• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.538-544
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• 2009

Objective : Primary treatment of spinal metastasis has been external beam radiotherapy. Recent advance of technology enables radiosurgery to be extended to extracranial lesions. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical effectiveness and safety of stereotactic radiosurgery using Cyberknife in spinal metastasis. Methods : From June, 2002 to December, 2007, 129 patients with 167 spinal metastases were treated with Cyberknife. Most of the patients (94%) presented with pain and nine patients suffered from motor deficits. Twelve patients were asymptomatic. Fifty-three patients (32%) had previous radiation therapy. Using Cyberknife, 16-39 Gy in 1-5 fractions were delivered to spinal metastatic lesions. Radiation dose was not different regarding the tumor pathology or tumor volume. Results : After six months follow-up, patient evaluation was possible in 108 lesions. Among them, significant pain relief was seen in 98 lesions (91%). Radiological data were obtained in 83 lesions. The mass size was decreased or stable in 75 lesions and increased in eight lesions. Radiological control failure cases were hepatocellular carcinoma (5 cases), lung cancer (1 case), breast cancer (1 case) and renal cell carcinoma (1 case). Treatment-related radiation injury was not detected. Conclusion : Cyberknife radiosurgery is clinically effective and safe for spinal metastases. It is true even in previously irradiated patients. Compared to conventional radiation therapy, Cyberknife shows higher pain control rate and its treatment process is more convenient for patients. Thus, it can be regarded as a primary treatment modality for spinal metastases.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 1998

Objectives: Deletion in the short arm of chromosome 3 is common in many human cancers, including sporadic and hereditary renal carcinomas, small cell lung carcinomas, non-small cell lung carcinomas, and carcinomas of the ovary, breast, and cervix. A high frequency of chromosomal aberrations in head and neck cancers involving chromosome 3p has also been reported. These findings suggest that multiple tumor suppressor genes may be present on the short arm of chromosome 3. Materials and Methods: To investigate the possibility of chromosome 3p deletions in the Korean head and neck cancer patients, we applied a polymerase chain reaction(PCR)-based Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis to the DNA samples of matched normal mucosa and head and neck squamous cell carcinomas from 19 patients. Results: In the 19 normal samples heterozygosity at the polymorphic loci varied: 6 at the D3F15S2 locus(on telomeric 3p21), 2 at the D3S32 locus(on centromeric 3p21), and 4 at the THRB locus(on centromeric 3p24). In 12 matched carcinoma specimens, LOH(loss of heterozygosity) was observed at D3F15S2 in 1 of 6(17%), D3S32 in 1 of 2(50%), and at THRB in 2 of 4 cases(50%). Conclusion: The frequency of chromosome 3p deletion in the Korean head and neck carcinomas appear as other country did.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.11-22
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• 2008

Telomeres consist of tandem guanine-thymine(G-T) repeats in most eukaryotic chromosomes. Human telomeres are predominantly linear, double stranded DNA as they ended in 30-200 nucleotides(bases,b) 3'-overhangs. In DNA replication, removal of the terminal RNA primer from the lagging strand results in a 3'-overhang of uncopied DNA. This is because of bidirectional DNA replication and specificity of unidirectional DNA polymerase. After the replication, parental and daughter DNA strands have unequal lengths due to a combination of the end-replication problem and end-processing events. The gradual chromosome shortening is observed in most somatic cells and eventually leads to cellular senescence. Telomere shortening could be a molecular clock that signals the replicative senescence. The shortening of telomeric ends of human chromosomes, leading to sudden growth arrest, triggers DNA instability as biological switches. In addition, telomere dysfunction may cause chronic allograft nephropathy or kidney cancers. The renal cell carcinoma(RCC) in women may be less aggressive and have less genomic instability than in man. Younger patients with telomere dysfunction are at a higher risk for RCC than older patients. Thus, telomeres maintain the integrity of the genome and are involved in cellular aging and cancer. By studying the telomeric DNA, we may characterize the genetic determinants in diseases and discover the tools in molecular medicine.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.577-581
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• 2009

