Purpose: We aimed to assess the humoral response to and reactogenicity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination according to the vaccine type and to analyze factors associated with immunogenicity in actively treated solid cancer patients (CPs). Materials and Methods: Prospective cohorts of CPs, undergoing anticancer treatment, and healthcare workers (HCWs) were established. The participants had no history of previous COVID-19 and received either mRNA-based or adenovirus vector–based (AdV) vaccines as the primary series. Blood samples were collected before the first vaccination and after 2 weeks for each dose vaccination. Spike-specific binding antibodies (bAbs) in all participants and neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) wild-type, Delta, and Omicron variants in CPs were analyzed and presented as the geometric mean titer. Results: Age-matched 20 HCWs and 118 CPs were included in the analysis. The bAb seroconversion rate and antibody concentrations after the first vaccination were significantly lower in CPs than in HCWs. After the third vaccination, antibody levels in CPs with a primary series of AdV were comparable to those in HCWs, but nAb titers against the Omicron variant did not quantitatively increase in CPs with AdV vaccine as the primary series. The incidence and severity of adverse reactions post-vaccination were similar between CPs and HCWs. Conclusion CPs displayed delayed humoral immune response after SARS-CoV-2 vaccination. The booster dose elicited comparable bAb concentrations between CPs and HCWs, regardless of the primary vaccine type. Neutralization against the Omicron variant was not robustly elicited following the booster dose in some CPs, implying the need for additional interventions to protect them from COVID-19.

Purpose: Gastric cancer (GC) is among the most prevalent and fatal cancers worldwide.National cancer screening programs in countries with high incidences of this disease provide medical aid beneficiaries with free-of-charge screening involving upper endoscopy to detect early-stage GC. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused major disruptions to routine healthcare access. Thus, this study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the diagnosis, overall incidence, and stage distribution of GC. Materials and Methods: We identified patients in our hospital cancer registry who were diagnosed with GC between January 2018 and December 2021 and compared the cancer stage at diagnosis before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to age and sex. The years 2018 and 2019 were defined as the “before COVID” period, and the years 2020 and 2021 as the “during COVID” period. Results: Overall, 10,875 patients were evaluated; 6,535 and 4,340 patients were diagnosed before and during the COVID-19 period, respectively. The number of diagnoses was lower during the COVID-19 pandemic (189 patients/month vs. 264 patients/month) than before it.Notably, the proportion of patients with stages 3 or 4 GC in 2021 was higher among men and patients aged ≥40 years. Conclusions During the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall number of GC diagnoses decreased significantly in a single institute. Moreover, GCs were in more advanced stages at the time of diagnosis. Further studies are required to elucidate the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and the delay in the detection of GC worldwide.

Background/Aims: There have been few multicenter studies on colonic polyps conducted by primary medical institutions. This study examined the detection rate of colonic polyps in primary health care institutions and the related factors while following the guidelines. Methods: The medical records of 14,029 patients who underwent colonoscopy between January-June 2020 at 40 primary medical institutions in Korea were analyzed. High-risk adenoma was defined as advanced adenoma, carcinoma, or ≥3 adenomas. Results: Most patients (71.2%) aged ≥50 years underwent re-colonoscopy within 5 years (51.3%) for diagnostic purposes (61.3%) in Korean primary medical institutions. The detection rates of colon polyps, adenoma, advanced adenoma, high-risk adenoma, and carcinoma was 59.9%, 38.9%, 5.9%, 11.4%, and 0.3% in all subjects and 59.8%, 37.5%, 8.5%, 12.9%, and 0.3% in average-risk patients, respectively. The incidences of adenoma in average-risk patients increased significantly with age (30s/40s/50s: 20.1%/29.4%/43% for adenoma, 4.4%/6.7%/10.3% for advanced adenoma, and 5.6%/9.5%/14.6% for high-risk adenoma; p<0.05). Before 50 years of age, high-risk adenoma was detected in 9.1% of patients in the first-time screening group, and the significant risk factors were being male and ≥40 years of age. The detection rate of high-risk adenoma in the normal index colonoscopy group within 5 years was 9.0%. The significant risk factors included older age, male sex, positive fecal occult blood test, stool form changes, and nonspecific symptoms (gas and indigestion). Conclusions More colonic adenoma studies targeting real-world clinical practice will be needed to revise the Korean guidelines for colorectal cancer screening and surveillance.

