No abstract available.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are defined as tumor cells circulating in the peripheral blood of patients. CTCs have long been regarded as an attractive research topic. Because of recent technological advances, it is now possible to detect CTCs in the bloodstream. Interestingly, CTCs are present in both of patients with metastatic disease and early stage localized disease in patients with breast cancer. An assay detecting CTCs seems to have significant future potential value in the clinical management of breast cancer as a prognostic marker, monitoring treatment response and selecting target therapy. This review addresses the technical overview of detection methods, possible clinical application and future direction of CTCs research.
Breast ; Breast Neoplasms ; Humans ; Neoplastic Cells, Circulating

BACKGROUND: This is a retrospective, descriptive study, evaluating the observed agreement between 1996 & 2002 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) definitions of nosocomial pneumonia (NP) for medical intensive care unit (MICU) and surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients. METHODS: A total of 476 adult patients who were over 15 years of age and had been admitted to the MICU & SICU of a university hospital between August 1, 2005 and August 1, 2007 were enrolled. Data were collected from electronic medical records according to the 1996 & 2002 CDC definitions of NP. RESULTS: According to the 1996 CDC definitions of NP, there were a total of 116 NP cases and incidence rate was 11.6 per 1,000 patient-days; when analyzed with the 2002 CDC definitions of NP, 75 cases met the criteria and the incidence rate was 7.5 per 1,000 patient-days. Kappa value measuring agreement between the two definitions was 0.67 (95% confidence interval 0.601-0.706). When 1996 CDC definitions were compared with 2002 CDC definitions, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 93.3, 88.5, 60.3, and 98.6%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Even though the aforementioned NP criteria had been applied to the same study population, the number of patients that met the definitions changed depending on which criteria had been used. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the differences when making a comparison.
Adult ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Electronic Health Records ; Humans ; Incidence ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Pneumonia ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

No abstract available.
Echocardiography* ; Endocarditis*

One hundred eighty-six cases of ovarian common "epithelial" tumor including 28 endometriosis were reviewed, from the pathology file of the department of pathology of the National Medical Center during a period of 8 years and 6 months from January 1976 to June 1984. The study consisted of 14 cases(77.4%) of benign tumor including 28 cases of ovarian endometriosis, and 21 cases(11.3%) of borderline malignancy and 21 cases(11.3%) of invasive malignant tumors. Among benign common "epithelial" tumors, mucinous cystadenoma(69 cases) was the most frequent tumor, followed by serous cystadenoma (42 cases) and Brenner tumor (5 cases). Of borderline tumor, borderline mucinous tumor (18 cases) was more frequent than serous tumor (3 cases). Serous cystadenocarcinoma(9 cases) was the most frequent malignant tumor, followed by mucinous cystadenocarcinoma(6 cases), endometrioid carcinoma(3 cases) and undifferentiated carcinoma(3 cases). Most ovarian common "epithelial" tumors were prevalent during the reproductive age, but malignant tumors were more prevalent after the age of 40. Although right side was more frequently found (85 vs. 67) there is no significant site predilection. Bilaterality was the most common in undifferentiated carcinoma(66.7%), followed by serous cystadenocarcinoma(44.4%) and Brenner tumor(40%). The size of tumor tended to be larger in malignant tumor than benign. Mucinous tumor were usually larger than serous tumor. There were 7 intrauterine and 1 ectopic tubal prognancy which were associated with ovarian common "epithelial" tumors. Three cases of tumors were excised during Cesarian section. In summary these findings are comparable to other reports in Korea and English literatures. Histologic analysis of borderline and malignant epithelial tumor was done to emphasize their biologic behavor. Further study is required to compare their histological grading and clinical staging with thier survival rate.

No abstract available.
Down Syndrome* ; Myeloproliferative Disorders*

No abstract available.
Fanconi Anemia*

We report a case of neuroblastoma with multiple skin metastases as a chief complaint in a 2-month-old girl. the skin lesions were rnultiple, pea-sized, bluish, nontender, moable subcutaneous nodules on abdomen, back and scalp. Histopathology showed small round or poly gonal tumor cells which have deeply stained, basophilic, hyperchromatic nuclei with some mitoses. Th.se tumor cells showed clumping tendency which is one of early menifestations of rosette formation. Immunohistochemically positive reaction was demonstrated by anti-NSE(neuron specific enolase) antilody but negative reaction by anti-NFP (neurofilament proteiin ) antibody. She has been succesfully treated with combined chemotherapy for 10 months without relapse.
Abdomen ; Basophils ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Mitosis ; Neoplasm Metastasis* ; Neuroblastoma* ; Phosphopyruvate Hydratase ; Recurrence ; Rosette Formation ; Scalp ; Skin*

No abstract available.
Cystitis* ; Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin* ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma*

BACKGROUND: 4-1BB mediated costimulatory signal is a recently identified immunotherapeutic strategy for treating autoimmune diseases without depressing the immune response. In this study, we investigated the expression of 4-1BB and 4-1BBL on the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and we assessed whether the serum levels of soluble (s) 4-1BB and s4-1BBL in the patients with Graves' disease (GD) and compared them with normal subjects. METHODS: Expression of 4-1BB and 4-1BBL on PBMC of GD patients was determined by flow cytometry. The concentrations of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL were assessed in the sera of GD patients by performing ELISA. RESULTS: 4-1BB was constitutively expressed on naive CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of the GD patients and this was increased by stimulation. 4-1BBL was also expressed on the antigen-presenting cells such as CD19+ B cells, monocytes and dendritic cells in GD patients. The serum levels of s4-1BB and s4-1BBL were significantly higher in GD patients than those in controls, and these levels were significantly correlated with the serum levels of thyroid-binding inhibitory immunoglobulin and free T4. CONCLUSION: These results indicate that effector T cells of GD patients can be activated through the 4-1BB-mediated costimulatory signal. Elevated s4-1BB and s4-1BBL levels in the sera of GD patients may affect modulation of the clinical course in GD patients.
Antigen-Presenting Cells ; Autoimmune Diseases ; B-Lymphocytes ; Dendritic Cells ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Flow Cytometry ; Graves Disease ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Monocytes ; T-Lymphocytes