• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3353-3358
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• 2014

Breast cancer is the most common in women worldwide, with some 5-10% of all cases due to inherited mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Obesity, hormone therapy and use of alcohol are possible causes and over-expression of leptin in adipose tissue may also play a role. Normally surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy allow a good prognosis where screening measures are in place. New hope in treatment measures include adjuvant therapy, neoadjuvant therapy, and introduction of mono-clonal antibodies and enzyme inhibitors.

• 대한핵의학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.9-13
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• 2002

Clinical application of positron emission tomography (PET) is rapidly increasing for the detection and staging of cancer at whole-body studios performed with 2-[fluorine-18]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (FDG). Although many cancers can be detected by FDG-PET, there has been limited clinical experience with FDG-PET for the defection of gynecological cancers including malignancies in uterus and ovary. FDG-PET can show foci of metastatic disease that may not be apparent at conventional anatomic imaging and can and in the characterization of indeterminate soft-tissue masses. Most gynecological cancers need to surgical management. FDG-PET can improve the selection of patients for surgical treatment and thereby reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with inappropriate surgery. FDG-PET is also useful for the early detection of recurrence and the monitoring of therapeutic effect. In this review, I discuss the clinical feasibility and limitations of this imaging modality in patients with gynecological cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.3521-3526
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• 2016

Digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) as a breast cancer screening modality, through generation of three-dimensional images during standard mammographic compression, can reduce interference from breast tissue overlap, increasing conspicuity of invasive cancers while concomitantly reducing false-positive results. We here conducted a systematic review on previous studies to synthesize the evidence of DBT efficacy, eventually 18 articles being included in the analysis. The most commonly emerging topics were advantages of DBT screening tool in terms of recall rates, cancer detection rates and cost-effectiveness, preventing unnecessary burdens on women and the healthcare system. Further research is needed to evaluate the potential impact of DBT on longer-term outcomes, such as interval cancer rates and mortality, to better understand the broader clinical and economic implications of its adoption.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.95-104
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• 2015

The development of cancer has been an extensively researched topic over the past few decades. Although great strides have been made in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, there is still much to be learned about cancer's micro-environmental mechanisms that contribute to cancer formation and aggressiveness. Macrophages, lymphocytes which originate from monocytes, are involved in the inflammatory response and often dispersed to areas of infection to fight harmful antigens and mutated cells in tissues. Macrophages have a plethora of roles including tissue development and repair, immune system functions, and inflammation. We discuss various pathways by which macrophages get activated, various approaches that can regulate the function of macrophages, and how these approaches can be helpful in developing new cancer therapies.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.111-114
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• 2016

Herein, we report a 39-year-old female patient presenting with gastric cancer and tuberculous peritonitis. The differential diagnosis between advanced gastric cancer with peritoneal carcinomatosis and early gastric cancer with peritoneal tuberculosis (TB), and the treatment of these two diseases, were challenging in this case. Physicians should have a high index of suspicion for peritoneal TB if the patient has a history of this disease, especially in areas with a high incidence of TB, such as South Korea. An early diagnosis is critical for patient management and prognosis. A surgical approach including tissue biopsy or laparoscopic exploration is recommended to confirm the diagnosis.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.3.1-3.12
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• 2021

Functional interpretation of noncoding genetic variants associated with complex human diseases and traits remains a challenge. In an effort to enhance our understanding of common germline variants associated with lung cancer, we categorize regulatory elements based on eight major cell types of human lung tissue. Our results show that 21.68% of lung cancer-associated risk variants are linked to noncoding regulatory elements, nearly half of which are cell type-specific. Integrative analysis of high-resolution long-range chromatin interactome maps and single-cell RNA-sequencing data of lung tumors uncovers number of putative target genes of these variants and functionally relevant cell types, which display a potential biological link to cancer susceptibility. The present study greatly expands the scope of functional annotation of lung cancer-associated genetic risk factors and dictates probable cell types involved in lung carcinogenesis.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.344-355
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• 2021

