• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.707-712
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• 2015

Background: To evaluate use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a logistic model including risk factors for lymph node metastasis for improved diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The subjects were 176 patients with rectal cancer who underwent preoperative MRI. The longest lymph node diameter was measured and a cut-off value for positive lymph node metastasis was established based on a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. A logistic model was constructed based on MRI findings and risk factors for lymph node metastasis extracted from logistic-regression analysis. The diagnostic capabilities of MRI alone and those of the logistic model were compared using the area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC curve. Results: The cut-off value was a diameter of 5.47 mm. Diagnosis using MRI had an accuracy of 65.9%, sensitivity 73.5%, specificity 61.3%, positive predictive value (PPV) 62.9%, and negative predictive value (NPV) 72.2% [AUC: 0.6739 (95%CI: 0.6016-0.7388)]. Age (<59) (p=0.0163), pT (T3+T4) (p=0.0001), and BMI (<23.5) (p=0.0003) were extracted as independent risk factors for lymph node metastasis. Diagnosis using MRI with the logistic model had an accuracy of 75.0%, sensitivity 72.3%, specificity 77.4%, PPV 74.1%, and NPV 75.8% [AUC: 0.7853 (95%CI: 0.7098-0.8454)], showing a significantly improved diagnostic capacity using the logistic model (p=0.0002). Conclusions: A logistic model including risk factors for lymph node metastasis can improve the accuracy of MRI diagnosis of rectal cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2020

Gastrectomy with lymph node dissection remains the gold standard for curative treatment of gastric cancer. Dissection of splenic hilar lymph nodes has been included as a part of D2 lymph node dissection for proximal gastric cancer. Previously, pancreatico-splenectomy has been performed for dissecting splenic hilar lymph nodes, followed by pancreas-preserving splenectomy and spleen-preserving lymphadenectomy. However, the necessity of routine splenectomy or splenic hilar lymph node dissection has been under debate due to the increased morbidity caused by splenectomy and the poor prognostic feature of splenic hilar lymph node metastasis. In contrast, the relatively high incidence of splenic hilar lymph node metastasis, survival advantage, and therapeutic value of splenic hilar lymph node dissection in some patient subgroups, as well as the effective use of novel technologies, still supports the necessity and applicability of splenic hilar lymph node dissection. In this review, we aimed to evaluate the need for splenic hilar lymph node dissection and suggest the subgroup of patients with favorable outcomes.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.485-488
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• 2009

Purpose: Malignant melanoma of the lower extremity is well known to metastasize to the lymph nodes of the groin. However, in rare cases, the initial site of the nodal disease can be the popliteal fossa. As of yet, there has not been any report on cases with popliteal lymph node metastasis in Koreans. In the following report, authors would like to present two cases of popliteal node metastasis. Methods: A 60 - year - old male patient presented with nodular mass at his left sole. He had popliteal node metastasis detected on preoperative positron emission tomography(PET). Another 67 - year - old man presented with pigmented lesion at his right heel. He also had popliteal node metastasis detected on the MRI. They underwent wide excision of the primary lesion with popliteal node dissection. Results: In the first case, $2.5{\times}2.5cm$ sized metastatic melanoma in popliteal node was pathologically confirmed. There were no postoperative complications, and to date(18 months after the surgery), the patient is alive with no evidence of disease. In the second case, multiple(4) metastatic melanoma in popliteal nodes was confirmed. The patient is alive, but has had interferon therapy for liver metastasis. Conclusion: By increasing the use of lymphoscintigraphy or PET as a preoperative diagnostic work - up for metastasis, even popliteal node metastasis undetectable in a physical exam becomes detectable. When metastatic lymph node is found, node dissection is the standard of care. Therefore, it is essential that we know the anatomy and surgical technique for popliteal lymph node dissection.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.251-254
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• 2012

