• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.529-534
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• 2008

Renal cell carcinoma(RCC) is one of the major malignant renal cell tumors. Although RCC can metastasize to almost every organ, the most common metastatic sites are the lung parenchyma, the bones, the liver, and the brain. Adrenal metastasis from RCC is extremely rare. Adrenal metastasis from RCC shows poor prognosis, with little benefit from chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormone therapy or immunotherapy. In this report, we describe a case of an RCC patient who showed lung and adrenal metastasis. The patient underwent left nephrectomy and chemotherapy(sunitinib), which were not effective. He refused further conventional medical treatment, and instead started treatment with Traditional Korean Medicine using allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes. After about 3 months of this treatment, the size of the adrenal tumor had decreased significantly with good performance status. Further study will be needed to demonstrate the tumor regression effect of allergen-removed Rhus verniciflua Stokes on patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.499-502
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• 2013

Trace elements which are essential components of biological structures may also be toxic when present at levels above the amounts required for biological function. In our study, trace element levels were measured with furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry in 33 newly diagnosed renal cell carcinoma cases (preoperative) and 32 healthy controls. When compared with the control group, it was found that the levels of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) were higher and the levels of zinc (Zn), iron (Fe) and manganese (Mn) were lower in the patient group. These changes may be important in the formation of renal cell carcinoma, a question which should be explored with postoperative comparative studies.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.66-70
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• 2021

Isolated head and neck metastasis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is relatively rare and metastasis to the temple area is very rare. Here, we present the case of a 51-year-old man who was diagnosed with RCC 2 years earlier and had a contralateral metastatic temple area lesion. The patient who was diagnosed with renal cell cancer and underwent a nephrectomy 2 years ago was referred to the plastic surgery department for a temple mass on the contralateral side. In the operative field, the mass was located in the temporalis muscle with a red-to-purple protruding shape. Biopsy of the mass revealed a metastatic RCC lesion. Computed tomography imaging showed a lobulated, contoured enhancing lesion. Positron emission tomography/computed tomography imaging showed high-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake in the right temporalis muscle. The patient underwent wide excision of the metastatic RCC including the temporalis muscle at the plastic surgery department. Skeletal muscle metastasis of head and neck lesions is extremely rare in RCC. Isolated contralateral temporalis muscle metastasis in RCC has not been previously reported in the literature. If a patient has a history of malignant cancer, plastic surgeons should always consider metastatic lesions of head and neck tumors. Because of its high metastatic ability and poor prognosis, it is very important to keep this case in mind.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.37 no.12
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• pp.857-864
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• 2014

Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) is a recently discovered oncogene that has been reported to be highly expressed in various types of malignant tumors, including renal cell carcinoma. However, the precise role of AEG-1 in renal cancer cell proliferation and apoptosis has not been clarified. In this study, we transfected the renal cancer cell line Caki-1 with a plasmid expressing AEG-1 short hairpin RNA (shRNA) and obtained cell colonies with stable knockdown of AEG-1. We found that AEG-1 down-regulation inhibited cell proliferation and colony formation and arrested cell cycle progression at the sub-G1 and G0/G1 phase. Western blot analysis indicated that the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), cyclin D1 and cyclin E were significantly reduced following AEG-1 down-regulation. In addition, AEG-1 knockdown led to the appearance of apoptotic bodies in renal cancer cells, and the ratio of apoptotic cells significantly increased. Expression of the antiapoptotic factor Bcl-2 was dramatically reduced, whereas the pro-apoptotic factors Bax, caspase-3 and poly (ADPribose) polymerase (PARP) were significantly activated. Finally, AEG-1 knockdown in Caki-1 cells remarkably suppressed cell proliferation and enhanced cell apoptosis in response to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) treatment, suggesting that AEG-1 inhibition sensitizes Caki-1 cells to 5-FU. Taken together, our data suggest that AEG-1 plays an important role in renal cancer formation and development and may be a potential target for future gene therapy for renal cell carcinoma.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.42-66
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• 2008

Aconiti Tuber is a traditional medicinal plant generally used in Oriental medicine therapy. In this study, we investigated the biochemical mechanisms of anti-proliferative effects by the methanol extract of Aconiti tuber (MEBJ) in Caki-1 human renal cell carcinoma cells. It was found that MEBJ could inhibit, in a dose-dependent manner, cell growth which was associated with apoptotic cell death such as formation of apoptotic bodies, DNA fragmentation and increased populations of apoptotic-sub G1 phase. Apoptosis of Caki-1 cells by MEBJ was associated with an up-regulation of pro-apoptotic Bax expression, and a down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 in a dose-dependent manner; however, the levels of IAP family were not affected. MEBJ treatment also induced the proteolytic activation of caspase-3 and -8, and a inhibition of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and $PLC{\gamma}1$ protein. Furthermore, MEBJ treatment caused a dose-dependent inhibition of iNOS and cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2). Though further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds that confer the anti-cancer activity of MEBJ, the present findings provide important new insights into the possible molecular mechanisms of the apoptotic activity of MEBJ in cancer cells.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.84-90
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• 2000

The appearance of a tumor in the chest wall is rare compared to that in any other part of the body. It can be classified into benign and malignant types and can be located in the rib, clavicle, sternum, cartilage and soft tissues. Tumors that are metastatic are commonly located in the lung, breast, bone and pleura. But, the soft tissue mass of anterior chest wall is rarely metastasized from a distant organ that is not confined to the thoracic cavity. This and thus has rarely been described. A 68-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with a chief complaint of resting dyspnea. A huge non-tender mass of about $10{\times}15$ cm in size was visible on his left lower anterior chest wall. We pathologically confirmed that the mass was a metastatic renal cell carcinoma of clear cell type by incision biopsy. Through an incision biopsy, the mass was pathologically confirmed as a metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the clear cell type.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.392-396
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• 2019

