• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 2013

Background The aim of this investigation was to systematically review the current literature to provide the best data for indications, outcomes, survival, and complication rates of pedicled propeller perforator flaps for upper body defects. Methods A comprehensive literature review for articles published from January 1991 to December 2011 was performed using the PubMed, Medline, and Cochrane Databases. Articles without available full-text, single case reports or papers with excessive missing data were excluded. Papers reporting pedicle-perforator (propeller) flaps used for lower extremity reconstruction were excluded from meta-analysis. Results From the initial 1,736 studies our search yielded, 343 studies qualified for the second stage of selection. Of 117 full-text reports screened, 41 studies, met the definitive inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of the selected 41 articles, 26 were case series, original papers or retrospective reviews and were included, whereas 15 were case report papers and therefore were excluded. Two hundred ninety-five propeller flaps were reported to have been used in a total of 283 patients. Indications include repair of trauma-induced injuries, post-trauma revision surgery, cancer resection, chronic infection, pressure sores, and chronic ulcers with a major complication rate (3.3%) comparable to that of free flaps. No specific exclusion criteria for the procedure were presented in the studies reviewed. Conclusions Pedicled propeller flaps are a versatile and safe reconstructive option that are easy and quick to raise and that provide unlimited clinical solutions because of the theoretical possibility of harvesting them based on any perforator chosen among those classified in the body.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.238-243
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• 2013

Background Primary malignant tumors of the hand, although unusual, may present varied and often complex clinical problems. The main treatment modality of skin cancer of the hand has changed. Methods We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 43 patients who underwent surgery for malignant skin tumors of the hand during an 18-year period, from September 1994 to February 2012. The characteristics of the tumor, methods of reconstruction, and long-term results were reviewed. Results We had 43 patients with 27 melanomas, 14 squamous cell carcinomas, and 2 sarcomas. Their ages ranged from 19 to 74 years (mean, $53.4{\pm}14.5$ years), from 46 to 79 years (mean, $59.7{\pm}9.6$ years), and from 15 to 43 years (mean, $29{\pm}19.8$ years), respectively. Thirty-four cases occurred on the fingertip (16 of those cases on the thumb), 5 cases occurred on the palm, and 4 cases on the dorsum of the hand. Amputation was most frequently used in early cases, but recently, tissue-sparing excision has been performed frequently. The incidence of local recurrence was 3 cases and distant metastasis was 1 case, and the 5-year survival rate was 100%, except in 4 cases due to follow-up loss. Conclusions The principles of treatment-to be curative and to preserve function and appearance-are important points. "Preservative surgery" preserves function and cosmesis of the involved finger or hand dorsum or palm. Preservative surgery not only emphasizes less resection and surgery of a smaller scale, but also optimal reconstruction of the soft tissue defect of the digit.

• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.901-910
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• 2008

Incidence of Plasmodium vivax malaria in South Korea have been reemerged from mid-1990 and infected around 1600 patients annually recent years. The authors calculated the distribution of malaria infection and prevalence in South Korea using incidence (2001-2006) and incubation period distributions by a back-calculation formula and the least squares estimation method. The estimated infection has a normal distribution with a mean 207 and a standard deviation 30.7 days. In addition, the authors found the estimated daily average prevalence is 628.8 patients.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.65-70
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• 1987

