• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.18
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• pp.8513-8517
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• 2016

Background: GLOBOCAN12 recently reported high cancer mortality in Malaysia suggesting its cancer health services are under-performing. Cancer survival is a key index of the overall effectiveness of health services in the management of patients. This report focuses on Subang Jaya Medical Centre (SJMC) care performance as measured by patient survival outcome for up to 5 years. Materials and Methods: All women with breast cancer treated at SJMC between 2008 and 2012 were enrolled for this observational cohort study. Mortality outcome was ascertained through record linkage with national death register, linkage with hospital registration system and finally through direct contact by phone or home visits. Results: A total of 675 patients treated between 2008 and 2012 were included in the present survival analysis, 65% with early breast cancer, 20% with locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) and 4% with metastatic breast cancer (MBC). The overall relative survival (RS) at 5 years was 88%. RS for stage I was 100% and for stage II, III and IV disease was 95%, 69% and 36% respectively. Conclusions: SJMC is among the first hospitals in Malaysia to embark on routine measurement of the performance of its cancer care services and its results are comparable to any leading centers in developed countries.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.113-122
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• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to develop and evaluate an oral care protocol for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: The participants in this study were cancer patients in Severance hospital in Seoul. A total of 31 patients were assigned to the experimental group, and 29 patients to the control group. Data were collected from August 1 to October 5, 2010. The protocol included definition and symptom of oral mucositis, self-check method of oral status, prophylactic method of oral mucositis (oral care, eating habits, and gargling) and management of oral mucositis. Oral Assessment Guide (OAG) was used as the measurement tool of oral mucositis in this study, Oral Care Performance Scale was used as the measurement tool of oral care performance status. Data were analyzed with a $x^2-test$ and t-test, and repeated measures ANOVA, using SPSS/WIN 18.0 program. Results: Patients in the experimental group receiving the oral care protocol had a significant difference (t=-2.938, p=.005) in the oral care performance compared to the control group. However, there was no significant difference (F=1.255, p=.274) in the oral mucositis status between two groups. Conclusion: This study showed that the oral care protocol could improve oral care performance status for the patients under chemotherapy.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.108-113
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• 2022

Purpose: Proton therapy has been used for optimal cancer treatment by adapting its Bragg-peak characteristics. Recently, a tissue-sparing effect was introduced in ultrahigh-dose-rate (FLASH) radiation; the high-energy transmission proton beam is considered in proton FLASH therapy. In measuring high-energy/ultrahigh-dose-rate proton beam, Faraday Cup is considered as a dose-rate-independent measurement device, which has been widely studied. In this paper, the feasibility of the simply designed Faraday Cup (Poor Man's Faraday Cup, PMFC) for transmission proton FLASH therapy is investigated. Methods: In general, Faraday cups were used in the measurement of charged particles. The simply designed Faraday Cup and Advanced Markus ion chamber were used for high-energy proton beam measurement in this study. Results: The PMFC shows an acceptable performance, including accuracy in general dosimetric tests. The PMFC has a linear response to the dose and dose rate. The proton fluence was decreased with the increase of depth until the depth was near the proton beam range. Regarding secondary particles backscatter from PMFC, the effect was negligible. Conclusions: In this study, we performed an experiment to investigate the feasibility of PMFC for measuring high-energy proton beams. The PMFC can be used as a beam stopper and secondary monitoring system for transmission proton beam FLASH therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1181-1184
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• 2015

Background: Accurate measurement of breast mass size is fundamental for treatment planning. We evaluated performance of BreastLight apparatus in detection breast of masses with this in mind. Materials and Methods: From July 2011 to September 2013, a total of 500 women referred to mammography unit in Yazd, Iran for screening were recruited to this study. Performance of BreastLight in detection breast masses regard their sizeing, measured with clinical breast examination (CBE), mammography and sonography, was assessed. Sonographic and mammography examinations were performed according to breast density among women in two groups of women younger (n=105) and older (n=395) than 30 years. Size correlations were performed using Spearman rho analysis. Differences between mass size as assessed with the different methods (mammography, sonography, and clinical examination) and the BreastLight detection were analyzed using $X^2$-trend test. Results: Performance of the BreastLight in detection of lesions smaller than or equal to 1 cm assessed by CBE, mammography and sonography was 4.4%,7.7% and 12.5% and for masses larger than 4 cm was 65%, 100% and 57.1%, respectively. The performance of BreastLight in detection was significantly increased with larger masses (p<0.001). Conclusions: We conclude that clinical measurement of breast cancer size is as accurate as that from mammography or ultrasound. Accuracy can be improved by the use of a simple formula of both clinical and mammographic measurements.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10905-10909
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• 2015

