PURPOSE: This study aims to establish a new strategy that provides for the rapid establishment of human clonal adipose derived stem cell (hADSC) lines with aspirated adipose tissue and to characterize newly generated hMSC lines for their cell phenotype, differentiation potential, lineage-specific gene expression. METHODS: Human adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) were isolated from subcutaneous adipose tissue based on standard protocols. After incubation for 2 h, only the cell culture supernatant was transferred to a new dish. This process was repeated several times with 30 h incubations. RESULTS: We confirmed the difference in growth rate, however, differences were not seen in the differentiation capabilities and stemness of the each cell lines. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to establish cell lines via single cell level for application to disease specific tissue engineering.
Adipose Tissue ; Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Line ; Humans ; Phenotype ; Stem Cells ; Subcutaneous Fat ; Tissue Engineering

Rheumatic manifestations in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are common but actual arthritis as a presenting feature appears to be very rare. We experienced a case of NHL presenting as polyarthritis in a 24-year-old woman. Eight months ago she was admitted to the hospital due to polyarthritis and skin rash. She had pleural and pericardial effusion. Antinuclear antibody was positive and rheumatoid factor was negative. Joint X-ray showed periarticular osteopenia at both knees, wrists, hands and feet. Prednisolone, salsalate and anti-tuberculosis drugs were administered under the impression of either probable lupus or rheumatoid arthritis and pleural tuberculosis. After then pleuropericardial effusion and skin rash improved. But polyarthralgia persisted and she developed right cervical lymphadenopathy. On her second admission she was found to have a round mass in left lower lung field and multiple mediastinal lymph node enlargement. Cervical lymph node biopsy revealed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. She received 8 cycles of systemic chemotherapy until 1996 July. NHL was remitted completely and polyarthralgia disappeared. We report a case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma presenting as polyarthritis and literatures are reviewed.
Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Arthralgia ; Arthritis* ; Arthritis, Rheumatoid ; Biopsy ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic ; Drug Therapy ; Exanthema ; Female ; Foot ; Hand ; Humans ; Joints ; Knee ; Lung ; Lymph Nodes ; Lymphatic Diseases ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Pericardial Effusion ; Prednisolone ; Rheumatoid Factor ; Tuberculosis, Pleural ; Wrist ; Young Adult

Agenerally accepted consensus of end-of-life (EOL) care decision-making did not appear in Korean medical society until the year 2009. To enhance physician's ethical perception of EOL care, consensus guidelines to withdrawing life-sustaining therapies endorsed by Korean Medical Association, Korean Academy of Medical Science, and Korean Hospital Association, were published on October 13, 2009. In this article, the characteristics and issues with the guidelines are presented to improve understanding by physicians who interact with EOL patients. According to the guidelines, physicians should identify, document, respect, and act on hospitals inpatients' needs, priorities, and preferences for EOL care. The guidelines advocate that competent patients express their right of self-determination in EOL care decisions through advance directives. However, there are barriers to adopting advance directives as a legitimate tool of EOL decision-making in our current society. The guidelines stressed the importance of open communication between care-givers and patients or their surrogates. Through communication, physicians can create a plan regarding how to manage EOL until the patients' last day of life. Concerted actions among the general public, professionals, other stake-holders for EOL care, and governmental organizations to improve EOL care in our society are also stipulated. Physicians, who know the clinical meaning of the treatments available to EOL patients, should play a central role based on the consensus guidelines to help patients and their families make informed decisions about EOL care.
Advance Directives ; Consensus ; Humans ; Societies, Medical

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess current levels of awareness of clinical trials (CTs), perceptions regarding their benefits and willingness to participate to CTs among Korean cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From December 2012 to August 2015, we distributed questionnaires to cancer patients receiving systemic anti-cancer therapy at Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. RESULTS: A total of 397 out of 520 requested patients (76.3%) responded to the survey. Among the 397 patients, 62.5% were female and the median age was 52 years. Overall, 97.4% (387/397) answered that they have at least heard of CTs. When asked about their level of awareness, 23.8% (92/387) answered that they could more than roughly explain about CTs. The average visual analogue scale score of CT benefit in all patients was 6.43 (standard deviation, 2.20). Patients who were only familiar with the term without detailed knowledge of the contents had the least expectation of benefit from CTs (p=0.015). When asked about their willingness to participate in CTs, 56.7% (225/397) answered positively. Patients with higher levels of awareness of CTs showed higher willingness to participate (p < 0.001). Heavily treated patients and patients with previous experience regarding CTs also showed a higher willingness to participate (p < 0.001). The perceived benefit of CTs was higher in the group willing to participate (p=0.026). CONCLUSION: The patient’s level of awareness regarding CTs was positively related to the positive perception and willingness to participate. Although the general awareness of CTs was high, a relatively large proportion of patients did not have accurate knowledge; therefore, proper and accurate patient education is necessary.
Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Patient Education as Topic ; Seoul ; Volition

Purpose: This study aimed to confirm the decision-making patterns for life-sustaining treatment (LST) and analyze medical service utilization changes after enforcement of the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision-Making Act. Materials and Methods: Of 1,237 patients who completed legal forms for life-sustaining treatment (hereafter called the LST form) at three academic hospitals and died at the same institutions, 1,018 cancer patients were included. Medical service utilization and costs were analyzed using claims data. Results: The median time to death from completion of the LST form was three days (range, 0 to 248 days). Of these, 517 people died within two days of completing the document, and 36.1% of all patients prepared the LST form themselves. The frequency of use of the intensive care unit, continuous renal replacement therapy, and mechanical ventilation was significantly higher when the families filled out the form without knowing the patient’s intention. In the top 10% of the medical expense groups, the decision-makers for LST were family members rather than patients (28% patients vs. 32% family members who knew and 40% family members who did not know the patient’s intention). Conclusion The cancer patient’s own decision-making rather than the family’s decision was associated with earlier decision-making, less use of some critical treatments (except chemotherapy) and expensive evaluations, and a trend toward lower medical costs.

OBJECTIVE: To know the effect of adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) on intracellular calcium level and cell proliferation in cervical cancer cells. METHODS: Study design: Four different human cervical cancer cell lines (Caski, C33A, HeLaS3 and SiHa) were used in this study. The change of intracellular calcium level, cell proliferation and the activity of proliferation- and calcium-related transcription factors by extracellular ATP were examined in these cell lines. RESULTS: Extracellular ATP induced calcium mobilization, cell proliferation and the activation of NF-kappa B in all cell lines used. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that calcium mobilization and NF-kappa B dependent signaling pathway play an important role in the cell proliferation by ATP in cervical cancer.
Adenosine Triphosphate ; Adenosine* ; Calcium* ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Humans ; NF-kappa B* ; Transcription Factors ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

No abstract available.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Line* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

We report here the results of surveys for external quality assessment of blood bank tests performed in 2004. Response rates for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd trial were 96.4%, 96.8%, and 96.8%, respectively. Test items for the surveys were ABO grouping, Rh(D) typing, crossmatching, direct antiglobulin test, antibody screening and identification test. The average accuracy rates of ABO grouping and Rh typing were in the range of 100% and 100%, respectively. In crossmatching test, the accuracy rates were 96.2-97.8% for the compatible samples, 75.5-90.6% for the incompatible samples, and 75.5-90.6% for the samples which could be detected as incompatible only by antiglobulin method. The accuracy rates of direct antiglobulin test were 98.8-100% for negative samples and 87.3-98.8% for positive samples. The correct results were reported by 98.8-100% of the surveyed institutions for antibody screening test and 100% for identification test. Forty six institutions gave repeatedly incorrect answers for crossmatching. Nine institutions out of them gave incorrect answers for all the test specimens sent out 3 times last year.
Blood Banks* ; Coombs Test ; Korea* ; Mass Screening

PURPOSE: Diarsenic oxide, As2O3, has been reported to be effective in treating acute leukemia, and induce apoptosis in many tumor cells. In this study, the ability of a novel arsenical compound, As4O6 (tetraarsenic oxide), along with As2O3, for its ability to induce cell growth inhibition, as well as apoptosis, in human cervical cancer cells, SiHa cells, were evaluated in vitro. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To examine the levels of apoptosis, SiHa cells were given two sensitive doses, 0.5 and 1micrometer, of arsenical compounds, and a DNA fragmentation assay and FACS analysis were then conducted. In addition, a Western blotting assay was performed to identify target molecules for apoptosis. RESULTS: Both As2O3 and As4O6 induced dose-dependent inhibition of SiHa cell proliferation. In particular, As4O6 was more effective at suppressing SiHa cell growth than As2O3. In parallel with the inhibition of cell proliferation, As4O6 caused a significantly greater increase in the sub-G1 cell population than As2O3, as determined by propidium iodide DNA staining. This was confirmed by a DNA fragmentation assay and annexin V staining. The Western blotting analysis also showed that the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) was suppressed to a significantly greater extent by As4O6 than As2O3 at a dose of 0.5micrometer. However, the apoptosis-related protein, Bax, was expressed to a significantly greater extent due to As4O6 than As2O3. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, these findings suggest that a novel arsenic compound, As4O6, possesses more potent anti-proliferative effects on human cervical cancer cells, with the induction of apoptosis also, at least via the activation of Bax protein in vitro.
Annexin A5 ; Apoptosis* ; Arsenic ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line* ; Cell Proliferation ; DNA ; DNA Fragmentation ; Humans ; Leukemia ; Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen ; Propidium ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms*

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is heterogenous in terms of its glucose metabolism. Positron emission tomography with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG-PET) shows various levels of FDG uptake for patients with HCC. This study was designed to assess the usefulness of FDG-PET for predicting the outcome of the patients with HCC. METHODS: FDG-PET was performed for 27 patients with HCC. The standardized uptake value (SUV) and SUV ratio (defined as the tumor-to-nontumor ratio of SUV) was calculated for each patient. The clinical factors of the outcome were analyzed by regression analysis using Cox's multivariate proportional hazard model. The survival rate was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS: Among the analyzed clinical factors including tumor size, number of tumors, AFP, involvement of major vessels, presence of systemic metastases, Child-Pugh class the SUV and SUV ratio, only the SUV was the only significant independent prognostic factor (p=0.001). On the basis of the SUV, the patients were divided into two groups of roughly equal size: group A, SUV of <7; group B, SUV >or=7. The cumulative survival rate was significantly lower for group B than for group A, and the median survival time was significantly different (4 months vs 15 months, respectively) (p=0.003). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that FDG-PET is useful to predict the outcome for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/mortality/*radionuclide imaging ; English Abstract ; Female ; Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/*diagnostic use ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/mortality/*radionuclide imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; *Positron-Emission Tomography ; Prognosis ; Radiopharmaceuticals/*diagnostic use ; Survival Rate