Solid pseudo-papillary tumor (SPT) is a rare pancreatic neoplasm with low malignant potential, which tends to occur predominantly in younger females. Only a few cases of SPT seen on F-18 FDG PET scan have been reported, and the findings are not fully evaluated. A 33 year-old woman underwent F-18 FDG PET/CT study for staging of renal cell carcinoma. She was diagnosed with SPT of the pancreas 6 years ago, and has not had any treatment so far. Recent PET/CT showed marked F-18 FDG uptake in the peripheral solid portion and relatively less F-18 FDG uptake to the central calcified portion of SPT. We report one case of SPT of the pancreas on F-18 FDG PET/CT.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.397-403
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• 1991

From June 1987 to January 1991, 24 patients with moderate or massive pericardial effusion underwent subxiphoid pericardial window procedures for diagnosis and therapy. The patients` ages were ranged from 28 years to 71 years. The underlying diseases were chronic renal failure with long term hemodialysis in 3 cases, malignant lung cancer in 7 cases, stomach cancer in 2 cases, tuberculous pericarditis in 5 cases, pyogenic pericarditis in 2 cases, myxedema in one case, one metastatic squamous cell carcinoma from unknown origin and three of undefined etiology. Preoperative diagnoses of pericardial effusions were confirmed by echocardiogram in all cases. Subxiphoid pericardial drainages were performed under general[n=19] or local anesthesia[n=5]. Histological diagnoses were made from the inferior pericardial tissue in all cases except one. In this one case[tuberculous pericarditis], the subxiphoid pericardial approach was failed from intraoperative bleeding. There were two postoperative death, one[in malignant lung cancer] had postoperative ventricular tachycardia which result in cardiac arrest, and the other[unknown origin metastatic malignant effusion] had persistent tachyarrhythmia postoperatively and died on postoperative 5th days. Twenty three patients were followed up from 3 days to 9 months; mean follow-up day was 43 days. The preoperative and postoperative mean cardiothoracic ratio in chest x-ray were 0.69 and 0.52 respectively. Subxiphoid pericardial drainage may provide definitive diagnosis and treatment for pericardial effusions. The approach through subxiphoid pericardium under general or local anesthesia avoids the complications of pericardiocentesis and is effective for malignant pericardial effusion.

• Korean journal of aerospace and environmental medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.61-63
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• 2021

In Vol. 31, No. 3, our journal prepared three review articles, an original paper, and two case reports. First, as COVID-19 continues for a long time, aviation workers, including pilots, are also experiencing mental problems such as depression. Therefore, we have compiled the basic principles for improving the mental health of pilots. Next, it is difficult to properly perform cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) when a cardiac arrest situation occurs in an aircraft. Moreover, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, CPR is more difficult because medical staff and other passengers may also be exposed to infections. Therefore, we have summarized the principles of CPR on board and ways to perform CPR while keeping the safety of medical staff and other passengers in the COVID-19 situation. The sudden change of gravity caused by space travel has various effects on the human body, and among them, the effect on the immune system is profound. Therefore, we reviewed the research methods to study the effect of gravity on the immune system and the results. In addition, we analyzed the demographic characteristics and health status of immigrant visa applicants who intended to immigrate to the United States over the past five years. Next, through two case reports, we reported cases of determining physical fitness for aviation service in patients who recovered after receiving appropriate treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia or renal cell carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.7
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• pp.3403-3408
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• 2012

The molecular mechanisms involved in the progression of clear cell renal cell carcinomas (ccRCCs) are still unclear. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationships between expression of RALYL and clinical characteristics. In 41 paired samples of ccRCCs and adjacent normal tissues, we used real-time qPCR to evaluate the expression of RALYL mRNA. RALYL protein levels were determined in 146 samples of ccRCC and 37 adjacent normal tissues by immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis was used to explore the relationships between expression of RALYL and the clinical characteristics (gender, age, tumor size, T stage, N stage, M stage, survival times and survival outcome) in ccRCC. In addition, these patients were follow-up period 64 months (range: 4~116months) to investigate the influence on prognosis. We found significantly differences between ccRCC tissues and normal tissues (p<0.001, paired-sample t test) in mRNA levels of RALYL. Immunohistochemistry analyses in 146 ccRCC samples and 37 adjacent normal tissues showed significantly lower RALYL protein levels in ccRCC samples (${\chi}^2$-test, p<0.001), inversely correlating with tumour size (p=0.024), T stage (0.005), N stage (p<0.001) as well as M stage (p=0.019), but not age (p=0.357) and gender (p=0.348). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis demonstrated that people with lower level of RALYL expression had a poorer survival rate than those with a higher level of RALYL expression, significantly different by the log-rank test (p=0.011). Cox regression analysis indicated that RALYL expression (p=0.039), N stage (p=0.008) and distant metastasis (p<0.001) were independent prognosis factors for the overall survival of ccRCC patients. We demonstrated that the expression of RALYL was significantly low in ccRCC and correlated with a poor prognosis in a large number of clinical samples. Our findings showed that RALYL may be a potential therapeutic target as well as a poor prognostic factor.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.11 s.268
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• pp.810-814
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• 2006

