• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.50-56
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• 2021

In patients having long-standing ulcerative colitis (UC), the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC) increased compared with general population. Dysplasia is a precancerous lesion of colitic patients, and traditionally total proctocolectomy was considered as a standard therapy to prevent colorectal cancer in UC patients. However, even with ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (IPAA), patients who underwent total proctocolectomy may experience early and late postoperative complications, such as ileus, bleeding, pouchitis, and so on. In addition, the bowel movement after proctocolectomy with IPAA reaches a median of seven times per day, and a considerable proportion of patients require daytime and nighttime pads. Change in the strategy for managing dysplasia started from two early studies, which suggested polypectomy for polypoid dysplasia to prevent CRC in colitic patients. After that, many studies supported that polypectomy should be the first option for the management of polypoid dysplasia. Moreover, recent studies suggested the feasibility of endoscopic submucosal dissection as a therapeutic option for non-polypoid dysplasia, although long term, large studies should be followed.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제8권1호
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• pp.56-60
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• 2020

In recent years, liquid biopsy has received immense attention. Liquid biopsy is a minimally invasive method used for obtaining biological fluids including urine, pleural fluid and, mostly, peripheral blood. Liquid biopsy involves various targets including circulating tumors cells (CTCs), circulating cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA), and microRNA (miRNA). Colorectal cancer (CRC), like other solid tumors, shed tumor cells into the bloodstream. Analysis of these CTCs, as well as ctDNA is the primary objective of the liquid biopsy. Evaluation of CTC or ctDNA offers information about early tumor release, development of tumor metastasis and also about mechanisms involved in tumor resistance to treatment.

• Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.1-5
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• 2017

Pancreatic cancer is a highly aggressive malignant tumor of the digestive system and radical resection, which is available to very few patients, might be the only possibility for cure. Since therapeutic choices are limited at the advanced stage, prevention is more important for reducing incidence in high-risk individuals with family history of pancreatic cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that a high consumption of fish oil or ${\omega}3-polyunsaturated$ fatty acids reduces the risk of pancreatic cancers. Dietary fish oil supplementation has shown to suppress pancreatic cancer development in animal models. Previous experimental studies revealed that several hallmarks of cancer involved in the pathogenesis of pancreatic cancer, such as the resistance to apoptosis, hyper-proliferation with abnormal $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ signaling, expression of pro-angiogenic growth factors, and invasion. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a ${\omega}3-polyunsaturated$ fatty acid and rich in cold oceanic fish oil. DHA shows anti-cancer activity by inducing oxidative stress and apoptosis, inhibiting $Wnt/{\beta}-catenin$ signaling, and decreasing extracellular matrix degradation and expression of pro-angiogenic factors in pancreatic cancer cells. This review will summarize anti-cancer mechanism of DHA in pancreatic carcinogenesis based on the recent studies.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제11권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2023

Pancreatic cancer treatment has advanced. In particular, effective chemotherapy regimen development has fundamentally altered the therapeutic concept and strategy for pancreatic cancer treatment. Consequently, the prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer has gradually improved. Conversion surgery for locally advanced pancreatic cancer may offer long-term survival or even a full recovery in some individuals. In contrast, metastatic pancreatic cancer has long been considered a surgical contraindication because aggressive surgical resection of the metastatic lesions does not prolong patient survival. Unexpectedly positive benefits of anticancer therapy in recent clinical experience were observed even with metastatic pancreatic cancer. To date, little evidence presented the success of surgical resection for metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment in such rare cases. However, hope and concern are growing that surgical intervention, even in patients with metastatic cancer, may result in favorable outcomes. Several studies suggested different surgical intervention effects depending on metastasis sites and patterns. Thus, this review summarizes the current status of surgery in the multidisciplinary treatment of oligometastatic pancreatic cancer and discusses future perspectives.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제1권2호
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• pp.82-88
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• 2013

Cancer is the first leading cause of death in Korea and the second leading cause of death in the USA. There is extensive research into prevention of cancer and the support of oncology patients with diet or dietary supplements. In vitro and in vivo animal studies have indicated that antioxidants, including beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, and ascorbic acid, can yield anti-cancer effects in addition to providing protection against oxidative damage. Although many observational studies have shown that consuming fruits and vegetables can reduce the risk of some cancers, the results of several large-scale human intervention trials testing the benefits of a single or combined higher-dose of individual micronutrients have been inconsistent. Cancer can cause profound metabolic and physiological changes which may affect patients' nutrient requirements. Although the optimal route of nutrient delivery is through diet, cancer patients often suffer symptoms that disrupt their food intake, including anorexia, premature satiety, altered taste and smell, and changes in bowel mobility. In particular, micronutrient deficits can slow postoperative healing, contribute to depression symptoms, and decrease immune competence. Cancer patients are generally motivated to take dietary supplements to improve responses to treatment and quality of life. The Physician's Health Study II (PHS II) randomized controlled trial reported recently that daily multivitamin supplementation significantly, albeit modestly, reduced the risk of total cancer. Although evidence of multivitamin use benefits is limited in cancer patients, taking dietary supplements with constituents in the range of the recommended daily allowance according to the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) recommendation is generally considered to be safe.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제6권2호
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• pp.64-68
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• 2018

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is a dismal prognosis and 5^th leading cause of cancer related death in Korea. A large proportion of patients are diagnosed at advanced or metastatic stage. Therefore systemic chemotherapy has become the mainstay of treatment for pancreatic cancer. For most patients advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer that has a good Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS) 0 or 1, we can recommend for FOLFIRINOX (leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil [5-FU], irinotecan and oxaliplatin) and gemcitabine plus nanoparticle albumin-bound paclitaxel (nab-paclitaxel). Currently, steps towards improved therapeutic efficacy of palliative chemotherapy have been made by introducing these regimens. For patients with an ECOG PS of 2, gemcitabine monotherapy or S1 alone is recommended. The second-line therapy for patients initially treated with gemcitabine-based chemotherapy includes provide FOLFOX (leucovorin, 5-FU, and oxaliplatin), capecitabine plus oxaliplatin, and 5-FU plus liposomal irinotecan. The gemcitabine-based chemotherapy is a reasonable choice for patients treated with FOLFIRINOX. Currently, studies on selecting patients for biomarkers related to molecular biologic features of tumors are underway for the realization of precise medicine, and the development and verification of preclinical models for the development of new therapeutic agents are being carried out continuously.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제2권2호
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• pp.45-51
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• 2014

Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Korea. Many cases of gastric cancer are detected in the early stages on standard medical examinations; complete surgical and endoscopic resection is the most recommended treatment for early-stage gastric cancer. Nevertheless, many patients have already progressed to advanced gastric cancer (AGC) upon diagnosis, and the prognosis of such patients is very poor. Combination chemotherapy has been shown to produce a better quality of life (QOL) and to increase overall survival in AGC patients. However, approximately 50% of patients do not respond to the current first-line chemotherapy, while most patients who do respond eventually show disease progression. Accordingly, various second-line regimens have been investigated, and active salvage chemotherapy has been shown to improve the QOL and clinical outcomes in select AGS patients who can tolerate it. There is also an increasing need for neoadjuvant therapy for treating gastric cancer; therefore, various clinical trials have been set up to investigate different regimens. Neoadjuvant therapy is currently established as the standard treatment for locally AGC in Europe; it has contributed to lowering the nodal stages and has reduced overall mortality rates. Despite these benefits, many uncertainties remain. Therefore, further prospective, high quality randomized controlled trials for neoadjuvant therapies are needed to clarify their clinical benefits and to establish the most effective treatment strategies for AGC.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.92-98
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• 2016

The barcelona clinic liver cancer (BCLC) staging systemis regarded as the optimal staging system to predict prognosis and guide treatmentfor hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) .According to the BCLC classification, only patients with BCLC A stage should undergo liver resection. In contrast, patients with intermediate-advanced HCC should be scheduled for palliative therapies,such as transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and target therapy, even if the lesion is resectable. More and more studies report good short-term and long-term outcomes in patients with intermediate-advanced HCC treated by radical resection and many patients benefited from curative resection. The aim of this review was to evaluate the role of surgery beyond the BCLC recommendations. A revision of the BCLC algorithm should be proposed.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• 제7권2호
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• pp.51-56
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• 2019

비록 국내에서 담낭암의 발생률은 비교적 낮지만, 한국은 전세계적으로 담낭암의 발생률이 상대적으로 높은 나라 중 하나이다. 담낭암은 진행된 상태에서 진단되는 경우가 많고, 치료 효과도 좋지 않은 암 중 하나이다. 담석은 담낭암의 주된 위험 인자이고, 많은 논문에서 담석과 담낭암의 관계를 보고하였지만, 담석이 담낭암을 일으키는 명확한 기전은 아직 밝혀지지 않았다. 이 종설에서는 현재까지 보고된 여러 본문을 근거로 담석과 담낭암의 관계를 정리해 보기로 한다. 또한, 다른 위험인자가 없는 담석 환자에서, 담낭암 발생을 막기 위한 예방적 담낭절제술이 필요한지에 대해서도 알아 보기로 한다.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제13권4호
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• pp.1515-1518
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• 2012

Aim: We conducted a prospective study in an Chinese population to detect the association between GSTM, GSTT and GSTP gene polymorphisms and survival of gastric cancer. Methods: A prospective follow-up study with 317 gastric cancer patients was conducted between January 2003 and January 2005. GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 genotyping was performed using ABI TaqMan Gene Expression assays. Results: Of 317 patients, 5 were lost to follow-up due to migration, while the remaining 302 patients completed the study. The median follow-up time was 34.2 months (range: 2 to 60 months), during which a total of 120 (39.1%) died of gastric cancer. The GSTT1-null genotype showed a significant increased risk of death from gastric cancer, with an HR (95% CI) of 1.59 (1.04-3.58). Moreover, we found individuals carrying null-GSTM1 and null-GSTT1 had a moderate higher risk of death from gastric cancer, with an HR of 1.92 (1.05-3.65). Conclusion: This study reported the carriage of null GSTT1 and null GSTM1 might be linked to the higher death risk from gastric cancer in Chinese population.