Purpose: To explore the relationship between auxiliary lymph node metastasis and clinical features, and to identify the factors that affect metastasis occurrence. Methods: A total of 164 cases of primary breast cancer were selected to investigate features such as age, concomitant chronic disease and pathologic diagnosis. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of the estrogen receptor (ER) and CerbB-2. Logistic regression was employed to analyze the factors that affect the incidence of lymph node metastases. Results: The incidence of lymph node metastases was 46.3% among elderly patients with breast cancer. Based on logistic regression, chronic disease, scale of tumor, age, and ER expression affected the occurrence of lymph node metastases; the ORs were 3.05, 2.18, 0.34, and 3.83, respectively. Between different pathologic diagnoses and the risk factors, the OR scores were 12.7 and 8.02, respectively, for aggressive ductal carcinoma and aggressive lobular carcinoma auxiliary lymph node metastases. Conclusion: The incidence of lymph node metastases is affected by chronic disease, scale of tumor, age, ER expression and pathologic diagnosis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.17
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• pp.7049-7054
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• 2014

Background: Almost half of the breast cancer patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes have no additional disease in the remaining axillary lymph nodes. This group of patients do not benefit from complete axillary lymph node dissection. This study was designed to assess the clinicopathologic factors that predict non-sentinel lymph node metastasis in Iranian breast cancer patients with positive sentinel lymph nodes. Materials and Methods: The records of patients who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsy, between 2003 and 2012, were reviewed. Patients with at least one positive sentinel lymph node who underwent completion axillary lymph node dissection were enrolled in the present study. Demographic and clinicopathologic characteristics including age, primary tumor size, histological and nuclear grade, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, extracapsular invasion, and number of harvested lymph nodes, were evaluated. Results: The data of 167 patients were analyzed. A total of 92 (55.1%) had non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. Univariate analysis of data revealed that age, primary tumor size, histological grade, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, extracapsular invasion, and the number of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes ratio, were associated with non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. After logistic regression analysis, age (OR=0.13; 95% CI, 0.02-0.8), primary tumor size (OR=7.7; 95% CI, 1.4-42.2), lymphovascular invasion (OR=19.4; 95% CI, 1.4-268.6), extracapsular invasion (OR=13.3; 95% CI, 2.3-76), and the number of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes ratio (OR=20.2; 95% CI, 3.4-121.9), were significantly associated with non-sentinel lymph node metastasis. Conclusions: According to this study, age, primary tumor size, lymphovascular invasion, extracapsular invasion, and the ratio of positive sentinel lymph nodes to the total number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes, were found to be independent predictors of non-sentinel lymph node metastasis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.271-274
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• 2015

Background: To explore vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and VEGF-D expression and its correlation with lymph node metastasis in esophageal squamous cell cancer (ESCC) tissue. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemical methods were applied to detect the levels of VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression in 64 surgicall removal ESCC tissues, tissues adjacent to cancer and normal tissues, and the relationship between VEGF-C and VEGF-D expression and lymph node metastasis was analyzed. Results: Both VEGF-C and VEGF-D were expressed by varying degrees in esophageal cancer tissue, the tissue adjacent to cancer and normal tissue, and the positive expression rate went down successively. The positive expression rates of VEGF-C (59.4%) and VEGF-D (43.8%) in esophageal cancer tissue were significantly higher than in the tissue adjacent to cancer (34.4%, 15.6%) and normal tissue (20.3%, 12.5%), respectively, in which significant differences were manifested (p<0.01). Positive expression rates of VEGF-C and VEGF-D in esophageal cancers with lymph node metastasis were markedly higher than without such metastasis (p<0.01), while those in the tissue with TNM staging I~II were markedly lower than that with TNM staging III~IV (p<0.01). Conclusions: Both VEGF-C and VEGF-D are highly expressed in ESCC tissue, which may be related to the lymph node metastasis of cancer cells. Hence, VEGF-C and VEGF-D can be clinically considered as important reference indexes of lymph node metastasis in esophageal cancer.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2011

Purpose: When performing a laparoscopic assisted gastrectomy, a function-preserving gastrectomy is performed depending on the location of the primary gastric cancer. This study examined the incidence of lymph node metastasis by the lymph node station number by tumor location to determine the optimal extent of the lymph node dissection. Materials and Methods: The subjects consisted of 1,510 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer who underwent a gastrectomy between 1996 and 2005. The patients were divided into three groups: upper, middle and lower third, depending on the location of the primary tumor. The lymph node metastasis patterns were analyzed in the total and early gastric cancer patients. Results: In all patients, lymph node station numbers 1, 2, 3, 7, 10 and 11 metastases were dominant in the cancer originating in the upper third, whereas station numbers 4, 5, 6 and 8 were dominant in the lower third. In early gastric cancer patients, the station number of lymph nodes with a metastasis did not show a significant difference in stage pT1a disease. On the other hand, a metastasis in lymph node station number 6 was dominant in stage pT1b disease that originated in the lower third of the stomach. Conclusions: When performing a laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy for early gastric cancer, a limited lymphadenectomy is considered adequate during a function-preserving gastrectomy in mucosal (T1a) cancer. On the other hand, for submucosal (T1b) cancer, a number 6 node dissection should be performed when performing a pylorus preserving gastrectomy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.11
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• pp.1142-1150
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• 2023

