• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.1593-1596
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• 2013

Background: To evaluate outcomes using a Thai herbal medicine, Vilac Plus (G716/45) with standard radiotherapy in comparison with historic controls from literature reports of the results of treatment in stage IIIB cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: Between March 2003 and June 2005, thirty patients with advanced cervical cancer stage IIIB-IV who had a poor performance status were treated by palliative radiotherapy along with an adjuvant daily dose of 15-30 ml of Thai herbal tonic solution (Vilac Plus G716/45) administered orally three times after meals as an additional supportive therapy. The results were analyzed from the aspect of the overall survival rates with curves estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. Results:.The median follow -up time for stage IIIB was 4.2 years with a range of 7.9 months - 6.1 years. The overall 1, 3, and 5 year survival rates for stage IIIB were 88%, 60% and 52%. Conclusions: The overall 5 year survival rate for stage IIIB with a poor performance status was 52% when compared with 34-54.8% for historic controls. The combined complementary palliative radiotherapy (CCPR) had low rates of radiation morbidity. It was a simple technique and feasible for developing countries. The pilot study was limited by the small number of patients and further research will be necessary to assess interrelated and confounding factors in treatment of cervical cancer patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권13호
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• pp.5483-5486
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• 2014

Recently, the transcription factor SOX11 has gained extensive attention as a diagnostic marker in a series of cancers. However, to date, the possible roles of SOX11 in breast cancer has not been investigated. In this study, immunohistochemical staining for SOX11 was performed for 116 cases of breast cancer. Nuclear SOX11 was observed in 42 (36.2%) and cytoplasmic SOX11 in 52 (44.8%) of breast cancer samples. Moreover, high expression of cytoplasmic and nuclear SOX11 was associated with clinicopathological factors, including earlier tumor grade, absence of lymph node metastasis and smaller tumor size. Kaplan-Meier survival curves demonstrated high nuclear SOX11 expression to be associated with more prolonged overall survival than those with low expression and it could be an independent predictor of survival for breast cancer patients. It is worthwhile to note that cytoplasmic SOX11 was not correlated with prognosis of breast cancer patients. These data suggest the possibility that nuclear SOX11 could be as a potential target for breast cancer therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제14권8호
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• pp.4717-4721
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• 2013

Complete surgical resection of the primary tumour is a crucial predictive step for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), because incomplete resection may lead to increase in the recurrence rate. Molecular cancer markers have been investigated as potential predictors of prognosis marker, to identify patients who are at high risk of local recurrence. This retrospective study aimed to determine the prognostic correlation between p53 and eIF4E expression and clinical characteristics, recurrence and overall survival. Forty eight HNSCC patients were selected between 2006 and 2009 diagnosed at the Royal Darwin Hospital, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Out of 48, only those 24 with negative surgical margins with hematoxylin and eosin (HandE) were chosedn for further analysis. A total of 77 surgical margins were obtained and subsequently analysed by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining with monoclonal p53 and polyclonal eIF4E antibodies. Contingency table and ${\chi}^2$-test were used to investigate the correlation between p53 and eIF4E expression and clinical characteristics, recurrence and overall survival of the HNSCC patients. The follow up period was 74 months (range 1-74 months). The Kaplan-Meier method was used to generate recurrence and survival curves. This is a first retrospective study of Northern Territory patients, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Molecular study of surgical margins could help to identify patients with and without clear margins after surgery and help in choice of the most appropriate adjuvant treatment for HNSCC patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권24호
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• pp.10917-10922
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• 2015

Background: This study was conducted to determine DEPDC1 expression in hepatocelluar carcinomas (HCCs) and to reveal its potential role in diagnosis and prognosis of affected patients. Materials and Methods: DEPDC1 expression at the mRNA level was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) in 205 cases of HCC and paired adjacent normal liver tissues, and by semi-quantitative RT-PCR in 20 cases. Survival curves were obtained by using Kaplan-Meier method and Log-rank test. Independent predictors associated with regard to disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were identified using the Cox proportional hazard model. Results: High DEPDC1 mRNA levels were detected in 144 out of 205 cases (70.24%) of HCC, significantly associated with clinicopathological parameters, including tumor size (${\geq}4cm$), alpha-fetoprotein (${\geq}100ng/ml$), B-C of BCLC stage and recurrence. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that HCC patients with high DEPDC1 expression had poor OS and DFS. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that high DEPDC1 expression was an independent predictor for OS (HR=1.651; 95% 95%CI, 1.041-2.617; p=0.033) and DFS (HR=1.583; 95%CI, 1.01-2.483; p=0.045). Conclusions: Our results indicate DEPDC1 might be a novel diagnostic marker and an independent prognostic predictor for HCC patients.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• 제38권1호
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• pp.9-15
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• 2005

