No abstract available.

OBJECTIVES: Since Mountain proposed the new staging system of non-small cell lung cancer in 1986, the indications for operation of NSCLC have been extended. However, operative mortality is from 3 to 6%. Therefore it is important to reduce unnecessary operation and to evaluate unresectability of tumor correctly, preoperatively The purpose of this study is to find out the causes of unresectability in patients who were initially thought to be resectable preoperatively. METHODS: By retrospective analysis, 64 patients out of 291 NSCLC patients who were undergone operation for curative resection in Seoul National University Hospital from Jan. of 1987 to Dec. of 1991, ware found to be unresectable at operating roost were selected for this study. Out of 64 patients,42 were evaluable. The analysis was focused on the change of pre- & post-operative staging and the causes of unresectability of tumors. RESULTS: Among B2 patients with unresectable tumor who could be evaluated, preoperative CT finding showed resectable tumors in 55% (23 patients) and suspicious for unresectable tumors in 45% (19 patients). The causes of unresectability were technically unresectable T3 lesions in 7% (3 patients), T4 lesions in 62% (26 patients), N2 lesions in 17% (7 patients) and N3 lesions in 14% (6 patients). CONCLUSION: The major causes of unresectability of NSCLC were pulmonary artery invasions. It is suggested that careful evaluation of mediastinal structure, especially great vessels by additional imaging technique other than CT (like MRI) is indicated in selected NSCLC cases.
Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* ; Humans ; Mortality ; Pulmonary Artery ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul

BACKGROUND: Since tumor necrosis factor was discovered in 1975, TNF has been well known about its cytotoxic effect on tumor cells in vivo and in vitro. According to the recent improvement of molecular biological techinques, it is possible that exogenous TNF gene is transferred to tumor cells and is expressed in theirs. By virtue of TNF gene transfer, we have expected that TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells would kill tumor cells in vivo without systemic side effect. The expected mechanisms in which antitumor effects of TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells are working would be as followings. In the first mechanism, TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells would kill tumor cells around (like homicide). In the second mechanism, TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells would kill themselves (like suicide). In the third mechanism, TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells would recruit immune effector cells and kill tumor cells indirectly. In the last mechanism, TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cells would augment cytokine such as interferon-γ to kill tumor cells. Among these four mechanisms of antitumor effect, only the second mechanism has not been established yet. Therefore, to elucidate the second mechanism, We performed this study. METHOD: We transferred TNF-α gene to NCI-H2058, a human mesothelioma cell line and WEHI164, a murine fibrosarcoma cell line by using retroviral vector(pLT12SNTNF). And, We determined by using MTT assay whether TNF expressed in TNF-gene-transferred tumor cell lines would kill themselves like suicide or not. Then, if TNF-gene-transferred tumor cell lines would not suicide themselves, 1 would know more about the TNF sensitivity of TNF-gene-transferred tumor cell lines to exogenous TNF also by MTT assay. RESULT: NCI-H2058 and WEHI164 which were sensitive to TNF, became far less sensitive to endogenous and exogenous TNF after being transferred TNF-α gene to. CONCLUSION: TNF-gene-transfer to NCI-H2058 and WEHI164 gaffe them resistance to TNF.
Cell Line ; Cell Line, Tumor* ; Fibrosarcoma ; Humans ; Mesothelioma ; Necrosis* ; Retroviridae* ; Suicide ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Virtues ; Zidovudine

No abstract available.
Erythromycin*

Purpose: The Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life came into force in February 2018 in Korea. This study reviews the practices of end-of-life care for patients who withdrew or withheld lifesustaining treatment at a tertiary care hospital, addresses the limitations of the law, and discusses necessary steps to promote patient-centered self-determination. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients who died after agreeing to withhold lifesustaining treatment in 2018 at our university hospital. The cause of death, the intensity of end-of-life care, and other characteristics were reviewed and statistically analyzed. Results: Of a total of 334 patients, 231 (69%) died from cancer. The decision to stop life-sustaining treatment was made by family members for 178 patients overall (53.3%) and for 101 (43.7%) cancer patients, regardless of the patient’s wishes. When the patient decided to stop lifesustaining treatment, the time from the authorization to withhold life-sustaining treatment to death was longer than when the decision was made by family members (28.7±41.3 vs 10.5±23.2 days, P＜0.001). Conclusion In many cases, the decision to discontinue lifesustaining treatment was made by the family, not by the patient. In order to protect human dignity based on the patients’ self-determination, it is necessary for patients to understand their disease based on careful explanations from physicians. Ongoing survey-based research will be necessary in the future.

