• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.108-112
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• 2015

A 54-year-old male patient who was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer underwent a distal gastrectomy, D2 lymph node dissection, and adjuvant chemoradiotherapy. After a year, in a follow-up PET-CT, lymph node metastases were observed in the neck and abdomen, and therefore, the patient underwent chemotherapy. After treatment, the follow-up PET-CT revealed a growth of the posterior neck lymph node. Thus, an excisional biopsy was performed, and the growth was diagnosed as metastatic adenocarcinoma. Therefore, the patient received chemotherapy with FOLFIRI. Another follow-up PET-CT after chemotherapy revealed a growth in the right inguinal lymph node, and the patient underwent salvage radiotherapy for this lesion. The PET-CT taken for the response evaluation showed no evidence of further metastasis of the lymph node. We hereby report a case of advanced gastric cancer with neck and inguinal lymph node recurrence showing complete remission after palliative chemotherapy and salvage radiotherapy.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.124-132
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• 2022

Background: Despite recent advances in first-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer, standard treatment after the failure of initial chemotherapy has not been established. Hence, we aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics and outcomes of second-line chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. Methods: We reviewed the clinical data of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who underwent palliative chemotherapy at Kosin University Gospel Hospital between January 2013 and October 2020. Results: Among 366 patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who had received palliative chemotherapy, 104 (28.4%) underwent at least one cycle of second-line chemotherapy. The median age of the patients at the time of initiating second-line treatment was 62 years (interquartile range, 57-62 years), and 58.7% (61 patients) of them were male. The common second-line chemotherapy regimens were 5-fluorouracil (FU) plus leucovorin, irinotecan, and oxaliplatin (33 patients, 31.7%); gemcitabine/nab-paclitaxel (29, 27.9%), gemcitabine±erlotinib (13, 12.5%); and oxaliplatin and 5-FU/leucovorin (12, 11.5%). The median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival were 6.4 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.5-8.6 months) and 4.5 months (95% CI, 2.7-6.3 months), respectively. In a multivariate analysis, poor performance status (PS) (hazard ratio [HR], 2.247; p=0.021), metastatic disease (HR, 2.745; p=0.011), and elevated carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (HR, 1.939; p=0.030) at the beginning of second-line chemotherapy were associated with poor OS. Conclusion: The survival outcome of second-line chemotherapy for advanced pancreatic cancer remains poor. However, PS, disease extent (locally advanced or metastatic), and CEA level may help determine patients who could benefit from second-line treatment.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.24
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• pp.10745-10748
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• 2015

Background: This analysis was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of irinotecan based chemotherapy for treatment of patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) who experienced disease progression after one to three chemotherapy regimens, including at least one anthracycline- or taxane-based. Methods: Clinical studies were identified using a predefined search strategy. Pooled response rates (RR) to treatment were calculated. Results: As irinotecan based regimens, 5 clinical studies which including 217 patients with refractory MBC were considered eligible for inclusion, with irinotecan, cisplatin, capecitabine, or TS-1. Systemic analysis suggested that, in all patients, pooled RR was 48.8% (106/217) with irinotecan based regimens. Thrombocytopenia and leukocytopenia were the main side effects. No grade III or IV renal or liver toxicity was observed. No treatment related deaths occurred. Conclusion: This systemic analysis suggests that irinotecan based regimens are beneficial and safe for treating patients with MBC after other chemotherapy.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.589-598
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• 2019

