• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2005

Neuroblastoma treatment remains challenging, but treatment has become more effective due to the establishment of clinical and biological variables that determine prognostic risks. Initially, stage and age were the prime determinants of survival used in clinical practice. Risk-based therapy currently is the hallmark of neuroblastoma treatment. This study reviews one center's experience with the management of neuroblastoma. Sixty-three patients with neuroblastoma were treated from 1989 to 2003. All patients were graded according to the International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) at diagnosis. There were 37 boys and 26 girls. The median age was 2.14 years (range, 33 days-10.2years). The primary site was the adrenal gland in 47, dumbbell shape extending into spinal canal in 6, retroperitoneum in 5, mediastinum in 3, and other sites in 2. The probability of 5-year overall survival (OS) and event free survival (EFS) were 46.7 % and 44.2 % by Kaplan-Meier method. According to INSS, there were stage 1 in 2 cases, stage 2 in 5, stage 3 in 12, stage 4 in 42, and stage 4s in 2. There were statistically significant differences in the survival rates between patients with stage1, 2 and stage 3, 4(P<0.05). For the stage 3 and 4, the extents of surgical resection, determined from the operative records and pathologies, were complete resection in 17 cases, minimal residual in 15, and partial resection 11, and the 5-year OS rate was 57.8, 51.4, and 13.6 %, respectively. There is a trend toward higher OS with more complete resection (P<0.05). We conclude that age and stage at diagnosis are prognostic factors, and complete excision of the primary tumor can provide better prognosis for patients with stage 3 and 4 neuroblastoma.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.62 no.2
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• pp.62-67
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• 2019

Purpose: We aimed to determine the prognostic significance of lymphocyte counts and the lymphocytemonocyte ratio (LMR) in pediatric patients with osteosarcoma. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 27 pediatric patients with localized extremity osteosarcoma, treated at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital between May 2002 and March 2016. Leukocyte counts and LMR before treatment and on day 14 (LMR14) of the first cisplatin-doxorubicin chemotherapy round were evaluated. Patients were dichotomized according to the median value of these parameters, and survival rates were compared. Results: The median age of the 27 patients was 9.9 years (range, 3.2-14.1 years) and tumor sites were: distal femur (n=14), proximal humerus (n=7), proximal tibia (n=2), proximal fibula (n=2), and elsewhere (n=2). Patients were followed up on for a median of 76.4 months (range, 4.5-174.7 months), and 5-year overall (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) rates were $66.0%{\pm}9.8%$ and $60.9%{\pm}9.7%$, respectively. Patients with a higher pretreatment lymphocyte count (${\geq}2,320/{\mu}L$) had better OS (90.9% vs. 46.2%, P=0.04) and EFS (83.9% vs. 38.5%, P=0.02). However, the day 14 lymphocyte count was not associated with survival. While no survival difference was observed between patients grouped according to pretreatment LMR (median value, 6.3), patients with a higher LMR14 (${\geq}5$) fared better than those with lower LMR14 (5-year OS: 83.3% vs. 46.3%, P=0.04). Conclusion: Pretreatment lymphocyte count and LMR during chemotherapy had prognostic significance in pediatric osteosarcoma patients. Further studies involving larger cohorts are necessary to validate our findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.3435-3441
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• 2014

