. These factors were selected for construction of the nomogram. The C-index of the nomogram was 0.71 (95% CI, 0.65 to 0.77), and calibration of the nomogram showed good agreement between the 5-year predicted survival and the actual observation. Conclusions: We developed a nomogram predicting 5-year overall survival of surgically treated stage IA-IIB cervical cancer patients. More comprehensive information that is provided by this nomogram could provide further insight into personalized therapy selection.