Background: Tumors of the heart are uncommon. The aim of this study is to review our clinical experience and outcome of surgical treatment of cardiac neoplasm. Material and Method: From March 1990 to December 2005, 35 patients(14 males and 21 females) with mean age of 52.4 years underwent surgical treatment of cardiac neoplasm. The clinical and pathologic data were analyzed retrospectively. Surgical treatment consisted in complete resection of the tumor in all cases but 1 patient who was left ventricular fibroma received biopsy only. Result: Thirty cases were benign and five cases were malignant tumor. Benign tumors were myxoma(29 cases) and fibroma(1 case). Five malignant tumors were osteosarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, renal cell cancer, yolk sac tumor, and unclassified myxoid spindle cell type sarcoma. There were no operative mortality in benign cases and twenty seven cases of myxoma were followed up for 8 months to 15 years without recurrence. But four patients of malignant tumor were expired within six months after operation. Conclusion: Left atrial myxomas are most common benign neoplasm. Surgical treatment is effective for the benign cardiac tumors but prognosis is poor in patients with malignant cardiac tumors.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.296-304
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• 2016

It has been reported that fatty acid binding proteins (FABPs) do not act only as intracellular mediators of lipid responses but also have extracellular functions. This study aimed to investigate whether extracellular liver type (L)-FABP has a biological activity and to determined serum L-FABP levels in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We isolated L-FABP complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) from the Huh7 human hepatocarcinoma cell line and expressed the recombinant L-FABP protein in Escherichia coli. A549 lung carcinoma and THP-1 monocytic cells were stimulated with the human recombinant L-FABP. Human whole blood cells were also treated with the human recombinant L-FABP or interleukin (IL)-1α. IL-6 levels were measured in cell culture supernatants using IL-6 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Human recombinant L-FABP induced IL-6 in a dose-dependent manner in A549, THP-1 cells, and whole blood cells. The blood samples of healthy volunteers and patients with ESRD were taken after an overnight fast. The serum levels of L-FABP in healthy volunteers and ESRD patients were quantified with L-FABP ELISA. The values of L-FABP in patients with ESRD were significantly lower than those in the control group. Our results demonstrated the biological activity of L-FABP in human cells suggesting L-FABP can be a mediator of inflammation.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.48 no.6
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• pp.335-344
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• 2004

Interleukin-2 (IL-2), a glycoprotein mainly secreted by CD4+ T helper Iymphocytes, has been developed to use recombinant cytokine to augment the immune response against cancer since IL-2 not only stimulates T Iymphocytes but also enhances natural killer (NK) cell activity. In order to evaluate the immunological safety of recombinant mouse IL-2 (rmIL-2) in cancer therapy, renal cell carcinoma was established in the flank by s.c. injection of renca cell line. Tumor-bearing BALB/c mice were treated with I.p. injections with $2{\times}10^5$ Lu rmIL-2. Even though the tumor size was diminished, there were not significant recovery of body and relative lymphoid organ weights including thymic atrophy in rmIL-2 immunotherapy. Distribution ratios of T cell subsets in thymus were analysed using flow cytometry. Without regard to dosage of rmIL-2, the ratio of CD3+CD4-CD8- T cells was increased in accordance with survival of solid tumor but that of CD4+CD8+ T cells was decreased dramatically. Emergence of autoantibodies (ANA, anti-dsDNA, and anti-histone) in blood was measured after rmIL-2 treatment. The results showed that the levels of ANA and anti-dsDNA did not significantly changed, but the level of anti-histone was increased significantly owing to rmIL-2 therapy. These results indicate rmIL-2 immunotherapy is to induce the autoimmune potential, and the anti-histone measurement as a biomarker of autoimmunity is useful in cancer immunotherapy.