Although the incidence and mortality for most cancers such as lung and colon are decreasing in several countries, they are increasing in several developed countries because of an unhealthy western lifestyles including smoking, physical inactivity and consumption of calorie-dense food. The incidences for lung and colon cancers in a few of these countries have already exceeded those in the United States and other western countries. Among them, lung cancer is the main cause of cancer death in worldwide. The cumulative survival rate at five years differs between 13 and 21 % in several countries. Although the most important risk factors are smoking for lung cancer, however, the increased incidence of lung cancer in never smokers(LCINS) is necessary to improve knowledge concerning other risk factors. Environmental factors and genetic susceptibility are also thought to contribute to lung cancer risk. Patients with lung adenocarcinoma who have never smoking frequently contain mutation within tyrosine kinase domain of the epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR) gene. Also, K-ras mutations are more common in individuals with a history of smoking use and are related with resistance to EFGR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors. Recently, radon(Rn), natural and noble gas, has been recognized as second common reason of lung cancer. In this review, we aim to know whether residential radon is associated with an increased risk for developing lung cancer and regulated by several genetic polymorphisms.
Adenocarcinoma ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Developed Countries ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Humans ; Incidence ; Life Style ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Mortality ; Phosphotransferases ; Polymorphism, Genetic ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Radon* ; Risk Factors ; Smoke ; Smoking ; Survival Rate ; United States

No abstract available.
Lymphoma* ; Pseudolymphoma*

BACKGROUND: Although a laparoscopic cholecystectomy results in less pain than an open cholecystectomy, it is not a pain-free procedure. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether perioperative intravenous lidocaine would reduce postoperative pain after a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: Fifty patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were divided into two groups; a lidocaine group, in which patients were injected with a lidocaine bolus (1.5 mg/kg) and infusion (1.5 mg/kg/h); and a control group, in which patients were injected with the same volume of saline bolus and infusion. Intravenous lidocaine was initiated before anesthesia was administered and continued for 1 hour postoperatively. The intensity of abdominal and shoulder pain was then assessed 1, 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery and recorded using a visual analog pain score (VAS) and verbal rating score (VRS). RESULTS: The abdominal pain score (VAS and VRS) was significantly lower in the lidocaine group than in the control group at all times evaluated during the first 24 hours after surgery (P < 0.05). In addition, the shoulder pain score and incidence were significantly lower in the lidocaine group than the control group at 12 hours and 24 hours after surgery (P < 0.05). In the lidocaine group, the incidences of epigastric, right flank, and back pain were lower than that of the control group, but these differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: Perioperative intravenous lidocaine reduces shoulder and abdominal pain for 24 hours after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Abdominal Pain ; Anesthesia ; Back Pain ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lidocaine ; Oxalates ; Pain, Postoperative ; Shoulder ; Shoulder Pain

The Editorial Office of Obstet Gynecol Sci would like to correct the author list.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous injection of mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells (MSCs, HSCs) has the disadvantages of low delivery rate to bone marrow and sequestration of cells in the lung and liver. This study was designed to determine whether there is a relationship between the administration route and dosage of stem cells and GVHD and survival. METHODS: MSCs were retrieved from five subcultured C3H/10T1/2, cell lines from C3H/He mice. HSCs were transplanted by injecting 1 x 10(7) of bone marrow mononuclear cells and 5 x 10(6) of spleen cells from six to eight week old female C3H/He mice into six week old irradiated female BALB/c mice. The groups were divided into intravenous injection (IV) and intra-marrow (IM) injection groups. IV and IM+MSC groups consisted of mice transplanted with the same bone marrow mononuclear cells and SP, IV and IM groups, with the additional co-injection of 1 x 10(6) MSCs. RESULTS: Evaluation of all mice, in both groups, showed no difference in GVHD and survival. However, high dose injection with 1 x 10(6) MSCs led to a decreased incidence of GVHD (P<0.05) and improved survival (P<0.01) in both groups. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the positive effects of MSC on GVHD and survival were primarily dependent on the number of injected cells.
Animals ; Bone Marrow ; Cell Line ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation* ; Hematopoietic Stem Cells* ; Humans ; Incidence ; Injections, Intravenous ; Liver ; Lung ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells* ; Mice ; Spleen ; Stem Cells ; Transplants*