Background: This study aimed to investigate the recent prevalence, management, and comorbidities of diabetes among Korean adults aged ≥30 years by analyzing nationally representative data. Methods: This study used data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2016 to 2018, and the percentage and total number of people ≥30 years of age with diabetes and impaired fasting glucose (IFG) were estimated. Results: In 2018, 13.8% of Korean adults aged ≥30 years had diabetes, and adults aged ≥65 years showed a prevalence rate of 28%. The prevalence of IFG was 26.9% in adults aged ≥30 years. From 2016 to 2018, 35% of the subjects with diabetes were not aware of their condition. Regarding comorbidities, 53.2% and 61.3% were obese and hypertensive, respectively, and 72% had hypercholesterolemia as defined by low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) ≥100 mg/dL in people with diabetes. Of the subjects with diabetes, 43.7% had both hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. With regard to glycemic control, only 28.3% reached the target level of <6.5%. Moreover, only 11.5% of subjects with diabetes met all three targets of glycosylated hemoglobin, blood pressure, and LDL-C. The percentage of energy intake from carbohydrates was higher in diabetes patients than in those without diabetes, while that from protein and fat was lower in subjects with diabetes. Conclusion The high prevalence and low control rate of diabetes and its comorbidities in Korean adults were confirmed. More stringent efforts are needed to improve the comprehensive management of diabetes to reduce diabetes-related morbidity and mortality.

PURPOSE: We conducted a randomized, multicenter, phase III trial to compare S-1 plus docetaxel (DS) with S-1 plus cisplatin (SP) as adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III gastric cancer patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Stage III gastric cancer patients who had received curative gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy were randomized into equal groups to receive adjuvant chemotherapy of eight cycles of DS (S-1 70 mg/m2/day on days 1-14 plus docetaxel 35 mg/m2on days 1 and 8) every 3 weeks or SP (S-1 70 mg/m2/day on days 1-14 plus cisplatin 60 mg/m2on day 1) every 3 weeks. The primary endpoint was 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate. RESULTS: Between November 2010 and July 2013, 153 patients (75 patients to DS and 78 patients to SP) were enrolled from 8 institutions in Korea. After the capecitabine plus oxaliplatin was approved based on the CLASSIC study, itwas decided to close the study early. With a median follow-up duration of 56.9 months, the 3-year DFS rate between two groups was not significantly different (49.14% in DS group vs. 52.5% in SP group). The most common grade 3-4 adverse event was neutropenia (42.7% in DS and 38.5% in SP, p=0.351). SP group had more grade 3-4 anemia (1.3% vs. 11.5%, p=0.037), whereas grade 3-4 hand-foot syndrome (4.1% vs. 0%, p=0.025) and mucositis (10.7% vs. 2.6%, p=0.001) were more common in DS group. Fifty-one patients (68%) in DS group and 52 (66.7%) in SP group finished planned treatment. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that SP or DS is an effective and tolerable option for patients with curatively resected stage III gastric cancer.
Anemia ; Capecitabine ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant* ; Cisplatin ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Hand-Foot Syndrome ; Humans ; Korea ; Lymph Node Excision ; Mucositis ; Neutropenia ; Stomach Neoplasms*

The original version of this article contained wrong informations of some authors which should be changed.

The purpose of this study was to provide basic data to standardize the clinical dental hygiene curriculum, based on analysis of current clinical dental hygiene curricula in Korea. We emailed questionnaires to 12 schools to investigate clinical dental hygiene curricula, from February to March, 2017. We analyzed the clinical dental hygiene curricula in 5 schools with a 3-year program and in 7 schools with a 4-year program. The questionnaire comprised nine items on topics relating to clinical dental hygiene, and four items relating to the dental hygiene process and oral prophylaxis. The questionnaire included details regarding the subject name, the grade/semester/credit system, course content and class hours, the number of senior professors, and the number of patients available for dental hygiene clinical training purposes. In total, there were 96 topics listed in the curricula relating to clinical dental hygiene training, and topics varied between the schools. There was an average of 20.4 topic credits, and more credits and hours were allocated to the 4-year program than to the 3-year program. On average, the ratio of students to professors was 21.4:1. Course content included infection control, concepts for dental hygiene processes, dental hygiene assessment, intervention and evaluation, case studies, and periodontal instrumentation. An average of 2 hours per patient was spent on dental hygiene practice, with an average of 1.9 visits. On average, student clinical training involved 19 patients and 26.6 patients in the 3-year and 4-year programs, respectively. The average participation time per student per topic was 38.0 hours and 53.1 hours, in the 3-year and 4-year programs, respectively. Standardizing the clinical dental hygiene curricula in Korea will require consensus guidelines on topics, the number of classes required to achieve core competencies as a dental hygienist, and theory and practice time.
Consensus ; Curriculum* ; Dental Hygienists ; Electronic Mail ; Humans ; Infection Control ; Korea* ; Oral Hygiene*

