Post-transplant cyclophosphamide plus anti-thymocyte globulin decreased serum IL-6 levels when compared with post-transplant cyclophosphamide alone after haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Background: Post-transplantation cyclophosphamide (PTCy) and anti-thymocyte globulin (ATG) are common prophylactic strategies for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after haploidentical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (haplo-HSCT). Interleukin (IL)-6 is a surrogate marker for cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and acute GVHD.

Method: The clinical outcomes and complications of haplo-HSCT with PTCy plus ATG versus PTCy monotherapy were compared according to serum IL-6 levels at Chungnam National University Hospital (Daejeon, South Korea) from January 2019 to February 2023.

Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Survival Outcomes in Advanced Biliary Tract Cancer: Results From the NIFTY Trial.

Background: Numerous studies have explored the role of vitamin D in various cancers; however, its impact on advanced biliary tract cancers (BTC) within a prospective cohort remains to be investigated. This preplanned subgroup analysis of the NIFTY trial evaluated the prognostic implications of serum vitamin D levels in patients with advanced BTC undergoing second-line chemotherapy.

Methods: From the 174 patients in the NIFTY trial, a total of 173 patients (99.

Quality of life outcomes in terminal cancer patients attending regional cancer centers in South Korea: protocol for a prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Patients with cancer experience physical, mental, and social pain that affects themselves and their families. The increasing cancer incidence and advances in treatment have increased the number of cancer survivors in Korea, and there is an influx of patients in Seoul and other metropolitan areas, leading to shortages of continuous care and comprehensive life support facilities. Patients must travel long distances for treatment, which poses logistical and quality-of-life challenges.

Establishment of a chronic biliary disease mouse model with cholecystoduodenal anastomosis for intestinal microbiome preservation.

Background: Chronic biliary disease, including cholangitis and cholecystitis, is attributed to ascending infection by intestinal bacteria. Development of a mouse model for bile duct inflammation is imperative for the advancement of novel therapeutic approaches. Current models fail to replicate the harmful bacterial influx to the biliary tract observed in humans and spread of inflammation to the liver.

Depression, performance status, and discontinued treatment mediate an association of curability belief with prognosis in advanced cancer patients.

Individuals diagnosed with advanced cancer often experience stress and depression, factors linked to worse survival. Curability belief-defined as the hope and expectation of cure through treatment, based on affective forecasting-may differ from the patient's actual life expectancy (i.e.

Pharyngeal Structure and Dysphagia in Patients with Parkinson's Disease and Related Disorders.

Pharyngeal muscle changes occur in patients with Parkinson's disease and related disorders (PRD); however, the association between the structural alterations in the pharynx and the symptoms of dysphagia remains unclear. We assessed structural changes and contractile forces by measuring pharyngeal wall thickness and width. We aimed to define the pharyngeal measurements and determine their value as diagnostic tools for dysphagia.

Abdominal aortic calcification in patients newly diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia.

Background: Although atherosclerosis is likely to be involved in the development of arterial thrombotic events in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET), abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) has rarely been investigated. We evaluated the prevalence and clinical relevance of AAC at the time of ET diagnosis.

Methods: This retrospective study included patients newly diagnosed with ET who underwent abdominal computed tomography (CT) at the time of diagnosis between January 2002 and December 2021 at Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.

ATG9B Is a Poor Prognostic Marker Associated With Immune Evasion in Colon Adenocarcinoma.

Background/aim: Autophagy-related genes (ATGs) are involved in autophagy activation, which has a pleiotropic role in cancer development. However, the potential value of ATG expression levels in colon adenocarcinoma (COAD) is unclear. This study aimed to examine the modulation of ATG expression levels and their association with clinical and molecular aspects of COAD.

Maintenance therapy with Fluoropyrimidine and cetuximab or bevacizumab after first line FOLFOX-chemotherapy in metastatic colorectal cancer according to RAS or BRAF mutation status.

Purpose: Fluoropyrimidine (FP) with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy is the standard first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC); however, oxaliplatin-induced neuropathy critically affects the quality of life of patients. Maintenance strategies with FP plus bevacizumab have been well-established; nonetheless, the real-world outcomes of maintenance therapy with FP and cetuximab are unclear. We investigated the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent maintenance therapy with cetuximab.

Treatment With Liposomal Irinotecan Plus Fluorouracil and Leucovorin for Patients With Previously Treated Metastatic Biliary Tract Cancer: The Phase 2b NIFTY Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: The NIFTY trial demonstrated the benefit of treatment with second-line liposomal irinotecan (nal-IRI) plus fluorouracil (FU) and leucovorin (LV) for patients with advanced biliary tract cancer (BTC).

Objective: To report the updated efficacy outcomes from the NIFTY trial with extended follow-up of 1.3 years with reperformed masked independent central review (MICR) with 3 newly invited radiologists.

Efficacy of cisplatin combined with vinorelbine as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

The aim of this study was to assess the therapeutic efficacy of a cisplatin and vinorelbine combination as second- or higher-line palliative chemotherapy in patients with advanced ovarian cancer. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with advanced ovarian cancer who were treated with cisplatin (60 mg/m2 on day 1) and vinorelbine (25 mg/m2 on days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks between January 2004 and March 2021. Treatment responses, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were assessed; laboratory data were reviewed to determine toxicity.

Acquired von willebrand syndrome in patients with philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm.

Background: Acquired von Willebrand syndrome (AVWS) has not been investigated in Korean patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm.

Methods: This study analyzed the prevalence at diagnosis and clinical features of AVWS in patients with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or overt PMF (PMF) diagnosed between January 2019 and December 2021 at Chungam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea. AVWS was defined as below the lower reference limit (56%) of ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo).

Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test With Comorbidity Index Before Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of the cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) with comorbidity index as a predictor of overall survival (OS) and non-relapse mortality (NRM) in patients with hematological malignancies who undergo allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed consecutive adult patients with hematological malignancies who underwent HLA-matched donor-HSCT at Chungnam National University Hospital (Daejeon, South Korea) between January 2014 and December 2020. Maximal oxygen consumption (VOmax) was classified using the recommendations of the Mayo Clinic database.

Splenic Infarction in Patients with Philadelphia-negative Myeloproliferative Neoplasms.

Objective We retrospectively analyzed the prevalence and clinical features of splenic infarctions in patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph MPNs). Patients Patients diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV), prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or PMF from January 1996 to October 2020 in Chungnam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea, were reviewed. Results A total of 347 patients (143 ET, 129 PV, 44 pre-PMF, and 31 PMF patients; 201 men and 146 women) with a median age of 64 (range 15-91) years old were followed up for a median of 4.

Volumetric Splenomegaly in Patients With Polycythemia Vera.

Background: Non-palpable splenomegaly in patients with polycythemia vera (PV) has seldom been addressed. In this retrospective study, we evaluated non-palpable, volumetric splenomegaly defined based on age- and body surface area (BSA)-matched criteria in patients with PV diagnosed according to the 2016 World Health Organization diagnostic criteria.

Methods: Patients with PV who underwent abdominal computed tomography (CT) and who had palpable splenomegaly at diagnosis from January 1991 to December 2020 at Chungnam National University Hospital were enrolled.

A phase II study of chemotherapy in combination with telomerase peptide vaccine (GV1001) as second-line treatment in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

GV1001 is a human telomerase peptide vaccine that induces a CD4/CD8 T-cell response against cancer cells, thereby affording an immunological anti-tumor effect. Here, we evaluated the efficacy and safety of GV1001 in combination with chemotherapy in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer who had failed first-line chemotherapy. This multicenter, non-randomized, single-arm phase II study recruited recurrent or metastatic colorectal cancer patients with measurable disease who had failed first-line chemotherapy.

Myelofibrotic and leukemic transformation in 2016 WHO-defined Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm.

Background: Information on myelofibrotic and leukemic transformations in Korean Philadelphia chromosome- negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (Ph MPNs) is limited.

Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed transformations in patients diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV) prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or overt primary myelofibrosis (PMF) based on the 2016 World Health Organization criteria between January 1996 and December 2020 at Chungam National University Hospital, Daejeon, Korea.

Results: A total of 351 patients (144 with ET, 131 with PV, 45 with pre-PMF, and 31 with PMF; 204 men and 147 women) with a median age of 64 years (range, 15‒91 years) were followed for a median of 4.

A Phase II Study to Compare the Safety and Efficacy of Direct Oral Anticoagulants versus Subcutaneous Dalteparin for Cancer-Associated Venous Thromboembolism in Patients with Advanced Upper Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Cancer: PRIORITY.

Background: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) versus subcutaneous dalteparin for cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (CA-VTE) in patients with advanced upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract, hepatobiliary, or pancreatic cancer.

Methods: This was a multicenter, randomized, open-label, phase II trial in five centers. Patients randomly received rivaroxaban (15 mg twice daily for 3 weeks, then 20 mg once daily)/apixaban (10 mg twice daily for the first 7 days, then 5 mg twice daily) or dalteparin (200 IU/kg once daily for the first month, then 150 IU/kg once daily).

Liposomal irinotecan plus fluorouracil and leucovorin versus fluorouracil and leucovorin for metastatic biliary tract cancer after progression on gemcitabine plus cisplatin (NIFTY): a multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 2b study.

Background: The prognosis of patients with advanced biliary tract cancer who have progressed on gemcitabine plus cisplatin is dismal. We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of second-line liposomal irinotecan plus fluorouracil and leucovorin in patients with metastatic biliary tract cancer that has progressed on gemcitabine plus cisplatin.

Methods: This multicentre, open-label, randomised, phase 2b (NIFTY) study was done at five academic institutions in South Korea and included patients aged 19 years or older with histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic biliary tract cancer that had progressed on first-line gemcitabine plus cisplatin and an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1.

Pulmonary hypertension in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia.

Dasatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), induces pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). However, information on other TKIs is limited.We retrospectively analyzed PH prevalence by reviewing transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) findings in a population of Korean CML patients treated with TKI at a single hospital between 2003 and 2020.

Thrombotic and hemorrhagic events in 2016 World Health Organization-defined Philadelphia-negative myeloproliferative neoplasm.

Background/aims: Recent changes in the diagnostic criteria for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) and increasing patient numbers necessitate updating of the data on vascular events in patients with such disorders.

Methods: In this single-center study, thrombotic and hemorrhagic events were retrospectively analyzed in patients diagnosed with essential thrombocythemia (ET), polycythemia vera (PV) prefibrotic/early primary myelofibrosis (pre-PMF), or PMF, based on the 2016 World Health Organization diagnostic criteria.

Results: Of a total of 335 consecutive patients (139 ET, 42 pre-PMF, 124 PV, and 30 PMF patients; 192 males and 143 females) of median age 64 years (range, 15 to 91), 112 (33.

MITF Promotes Cell Growth, Migration and Invasion in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma by Activating the RhoA/YAP Signal Pathway.

Microphthalmia-associated transcription factor (MITF) is a basic helix-loop-helix leucine zipper transcription factor involved in the lineage-specific regulation of melanocytes, osteoclasts and mast cells. MITF is also involved in the progression of melanomas and other carcinomas, including the liver, pancreas and lung. However, the role of MITF in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is largely unknown.

The Situation of Life-Sustaining Treatment One Year after Enforcement of the Act on Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End-of-Life in Korea: Data of National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment.

Purpose: The "Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End-of-Life" was enacted on February 3, 2016 and went into effect on February 4, 2018 in Korea. This study reviewed the first year of determination to life-sustaining treatment (LST) through data analysis of the National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment.

Materials And Methods: The National Agency for Management of LST provided data between February 4, 2018 and January 31, 2019 anonymously from 33,549 patients.