Purpose: Liver fibrosis plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determining its prognosis. Although many staging systems and liver reserve models have been developed without the intention of predicting prognosis of HCC, some studies have investigated their prognostic values in HCC after curative liver resection (LR). The aim of this study is to evaluate prognostic value of non-invasive biomarkers after curative LR. Methods: Between 2006 and 2013, HCC patients underwent LR were included and total 962 patients were enrolled. All non-invasive biomarkers (fibrosis 4 index (FIB-4), aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI), aspartate aminotransferase-to-alanine aminotransferase ratio (AAR), AAR-to-platelet ratio index (AARPRI), and albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) score) were measured at the time of HCC diagnosis. To binarize each biomarker, an optimal cut-off value for fibrosis stage was selected using the value of minimum distance from the left-upper corner of the receiver operating characteristic curve with a specificity >60%. We performed Cox regression analysis on 2-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS). Results: The area under curve values for FIB-4 and APRI were the largest for fibrosis stage compared to other biomarkers, 0.669 (95% confidential interval (CI), 0.610–0.719) and 0.748 (95% CI, 0.692–0.800), respectively. Between those two indices, FIB-4 is considered a statistically significant prognostic factor of RFS in HCC patients after LR. The HR for 2-year RFS and OS were 1.81 (95% CI, 1.18–2.77; P = 0.007) and 2.36 (95% CI, 0.99–5.65; P = 0.054), respectively. Conclusion FIB-4 is identified as a statistically significant predictor of HCC prognosis after curative LR even in HBV dominant populations.

PURPOSE: The number of elderly patients who undergo surgery for gastric cancer has increased in recent years due to a life expectancy. To prevent fatal complications and increase the survival rate in gastric cancer patients, this study endeavored to clarify the risk factors contributing to postoperative complications in elderly patients undergoing a radical gastrectomy. METHODS: Between January 1997 and December 1998, 176 patients underwent a gastrectomy for gastric cancer. For this review, the patients were divided into two groups; 30 patients over 70 years of age (older group) and 102 patients below 70 years of age (younger group), were prepared. A retrospective study was performed to examine the factors related to the high rate of complications and to compare the operative and general complications. RESULTS: The incidences of preoperative combined disease were 56.6% in the older group and 31.3% in the younger group (p<0.05), but no significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications (36.6% versus 38.2%) was found between the two groups. The most common postoperative complications were wound infections, pulmonary disorders, and intraabdominal infections. CONCLUSION: Despite the increased rate of preoperative combined disease in older patients, patients over 70 years are able to tolerate a radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer when optimal perioperative management is provided and blood loss is reduced.
Aged* ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intraabdominal Infections ; Life Expectancy ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis* ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms* ; Survival Rate ; Wound Infection

PURPOSE: The effective suppression of Kupffer cell function is believed to contribute to the prevention of preservation/ reperfusion injury. In this study, the effect of Gadolinium, a synthetic Kupffer cell suppressor, on the reperfusion injury was examined using a canine partial liver transplant model. METHODS: About 70% of the liver was harvested and reimplanted in a mongrel recipient dog weighing 20~25 kg. Gadolinium Chloride (10 mg/kg) was infused via the cephalic vein 24 hour before harvesting the partial liver (Gadolinium group, n=5). Serum Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and morphological grading of the graft were compared with the control group (n=5). Statistical analysis was done with an independent T-test. RESULTS: The total ischemic time was 4 hours and 27 minutes on average. One hour after reperfusion, there were no significant differences in the AST, ALP and LDH level, and the pathologic scores. At 48 hours after reperfusion, the AST (P=0.03) and LDH (P=0.05) levels were significantly lower in Gadolinium group. CONCLUSION: Kupffer cell blockage using the Gadolinium chloride might be an effective way of reducing ischemia reperfusion injury. However, this effect was not evident in the early stages of reperfusion.
Alkaline Phosphatase ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; Dogs ; Gadolinium* ; L-Lactate Dehydrogenase ; Liver* ; Reperfusion ; Reperfusion Injury* ; Transplants ; Veins

Background: The clinical efficacy of preoperative 2D-echocardiographic assessment of pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) has not been evaluated fully in liver transplantation (LT) recipients. Methods: From October 2010 to February 2017, a total of 344 LT recipients who underwent preoperative 2D-echocardiography and intraoperative right heart catheterization (RHC) was enrolled and stratified according to etiology, disease progression, and clinical setting. The correlation of right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP) on preoperative 2D-echocardiography with mean and systolic PAP on intraoperative RHC was evaluated, and the predictive value of RVSP > 50 mmHg to identify mean PAP > 35 mmHg was estimated. Results: In the overall population, significant but weak correlations were observed (R = 0.27; P < 0.001 for systolic PAP, R = 0.24; P < 0.001 for mean PAP). The positive and negative predictive values of RVSP > 50 mmHg identifying mean PAP > 35 mmHg were 37.5% and 49.9%, respectively. In the subgroup analyses, correlations were not significant in recipients of deceased donor type LT (R = 0.129; P = 0.224 for systolic PAP, R = 0.163; P = 0.126 for mean PAP) or in recipients with poorly controlled ascites (R = 0.215; P = 0.072 for systolic PAP, R = 0.21; P = 0.079 for mean PAP). Conclusion In LT recipients, the correlation between RVSP on preoperative 2D-echocardiography and PAP on intraoperative RHC was weak; thus, preoperative 2D-echocardiography might not be the optimal tool for predicting intraoperative PAP. In LT candidates at risk of pulmonary hypertension, RHC should be considered.