Objective: To evaluate whether data acquired from perfusion computed tomography (PCT) parameters can aid in the prediction of treatment outcome after palliative chemotherapy in patients with unresectable advanced gastric cancer (AGC). Materials and Methods: Twenty-one patients with unresectable AGCs, who underwent both PCT and palliative chemotherapy, were prospectively included. Treatment response was assessed according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1 (i.e., patients who achieved complete or partial response were classified as responders). The relationship between tumor response and PCT parameters was evaluated using the Mann-Whitney test and receiver operating characteristic analysis. One-year survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: After chemotherapy, six patients exhibited partial response and were allocated to the responder group while the remaining 15 patients were allocated to the non-responder group. Permeability surface (PS) value was shown to be significantly different between the responder and non-responder groups (51.0 mL/100 g/min vs. 23.4 mL/100 g/min, respectively; p = 0.002), whereas other PCT parameters did not demonstrate a significant difference. The area under the curve for prediction in responders was 0.911 (p = 0.004) for PS value, with a sensitivity of 100% (6/6) and specificity of 80% (12/15) at a cut-off value of 29.7 mL/100 g/min. One-year survival in nine patients with PS value > 29.7 mL/100 g/min was 66.7%, which was significantly higher than that in the 12 patients (33.3%) with PS value ≤ 29.7 mL/100 g/min (p = 0.019). Conclusion: Perfusion parameter data acquired from PCT demonstrated predictive value for treatment outcome after palliative chemotherapy, reflected by the significantly higher PS value in the responder group compared with the non-responder group.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.32-36
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• 2017

In unresectable stage IV colorectal cancer, the role of palliative surgery is not defined clearly. The palliative surgery can be categorized into two surgeries; first, palliative primary tumor resection; second, palliative metastatectomy. Several retrospective studies reported initial palliative systemic chemotherapy in unresectable stage IV colorectal cancer did not increase primary tumor related complications such as obstruction, perforation and hemorrhage, so they insisted that primary tumor resection in asymptomatic stage IV colorectal cancer should be preserved. However, in terms of overall survival and cancer-specific or progression-free survival, several retrospective studies, especially using population-based big data, reported favored survivals in palliative primary tumor resection group. And also several studies reported that palliative metastatectomy such as liver resection without resection of lung metastasis showed better overall survivals. But those results from those studies came from retrospective studies and are likely to be affected by selection bias. Prospective randomized studies are needed to define the benefit of palliative primary tumor resection and metastatectomy in unresectable stage IV colorectal cancer. However, based on the updated evidences, the dogma that palliative primary tumor resection should be preserved in asymptomatic unresectable stage IV colorectal cancer should be questioned.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.200-208
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• 2005

Purpose: Palliative procedures or surgical interventions not only manage various symptoms of malignant gastrointestinal obstruction, but also improve the quality of life. We investigated the clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 48 terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction at Sam Anyang hospital from May in 2002 to May in 2005. We excluded patients with palliative tumor resection. We analyzed prognostic factors in symtom-free survival and overall survival using Kaplan-Meier method, univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: There were 25 males (52%) and 23 females (48%), and median age of 48 patients was 65 years. The most common cause of malignant gastrointestinal obstruction was colorectal (26 patients, 55%), followed by stomach (10, 21%). Twenty patients (42%) received previous treatment (chemotherapy, surgery, and radiotherapy) and 28 (58%) never received any. Eighteen of 20 had received chemotherapy. The most common symptom was pain (15 patients, 31%). Twenty three patients (48%) had Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group(ECOG) performance status of 1 or 2 score and 25 patients (52%) 3 or 4 score. The most common palliative procedure was colostomy and there was no mortality concerning the palliative procedures. By univariate and multivariate analysis, performance status was the only independent prognostic factor in overall survival and symptom-free survival. Overall survival was 150 days and symptom-free survival was 90 days. Conclusion:. We confirmed that perftatdormance status is significant independent prognostic factor in terminal cancer patients with palliative procedures for malignant gastrointestinal obstruction.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.66-69
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• 2017

Approximately 40% of patients with colorectal cancer have metastatic lesions at the time of diagnosis, and chemotherapy is generally prescribed for these patients. Though several drugs are used, 5-FU has long been the backbone of chemotherapy for colorectal cancer. Capecitabine is an oral 5-FU prodrug approved by the FDA in 2005 and is used alone or in combination for treatment of colorectal cancer. Recently, capecitabine has been used for a number of off-label indications, including the treatment of advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer. Here, we report a rare case of a 59-year-old woman, diagnosed with metastatic colorectal cancer who first presented with abdominal discomfort and dyspepsia. She showed a partial response to palliative first line FOLFOX chemotherapy, which had to be stopped due to peripheral neuropathy, as a side effect. She was next put on a second line chemotherapy regimen with capecitabine alone, since then she showed good treatment response without any disease progression.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1449-1453
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• 2015

