Since the revised Cancer Act of October 2006, cancer registration was reactivated, based on the Statistics Law.
The incidence of cancer during 2002 was calculated on the basis of the information available from the National Cancer Incidence Database. Crude and age-standardized rates were calculated by gender for 18 age groups (0~4, 5~9, 10~14, every five years, 85 years and over).
The overall crude incidence rates (CRs) were 269.2 and 212.8 per 100,000 for males and females, and the overall age-standardized incidence rates (ASRs) were 287.8 and 172.9 per 100,000, respectively. Among males, the five leading primary cancer sites were stomach (CR 62.4, ASR 65.7), lung (CR 45.4, ASR 51.0), liver (CR 43.2, ASR 43.7), colon and rectum (CR 30.7, ASR 32.7), and prostate (CR 8.0, ASR 9.6). Among females, the most common cancer sites were breast (CR 33.1, ASR 26.9), followed by stomach (CR 32.8, ASR 26.0), colon and rectum (CR 23.1, ASR 18.5), thyroid (CR 19.1, ASR 15.7), and uterine cervix (CR 18.2, ASR 14.7). In the 0~14 age group, leukemia was the most common cancer for both genders. For males, stomach cancer was the most common cancer in the 15~64 age-group, but lung cancer was more frequent in men 65 or older. For females, thyroid cancer among the 15~34 age-group, breast cancer among 35~64 age-group and stomach cancer in women 65 years or older were the most common forms of cancer for each age group. The quality indices for the percentage of deaths, by death certificate only, were 4.7% for males and 4.5% for females.
Since the National Cancer Incidence Database was started, the annual percent change of cancer cases increased by 4.8% (4.1% for males, 5.7% for females) during 1999~2002. This value reflects the increase in prostate cancer for males and breast and thyroid cancer in females during 2002. The timely reporting of improved quality of cancer registration is needed for evidence-based decisions regarding cancer control in Korea.
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One of the most significant developments in medical oncology practice has been the approval of various antiangiogenic drugs for the treatment of a number of different malignancies. These drugs include bevacizumab (Avastin®), the anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody. Thus far, bevacizumab appears to induce clinical benefit in patients who have advanced metastatic disease only or primarily when it is combined with conventional chemotherapy. The reasons for the chemo-enhancing effects of bevacizumab are unknown, and this is a subject that we have been actively studying along with additional ways that antiangiogenic drugs may be combined with chemotherapy. In this respect, we have focused much of our effort on metronomic low dose chemotherapy. We have been studying the hypothesis that some chemotherapy drugs at maximum tolerated doses or other cytotoxic- like drugs such as acute "vascular disrupting agents" (VDAs) can cause an acute mobilization of proangiogenic cells from the bone marrow which home to and colonize the treated tumors, thus accelerating their recovery. These cells include endothelial progenitor cells. This systemic process can be largely blocked by a targeted antiangiogenic drug, e.g. anti-VEGFR-2 antibodies. In addition, metronomic chemotherapy, i.e., close regular administration of chemotherapy drugs at low non-toxic doses with no breaks, over prolonged periods of time not only prevents the acute CEP bone marrow response, but can even target the cells. This potential antiangiogenic effect of metronomic chemotherapy can also be boosted by combination with a targeted antiangiogenic agent. Treatment combinations of metronomic chemotherapy and an antiangiogenic drug have moved into phase II clinical trial testing with particularly encouraging results thus far reported in metastatic breast and recurrent ovarian cancer. Oral chemotherapy drugs such as cyclophosphamide (CTX), methotrexate are the main chemotherapeutics used for such trials. Oral 5-FU prodrugs such as UFT would also appear to be highly suitable based on long term adjuvant therapy studies in patients. Recent preclinical results using metronomic cyclophosphamide and metronomic UFT in models of advanced metastatic breast cancer suggest that this type of combination might be particularly promising for metronomic chemotherapy in this indication, particularly when combined with a targeted antiangiogenic drug.
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This study aimed to assess whether a young age at the time of diagnosis with osteosarcoma has value to predict the prognosis.
Sixty-seven children with stage II osteosarcoma were stratified according to the age of 10. There were 32 preadolescents (≤10 years) and 35 adolescents (10<age≤15 years). The patients were analyzed for their clinical characteristics, the histologic response to preoperative chemotherapy, event-free survival (EFS) and the patterns of relapse.
After a median follow-up of 54 months (range: 6~153 months), the 5-year EFS of the preadolescent and adolescent groups was 64.5±9.3% and 58.2±9.1%, respectively, and age did not have any statistical significance for survival (p=0.55). Cox regression analysis revealed that both the serum level of alkaline phosphatase and the histologic response to preoperative chemotherapy were significantly related to survival of the 67 patients. Those patients aged less than 7 years responded poorly to preoperative chemotherapy and their rate of amputation was 43%. However, their 5-year EFS was not statistically different from the older patients (57.1±18.7 vs 67.7±6.3%, respectively, p=0.58).
We could not find any statistical difference in the clinical characteristics and survival from osteosarcoma for the preadolescents and adolescents, so the current approach of having the same protocol for both groups of patients seems to be reasonable.
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the factors that are associated with the accuracy of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for predicting myometrial invasion and lymph node metastasis in women with endometrial carcinoma.
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and preoperative MR imaging reports of 128 women who had pathologically proven endometrial carcinoma. We compared the MR imaging and the histopathology findings.
The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for identifing any myometrial invasion (superficial or deep) were 0.81, 0.61 and 0.74, respectively; these values for deep myometrial invasion were 0.60, 0.94 and 0.86, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of MR imaging for detecting lymph node metastasis were 50.0%, 96.6% and 93.0%, respectively. The patients who were older, had more deliveries and a larger tumor size more frequently had incorrect prediction of deep myometrial invasion (p=0.034, p=0.044, p=0.061, respectively). A higher tumor grade, a histology other than the endometrioid type, myometrial invasion on MR findings and a larger tumor size were associated with a more frequent false-negative prediction of lymph node metastasis (p=0.018, p=0.017, p=0.002, p=0.047, respectively). A larger tumor size was also associated with more frequent false-positive results (p=0.009).
There are several factors that make accurate assessment of myometrial invasion or lymph node metastasis difficult with using MRI; therefore, the patients with these factors should have their MR findings cautiously interpreted.
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We wanted to investigate the validity of the recently introduced Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) staging system and the International Staging System (ISS) by comparing both systems with the widely accepted Durie/Salmon (DS) system for multiple myeloma patients.
Between 1992 and 2005, 85 multiple myeloma patients (men: women 41:44, median age: 63 years (range: 36~87)) with available baseline values of albumin and β2-microglobulin were enrolled. The clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively obtained.
According to the ISS, 11 patients were stage I (12.9%), 30 patients stage II (35.3%) and 44 patients stage III (51.8%). The median survivals of the ISS stages I, II and III were 78.6 months, 31.8 months and 15.1 months, respectively (p=0.015). The DS staging system was not able to predict the survival. For the SWOG staging system, 14 patients were stage I (16.4%), 27 patients stage II (31.8%), 27 patients stage III (31.8%) and 17 patients were stage IV (20.0%). The median survivals of the SWOG staging system stage I, II, III and IV were 78.6 months, 31.8 months, 11.6 months and 24.8 months, respectively (p=0.0075).
The ISS staging system showed better reliability, simplicity and predictability for survival than the DS and SWOG staging systems for multiple myeloma patients.
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Calcium ionophore (CI) is used to generate dendritic cells (DCs) from progenitor cells, monocytes, or leukemic cells. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal dose of CI and the appropriate length of cell culture required for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells and to evaluate the limitations associated with CI.
To generate leukemic DCs, leukemic cells (4×106 cells) from six AML patients were cultured with various concentrations of CI and/or IL-4 for 1, 2 or 3 days.
Potent leukemic DCs were successfully generated from all AML patients, with an average number of 1.2×106 cells produced in the presence of CI (270 ng/ml) for 2 days. Several surface molecules were clearly upregulated in AML cells supplemented with CI and IL-4, but not CD11c. Leukemic DCs cultured with CI had a higher allogeneic T cell stimulatory capacity than untreated AML cells, but the addition of IL-4 did not augment the MLR activity of these cells. AML cells cultured with CI in the presence or absence of IL-4 showed increased levels of apoptosis in comparison to primary cultures of AML cells.
Although CI appears to be advantageous in terms of time and cost effectiveness, the results of the present study suggest that the marked induction of apoptosis by CI limits its application to the generation of DCs from AML cells.
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Extranodal presentation of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBL) is frequently observed in the gastrointestinal tract, CNS, bone, testes and liver. However, the simultaneous detection of multiple extranodal involvement at presentation is quite an uncommon occurrence. In this study, we report on a patient with an uncommon presentation of DLBL, and he had symptoms of left knee joint pain and hematemesis, characterized by bone and stomach involvement. Computed tomography and fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning revealed a rapid, extensive spread to the bones and soft tissues. Subsequent histopathological examination verified the bony and gastric CD20-positive DLBL localization. We diagnosed this case as DLBL of stage IV with an international prognostic index of 3, and classified him into the high intermediate risk group. This patient was treated via chemotherapy with an R-CHOP regimen. After achieving a partial response, the patient received autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. The patient attained partial remission, as shown on the FDG-PET scan, and he displayed improvement of his left femur pain.
Primary adenoid cystic carcinoma in the lung is very rare, so its clinicopathologic characteristics have usually been extrapolated from the salivary disease. However, the clinical courses of pulmonary adenoid cystic carcinomas may be different from those of salivary disease, and individual differences may also exist. I report here on a case of a patient who was initially diagnosed as pulmonary adenoid cystic carcinoma with liver metastases and the tumor showed extreme radiosensitivity, but it also underwent an aggressive clinical course. Adenoid cystic carcinoma is usually known to be a slowly growing tumor, but it may rapidly disseminate, like in this patient. Therefore, the factors predicting aggressive behavior should be determined and the treatment might be individualized according to the primary sites and on the patient's basis.
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