The informations concerning knowledge, value and consumption pattern for rice foods of elementary schoolchildren (630 boys and 550 girls in 5th or 6th grade) were investigated in Changwon and Gimhae of Gyeongnam province. They were asked based on knowledge, one's value and intake frequence of rice foods by questionnaries. Menus for 3 days including 2 weekdays and 1 weekend day were taken from 136 students (77 boys and 59 girls) in two Elementary Schools in Changwon and Gimhae to know intake reality of rice product. The purpose of this survey was to find the way of encouraging rice intake and preference which now seemed to be low because of simplified, westernized eating habits, and to provide basic information needed for inheriting and improving our traditional cooked rice centered eating culture. The results are summarized as follows. The knowledge of rice was positively correlated to the one's value (r=0.365, p<0.001) and the preference (r=0.132, p<0.001), the one's value was positively correlated to preference (r=0.409, p<0.001). The score of knowledge for rice was 12.8 points out of 20, the girls get points(13.12) significantly higher than the boys (12.53) (p<0.01). One's value about rice foods was 37.35 points out of 50 what is relatively high. They have eaten cooked rice type food for 2.24 times per day. Both boys and girls in Changwon and Gimhae area were having cooked rice type food significantly more during weekdays compared to weekends (p7lt;0.001) by 3 days food record. According the results, we can see the possibility that schoolchildren can be encouraged to eat more rice foods by nutritional education to go with the development of various programs.
Eating ; Education ; Female ; Gyeongsangnam-do* ; Humans

To examine the immunohistochemical alterations associated with the histological dedifferentiation of thyroid carcinomas, we performed staining for HBME-1, high molecular weight cytokeratin (HCK), CK 19, thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) and E-cadherin (E-CD) on 125 various types of thyroid carcinomas. The HBME-1 staining was strong and diffuse in follicular carcinoma (FC), papillary carcinoma (PC), and poorly differentiated carcinoma (PDC), while it was rare in undifferentiated carcinoma (UC) as well as in benign lesions. Strong, diffuse staining for CK19 and HCK was predominantly found in PC, and these markers were not much found in other carcinomas. TTF-1 uniformly stained the tumor cells of all cases of PC, FC and Hurthle cell carcinoma (HC) and 42% of the PDC, while there was only focal staining in one case of the UC. Compared to the strong, diffuse reactivity in the benign lesions, E-CD staining was noted in 67% of PC, 80% of FC, 83% of HC, 58% of PDC and none of the UC. These results suggest that HBME-1 may be a marker for well-differentiated carcinomas while CK19 and HCK are phenotypic markers for papillary carcinoma. The loss or reduced expression of TTF-1 and E-CD may be markers for dedifferentiation.
Cadherins/*metabolism ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratin/*metabolism ; Nuclear Proteins/*metabolism ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't ; Thyroid Neoplasms/*metabolism ; Transcription Factors/*metabolism ; Tumor Markers, Biological/*metabolism

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to compare the micrometastasis group with the macrometastasis group, and to analyze clinical and pathological variables to determine what factors might predict non-sentinel lymph node (NSLN) involvement in the women with sentinel nodes that contained only micrometastasis. METHODS: Between June 2003 and September 2005, 650 patients with primary breast cancer and who underwent a SLN procedure were retrospectively reviewed. Of those 650 patients, 138 patients with metastasis in the SLNs were analyzed. RESULTS: The median number of harvested sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) was 2.5 (range: 1~7) and the median number of tumor positive LNs was 2.1 (range: 1~22). Of the 138 patients with a positive SLN, macrometastasis was identified in 105 patients and micrometastasis was noted in 33 patients. The SLN micrometastases were smaller than 0.2 mm in 18 patients and it was between 0.2 to 2.0 mm in 15 patients. Completion axillary dissection was performed in 17 (51.5%) patients with SLN micrometastasis and in 105 (100%) patients with SLN macrometastasis. NSLN involvement was found in 43/105 (41.0%) patients with SLN macrometastasis, while it was not found in the patients with SLN micrometastasis. Univariate analysis showed that T stage, multiplicity, lymphovascular invasion and histologic type were significantly associated with the difference between micrometastasis and macrometastasis in the SLNs. Multivariate analysis identified T stage as a significant factor. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that NSLN metastasis is associated with size of metastasis found in the SLN and completion axillary dissection may not be necessary in patients who have micrometastatic disease in the SLN.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Female ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis* ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND: Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are considered the first line treatment for a subset of EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Although transformation to small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is one of the known mechanisms of resistance to EGFR TKIs, it is not certain whether transformation to SCLC is exclusively found as a mechanism of TKI resistance in EGFR-mutant tumors. METHODS: We identified six patients with primary lung adenocarcinoma that showed transformation to SCLC on second biopsy (n = 401) during a 6-year period. Clinicopathologic information was analyzed and EGFR mutation results were compared between initial and second biopsy samples. RESULTS: Six patients showed transformation from adenocarcinoma to SCLC, of which four were pure SCLCs and two were combined adenocarcinoma and SCLCs. Clinically, four cases were EGFR-mutant tumors from non-smoking females who underwent TKI treatment, and the EGFR mutation was retained in the transformed SCLC tumors. The remaining two adenocarcinomas were EGFR wild-type, and one of these patients received EGFR TKI treatment. CONCLUSIONS: NSCLC can acquire a neuroendocrine phenotype with or without EGFR TKI treatment.
Adenocarcinoma* ; Biopsy ; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Phenotype ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Small Cell Lung Carcinoma*