Background: Oral capecitabine is increasingly replacing intravenous 5-fluorouracil in many chemotherapy regimens. However, data on the risk of febrile neutropaenia (FN) and treatment related death (TRD) with the drug remain sparse outside of clinical trial settings despite its widespread usage. This study aimed to determine these rates in a large cohort of patients treated in the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). Materials and Methods: We reviewed the clinical notes of all patients prescribed with oral capecitabine chemotherapy for any tumour sites in University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) from $1^{st}$ January 2009 till $31^{st}$ June 2010. Information collected included patient demographics, histopathological features, treatment received including the different chemotherapy regimens and intent of treatment whether the chemotherapy was given for neoadjuvant, concurrent with radiation, adjuvant or palliative intent. The aim of this study is to establish the pattern of usage, FN and TRD rates with capecitabine in clinical practice outside of clinical trial setting. FN is defined as an oral temperature > $38.5^{\circ}C$ or two consecutive readings of > $38.0^{\circ}C$ for 2 hours and an absolute neutrophil count < $0.5{\times}10^9/L$, or expected to fall below $0.5{\times}10^9/L$ (de Naurois et al., 2010). Treatment related death was defined as death occurring during or within 30 days of last chemotherapy treatment. Results: Between $1^{st}$ January 2009 and $30^{th}$ June 2010, 274 patients were treated with capecitabine chemotherapy in UMMC. The mean age was 58 years (range 22 to 82 years). Capecitabine was used in 14 different tumour sites with the colorectal site predominating with a total of 128 cases (46.7%), followed by breast cancer (35.8%). Capecitabine was most commonly used in the palliative setting accounting for 63.9% of the cases, followed by the adjuvant setting (19.7%). The most common regimen was single agent capecitabine with 129 cases (47.1%). The other common regimens were XELOX (21.5%) and ECX (10.2%). The main result of this study showed an overall FN rate of 2.2% (6/274). The overall TRD rate was 5.1% (14/274). The FN rate for the single agent capecitabine regimen was 1.6% (2/129) and the TRD rate was 5.4% (7/129). All the TRDs were with single agent capecitabine regimen were used for palliative intent. Conclusions: Oral capecitabine is used widely in clinical practice in a myriad of tumour sites and bears a low risk of febrile neutropaenia. However, capecitabine like any other intravenous chemotherapeutic agent carries a significant risk of treatment related death.

• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.106-110
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• 2008

Palliative sedation has been used in patients who undergo intractable suffering at the end of life. Its implementation, however, may be complicated due to resistance of clinicians and barrier of bioethical issues. Here, we present 50-year-old man with stomach cancer and multiple bone metastasis who was treated with palliative chemotherapy and radiotherapy. He suffered from refractory pain on the whole body even after standard analgesics and multidisplinary effort to relieve. Upon shared decision for sedation, he was given midazolam until discharge. Literature reviews reveal cases similar to the present case.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.133-142
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• 1997

Hepatoblastoma is a rare pediatric malignancy which frequently presents at an advanced un resectable stage. With the neoadjuvant chemotherapy, improved resectability and survival have been reported. Twenty children with biopsy proven hepatoblastoma were treated during the period between January 1987 and June 1995. Median age at diagnosis was 13 months(2 months to 7 year and 10 months), and 13 were male. Histologic profile was 13 epithelial(5 fetal, 4 mixed, 1 embryonal, 3 undetermined), and 5 mixed mesenchymal and epithelial and 2 of undetermined type. Chemotherapy effectively reduced the tumor volume($p$=0.008), and was able to convert 7 out of 9 initially unresectable cases(78%) to resectable ones. Twelve radical and 2 palliative operations were done with or without adjuvant chemotherapy. The Median follow up period was 33 months and the median survival was 26 months. The group with curative resection had a 61.1% 5 year survival rate, but none of palliative resection group survived more than 13 months($p$=0.0001). In univariate analysis for prognostic factors revealed, large tumor size at diagnosis and abscence of thrombocytopenia were associated with poor survival, but these differences were not statistically significant. Histological pure fetal type did not mean a better prognosis. Even with a recent neoadjuvant chemotherapy, the strategy should be focused on the radical resection as early as possible.