Objectives : To analyze medical expenses by cancer site and survival time among cancer patients in their last year of life. Method : The study subjects were 45,394 people that had died of cancers in 2002, were registered by the Korea Central Cancer Registry and received National Health Insurance benefit in the last year (360 days) of life. Personal identification data, general characteristics, dates of death and cancer incidence, and site of cancer were collected from the National Statistical Office and the Korea Central Cancer Registry, and merged with the data of the individual medical expenses of the Health Insurance Review Agency. Results : Average monthly cost curves were U-shaped with high costs near the time of diagnosis and death, and lower costs in between. Medical expenses in the last year of life were around 30.3, 16.7, 13.0, and 12.1 million won among leukemia, lymphoma, ovarian cancer, and breast cancer patients, respectively. Digestive organ cancers including stomach, esophagus, liver, pancreas, and colorectal cancers had relatively low medical expenses. Medical expenses in the last year of life were inverse U-shaped with high expenses near one year of survival. Average monthly cost in the 12 months before death among the patients who had survived $10{\sim}15$ years were more than two-fold greater than the cost before diagnosis among those who had survived for less than one year. Conclusions : Leukemia was the most expensive cancer. It is possible that once diagnosed as cancer, medical expenses do not return to the level before diagnosis. Further research will be needed to understand the magnitude and change of the medical expenses among cancer patients with long term follow up data.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.155-168
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• 2021

Purpose: Previous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of the controlling nutritional status (CONUT) score in nutritional assessment and survival prediction of patients with various malignancies. However, its value in advanced gastric cancer (GC) treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy and curative gastrectomy remains unclear. Materials and Methods: The CONUT score at different time points (pretreatment, preoperative, and postoperative) of 272 patients with advanced GC were retrospectively calculated from August 2004 to October 2015. The χ² test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to estimate the relationships between the CONUT score and clinical characteristics as well as short-term outcomes, while the Cox proportional hazard model was used to estimate long-term outcomes. Survival curves were estimated by using the Kaplan-Meier method and log-rank test. Results: The proportion of moderate or severe malnutrition among all patients was not significantly changed from pretreatment (13.5%) to pre-operation (11.7%) but increased dramatically postoperatively (47.5%). The pretreatment CONUT-high score (≥4) was significantly associated with older age (P=0.010), deeper tumor invasion (P=0.025), and lower pathological complete response rate (CONUT-high vs. CONUT-low: 1.2% vs. 6.6%, P=0.107). Pretreatment CONUT-high score patients had worse progression-free survival (P=0.032) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.026). Adjusted for pathologic node status, the pretreatment CONUT-high score was strongly associated with worse OS in pathologic node-positive patients (P=0.039). Conclusions: The pretreatment CONUT score might be a straightforward index for immune-nutritional status assessment, while being a reliable prognostic indicator in patients with advanced GC receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy and curative gastrectomy. Moreover, lower pretreatment CONUT scores might indicate better chemotherapy responses.

• The Journal of Advanced Prosthodontics
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• 제14권4호
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• pp.223-235
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• 2022

PURPOSE. To compare the clinical outcomes of two types of implant restoration for posterior edentulous area, 3-unit bridge supported by 2 implants and 3 implant-supported splinted crowns. MATERIALS AND METHODS. The data included 127 implant-supported fixed restorations in 85 patients: 37 restorations of 3-unit bridge supported by 2 implants (2-IB), 37 restorations of 3 implant-supported splinted crowns (3-IC), and 53 single restorations (S) as controls. Peri-implantitis and mechanical complications that occurred for 14 years were analyzed by multivariable Cox regression model. Kaplan-Meier curves and the multivariable Cox regression model were used to analyze the success and survival of implants. RESULTS. Peri-implantitis occurred in 28.4% of 2-IB group, 37.8% of 3-IC group, and 28.3% of S control group with no significant difference. According to the implant position, middle implants (P2) of the 3-IC group had the highest risk of peri-implantitis. The 3-IC group showed a lower mechanical complication rate (7.2%) than the 2-IB (16.2%) and S control group (20.8%). The cumulative success rate was 52.8% in S (control) group, 62.2% in 2-IB group, and 60.4% in 3-IC group. The cumulative survival rate was 98.1% in S (control) group, 98.6% in 2-IB group, and 95.5% in 3-IC group. There was no significant difference in the success and survival rate according to the restoration type. CONCLUSION. The restoration type was not associated with the success and survival of implants. The risk of mechanical complications was reduced in 3 implant-supported splinted crowns. However, the middle implants of the 3 implant-supported splinted crowns had a higher risk of peri-implantitis.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권23호
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• pp.10505-10508
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• 2015