Background: Axillary lymph node status at diagnosis remains the strongest predictor of long-term survival in breast cancer. Patients with more than ten axillary lymph nodes at diagnosis have a poor long-term survival. In this single institutional study, we set out to evaluate the prognosis of this high-risk group in the era of multimodality therapy. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we looked at all breast cancer patients with greater than ten axillary lymph nodes diagnosed at Mount Sinai Medical Center (MSMC) from January 1st 1990 to December 31st 2007 (n=161). In the univariate analysis, descriptive frequencies, median survival, and 5- and 10-year survival rates were estimated for common prognostic factors. A multivariate prognostic analysis for time-to-event data, using the extended Cox regression model was carried out. Results: With a median and mean follow-up of 70 and 89.9 months, respectively, the overall median survival was estimated to be 99 months. The five-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 59.3% and the ten-year DFS was 37.9%, whereas the five- and ten-year overall survival (OS) was 66.6% and 43.9%, respectively. Multivariate analysis revealed a significant improvement in DFS among black patients compared to whites (p=0.05), improved DFS and OS among young patients (ages 21-45) compared to elderly patients (age greater than 70) (p=0.00176, p=0.0034, respectively), and improved DFS and OS among patients whose tumors were ER positive (p=0.049, p=0.0034). Conclusions: In this single institution study of patients with greater than 10 positive axillary nodes, black patients had a significantly improved DFS compared with white patients. Young age and ER tumor positivity was associated with improved outcomes. Using multivariate analysis, there were no other variables associated with statistically significant improvements in DFS or OS including date of diagnosis. Further work is needed to improve breast cancer survival in this subgroup of patients.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.57-65
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• 1992

St.Jude Medical cardiac valve replacement was performed in 322 patients: 191 had mitral, 58 had aortic, 72 had double valve and 3 had tricuspid valve replacement. Motality rate in early period was 2.8%[9 patients]. The most common cause of early death was low cardic output syndrome. Follow up extended from 1 to 90 months[mean: 34 months] in 292 patients among 313 in all surviving patients [93.6%]. There were thrombolic complications in eighteen patients. The probability of free from thromboembolism at 5 yerars in MVR, AVR and DVR were 84.7%, 91.8% and 90.2% respectively. And also, actuarial event free rate at 5 years in MVR, AVR and DVR were 80.1%, 82.2%, and 81.4% respectively. There were fourteen late death during follow up period: six from thromboembolism, one from hemorrhage and the others from non valve related -or unknown complications. The acturial survival rate at 5 years were 93.1% in mitral, 92.1% in aortic and 97.1% in double valve replacement. In conclusion, the performance of the St. Jude Mecanical valve compares most favorably with other artificial valves. But it remains still hazards of mechanical prosthesis such as thromboembolism and anticoagulant related hemorrhage.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10967-10970
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• 2015

Objective: To analyze the efficacy and survival associated factors of gefitinib combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine for advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 57 patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), who received platinum-based chemotherapy regimens for more than 1 cycle, were treated with gefitinib combined with cisplatin and gemcitabine until disease progression. Efficacy, survival time and adverse reactions were observed. The Kaplan-Meier method was adopted for analysis of survival and Cox regression for associated influencing factors. Results: The patients were followed up until October 31, 2013, and the median follow-up time was 19 months. Of 57 patients, there were 4 (7.0%) with complete remission (CR), 8 (14.0%) with partial remission, 31 (54.4%) with stable disease, and 14 (24.6%) with disease progression. The remission rate was 21.1% and the disease control rate was 75.4%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) time and the median overall survival time were 10 months and 15.2 months. The one-year, two-year and three-year survival rates were 47.4%, 23.3% and 10.0%. Gender and pathological types were the independent risk factors influencing PFS time (P=0.028, P=0.009). Tumor pathological type and early efficacy were independent factors for the prognosis (P=0.018, P=0.000). Adverse reactions were mostly rashes of I~II degree and diarrhea and slightly increasing level of aminopherase. The skin adverse event incidence of III degree or above was 1.8% (1/57) and brain metastasis was foudn in 31.6% (18/57). Conclusions: Gefitinib combined with cisplatin andgemcitabine, is effective for patients with IIIb~IV NSCLC who received multiple cycles of chemotherapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.261-267
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• 2012