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of FNA-Tg for detecting lymph node metastases in patients with a history of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Materials and Methods: A total of 58 patients with DTC diagnosis and evidence of single or multiple suspicious cervical lymph nodes were assessed. All underwent total or near-total thyroidectomy with (35 cases) or without (23 cases) radioiodine (RAI) ablation, followed by thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) suppression therapy. A total of 68 lymph nodes were examined by ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration (US-FNA) for both cytological examination and FNA-Tg measurement. Serum Tg and anti-thyroglobulin antibody (TgAb) levels were also measured. Diagnostic performance including sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) of FNAC and FNA-Tg were calculated and compared. The Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to estimate the relationship between FNA-Tg and serum TgAb. Results: The FNA-Tg levels were significantly higher with DTC metastatic lymph nodes (median 927.7 ng/mL, interquartile range 602.9 ng/mL) than non-metastatic lymph nodes (median 0.1 ng/mL, interquartile range 0.4 ng/mL) (p<0.01). Considering 1.0 ng/mL as a threshold value for FNA-Tg, the sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV of FNA-Tg were 95.7%, 95.5%, 95.6%, 97.8% and 91.3%, respectively. The sensitivity and accuracy of the combination of FNAC and FNA-Tg were significantly higher than that of FNAC alone (p<0.05). The diagnostic performance of FNA-Tg was not significantly different between cases with or without RAI ablation, and the serum TgAb levels did not interfere with FNA-Tg measurements. Conclusions: Measurement of FNA-Tg is useful. The combination of FNAC and FNA-Tg is more sensitive and accurate for detecting lymph node metastases in patients with a history of DTC than FNAC alone. Serum TgAbs appear to be irrelevant for measurement of FNA-Tg.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.1091-1092
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• 2008

In this paper, it is described the performance of the breast cancer detection system that is composed of sensing, RF signal and image reconstruction part. Especially in the reconstruction algorithm, the amplitude and the phase of electric fields are used as compare value. So we improved to get the stable values of measured amplitude and phase of electric fields. Through compare images of reconstruction, we confirmed the performance of improved system.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.255-259
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• 2016

Background: Reliable and validated instruments are needed in order to study the quality of life in myeloma patients. This study aimed to translate and explore the psychometric properties of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) myeloma module (QLQ-MY20) in Iranian patients. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and fifteen patients with multiple myeloma (MM) were recruited from Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran. A standard forward-backward translation procedure was implemented. Participating patients were asked to complete the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the QLQ-MY20 three times, at study entry, after two weeks, and again after three months. Data were tested for the range of measurement, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, known group comparison, responsiveness and factor structure. Results: Mean age of the patients was 60.7 years. No floor and ceiling effects were seen for the QLQ-MY20. Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ was greater than 0.80 for all three multi-item scales (ranging from 0.82 to 0.93). All four scales had test-retest reliability of 0.85 or greater. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis that the hypothesized 3-scale measurement model of the QLQ-MY20. Moreover, the Persian version for the QLQ-MY20 differentiated between subgroups of the patients in terms of beta-2 microglobulin, fracture and performance status. The responsiveness of the QLQ-MY20 to change over time was confirmed within 3 months. Conclusions: the results of our study indicate that our Iranian version of the QLQ-MY20 is a feasible, reliable and valid questionnaire for assessing the condition-specific quality of life of patients with MM.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.221-226
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• 1999

