Blood transfusion has an adverse impact on the prognosis of patients receiving chemotherapy for advanced colorectal cancer: experience from a single institution with a patient blood management program.

Purpose: Perioperative blood transfusion in early stage cancer patients had a negative effect on the prognosis of patients, but the prognostic impact of transfusion in advanced cancer patients remains unclear. To minimize and guide rational transfusion, an institutional patient blood management (PBM) program was launched, and we evaluated the new program that has changed the practice and impacted on the prognosis of advanced cancer patients.

Methods: We investigated the medical records of colorectal cancer patients who received chemotherapy from 2015 to 2020.

Clinical Implication of Liquid Biopsy in Colorectal Cancer Patients Treated with Metastasectomy.

Background & Aims: The application of circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) has been studied for predicting recurrent disease after surgery and treatment response during systemic treatment. Metastasectomy can be curative for well-selected patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). This prospective study investigated the ctDNA level before and after metastasectomy in patients with mCRC to explore its potential as a predictive biomarker.

The clinical significance of activated p-AKT expression in peripheral T-cell lymphoma.

Background: The oncogenic PI3K/serine-threonine kinase (PI3K/AKT) pathway is a downstream pathway of B-cell receptor (BCR) signaling pathway and plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphoma. However, there have been preclinical data showing PI3K/AKT pathway activation in T-cell lymphoma, with in different mechanisms from those in B-cell lymphoma. In this study, we investigated the impact of p-AKT expression on clinical outcomes of peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

Safety and efficacy of gemcitabine or pemetrexed in combination with a platinum in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer and prior interstitial lung disease.

Purpose: The incidence of lung cancer in patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) is higher than in the general population; however, the clinical benefit of chemotherapy and the appropriate regimen for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with ILD remain unclear. This study was conducted to elucidate the safety and efficacy of palliative chemotherapy with gemcitabine or pemetrexed, both in combination with a platinum agent in NSCLC patients with ILD.

Patients And Methods: Patients with advanced or recurrent NSCLC and ILD who received gemcitabine or pemetrexed in combination with a platinum agent as first-line chemotherapy were retrospectively analyzed.

Genetic polymorphisms of SLC28A3, SLC29A1 and RRM1 predict clinical outcome in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving gemcitabine plus paclitaxel chemotherapy.

Background: Paclitaxel and gemcitabine (PG) combination chemotherapy is effective as a maintenance chemotherapeutic regimen in metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients because it increases progression-free survival (PFS), which increases overall survival (OS). The primary purpose of our study was to investigate the association between genetic polymorphisms in the genes involved in PG pathways and clinical outcomes in MBC patients treated with PG chemotherapy.

Methods: A total of 324 MBC patients were enrolled in this prospective multicenter trial of PG as the first-line chemotherapy.

Effect of paclitaxel/carboplatin salvage chemotherapy in noncutaneous versus cutaneous metastatic melanoma.

Little is known about the efficacy of salvage chemotherapy for patients with metastatic, noncutaneous melanoma after the failure of dacarbazine-based chemotherapy. Because of the high incidence of noncutaneous melanoma in Korea, we assessed the outcomes of paclitaxel/carboplatin (PC) salvage chemotherapy in patients with noncutaneous metastatic melanoma. We retrospectively analyzed patients with metastatic melanoma who received intravenous paclitaxel (175 mg/m) plus intravenous carboplatin (area under the curve 5) on day 1 of a 21-day cycle as salvage chemotherapy at Samsung Medical Center (SMC) between February 2009 and February 2012.

Unique perception of clinical trials by Korean cancer patients.

Background: In the past few years, the number of clinical trials has increased rapidly in East Asia, especially for gastric and hepatobiliary cancer that are prevalent in Asian populations. However, the actual degree of understanding or perceptions of clinical trials by cancer patients in East Asian countries have seldom been studied.

Methods: Between July 1st and November 30th of 2011, we conducted a prospective study to survey cancer patients regarding their awareness of, and willingness to participate in, a clinical trial.