Mucins are high molecular-weight epithelial glycoproteins and are implicated in many physiological processes, including epithelial cell protection, signaling transduction, and tissue homeostasis. Abnormality of mucus expression and structure contributes to biological properties related to human cancer progression. Tumor growth sites induce inhospitable conditions. Many kinds of research suggest that mucins provide a microenvironment to avoid hypoxia, acidic, and other biological conditions that promote cancer progression. Given that the mucus layer captures growth factors or cytokines, we propose that mucin helps to ameliorate inhospitable conditions in tumor-growing sites. Additionally, the composition and structure of mucins enable them to mimic the surface of normal epithelial cells, allowing tumor cells to escape from immune surveillance. Indeed, human cancers such as mucinous carcinoma, show a higher incidence of invasion to adjacent organs and lymph node metastasis than do non-mucinous carcinoma. In this mini-review, we discuss how mucin provides a tumor-friendly environment and contributes to increased cancer malignancy in mucinous carcinoma.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.8
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• pp.698-705
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• 2024

Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) accounts for approximately 30% of new breast cancer diagnoses. However, our understanding of how normal breast tissue evolves into DCIS and invasive cancers remains insufficient. Further, conclusions regarding the mechanisms of disease progression in terms of histopathology, genetics, and radiology are often conflicting and have implications for treatment planning. Moreover, the increase in DCIS diagnoses since the adoption of organized breast cancer screening programs has raised concerns about overdiagnosis and subsequent overtreatment. Active monitoring, a nonsurgical management strategy for DCIS, avoids surgery in favor of close imaging follow-up to de-escalate therapy and provides more treatment options. However, the two major challenges in active monitoring are identifying occult invasive cancer and patients at risk of invasive cancer progression. Subsequently, four prospective active monitoring trials are ongoing to determine the feasibility of active monitoring and refine the patient eligibility criteria and follow-up intervals. Radiologists play a major role in determining eligibility for active monitoring and reviewing surveillance images for disease progression. Trial results published over the next few years would support a new era of multidisciplinary DCIS care.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.329-337
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• 2012

Considerable attention has been given to the accuracy of HER-2 testing and the correlation between the results of different testing methods. This interest reflects the growing importance of HER-2 status in the management of patients with breast cancer. In this study the detection of HER-2 gene and centromere 17 status was evaluated using dual-colour primed in situ labelling (PRINS) in comparison with fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). These two methods were evaluated on a series of 27 formalin fixed paraffin embedded breast carcinoma tumours, previously tested for protein overexpression by HercepTest (grouped into Hercep 1+/0, 2+ and 3+). HER-2 gene amplification (ratio${\geq}2.2$) by PRINS was found in 3:3, 6:21 and 0:3 in IHC 3+, 2+ and 1+/0 cases, respectively. Comparing FISH and IHC (immunohistochemistry), showed the same results as for PRINS and IHC. Chromosome 17 aneusomy was found in 10 of 21 IHC 2+ cases (47.6%), of which 1 (10%) showed hypodisomy (chromosome 17 copy number per cell${\leq}1.75$), 7 (70%) showed low polysomy (chromosome 17 copy number per cell=2.26 - 3.75) and 2 (20%) showed high polysomy (chromosome 17 copy number per cell ${\geq}3.76$). The overall concordance of detection of HER-2 gene amplification by FISH and PRINS was 100% (27:27). Furthermore, both the level of HER-2 amplification and copy number of CEN17 analysis results correlated well between the two methods. In conclusion, PRINS is a reliable, reproducible technique and in our opinion can be used as an additional test to determine HER-2 status in breast tumours.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7201-7205
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• 2014

Chemokine and chemokine receptor expression by tumor cells contributes to tumor growth and angiogenesis and thus these factors may be considered as tumor markers. Here we aimed to characterize cells directly extracted from glioma, meningioma, and secondary brain tumors as well as non-tumoral cells in vitro. Cells were isolated from brain tissues using 0.2% collagenase and characterized by flow cytometry. Expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, CXCR7, RANTES, CCR5, MCP-1 and IP-10 was defined using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR methods. Brain tissue isolated cells were observed as spindle-shaped cell populations. No significant differences were observed for expression of SDF-1, CXCR4, CXCR7, RANTES, CCR5, and IP-10 transcripts. However, the expression of CXCR4 was approximately 13-fold and 110-fold higher than its counterpart, CXCR7, in meningioma and glioma cells, respectively. CXCR7 was not detectable in secondary tumors but CXCR4 was expressed. In non tumoral cells, CXCR7 had 1.3-fold higher mRNA expression than CXCR4. Flow cytometry analyses of RANTES, MCP-1, IP-10, CCR5 and CXCR4 expression showed no significant difference between low and high grade gliomas. Differential expression of CXCR4 and CXCR7 in brain tumors derived cells compared to non-tumoral samples may have crucial impacts on therapeutic interventions targeting the SDF-1/CXCR4/CXCR7 axis.