Objective: To evaluate ^99mtechnetium-three polyethylene glycol spacers-arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (^99mTc-3PRGD₂) single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) imaging for diagnosing lymph node metastasis of primary malignant lung neoplasms. Materials and Methods: We prospectively enrolled 26 patients with primary malignant lung tumors who underwent ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET)/CT imaging. Both imaging methods were analyzed in qualitative (visual dichotomous and 5-point grades for lymph nodes and lung tumors, respectively) and semiquantitative (maximum tissue-to-background radioactive count) manners for the lymph nodes and lung tumors. The performance of the differentiation of lymph nodes with and without metastasis was determined at the per-lymph node station and per-patient levels using histopathological results as the reference standard. Results: Total 42 stations had metastatic lymph nodes and 136 stations had benign lymph nodes. The differences between metastatic and benign lymph nodes in the visual qualitative and semiquantitative analyses of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT and ¹⁸F-FDG PET/CT were statistically significant (all P < 0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in the semi-quantitative analysis of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT was 0.908 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.851-0.966), and the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 0.86 (36/42), 0.88 (120/136), 0.69 (36/52), and 0.95 (120/126), respectively. Among the 26 patients (including two patients each with two lung tumors), 15 had pathologically confirmed lymph node metastasis. The difference between primary lung lesions in patients with and without lymph node metastasis was statistically significant only in the semi-quantitative analysis of ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT (P = 0.007), with an AUC of 0.807 (95% CI, 0.641-0.974). Conclusion: ^99mTc-3PRGD₂ SPECT/CT imaging may notably perform in the direct diagnosis of lymph node metastasis of primary malignant lung tumors and indirectly predict the presence of lymph node metastasis through uptake in the primary lesions.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.594-601
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• 2008

Cervical lymph node metastasis is one of the most important predicting factors that influence the prognosis of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Correct diagnosis on cervical lymph node metastasis is essential in determining the extent of operation and treatment modality. So we investigated a clinico-statistical evaluation on cervical lymph node metastasis in 183 patients who were diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Kyungpook National University Hospital, from January 1st, 1999 to December 31st, 2007. The following results were obtained : 1. Among 183 patients who were diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma, 149 were male and 49 were female. The average age of the patients was 61.8 years old. 2. Patients with advanced T classification showed higher incidence of cervical lymph node metastasis than those with lower T classification. 3. Patients with less differentiated tumors had higher tendency of manifesting cervical lymph node metastasis than those with more differentiated tumors. 4. Sensitivity and specificity on PET/CT was 87.5% and 58.3% respectively. PET/CT showed higher sensitivity and lower false-negative values than those of CT or USG. 5. The 5 - year survival rate of all the oral squamous cell carcinoma patients appeared to be 63.2% By N classification, patients in N0 stage showed a higher survival rate than patients in N1 or N2. 5 - year survival rates according to the modality of neck dissection were as follows in increasing order: no neck dissection group, MRND group, SND group, and RND group.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.100-105
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• 2001

Purpose: In the UICC staging system, stage IV contains not only those patients with distant metastasis but also patients with far advanced T and N status but without distant metastasis. We investigated the prognostic factors of stage IV gastric carcinoma patients without distant metastasis after curative resection. Materials and Methods: 190 stage IV gastric carcinoma patients without distant metastasis were reviewed after curative resection. Results: Male sex, distal third location, Borrmann type III, IV and histologically undifferentiated type were common. 5 year survival rate of the 190 patients was $22.2\%$. Depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis did not influence survival. The lymph node ratio (positive lymph node / retrieved lymph node) and combined resection affected survival by univariate and multivariate analysis. Conclusion: Combined resection and positive lymph node ratio were the independent prognostic factors in the patients with stage IV gastric carcinoma who underwent curative resection.