PURPOSE: This research was conducted to assess the incidence, clinical characteristics, and treatment outcomes for desmoid tumors in patients with familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP). METHODS: At Medical Center, we recruited 47 patients who had been diagnosed as having intraabdominal or abdominal wall desmoid tumor between Aug. 1995 and Dec. 2005. We compared FAP-associated desmoid tumors with non-FAP-associated desmoid tumors according to clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes. RESULTS: Desmoid tumors developed 12/46 (26.1%) in FAP, 1/14 (7.1%) in attenuated FAP and 34 in non-FAP associated. Unlike non-FAP-associated desmoid tumors, the occurrence of FAP-associated desmoid tumors in tended to be higher in the earlier age groups (< or =40 yrs, 92.3% vs 67.6%, P=0.082) and no sexual predominancy was observed (male:female ratio of 1.2:1 vs a tumor ratio 1:3.9, P=0.033). Intraabdominal-type desmoid tumors associated for the majority of FAP-associated desmoid tumors (92.3% vs 38.2%, P=0.002), and 70% of the desmoid tumors occurred within 3 years after total proctocolectomy. In the treatment of FAP-associated intraabdominal desmoid tumors, surgery was performed in 7 cases (58.3%), and complete resections were done in only 3 cases (25%), with one recurrence. In non-FAP-associated desmoid tumors, complete resection was possible in 10 cases (76.9%), and there was no recurrence (P=0.036). The medical treatment for unresectable or incompletely resectable cases in cases of non-FAP-associated desmoid tumor was good, but for FAP-associated desmoid tumors, the effectiveness was not good, and further investigation was needed. CONCLUSIONS: Intraabdominal desmoid tumors in FAP patients occurred frequently in the early (< or =3 yrs) postoperative period, and the treatment, outcome including surgery and medication, outcome was not good in patients with FAP-associated desmoid tumors.
Abdominal Wall ; Adenomatous Polyposis Coli ; Fibromatosis, Aggressive ; Humans ; Incidence ; Postoperative Period ; Recurrence

PURPOSE: Anastomotic leakage (AL) is a serious and life-threatening complication following rectal cancer surgery. The impact on long-term oncologic outcome in patients with AL is not clear. The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the risk factors of AL and its impact on long-term prognosis after rectal cancer surgery. METHODS: We investigated 1,391 patients who underwent primary resection and anastomosis for rectal cancer between January 1997 and August 2003. Operations were performed as follows: AR (n=164), LAR (n=898), uLAR (n=329). Standard procedures in our clinic were mesorectal excision according to tumor location and autonomic nerve preservation. Median follow-up period was 40.1 months (2~96 months). RESULTS: AL rate was 2.5% (n=35). Gender (male), age (>60 years) and uLAR were independent risk factors in multivariate analysis (HR: 3.03, 95% CI: 1.18~7.22; HR: 2.42, 95% CI: 1.12~7.83; HR: 2.68, 95% CI: 1.08~7.09, respectively). Local recurrence in the AL group was significantly higher than that in the non-AL group (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in multivariate analysis (P=0.14). Systemic recurrence between both groups was not statistically different. The 5-year overall survival rate was significantly lower in the AL group than in the non-AL group (55.1% vs 74.1%, P<0.05) and the cancer- specific survival rate was lower in the AL group than in the non-AL group (63.0% vs 78.3%, P=0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Age, gender, and anastomotic level were risk factors for AL after rectal cancer surgery and anastomotic leakage was associated with a poor survival.
Anastomotic Leak* ; Autonomic Pathways ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prognosis ; Rectal Neoplasms* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors* ; Survival Rate

No abstract available.
Bone Marrow/pathology ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 12 ; Chromosomes, Human, Pair 9 ; Core Binding Factor Alpha 2 Subunit/*genetics ; DNA/metabolism ; Gene Rearrangement ; Humans ; In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence ; Karyotyping ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/diagnosis/*genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Oncogene Proteins, Fusion/*genetics ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Translocation, Genetic

BACKGROUND: Hemodynamic changes through the histamine-induced release of atracurium are relatively common, but can be particularly dangerous in hemodynamically unstable patients. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a pretreatment with an anti-histamine agent before the administration of atracurium in the prevention of histamine-induced hemodynamic changes. METHODS: Forty-eight ASA class I and II patients were assigned to four groups. Groups 1 and 2 were assigned to receive atracurium through a bolus 0.5 mg/kg. Groups 3 and 4 were assigned to receive atracurium through a bolus 1.0 mg/kg. Group 1 and 3 were pretreated with pheniramine (H1-blocker) and ranitidine (H2-blocker) intravenously before the induction of general anesthesia. After induction, HemosonicTM 100 was installed and the following hemodynamic parameters were measured: systemic vascular resistance (SVR), cardiac index (CI), heart rate (HR) and blood pressure (BP) immediately before, 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10 min after the rapid administration of the atracurium bolus before the skin incision. RESULTS: Groups 1 and 3 showed more stable hemodynamics than groups 2 and 4. Group 2 showed more significant changes in the SVR, CI, BP, HR than group 1 (P< 0.05). Group 4 showed more significant changes in the SVR, CI, BP, HR than group 3, and some cases were significant hemodynamically (P< 0.05). Group 4 showed more significant changes in the SVR, CI, BP, HR than group 2 (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment with an anti-histamine drug prior to the administration of atracurium can be effective in attenuating the hemodynamic responses.
Anesthesia, General ; Atracurium* ; Blood Pressure ; Heart Rate ; Hemodynamics* ; Histamine ; Humans ; Pheniramine ; Ranitidine ; Skin ; Vascular Resistance

One of the main reasons for the soaring interest in acute ischemic stroke among radiologists is the advent of new magnetic resonance techniques such as diffusion-weighted imaging. This new modality has prompted us to seek a better understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms of cerebral ischemia/infarction. The ischemic penumbra is an important concept and tissue region because this is the target of various recanalization treatments during the acute phase of stroke. In this context, it is high time for a thorough review of the concept, especially from the imaging point of view.
Brain/radiography ; Cerebrovascular Accident/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed