• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.37-44
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• 2009

Most of patients who have cancer still suffer from various forms of pain that significantly impact their quality of life. Cancer pain is a difficult problem for clinicians because analgesic drugs do not always procure complete relief. Acupuncture has been used as complementary treatment of cancer pain. We report a patient with colorectal cancer who suffer from cancer pain. The patient underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and opioid therapy. However, the patient insisted on being treated for his continuous pain with oriental medical treatment. The patient was treated with acupuncture(especially SAAM acupuncture) for 2 months, additional herbal medication was administered. After those treatments, the patient showed remarkable improvement in terms of intensity and severity of cancer pain. Further study will be needed in order to determine the long-term efficacy of acupuncture on cancer pain.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.67-73
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• 2007

Breast cancer is common in West and Incidence of breast cancer has increased in Korea. According as conventional western medical treatment, breast cancer patient received MRM(modified radical mastectomy) and anti cancer chemotherapy. In this case report, We introduce a case of breast cancer patient who showed lung metastasis(metastatec adenocarcinoma) after MRM(modified radical mastectomy) 4 years before the diagnosis of relapse. After lung metastasis of breast cancer, the patient received 4th chemotherapy and refused to get more conventional western medical treatment including chemotherapy. After 24 month of traditional oriental medical treatment using allegen removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes(ARV), however, the size of cancer mass decreased and the patient showed improved condition. Further case study will be needed in order to determine the effect of ARV on breast cancer patient.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related death throughout the world. Non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) is the most deadly form of lung cancer. Patients with non-small cell lung cancer are often found to be unavailable for operation at primary diagnosis. They are typically given conventional chemotherapy. When the tumor progresses during chemotherapy, a change in regimen is considered. The average period of administration differs with the regimen. In this case report, the authors introduce two cases of non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with allergen removed Rhus verniciflua stokes based herbal medicine along with pemetrexed($Alimta^{(R)}$) and erlotinib($Tarceva^{(R)}$). The authors report this case because these molecular-targeted agents were used for longer periods than expected, while improving the performance and other symptoms. Further studies illuminating the synergistic effects through conjunctive treatment with both conventional and Eastern medicine in lung cancer treatment should be performed in the future.

• 대한한의학회지
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.16-26
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• 2022

Objectives: Traditional Korean medicine (TKM) has been supplied as part of a national health care system in South Korea under a dual medical system, however it has been difficult to mix western medicine and TKM medical practices in existing hospitals. For the objective of innovative integration between them, Comprehensive and Integrative Medicine Hospital were founded in Daegu, South Korea. Here, we discussed the clinical outcomes of cancer patients who received integrative cancer treatment (ICT). Methods: A total of 678 patients previously diagnosed with cancer were retrospectively checked in our institution for 2 years. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 573 patients were eligible for the final analysis. The overall survival (OS) of these patients in the aftercare period were determined. We looked at how clinical factors and treatments including chemotherapy, complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and TKM affected the OS. Results: At the first visit, 212 subjects had no evidence of disease after tumor resection and 355 ones with advanced cancer, who receiving ICT including chemotherapy, CAM, and TKM showed better OS compared to the CAM including TKM or the best supportive care (median OS = 216, 78, and 46 days, respectively). The median OS was not reached in TKM only, even though the sample size was small (N=12). Even after adjusting for clinical factors associated to liver, renal, and hematologic manifestation, ICT still remained significant. Conclusions: We demonstrated that ICT might be beneficial for advanced cancer regardless of the performance status, liver and renal function, since it positively affected the OS.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.477-484
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• 2022

Objective: The purpose of this study was to report the improvement effect of symptoms of integrative cancer treatment (ICT) on recurrent gallbladder cancer patients. Methods: A 73-year-old patient with recurrent gallbladder cancer visited the Daejeon Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University East West Cancer Center (EWCC) on February 2022. After the diagnosis of gallbladder cancer, the patient underwent cholecystectomy and relapsed during follow-up. After the operation, the cancer recurred during follow-up, and after radiation treatment, she had been receiving ICT since February 2022. The clinical outcomes were measured by X-ray, computed tomography (CT), laboratory findings, including tumor markers (CEA, CA19-9), and numeric rating scales (NRS). Results: After treatment, abdominal pain was relieved from NRS 5 to 2, and abdominal circumference decreased from 74.5 to 67. During and after treatment, we found neither hepatotoxicity nor nephrotoxicity in the laboratory findings. Conclusion: This case study suggests that ICT may improve symptoms in patients with gallbladder cancer.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.45-52
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• 2009

Lung cancer is the most common primary tumor of brain metastasis. Metastasis to the brain is a frequent complication of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) occuring in 12 ~ 18% of patient. The incidence of brain metastasis is rising because of longer survival of cancer patients as a result of the increase in early diagnosis of primary tumors and aggressive management, and improvements in imaging quality and accessibility such as widespread use of MRI. The most common symptoms are gradual onset of headache, focal weakness, and mental changes. Surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and steroid therapy are treatment of NSCLC with brain metastasis. We report a patient with NSCLC metastasis to the brain. This patient underwent chemotherapy, radiotherapy and steroidtherapy. However, the patient requested oriental medical treatment for the patient's continuous headache and disease. We administered Banhabaekchulchoenma-tang gagambang with Allergen-removed Rhus Verniciflua Stokes(aRVS). The patient showed remarkable improvement in terms of frequency and severity of headache. Further study will be needed in order to determine the long-term effectiveness of oriental medical treatment on cancer patient with headache.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제14권1호
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• pp.53-59
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• 2009

Background & Objective: Regardless of types of cancer, cancer pain means the pain occurred by tumor itself, caused by complication or side effects during treatment and which is neither directly related to tumor nor treatment. This case was performed to relieve the cancer pain and study the effect of moxibustion to the cancer pain. Method: For 27 days, the patient was treated by moxibustion($MANINA^{(R)}$), acupuncture, herbal medicine and narcotic analgesics. We planned to maintain moxibustion on 8 points of Bladder meridian line(BL13, BL17, BL42, BL43) for 20 minutes. The improvement of the symptom was evaluated by BPI/VAS, and the amount of narcotic analgesics applied. Results: The BPI/VAS was declined and amount of applying narcotic analgesics was decreased. Conclusion: It is suggested that moxibustion on BL13, BL17, BL42, BL43 is useful to relief of cancer pain in left flank area.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.39-48
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• 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study is to report effects and potential of Integrative Cancer Treatment (ICT) on metastatic pancreatic cancer patient. Methods: A 79-year-old pancreatic cancer patient diagnosed with metastasis on liver visited the Daejeon Korean medicine hospital of Daejeon university East West Cancer Center (EWCC) on May 2021. The patient has been received chemotherapy (gemcitabine plus abraxane) and concurrently treated with ICT since May 2021. The clinical outcomes were measured by computed tomography, laboratory findings including tumor markers (CEA, CA19-9) and numeric rating scales (NRS). Laboratory analysis and National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI-CTCAE), version 5.0 were used to evaluate the safety of ICT. Results: After treatment, constipation was relieved from NRS 5-6 to 2, both leg numbness was improved from NRS 9 to 2. Tumor size was generally decreased accompanying by reducing the levels of tumor markers. There were no severe adverse events induced by ICT based on NCI CTCAE version 5.0. Conclusion: This case study suggests that ICT in combination with chemotherapy may help in the treatment of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

• 대한한방내과학회지
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• 제37권1호
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• pp.26-46
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• 2016

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to present the clinical guidelines and traditional Korean medicines for gastric cancer.Results: Gastric cancer is the second most common cancer in Korea. Recent studies have reported that applying integrative Oriental and Western medicine can suppress the tumor, improve the survival, the immune system, and the quality of life in gastric cancer. However, there still is no unified protocol for gastric cancer treatment, which produces difficulty in clinical applications. In Korea, a “Synopsis on the Clinical Practice Guidelines of Gastric Cancer” was published by the Korean Journal of Gastroenterology in 2014. In China, Oriental medicine clinical practice guidelines were published for the first time in 2014. The present author proposed “Clinical Practice Guidelines of Korean Medicine for Gastric Cancer” in 2014, but there is a need for more advanced guidelines with reference to the aforementioned Oriental and Western guidelines. This study will be helpful for understanding and building systems for integrative gastric cancer treatment.Conclusions: Further studies on integrative gastric cancer treatment are needed to improve the survival of gastric cancer patients and build the clinical practice guidelines for gastric cancer.

• 대한암한의학회지
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• 제28권1호
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• pp.25-31
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• 2023

Objectives: With antibiotic resistance one of the biggest threats to global health, we report a case of surgical site infection (SSI) after breast cancer surgery that improved only with the treatment of Taglisodog-eum (托裏消毒飮), Korean herbal medicine, without the use of antibiotics. Methods: The patient diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ of left breast underwent nipple areola skin sparing mastectomy and reconstruction using deep inferior epigastric perforator flap. About a month later, superficial SSI occurred at the incision site of breast cancer surgery with general weakness, and Taglisodog-eum treatment was started. To evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment, we compared the infection site conditions before and after treatment. Results: About three weeks after taking Taglisodog-eum, the SSI improved along with the improvement of general weakness. Conclusions: This study shows that Taglisodog-eum may be effective for SSI after breast cancer surgery, and the potential for alternatives to reduce antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance.