Comparative study of neoadjuvant chemotherapy before radical hysterectomy and radical surgery alone in stage IB2-IIA bulky cervical cancer.

Objective: To compare the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy with paclitaxel plus platinum followed by radical hysterectomy with radical surgery alone in patients with stage IB2-IIA bulky cervical cancer.

Methods: From November 1999 to September 2007, stage IB2-IIA cervical cancers with tumor diameter >4 cm, as measured by MRI, were managed with two cycles of preoperative paclitaxel and platinum. As a control group, we selected 35 patients treated with radical surgery alone.

Stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer classified solely by lymph node metastasis has a more favorable prognosis than other types of stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer.

Objective: To verify whether it can be justified to classify patients to stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer based on nodal involvement only.

Methods: This study included all consecutive patients with stage IIIC epithelial ovarian cancer who underwent upfront cytoreductive surgery according to the FIGO guideline followed by platinum based chemotherapy from September 1989 to September 2006 at Asan Medical Center.

Results: During the study period, a total of 272 patients met the inclusion criteria.

Expression profile of histone deacetylases 1, 2 and 3 in ovarian cancer tissues.

Objective: To investigate the expression levels of histone deacetylase (HDAC) 1, 2, and 3 in ovarian cancer tissues and normal ovarian tissues.

Methods: Randomly assigned each of six patients with serous, mucinous and endometrioid ovarian cancer were included. Another six patients with normal ovarian tissue were included for comparison.

Identification of the large-conductance background K+ channel in mouse B cells as TREK-2.

Mouse B cells and their cell line (WEHI-231) express large-conductance background K(+) channels (LK(bg)) that are activated by arachidonic acids, characteristics similar to TREK-2. However, there is no evidence to identify the molecular nature of LK(bg); some properties of LK(bg) were partly different from the reported results of TREK type channels. In this study, we compared the properties of cloned TREK-2 and LK(bg) in terms of their sensitivities to ATP, phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP(2)), intracellular pH (pH(i)), and membrane stretch.

Mutational analysis of KRAS, BRAF, and TP53 genes of ovarian serous carcinomas in Korean women.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of KRAS, BRAF, and TP53 mutations in cases of low-grade and high-grade serous carcinomas and to evaluate the clinical outcomes of these morphologically distinct carcinomas.

Materials And Methods: Patients with primary invasive serous carcinomas were classified according to the universal grading system. Grade 2 serous tumors were excluded.

The role of loop electrosurgical excisional procedure in the management of adenocarcinoma in situ of the uterine cervix.

Objectives: To evaluate the occurrence of residual or recurrent disease after loop electrosurgical excisional procedure (LEEP) for adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) of the uterine cervix.

Study Design: Records of 78 patients with a histological diagnosis of AIS of uterine cervix on LEEP who were treated and followed at our center between 1992 and 2008 were, retrospectively, reviewed.

Results: Of 78 patients who underwent LEEP, 47 had negative and 31 had positive resection margins.

Systematic lymphadenectomy improves survival in patients with advanced-stage primary fallopian tube cancer.

Primary fallopian tube cancer (PFTC) is a rare tumor (< 1% of all female genital tract cancers) and remains poorly characterized. Histologically and clinically, PFTC resembles epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). The similarities in pathological features and patterns of spread between EOC and PFTC have led clinicians to treat these two malignancies in a similar manner.

Inhibition of store-operated Ca2+ entry channels and K+ channels by caffeic acid phenethylester in T lymphocytes.

The increase of cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration (Delta[Ca2+]c) in response to antigenic stimulation is a critical step of signals activating immune responses. In addition, the voltage-gated K+ channels (Kv) in T lymphocytes draw attention as an effective target of immune-modulation. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an active component of propolis, shows strong anti-inflammatory effects and T cell suppression.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant germ cell tumors in the ovaries of Korean women: a Korean Gynecologic Oncology Group Study.

From January 1995 to December 2000, medical records of 196 patients were collected from 14 hospitals nationwide and were reviewed retrospectively. We evaluated the clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant germ cell tumors in the ovaries of South Korean women and determined the prognostic factors affecting recurrence. The mean patient age was 23.

High-dose extended-field irradiation and high-dose-rate brachytherapy with concurrent chemotherapy for cervical cancer with positive para-aortic lymph nodes.

Purpose: To determine the efficacy and toxicity of extended-field radiotherapy (RT) with concurrent platinum-based chemotherapy in patients with uterine cervical carcinoma and positive para-aortic nodes.

Methods And Materials: We retrospectively reviewed the results for 33 women with Stage IB-IVB cervical cancer. Each patient had received 59.

Cervical cancer patient information-seeking behaviors, information needs, and information sources in South Korea.

Goals: The aim of this study was to explore the cancer information needs, utilization, and source preferences in South Korean women with cervical cancer.

Patients And Methods: This was a multicenter descriptive study comprising 968 cervical cancer patients (stages 0-IVb; mean age, 55 years; response rate, 34.4% of those who agreed to participate) who had been treated from 1983 through 2004 at any of the six South Korean hospitals.

Surgical management of borderline ovarian tumors: The role of fertility-sparing surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the recurrence, survival, and pregnancy outcomes of patients with borderline ovarian tumors (BOT) treated with fertility-sparing surgery.

Methods: The medical records of patients with BOT who underwent surgery between 1989 and 2008 were retrospectively reviewed. Outcomes were compared between groups that underwent radical or fertility-sparing surgery.

The efficacy of conservative management after conization in patients with stage IA1 microinvasive cervical carcinoma.

Objective: To investigate the efficacy of conization followed by conservative management for treating stage IA1 microinvasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

Design/setting: Retrospective study.

Population: Seventy-five patients treated for stage IA1 microinvasive carcinoma of the cervix.

Differential gene expression profiling in human cholangiocarcinoma cells treated with Clonorchis sinensis excretory-secretory products.

Clonorchiasis is associated with bile duct malignancy and the subsequent development of cholangiocarcinoma. Although this is likely caused by adult Clonorchis sinensis and its excretory-secretory products (ESP), the precise molecular mechanisms remain obscure. To evaluate the effect of C.

Menthol regulates TRPM8-independent processes in PC-3 prostate cancer cells.

Menthol, a naturally occurring compound from peppermint oil, binds and activates the TRPM8 Ca(2+)-permeable channel that exhibits abnormal expression patterns in prostate cancer, suggesting that TRPM8 links Ca(2+) transport pathways to tumor biology. We thus investigated the cellular responses of prostate cancer cells to menthol. Here we found that menthol increases [Ca(2+)](i) via Ca(2+) influx mechanism(s) independent of TRPM8 in PC-3 cells.

Malignant transformation of mature cystic teratoma of the ovary: experience at a single institution.

Objectives: Malignant transformation of mature cystic teratoma (MCT) of ovary is very rare. Therefore, the clinicopathologic characteristics, treatment and prognostic factors are not yet well established. The aim of this study was to review our experience with this malignancy and previously published reports in the literature.

Comorbidity in disease-free survivors of cervical cancer compared with the general female population.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of comorbidities in cervical cancer survivors compared with the general population and to identify risk factors and impact on their quality of life (QoL).

Methods: 860 female cervical cancer survivors enrolled at six tertiary hospitals and 994 women from the general population were surveyed on current comorbidities and QoL (EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-CX24).

Results: Compared with the general female population, the cervical cancer survivors reported higher prevalence of comorbidities (0.

Clear cell adenocarcinoma arising in endometriosis of a previous episiotomy site.

Background: Malignant transformation of endometriosis in an episiotomy site is rare.

Case: A 42-year-old woman presented with a palpable mass, 2.5 cm in size, just inside the posterior commissure of the vagina, at the site of a previous episiotomy for a vaginal delivery.

Outcomes of fertility-sparing surgery for invasive epithelial ovarian cancer: oncologic safety and reproductive outcomes.

Objective: Younger patients with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) frequently want to preserve their fertility, but the role of fertility-sparing surgery in EOC has not been well defined. We therefore assessed tumor recurrence, patient survival and pregnancy outcomes in patients with invasive EOC who underwent fertility-sparing surgery.

Methods: Records of 62 patients with invasive EOC who underwent fertility-sparing surgery, defined as the preservation of ovarian tissue in one or both adnexa and the uterus, between May 1990 and October 2006, were retrospectively reviewed.

Prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of patients with uterine sarcoma: analysis of 127 patients at a single institution, 1989-2007.

Purpose: Uterine sarcoma is a rare malignancy with the worst prognosis of all uterine cancers. This study evaluated the prognostic factors and treatment outcomes of patients with this disease.

Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 127 patients with histologically verified uterine sarcoma who were treated and followed at the Asan Medical Center (Seoul, Korea) from 1989 to 2007.

Comparison of laparoscopy and laparotomy in surgical staging of early-stage ovarian and fallopian tubal cancer.

Aim: To compare feasibility, accuracy, and safety of laparoscopy and laparotomy in surgical staging of early-stage ovarian and fallopian tubal cancer.

Methods: Outcomes of patients with stage I ovarian and fallopian tubal cancer who underwent complete surgical staging at Asan Medical Center, Korea between 2004 and 2007 were retrospectively evaluated.

Results: Nineteen patients were surgically staged through laparoscopy and 33 through laparotomy.

Phase II evaluation of CKD-602, a camptothecin analog, administered on a 5-day schedule to patients with platinum-sensitive or -resistant ovarian cancer.

Background: To evaluate the toxicity and efficacy of a newly developed topoisomerase I inhibitor, CKD-602 in second-line therapy of ovarian cancer.

Methods: We enrolled 24 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer, of median age 54 years (range, 39-64). Eleven patients had measurable lesions on CT scan, and the other 13 had increased serum CA-125 levels.

Role of PET or PET/CT in the post-therapy surveillance of uterine sarcoma.

Objective: To evaluate the clinical accuracy and clinical impact of positron emission tomography (PET) or positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) in detecting and treating tumor recurrence in patients with treated uterine sarcoma.

Methods: Results of 36 patients who underwent PET or PET/CT in post-therapy surveillance of uterine sarcoma were retrospectively assessed. Histopathologic confirmation or clinical/radiological outcome at least 6 months after PET or PET/CT was standard of reference.

Arachidonic acid-induced activation of large-conductance potassium channels and membrane hyperpolarization in mouse B cells.

Lymphocytes express voltage-gated (Kv) and Ca(2+)-activated (IKCa1) K(+) channels. Recently, we found that WEHI-231, an immature B cell line, expresses voltage-independent K(+) channels called large-conductance background K( + ) channels (LK(bg)). Arachidonic acid (AA) has attracted attention because of its potential regulatory roles in the apoptosis of immature B cells.

Comparison of the validity of magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography/computed tomography in the preoperative evaluation of patients with uterine corpus cancer.

Objective: To compare positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the preoperative detection of primary lesions and lymph node (LN) and distant metastases in patients with uterine corpus cancer.

Methods: The patient cohort consisted of 53 women with uterine corpus cancer who underwent preoperative workup, including both MRI and PET/CT scans, and underwent surgical staging, including pelvic and/or paraaortic LN dissection, between October 2004 and June 2007 at Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. Pathologic data from surgical staging were compared with the preoperative MRI and PET/CT results.