Background : Validity of WHO guideline of cancer pain management has been proven and many trials have been done to derive solutions for inadequate cancer pain management. We assessed the severity of pain of terminal cancer patients in a few different ways and patients' characteristics influencing inadequate pain management. Methods : This study was based on 100 adult oncological patients who were confirmed as terminal stage in our institution from 3/1998 to 11/1998. Medical records were reviewed and individual patients were interviewed to obtain demographic information and medical characteristics such as: daily activity performance, metastasis, and drug-adjusted pain severity. Adequacy of prescribed analgesics in accordance with WHO guidelines of pain management and patients' characteristics influencing adequacy of pain management were assessed. Results : Among those cancer patients diagnosed as terminal stage, 85% complained of pain, and 68% of those patients reported pain above moderate severity. 38% of those patients received inadequate pain management resulting in greater severity of pain; the less adequate pain relief was(p<0.01). Sex, age, primary cancer site metastasis, symptoms such as depression and anxiety, and daily activity performance were not significantly related. Conclusions : Despite WHO guidelines for pain management, majority of the terminal cancer patients received inadequate pain management. There is a necessity for education on proper pain evaluation and strict implimentation for WHO guidelines of pain management.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.323-333
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• 2016

Background: Ovarian cancer remains a major worldwide health care issue due to the lack of satisfactory diagnostic methods for early detection of the disease. Prior studies on the role of serum cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) in detecting ovarian cancer presented conflicting results. New tools to improve the accuracy of identifying malignancy are urgently needed. We here aimed to evaluate the diagnostic utility of tissue CA125 and HE4 gene expression in comparison to serum CA125 and HE4 in discriminating benign from malignant pelvic masses. Materials and Methods: One-hundred Egyptian women were enrolled in this study, including 60 epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) patients and 20 benign ovarian tumor patients, as well as 20 apparently healthy women. Preoperative serum levels of CA125 and HE4 were measured by immunoassays. Tissue expression levels of genes encoding CA125 and HE4 were determined by quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The diagnostic performance of CA125 and HE4, measured either as mRNA or protein levels, was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: The serum CA125+HE4 combination and serum HE4, with area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.935 and 0.932, respectively, performed significantly better than serum CA125 (AUC=0.592; P<0.001). Tissue CA125 and HE4 (AUC=1) performed significantly better than serum CA125 (P<0.001), serum HE4 (P=0.016) and the serum CA125+HE4 combination (P=0.018). Conclusions: Measurement of tissue CA125 and HE4 gene expression not only improves discriminatory performance, but also broadens the range of differential diagnostic possibilities in distinguishing EOC from benign ovarian tumors.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.684-694
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• 2020

Objective: The purpose was to review the diagnostic performance of the length of tumor capsular contact (LCC) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting prostate cancer extraprostatic extension (EPE). Materials and Methods: PubMed and EMBASE databases were searched up to March 24, 2019. We included diagnostic accuracy studies that evaluated LCC on MRI for EPE detection using radical prostatectomy specimen histopathology as the reference standard. Quality of studies was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies-2 tool. Sensitivity and specificity were pooled and graphically presented using hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic (HSROC) plots. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses were conducted to explore heterogeneity. Results: Thirteen articles with 2136 patients were included. Study quality was generally good. Summary sensitivity and specificity were 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.73-0.83) and 0.67 (95% CI 0.60-0.74), respectively. Area under the HSROC was 0.81 (95% CI 0.77-0.84). Substantial heterogeneity was present among the included studies according to Cochran's Q-test (p < 0.01) and Higgins I² (62% and 86% for sensitivity and specificity, respectively). In terms of heterogeneity, measurement method (curvilinear vs. linear), prevalence of Gleason score ≥ 7, MRI readers' experience, and endorectal coils were significant factors (p ≤ 0.01), whereas method to determine the LCC threshold, cutoff value, magnet strength, and publication year were not (p = 0.14-0.93). Diagnostic test accuracy estimates were comparable across all assessed MRI sequences. Conclusion: Greater LCC on MRI is associated with a higher probability of prostate cancer EPE. Due to heterogeneity among the studies, further investigation is needed to establish the optimal cutoff value for each clinical setting.