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents 2% to 3% of human cancers and is aggressive, with metastatic capability. The frequent metastatic sites are lung, bone, and liver. Reports of RCC metastatic to skin, and especially scalp are rare. Here we present an 83-year-old woman who was diagnosed with RCC 19 years prior and had a metastatic scalp lesion. An 83-year-old woman presented with a red-to-purple, protruding lesion at the right parietotemporal area. Twenty-three years ago, a right renal mass was incidentally discovered on ultrasound through a routine medical examination. She underwent right nephrectomy for RCC 4 years later. Five months after nephrectomy, new lung nodules were observed. Fifteen years after nephrectomy, metastatic lesions were found in the pelvic bone. She visited dermatology department for evaluation of the new scalp lesion, a year before she first visited our department. Despite chemotherapy, the mass was gradually enlarged. She consulted the plastic surgery department for management of the metastatic RCC was successfully treated with total excision including a 1-cm safety margin, local flap, and STSG coverage. Complete healing was observed, without evidence of recurrence during a 7-month followup. Metastases to the skin are rare, but must be kept in mind because of its high metastatic ability and poor prognosis.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.25 no.12
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• pp.1550-1555
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• 1992

From June 1989 to July 1992, we used centrifugal Biomedicus pump[CBP] in 20 patients In 9 cases, CBP was used as ventricular assistance after heart surgery for those who could not be weaned off bypass even with intra-aortic balloon counter-pulsation and with maximal inotropic support In 8 patients, CBP was used as partial left heart bypass during repair of aortic aneurysms or congenital aortic anomalies. And in 3 patients, CBP was used as vena caval bypass during resection of renal cell carcinoma with tumor extension into the inferior vena cava. In 2 of 9 patients with ventricular assistance, they were weaned off the device successfully after 16 hours and 7 days respectively. But the patients died of intracranial hemorrhage and sepsis, 7 and 29 days after weaning from cardiac support, respectively. In all the patients who underwent aortic of vena caval surgery using CBP as shunt, there were no complications such as postoperative bleeding necessitating reoperation, renal failure or neurologic sequelae. In conclusion, the centrifugal type of ventricular assistance may be potentially life saving treatment modality in patients with severe postoperative low cardiac output syndrome. The CBP can be safely employed for resection of renal cell carcinoma with vena caval tumor extension and for repair of aortic aneurysms.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8947-8950
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• 2014

Immunological functions of heat shock proteins (HSPs) have long been recognized. In this study we aimed to efficiently purify HSP70 from renal cell carcinoma and test it as a tumor antigen for pulsing dendritic cells in vitro. HSP70 was purified from renal cell carcinoma specimens by serial column chromatography on Con A-sepharose, PD-10, ADP-agarose and DEAE-cellulose, and finally subjected to fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC). Dendritic cells derived from the adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured in the presence of IL-4 and GM-CSF and exposed to tumor HSP70. After 24 hours, dendritic cells were phenotypically characterized by flow cytometry. T cells obtained from the non-adherent fraction of peripheral blood mononuclear cells were then co-cultured with HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells and after 3 days T cell cytotoxicity towards primary cultured renal cell carcinoma cells was examined by Cell Counting Kit-8 assay. Dendritic cells pulsed in vitro with tumor-derived HSP70 expressed higher levels of CD83, CD80, CD86 and HLA-DR maturation markers than those pulsed with tumor cell lysate and comparable to that of dendritic cells pulsed with tumor cell lysate plus TNF-${\alpha}$. Concomitantly, cytotoxic T-lymphocytes induced by HSP70-pulsed dendritic cells presented the highest cytotoxic activity. There were no significant differences when using homologous or autologous HSP70 as the tumor antigen. HSP70 can be efficiently purified by chromatography and induces in vitro dendritic cell maturation in the absence of TNF-${\alpha}$. Conspecific HSP70 may effectively be used as a tumor antigen to pulse dendritic cells in vitro.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.2681-2685
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• 2012

Objectives: This study focused on PTEN and Livin expression and associations with malignancy in human renal clear cell carcinomas (RCCC). Methods: PTEN and Livin expression was assessed in 100 RCCC tissue samples, 50 paracarcinoma cases, and 20 normal renal tissue samples using the immunohistochemical Streptavidin proxidase (SP) method. The relationships between binding and corresponding biological characteristics, such as histological grade, lymph node metastases, and clinical stages were analyzed. Results: Positive PTEN expression in RCCC was significantly lower than in renal tissue adjacent to carcinoma tissue and normal renal tissue (P<0.01). Livin expression in the renal tissue adjacent to the carcinoma and normal renal tissues exhibited only low levels, whereas overall Livin expression in RCCC was statistically significant (P<0.01). In RCCC, PTEN expression rate gradually decreased with an increase in clinical stage, whereas that of Livin increased to statistically significant levels (P<0.01), PTEN and Livin levels being negatively correlated (r=-0.395, P<0.01). Conclusions: PTEN and Livin are important in RCCC development. The two factors combined are expected to provide indices for estimating RCCC malignancy and progression levels, as well as references for RCCC diagnosis and treatment.