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) have multisystem origins with heterogeneous manifestations that develop throughout the course of PD. NMS are increasingly recognized as having a significant impact on the health-related quality of life (HrQoL). We aimed to determine the NMS presentation according to PD status, and the associations of NMS with other clinical variables and the HrQoL of Korean PD patients. METHODS: We surveyed patients in 37 movement-disorders clinics throughout Korea. In total, 323 PD patients were recruited for assessment of disease severity and duration, NMS, HrQoL, and other clinical variables including demographics, cognition, sleep scale, fatigability, and symptoms. RESULTS: In total, 98.1% of enrolled PD subjects suffered from various kinds of NMS. The prevalence of NMS and scores in each NMS domain were significantly higher in the PD group, and the NMS worsened as the disease progressed. Among clinical variables, disease duration and depressive mood showed significant correlations with all NMS domains (p<0.001). NMS status impacted HrQoL in PD (rS=0.329, p<0.01), and the association patterns differed with the disease stage. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our survey suggest that NMS in PD are not simply isolated symptoms of degenerative disease, but rather exert significant influences throughout the disease course. A novel clinical approach focused on NMS to develop tailored management strategies is warranted to improve the HrQoL in PD patients.
Cognition ; Demography ; Humans ; Korea ; Movement Disorders* ; Parkinson Disease* ; Prevalence ; Quality of Life*

We investigated whether prunetin affects the proteolytic activity, secretion, and gene expression of matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in primary cultured rabbit articular chondrocytes, as well as in vivo production of MMP-3 in the rat knee joint to evaluate the potential chondroprotective eff ect of prunetin. Rabbit articular chondrocytes were cultured in a monolayer, and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta)-induced expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs-4 (ADAMTS-4), and ADAMTS-5. In rabbit articular chondrocytes, the effects of prunetin on IL-1beta-induced secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3 were investigated using western blot analysis and casein zymography, respectively. The eff ect of prunetin on MMP-3 protein production was also examined in vivo. The results were as follows: (1) prunetin inhibited the gene expression of MMP-3, MMP-1, MMP-13, ADAMTS-4, and ADAMTS-5; (2) prunetin inhibited the secretion and proteolytic activity of MMP-3; (3) prunetin suppressed the production of MMP-3 protein in vivo. These results suggest that prunetin can regulate the gene expression, secretion, and proteolytic activity of MMP-3, by directly acting on articular chondrocytes.
Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Caseins ; Chondrocytes ; Gene Expression* ; Interleukin-1beta ; Knee Joint ; Osteoarthritis ; Rats ; Thrombospondins

PURPOSE: To compare ocular biometry and refractive results measured using conventional applanation ultrasonography and 3 different optical interferometries, Lenstar LS900(R), AL-Scan(R) and OA-2000(R). METHODS: The biometries of 31 cataractous eyes were measured using ultrasonography, Lenstar LS900(R), AL-Scan(R) or OA-2000(R). The axial length, anterior chamber depth and keratometry were measured. The SRK/T formula was used to calculate intraocular lens power. Two months after cataract surgery, the refractive outcome was determined and results from the 4 different biometry methods were compared. RESULTS: Axial lengths were 23.39 +/- 0.95 mm, 23.42 +/- 0.98 mm, 23.43 +/- 0.98 mm and 23.44 +/- 0.98 mm measured using ultrasonography, Lenstar LS900(R), AL-Scan(R) and OA-2000(R), respectively with no statistically significant differences observed (p = 0.996). The anterior chamber depth and keratometry were 3.14 +/- 0.41 mm, 3.10 +/- 0.38 mm and 3.13 +/- 0.39 mm (p = 0.936) and 44.41 +/- 1.52 D, 44.54 +/- 1.57 D and 44.44 +/- 1.52 D (p = 0.937) for Lenstar LS900(R), AL-Scan(R) and OA-2000(R) respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between the 3 optical devices. The mean absolute error of the 4 different devices were not statistically significant (p = 0.722). CONCLUSIONS: The ocular biometric measurements and prediction of postoperative refraction using ultrasonography, Lenstar LS900(R), AL-Scan(R) or OA-2000(R) showed no significant differences.
Anterior Chamber ; Biometry ; Cataract ; Interferometry* ; Lenses, Intraocular ; Optical Devices ; Refractive Errors ; Ultrasonography*