Background: Breast cancer is an important cause of death among women. One way of classifying different forms of breast cancer is by molecular features, usually in terms of the four subtypes: luminal A, luminal B, HER2-enriched, and triple negative. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the association between molecular subtypes and survival among breast cancer patients treated with radiotherapy. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. The subjects were 272 breast cancer patients who had received treatment in the radiotherapy unit at Srinagarind Hospital, Thailand, between 1 January, 1999, and 31 May, 2009. The end of the study was 1 June, 2014. Overall survival was defined as the time elapsing between initial registration at the radiotherapy unit and death or the end of the study. Survival curves were estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method, and a multivariate analysis was performed using Cox's proportional hazard regression model. Results: The patient mean age was $47.5{\pm}10.4$ at the time of diagnosis. Of the 272 patients, 146 (53.7%) were classified as luminal A, 12 (4.4%) as luminal B, 30 (11.0%) as HER2-enriched, and 84 (30.9%) as triple negative. The overall survival rates at 1, 3 and 5 years were 87.1%, 68.4% and 59.2%, respectively. According to molecular subtypes, HER2-enriched patients had the lowest 5-year survival rate (30.0 %, 95%CI: 15.02-46.55). The median follow-up time was 8.37 years. In the Cox model analysis a higher risk of death was found for patients with HER2-enriched ($HR_{adj}=3.34$, 95%CI:1.96-5.67), triple negative ($HR_{adj}=2.17$, 95%CI: 1.44-3.27), and stage IIlB ($HR_{adj}=2.20$, 95%CI: 1.16-4.17) cancers. Conclusions: The worst survival rates were among patients classified as HER2-enriched, triple negative and at stage IIIB. Early detection and an advanced treatment modality are needed to help these patients.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제15권20호
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• pp.8893-8900
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• 2014

Dysregulated expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) has been shown to be closely associated with tumor development, progression, and carcinogenesis. However, their clinical implications for gastric cancer remain elusive. To investigate the hypothesis that genome-wide alternations of miRNAs differentiate gastric cancer tissues from those matched adjacent non-tumor tissues (ANTTs), miRNA arrays were employed to examine miRNA expression profiles for the 5-pair discovery stage, and the quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRTPCR) was applied to validate candidate miRNAs for 48-pair validation stage. Furthermore, the relationship between altered miRNA and clinicopathological features and prognosis of gastric cancer was explored. Among a total of 1,146 miRNAs analyzed, 16 miRNAs were found to be significantly different expressed in tissues from gastric cancer compared to ANTTs (p<0.05). qRT-PCR further confirmed the variation in expression of miR-193b and miR-196a in the validation stage. Down-expression of miR-193b was significantly correlated with Lauren type, differentiation, UICC stage, invasion, and metastasis of gastric cancer (p<0.05), while over-expression of miR-196a was significantly associated with poor differentiation (p=0.022). Moreover, binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the UICC stage was a significant risk factor for down-expression of miR-193b (adjusted OR=8.69; 95%CI=1.06-56.91; p=0.043). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with a high fold-change of down-regulated miR-193b had a significantly shorter survival time (n=19; median survival=29 months) compared to patients with a low fold-change of down-regulated miR-193b (n=29; median survival=54 months) (p=0.001). Overall survival time of patients with a low fold-change of up-regulated miR-196a (n=27; median survival=52 months) was significantly longer than that of patients with a high fold-change of up-regulated miR-196a (n=21; median survival=46 months) (p=0.003). Hence, miR-193b and miR-196a may be applied as novel and promising prognostic markers in gastric cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제16권11호
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• pp.4493-4496
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• 2015

Alterations in mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have been studied in various cancers. However, the clinical value of mtDNA copy number (mtCN) alterations in gastric cancer (GC) is poorly understood. In the present study, we investigated whether alterations in mtCNs might be associated with clinicopathological parameters in GC cases. mtCN was measured in 109 patients with GC by real-time PCR. Then, correlations with clinicopathological characteristics were analyzed. mtCN was elevated in 64.2% of GC tissues compared with paired, adjacent, non-cancerous tissue. However, the observed alterations in mtCN were not associated with any clinicopathological characteristics, including age, gender, TN stage, Lauren classification, lymph node metastasis, and depth of invasion. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival curves revealed that mtCN was not significantly associated with the survival of GC patients. In this study, we demonstrated that mtCN was not a significant marker for predicting clinical characteristics or prognosis in GC.