Purpose: The relationship between thymidylate synthase (TS) expression and outcomes in gastric cancer (GC) patients remains controversial, although most studies reported poor survival and reduced response to fluoropyrimidine were related to high TS in tumors. We carried out a systematic review of the literature with meta-analysis to estimate the predictive value of TS expression from published studies. Methods: We indentified 24 studies analysing the outcome data in gastric cancer stratified by TS expression. Effect measures of outcome were hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS), or the odds ratio (OR) for overall response rate (ORR). HRs and ORs from these eligible studies were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen studies investigated outcomes in a total of 844 patients with advanced GC, and nine studies investigated outcomes in a total of 1,235 patients with localized GC undergoing adjuvant therapy. Meta-analysis of estimates showed high TS expression was significantly associated with poor OS in the advanced setting (HR: 1.43, 95%CI: 1.08 - 1.90), and poor EFS in the adjuvant setting (HR: 1.53, 95%CI: 1.01 - 2.32). Subgroup analysis demonstrated TS expression to haves even greater value in predicting OS, EFS and ORR in advanced GC patients treated with fluoropyrimidine monotherapy (HR for OS: 2.32, 95%CI: 1.53 - 3.50; HR for EFS: 1.76, 95%CI: 1.19 - 2.60; OR for ORR: 0.32, 95%CI: 0.11 - 0.95). Conclusion: High levels of TS expression were asssociated with a poorer OS for advanced GC patients compared with low levels. In the adjuvant setting, high TS expression was also associated with a worse EFS. Additional studies with consistent methodology are needed to define the precise predictive value of TS.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.27-37
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• 2009

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in children. We retrospectively analyzed the results of neuroblastoma treatment of 191 patients (116 males and 75 females) treated between January 1986 and December 2005 at the Department of Pediatric Surgery and the Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital. The mean age at diagnosis was 3.1 years (0.1 yrs - 13.5 yrs). Forty-seven patients were under 1 year of age. The mean follow-up period was 57.3 months (24 days - 19.1 yrs). Patients were classified into two groups according to the completeness of resection of the primary tumor; (1) gross total resection (GTR) and (2) incomplete resection (IR). The number of patients in stages I, II, III, IV, IV-S were 17 (8.9 %), 12 (6.3 %), 43 (22.5 %), 114 (59.7 %), 4 (2.1 %), respectively. GTR was achieved in 120 patients and IR in 71 (22 stage III, 47 stage IV, 1 stage IV-S, 1 brain). Overall survival (OS) was 65.2 % and event-free survival (EFS) was 48.6 %. EFS were 100 %, 75 %, 66.8 %, 31.3 %, 75 % at stage I, II, III, IV, IV-S, respectively. There was no significant difference in EFS according to the completeness of resection. EFS was improved in GTR group (p=ns) of stage III, but by contrast, stage IV patients showed worse EFS in GTR group. EFS was improved significantly after the introduction of autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) (58.1% vs. 40.6%, p=.029). The EFS improved significantly after the introduction of ASCT in IR group (p=.009) rather than GTR group (p=ns). The EFS of the patients under 1 year of age (N=47) was better than the patients over 1 year of age (N=144) significantly (75.5 % vs. 39.4 %, p=.0034). The prognosis of neuroblastoma was related to the INSS stage and age at diagnosis. The survival of IR group significantly improved after ASCT.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.2967-2971
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• 2013

Background: Extraskeletal Ewing sarcoma (EES)/primitive neuroectodermal tumours (PNET) are rare soft tissue sarcomas. Prognostic factors and optimal therapy are still unconfirmed. Materials and Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis on patients to explore the clinic characteristics and prognostic factors of this rare disease. A total of 37 patients older than 15 years referred to our institute from Jan., 2002 to Jan., 2012 were reviewed. The characteristics, treatment and outcome were collected and analyzed. Results: The median age was 28 years (range 15-65); the median size of primary tumours was 8.2 cm (range 2-19). Sixteen patients (43%) had metastatic disease at the initial presentation. Wide surgical margins were achieved in 14 cases (38%). Anthracycline or platinum-based chemotherapy was performed on 29 patients (74%). Radiotherapy was delivered in 13 (35%). At a median follow-up visit of 24 months (range 2-81), the media event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were 15.8 and 30.2 months, respectively. The 3-year EFS and OS rates were 24% and 43%, respectively. Metastases at presentation and wide surgical margins were significantly associated with OS and EFS. Tumour size was significantly associated with OS but not EFS. There were no significant differences between anthracycline and platinum based chemotherapy regarding EFS and OS. Conclusions: EES/PNET is a malignant tumour with high recurrence and frequent distant metastasis. Multimodality therapy featuring wide surgical margins, aggressive chemotherapy and adjuvant local radiotherapy is necessary for this rare disease. Platinum-based chemotherapy can be used as an adjuvant therapy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.540-549
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• 2024