하인두암은 거의 대부분 이상동(Pyriform Sinus) 에서 발생하며 상당한 정도 진행 시까지 별다른 증상을 나타내지 않는다. 저자들은 1966년부터 1985년까지 만 20년간 하인두에서 발생된 암환자 63명을 중심으로 임상 관찰 및 문헌고찰과 함께 발표하는바이다. 원발병소로는 전체 중 58명에서 이상동, 하인두벽(hypopharyngeal wall) 3명, Postcricoid hypopharynx 와 pharyngopalatine fold 에서 각각 1명씩의 발생빈도를 보였다. 저자들은 설저(base of tongue)암, supraglottic Ca. 및 경부 식도(cervical esophagus)암 경우는 모두 제외시켰다. 임상증상으로서는 경부 종괴(lump)가 33 예로써 가장 현저했으며 또한 첫증상으로써 연하곤란(dysphagia) 또는 sore throat를 나타낸 경우는 32 예 이었다. 그 외에 hoarseness 가 20 예, bloody sputum 4 례 및 호흡곤란 2 예의 순이었다. 내원까지의 증상기간은 대부분 $4{\sim}6$ 개월 이었다. 흡연관계는 1일 1값 이상의 중등도 흡연 경우는 전체의 58% 이었으며 흡연 사실이 있었던 경우는 전체의 88% 이었다. 연령별 발생빈도는 50대$\sim$60대에서 48명으로서 현저히 높았다. 완치 목적의 수술적 치료는 24명에서 시행하였으며 치료 거절은 16명이었다. 치료 거절하였던 환자들 중 81% 가 임상적 제 4 병기였으며 보조적 치료 요법을 실시한 환자들의 78% 에서 제 4 병기였다. 또한 완치 목적의 치료 실시 경우의 67% 에서 제 4 병기였다. 수술요법은 일반적으로 "후두 인두 적출술 및 양측 경정맥 임파군 곽청술"(laryngopharyngectomy with bilateral jugular dissection) 또는 후두 인두 적출술 및 동측의 표준 광범위 경부 곽청술(standard radical neck dissection) 과 반대측의 경정맥 임파군 곽청술을 시행하였다. 3 년 이내와 3 년 이상무병 상태(free of disease) 경우가 각각 4명씩이었다. 마지막 예후 추적 조사시까지 무병 상태였던 환자를 포함하여 예후 추적 조사기간 중 추적 실패 경우는 7명이었다. 확정된 3 년 생존율(determinate 3-year survival rate) 은 31% 이었다. 수술 사망이 1명 있었으며 재발경우는 9 명이었다. 재발부위로는 원발병소 재발이 7명, 경부 재발 1명 및 원격전이가 1명 이었으며, 저자들은 이에 대한 실패 원인을 규명코져 하였다.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2016

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha ($eIF2{\alpha}$), which is a component of the eukaryotic translation initiation complex, functions in cell death and survival under various stress conditions. In this study, we investigated the roles of $eIF2{\alpha}$ phosphorylation in cell death using the breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MCF-7/ADR. MCF-7/ADR cells are MCF-7-driven cells that have acquired resistance to doxorubicin (ADR). Treatment of doxorubicin reduced the viability and induced apoptosis in both cell lines, although susceptibility to the drug was very different. Treatment with doxorubicin induced phosphorylation of $eIF2{\alpha}$ in MCF-7 cells but not in MCF-7/ADR cells. Basal expression levels of Growth Arrest and DNA Damage 34 (GADD34), a regulator of $eIF2{\alpha}$, were higher in MCF-7/ADR cells compared to MCF-7 cells. Indeed, treatment with salubrinal, an inhibitor of GADD34, resulted in the upregulation of $eIF2{\alpha}$ phosphorylation and enhanced doxorubicin-mediated apoptosis in MCF-7/ADR cells. However, MCF-7 cells did not show such synergic effects. These results suggest that dephosphorylation of $eIF2{\alpha}$ by GADD34 plays an important role in doxorubicin resistance in MCF-7/ADR cells.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

Angelica polymorpha Maxim root extract (APRE) is a popular herbal medicine used for treating stomachache, abdominal pain, stomach ulcers, and rheumatism; however the effect of APRE on cancer cells has not yet been explored. Here, we examined APRE cytotoxicity seen on target neuroblastoma cells (NB) using cell viability assays, DAPI visualization of fragmented DNA, and Western blotting analysis of candidate signaling pathways involved in proliferation and apoptosis. We demonstrated that APRE reduced cell viability in NB to a greater extent than in fibroblast cells. In addition, we found that APRE could inhibit the three classes of MAPK proteins and could also down-regulate the PI3K/AKT/GSK-$3{\beta}$ activity all being relevant for proliferation and survival. APRE could also up-regulate Bax expression and down-regulate Bcl-2 and Mcl-1. With APRE treatment, depolarization of mitochondria membrane potential and activation of caspase-3 was demonstrated in the SH-SY5Y cells. We could not found increased activity of death receptor and caspase-8 as markers of the extrinsic apoptosis pathway for the APRE treated cells. In presence of a caspase-3 siRNA and a pan-caspase inhibitor, APRE could not reduce the viability of NB cells to a significant degree. So we predicted that with APRE, the intrinsic pathway was solely responsible for inducing apoptosis as we also showed that the non-caspase autophagy pathway or ER stress-ROS mediated pathways were not involved. These findings demonstrate that an intrinsic mitochondria-mediated apoptosis pathway mediates the apoptotic effects of APRE on SH-SY5Y cells, and that APRE shows promise as a novel agent for neuroblastoma therapy.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.416-425
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• 2015

NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a basic leucine zipper transcription factor, has recently received a great deal of attention as an important molecule that enhances antioxidative defenses and induces resistance to chemotherapy or radiotherapy. In this study, we investigated the apoptosis-inducing and Nrf2- upregulating effects of quercetin on malignant mesothelioma (MM) MSTO-211H and H2452 cells. Quercetin treatment inhibited cell growth and led to upregulation of Nrf2 at both the mRNA and protein levels without altering the ubiquitination and extending the half-life of the Nrf2 protein. Following treatment with quercetin, analyses of the nuclear level of Nrf2, Nrf2 antioxidant response element-binding assay, Nrf2 promoter-luc assay, and RT-PCR toward the Nrf2-regulated gene, heme oxygenase-1, demonstrated that the induced Nrf2 is transcriptionally active. Knockdown of Nrf2 expression with siRNA enhanced cytotoxicity due to the induction of apoptosis, as evidenced by an increase in the level of proapoptotic Bax, a decrease in the level of antiapoptotic Bcl-2 with enhanced cleavage of caspase-3 and PARP proteins, the appearance of a sub-$G_0/G_1$ peak in the flow cytometric assay, and increased percentage of apoptotic propensities in the annexin V binding assay. Effective reversal of apoptosis was observed following pretreatment with the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VAD. Moreover, Nrf2 knockdown exhibited increased sensitivity to the anticancer drug, cisplatin, presumably by potentiating the oxidative stress induced by cisplatin. Collectively, our data demonstrate the importance of Nrf2 in cytoprotection, survival, and drug resistance with implications for the potential significance of targeting Nrf2 as a promising strategy for overcoming resistance to chemotherapeutics in MM.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.175-181
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• 2018

Carbon monoxide (CO) is well-known as toxic gas and intrinsic signaling molecule such as neurotransmitter and blood vessel relaxant. Recently, it has been reported that low concentration of CO exerts therapeutic actions under various pathological conditions including liver failure, heart failure, gastric cancer, and cardiac arrest. However, little has been known about the effect of CO in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease (PD). To test whether CO could exert a beneficial action during oxidative cell death in PD, we examined the effects of CO on 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)-induced cell death in C6 glioma cells. Treatment of CO-releasing molecule-2 (CORM-2) significantly attenuated 6-OHDA-induced apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. CORM-2 treatment decreased Bax/Bcl2 ratio and caspase-3 activity, which had been increased by 6-OHDA. CORM-2 increased phosphorylation of NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) which is a transcription factor regulating antioxidant proteins. Subsequently, CORM-2 also increased the expression of heme oxygenase-1 and superoxide dismutases (CuZnSOD and MnSOD), which were antioxidant enzymes regulated by Nrf2. These results suggest that CO released by CORM-2 treatment may have protective effects against oxidative cell death in PD through the potentiation of cellular adaptive survival responses via activation of Nrf2 and upregulation of heme oxygenase-1, leading to increasing antioxidant defense capacity.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.664-668
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• 1996

Malignant mesothelioma has been considered a uniformly fatal disease associated with a median survival of 4 to 18 months. However, a multimodality approach toward therapy may Increase the length of palliation when a maximal resection of tumor is achieved. Recently we have experienced a 49 years-old male patient who had d ffuse malignant mesothelioma. The patient has complained of blood-tinged sputum and right chest pain for several months. Chest x-rays and CT scans showed compact haziness in the right entire thorax with massive bloody elusion, diffuse pleural thickening and collapsed underlying lung. We performed extrapleural pneumonectomy, and postoperative chemotherapy with cisplatin and mltomycin (Memorial Sloan-fettering Cancer Center method) was done. We are observing him for months now and there is no evidence of local recurrence.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.31-34
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• 2009

Purpose: Merkel cell carcinoma, also called neuroendocrine carcinoma, is a very rare type of skin cancer that develops as Merkel cells grow out of control. Merkel cell carcinoma is reported below 1% of whole skin neoplasms in the United States and is known that the 2-year survival rate is about 50~70%. The principles of treatment are wide excision of primary lesion with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy that decrease the local recurrent rate. There has been no report of reconstruction with free flap after resection of Merkel cell carcinoma in Korea. Methods: We reconstructed the skin and soft tissue defect after wide excision of Merkel cell carcinoma with anterolateral thigh perforator free flap in two cases. No distant metastasis was found at the preoperative imaging work-up. In one case, preoperative chemotherapy was performed and the size of lesion was decreased. Results: There were no recurrence and significant complications. Functionally and aesthetically satisfactory results were obtained with reconstruction. Conclusion: Wide excision and reconstruction with anterolateral thigh perforator free flap for Merkel cell carcinoma patient is the first report in Korea. We regard this method as the treatment of choice in Merkel cell carcinoma.