PURPOSE: The recently developed method of rapid immunohistochemistry (IHC) was applied to the intraoperative examination of sentinel lymph node (SLN) because as their routine frozen-section examination is liable to yield a false-negative results. This study is devoted to establish a reliable protocol for rapid IHC of SLN. METHODS: Between August 2004 and April 2005 a retrospective study was performed. SLNs from 50 breast cancer patients with clinically negative SLN were examined intraoperatively using hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) stain and immunostain for cytokeratin by rapid IHC assay. After examination of the frozen section, the SLNs were paraffin embedded and serially sectioned at 5 micrometer intervals. RESULTS: The median age and tumor size of the patients was 61.0 years and 1.4 cm (6% Tis, 70% T1, and 24% T2), respectively. The total number of dissected SLN was 112, with a mean of 2.2 (range, 1~4) SLNs per patient. Seven SLNs were found to be positive from metastasis in permanent pathological sections. Of these, 5 were stained by both intraoperative rapid IHC and H&E stain while one was not stained at all. The remaining SLN was initially stained with only the rapid IHC assay. The mean turn around time of the rapid IHC was less than 20 minutes, with sensitivity, true negative value, true positive values and accuracy of 85.7, 99.1, 100, and 99.1% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The rapid IHC was a very sensitive and rapid technique for the intraoperative detection of metastatic involvement of SLNs, whitch may be helpful at increasing the accuracy of detecting the micro-metastasis of sentinel lymph nodes during an operation.
Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Frozen Sections ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry* ; Keratins ; Lymph Nodes* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Micrometastasis ; Paraffin ; Retrospective Studies

To study the new antifungal active triterpene glycosides of sea cucumber Holothuria scabra. Triterpene glycosides from Holothuria scabra were separated and purified by silica gel chromatography, reversed-phase silica gel chromatography and RP-HPLC. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectral data and chemical evidence. Three triterpene glycosides were identified as scabraside A (1), echinoidea A (2) and holothurin A1 (3). Scabraside A (1) is a new triterpene glycoside, and compounds 2 and 3 were isolated from Holothuria scabra for the first time. They showed antifungal activities (1 < or = MIC80 < or = 16 microg mL(-1)).
Animals ; Antifungal Agents ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Glycosides ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Holothuria ; chemistry ; Holothurin ; analogs & derivatives ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Molecular Structure ; Triterpenes ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

PURPOSE: We wanted to investigate the accuracy of axillary ultrasonography for detecting axillary nodal metastasis in patients with T1-2 breast cancer and we also wanted to determine the factors affecting the sensitivity. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two radiologists performed axillary ultrasonography in 119 consecutive patients with T1-2 breast cancer and clinically uninvolved axillae. We analyzed the accuracy of ultrasonography for detecting axillary nodal metastasis with the histologic results being used as a reference standard. We evaluated the number of involved lymph nodes, T staging and the histologic grade of the tumors. RESULTS: Axillary nodes were involved in 39% of total patients (46/119); 30% of the patients with T1 cancer and 55% of the patients with T2 cancer. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were for 52%, 92%, 80% and 75%, respectively. The sensitivity was significantly lower for the cases with one to two lymph nodes metastasis and T1 cancer than in those cases with 3 or more lymph nodes metastasis and T2 cancer (35% and 75% in the cases with 1-2 cancer and the cases with > 3 lymph nodes metastasis, respectively, p = 0.009; 38% and 68% in the cases with T1 and the cases with T2 cancer, respectively, p = 0.045). CONCLUSIONS: The ultrasonographic sensitivity for detecting axillary lymph node metastasis is low, especially in the cases with one to two lymph nodes metastasis and the cases with T1 cancer. Detailed analysis and adoption of cytologic examination of the axillary lymph nodes are necessary to improue the accuracy of ultrasonography.
Adoption ; Axilla ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Humans ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Sensitivity and Specificity

PURPOSE: Sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy has become a standard procedure in breast cancer patient management. Accurate intraoperative assessment of metastasis of SLNs is essential for appropriate selection to avoid unnecessary axillary dissection. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of one-step nucleic acid amplification (OSNA) assay for detection of sentinel lymph node metastasis examination in breast cancer patients. METHODS: In this study, we compared intraoperative OSNA to histological investigation with multi-level observation in 284 sentinel lymph nodes of 199 patients. Surgically obtained sentinel lymph nodes were sectioned into 2 mm intervals of up to four pieces, half of which were examined with the OSNA assay. The other half of adjacent pieces were histopathologically examined both intraoperatively and postoperatively. The presence/absence of metastases was judged by observing hematoxylin and eosin staining and cytokeratin (AE1/ AE3) immunohistochemically stained multiple slides from one lymph node. RESULTS: Among 199 patients included, 36 cases were positive on histological examination and 34 cases were positive on OSNA assay. There were 14 discordant cases. The overall concordance with histology was 93.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.86-0.96), with a sensitivity of 77.8% (95% CI, 0.61-0.90), specificity of 96.3% (95% CI, 0.92-0.99), positive predictive value of 82.4% (95% CI, 0.65-0.93) and negative predictive value of 95.2% (95% CI, 0.91-0.98). The kappa statistic analysis indicated substantial agreement of both methods, with a value of 0.76 (95% CI, 0.64-0.88). The average turnaround time was 39.0 minutes. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicate that the OSNA assay has equivalent accuracy to histopathology in detecting breast cancer metastasis to lymph nodes when each method is assigned two alternate blocks of four blocks sectioned at 2 mm intervals.
Biopsy ; Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Cohort Studies ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Hematoxylin ; Humans ; Keratins ; Lymph Nodes ; Molecular Diagnostic Techniques ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Nitriles ; Pathology, Molecular ; Pyrethrins ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study compared the clinical benefits of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKIs) with pemetrexed to identify the clinical parameters that correlated with response. METHODS: A retrospective chart review examined patients who were 1) treated with EGFR TKI or pemetrexed, 2) diagnosed with advanced non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer, and 3) previously treated with platinum-based chemotherapy in Soonchunhyang Bucheon Hospital. RESULTS: Sixty-one patients (18 erlotinib, 18 gefitinib, 25 pemetrexed) were investigated from February 2002 to August 2009. The median follow-up period was 37 months (7~97 months). Overall, their median age was 63 years, 41 patients were non-smokers, 57 patients had adenocarcinoma, and 55 patients were at stage IV. Twenty-one patients received the study drugs as second-line chemotherapy, and others as third-line or more. No significant differences in the overall response rate (erlotinib 33.3% vs. gefitinib 38.9% vs. pemetrexed 20.0%) and progression-free survival (erlotinib 1.9 months vs. gefitinib 3.0 months vs. pemetrexed 2.9 months) were found among the three groups. Female gender was related to a good response to EGFR TKIs (p=0.047). Skin rash in the erlotinib group (p=0.037) and adenocarcinoma in the pemetrexed group (p=0.02) were related to improved progression-free survival. Few side effects were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Both EGFR TKIs and pemetrexed therapy for non-squamous non-small-cell lung cancer were efficient and tolerable after the failure of first-line platinum-based chemotherapy. Further prospective studies are needed to validate the predictive role of the suggested clinical parameters in this study.
Adenocarcinoma ; Disease-Free Survival ; Exanthema ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Glutamates ; Guanine ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Quinazolines ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Retrospective Studies ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride ; Pemetrexed

Purpose: NUT carcinoma (NC) is a solid tumor caused by the rearrangement of NUTM1 that usually develops in midline structures, such as the thorax. No standard treatment has been established despite high lethality. Thus, we investigated whether targeting the junction region of NUTM1 fusion breakpoints could serve as a potential treatment option for NC. Materials and Methods: We designed and evaluated a series of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) targeting the junction region of BRD4-NUTM1 fusion (B4N), the most common form of NUTM1 fusion. Droplet digital polymerase chain reaction using the blood of patients was also tested to evaluate the treatment responses by the junction sequence of the B4N fusion transcripts. Results: As expected, the majority of NC fusion types were B4N (12 of 18, 67%). B4N fusion-specific siRNA treatment on NC cells showed specific inhibitory effects on the B4N fusion transcript and fusion protein without affecting the endogenous expression of the parent genes, resulting in decreased relative cell growth and attenuation of tumor size. In addition, the fusion transcript levels in platelet-rich-plasma samples of the NC patients with systemic metastasis showed a negative correlation with therapeutic effect, suggesting its potential as a measure of treatment responsiveness. Conclusion This study suggests that tumor-specific sequences could be used to treat patients with fusion genes as part of precision medicine for a rare but deadly disease.