Objective: This study investigated the feasibility and prognostic relevance of threshold-based quantification of myocardial delayed enhancement (MDE) on CT in patients with nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM). Materials and Methods: Forty-three patients with NIDCM (59.3 ± 17.1 years; 21 male) were included in the study and underwent cardiac CT and MRI. MDE was quantified manually and with a threshold-based quantification method using cutoffs of 2, 3, and 4 standard deviations (SDs) on three sets of CT images (100 kVp, 120 kVp, and 70 keV). Interobserver agreement in MDE quantification was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Agreement between CT and MRI was evaluated using the Bland-Altman method and the concordance correlation coefficient (CCC). Patients were followed up for the subsequent occurrence of the primary composite outcome, including cardiac death, heart transplantation, heart failure hospitalization, or appropriate use of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate event-free survival according to MDE levels. Results: Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) was observed in 29 patients (67%, 29/43), and the mean LGE found with the 5-SD threshold was 4.1% ± 3.6%. The 4-SD threshold on 70-keV CT showed excellent interobserver agreement (ICC = 0.810) and the highest concordance with MRI (CCC = 0.803). This method also yielded the smallest bias with the narrowest range of 95% limits of agreement compared to MRI (bias, -0.119%; 95% limits of agreement, -4.216% to 3.978%). During a median follow-up of 1625 days (interquartile range, 712-1430 days), 10 patients (23%, 10/43) experienced the primary composite outcome. Event-free survival significantly differed between risk subgroups divided by the optimal MDE cutoff of 4.3% (log-rank P = 0.005). Conclusion: The 4-SD threshold on 70-keV monochromatic CT yielded results comparable to those of MRI for quantifying MDE as a marker of myocardial fibrosis, which showed prognostic value in patients with NIDCM.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.324-333
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• 2021

Objective: The clinical course of an individual patient with heart failure is unpredictable with left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) only. We aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR)-derived myocardial fibrosis extent and to determine the cutoff value for event-free survival in patients with non-ischemic cardiomyopathy (NICM) who had severely reduced LVEF. Materials and Methods: Our prospective cohort study included 78 NICM patients with significantly reduced LV systolic function (LVEF < 35%). CMR images were analyzed for the presence and extent of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). The primary outcome was major adverse cardiac events (MACEs), defined as a composite of cardiac death, heart transplantation, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator discharge for major arrhythmia, and hospitalization for congestive heart failure within 5 years after enrollment. Results: A total of 80.8% (n = 63) of enrolled patients had LGE, with the median LVEF of 25.4% (19.8-32.4%). The extent of myocardial scarring was significantly higher in patients who experienced MACE than in those without any cardiac events (22.0 [5.5-46.1] %LV vs. 6.7 [0-17.1] %LV, respectively, p = 0.008). During follow-up, 51.4% of patients with LGE ≥ 12.0 %LV experienced MACE, along with 20.9% of those with LGE ≤ 12.0 %LV (log-rank p = 0.001). According to multivariate analysis, LGE extent more than 12.0 %LV was independently associated with MACE (adjusted hazard ratio, 6.71; 95% confidence interval, 2.54-17.74; p < 0.001). Conclusion: In NICM patients with significantly reduced LV systolic function, the extent of LGE is a strong predictor for long-term adverse cardiac outcomes. Event-free survival was well discriminated with an LGE cutoff value of 12.0 %LV in these patients.