PURPOSE: recent studies have reported that the expression of Drg-1 is up-regulated by androgen. It has been suggested that Drg-1 gene be used as a molecular marker for prostate cancer therapies like PSA. To de termine the role of Drg-1 gene as a molecular marker during intermittent androgen deprivation(IAD) therapy, we investigated the expression of Drg-1 and compared it with PSA expression in human prostate cancer cell lines treated with dihydrotestosterone (DHT) continuously or intermittently. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two prostate cancer cells having different status of androgen receptor [LNCaP (androgen dependent) and PC-3 (androgen independent)] were used in this study. To know the change in PSA and Drg-1 expression after DHT treatment the cells were cultured in steroid-free RPMI media for 24 hours. 10(-7) and 10(-8)M of DHT and 10(-7)M bicalutimide was added into the cells and then cultured for 72 hours. And we established in vitro IAD model using LNCaP cells. Northern analyses were performed to determine the expression level of both PSA and Drg-1genes. Also, western analyses were performed to determine the protein level of proliferating cellular nuclear antigen and androgen receptor. RESULTS: Transcripts of Drg-1 were detected in both LNCaP and PC-3 cells but PSA was not expressed in PC-3 cells. The expression of Drg-1gene in LNCaP cells was up-regulated by 10(-8)M of DHT like PSA gene and down-regulated by 10(-7)M bicalutamide. In the treatment of intermittent androgen deprivation, the expression pattern of Drg-1was similar to that of PSA. However, up-regulation of PSA was detected earlier than of Drg-1. CONCLUSIONS: Based on observation, Drg-1 was up-regulated by androgen and down-regulated by anti-androgen. This suggests that Drg-1gene is useful for determining the androgen independency of prostate cancer during IAD.
Cell Line ; Dihydrotestosterone ; Humans ; Prostate* ; Prostatic Neoplasms* ; Receptors, Androgen ; Up-Regulation

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans

No abstract available.
Meningitis*

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the efficiency of tumor markers level for early diagnosis of ovarian malignancy and for differentiation between benign and malignant ovarian tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We determined preoperative serum tumor markers level in patients who were going to have an operation due to ovarian tumor in OB & GY Dept. of Chonnam University Hospital from April 1993 to September 1999. RESULTS: 1) The average values of serum tumor markers in patients with malingnant ovarian tumors were statistically higher than those of benign ovarian tumors. among malignant ovarian tumors, positive rate of all serum tumor markers was highest in epithelial ovarian carcinoma group. and among ovarian tumor markers, and positive rate of CA 125 was highest in epithelial ovarian carcinoma. 2) Dermoid cyst and endometioma were correlated to CA 19-9, CA 125 levels respectively. for malignant tumors, mucinous ovarian adenocarcinoma and non-mucinous ovarian adenocarcinoma were CA 19-9, CA 125 levels respectively. 3) Among ovarian tumor markers, CA 125 was the most in sensitivity and CA 72-4 was the most in specificity and diagnostic efficiency. 4) For postmenopausal women with ovarian tumors, elevated levels of at least one of the 4 tumor markers were present in the serum in 85.7% of the women who developed cancer, 62.5% of women with borderline, 27.8% of women with benign ovarian tumors. Conclusion; It is suggested that determination of serum tumor markers in patient suspected of ovarian tumor may be helpful to clinician for early diagnosis, differentiation between malignant and benign ovarian tumors.
Adenocarcinoma ; Dermoid Cyst ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Jeollanam-do ; Mucins ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Biomarkers, Tumor*

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the response of hyperplastic endometrium to Medroxyprogesterone acetate according to the histologic types such as simple typical, complex typical and atypical hyperplasia. METHODS: A total of 79 patients with histologically proved endometrial hyperplasia were enrolled into this prospective study between March 1996 and May 1998. Patients without atypia were placed on a regimen of cyclic therapy with 10mg MPA orally, each day for 14days per month for 3 months. In the cases in which hyperplasia did not regress , MPA was increased to 20mg. Patients with atypical hyperplasia received continuous MPA therapy, 20mg orally each day for 3 month. All patients were followed up for a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 1 year(mean 7 months). RESULTS: In patients with simple typical hyperplasia, 45 patients(80.4%) had regression, 11 patients(19.6%) had persistence and none had progression. In patients with complex typical hyperplasia, 10 patients(83.3%) had regression, 2 patients(16.7%) had persistence and none had progression. But, in patients with atypical hyperplasia 5 patients(45.4%) had regression, 4 patients(36.4%) had persistence and 2(18.2%) patients had well differentiated endometrial adenocarcinoma. There was no recurrence during the follow up. CONCLUSION: This data suggest that most women with typical hyperplasia respond to progestin therapy, but there is high failure rate of response to progestin therapy and risk of endometrial cancer in patients with atypical hyperplasia. If the young patient desires to preserve her fertility, then progestin therapy may be considered as primary treatment in patients with atypical hyperplasia. But older patients in whom fertility is not an issue, hysterectomy should be selected as treatment of choice for atypical lesion.
Adenocarcinoma ; Endometrial Hyperplasia* ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; Endometrium ; Female ; Fertility ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; Hysterectomy ; Medroxyprogesterone Acetate ; Medroxyprogesterone* ; Prospective Studies ; Recurrence

No abstract available.
Child* ; Humans ; Plasma* ; Renal Veins* ; Renin* ; Veins*

No abstract available.
Tuberculosis, Meningeal*

Traditionally, radical hysterectomy is the main surgical method for the treatment of early cervical carcinoma and always results in the loss of fertility. But, large numbers of young women are recently being diagnosed with cervical carcinoma and fertility preservation has become a concern. So, there has been a move towards more conservative approaches for the treatment of cervical carcinoma in recent years. Radical trachelectomy, which allows preservation of uterus but removes the cervix, parametrium and upper one third of the vagina, is a conservative but locally radical procedure. We performed radical abdominal trachelectomy with pelvic lymphadenectomy for two cases of invasive cervical carcinomas, which may be the first report in korea. One patient was 37 years old single women who had stage Ib cervical cancer and was disease free for 17 months after treatment. The other patient was 19 years old student who was also single and had stage IIa cervical cancer and was disease free for 14 months after treatment. We report the first two cases and review the literature on radical trachelectomy.
Adult ; Cervix Uteri ; Female ; Fertility ; Fertility Preservation ; Humans ; Hysterectomy ; Korea ; Lymph Node Excision* ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; Uterus ; Vagina ; Young Adult

PURPOSE: Liver transplantation (LT) is regarded as an important management option for fulminant hepatitis (FH), which is associated with considerable mortality under conservative management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of children with FH according to management. METHODS: We reviewed medical records of patients presented with FH from January 1994 until April 1999. The children were grouped according to the treatment. Group A was classified for supportive treatment only and group B for supportive treatment plus LT. Children were considered as candidates for LT if the level of factor V decreased to below 20% of normal or the patient's condition deteriorated despite intensive care during the initial 48 hours. Underlying disease, duration after jaundice, grade of encephalopathy, laboratory findings, treatment and outcomes were analyzed. RESULTS: The study group comprised 7 females and 8 males aged from 8 months to 15 years old (median age of 4 years). The causes of FH were Wilson disease (4 cases), Epstein-Barr virus infection (1 case), drug (1 case) and idiopathic (9 cases). There were 5 children in group A and 10 in group B, and there were no significant differences in age, sex ratio, underlying diseases, grade of hepatic encephalopathy and laboratory findings between the two groups. One out of 5 in group A and 9 out of 10 in group B survived. But all the children in group A who met the criteria for LT and received only supportive care died. One out of 10 in group B died because of grade IVa hepatic encephalopathy which advanced to brainstem herniation. CONCLUSION: This study showed that patients who were managed with supportive care only, although LT was indicated, died and that 9 out of 10 who received LT survived. Therefore, we suggest LT should be considered in the management of FH.
Adolescent ; Brain Stem ; Child* ; Factor V ; Female ; Hepatic Encephalopathy ; Hepatitis* ; Hepatolenticular Degeneration ; Herpesvirus 4, Human ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Jaundice ; Liver Transplantation* ; Liver* ; Male ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Sex Ratio

PURPOSE: There are many reports on penile prosthesis implantation, but few on the natural history of prosthesis. We investigated the failure rate and causes for revision. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 518 cases of penile prosthesis implantation performed by the same surgeon from December, 1983 to March, 2005 at the department of urology in Yongdong Severance Hospital. The mean follow up duration was 92 months, and average age was 49.1 years. A penile prosthesis survival is defined as a prosthesis that does not need revision due to infection, mechanical dysfunction or dissatisfaction, and a patient who is able to have intercourse. Analysis was performed by Kaplan-Meier formula and Log rank test. Significance was defined as p below 0.05. RESULTS: The survival rate of AMS 600 was significantly higher than that of the inflatable prosthesis. The survival failure rate was 22.2% in the inflatable prosthesis. Mechanical failure was the most common cause of survival failure in the inflatable prosthesis. Especially, the cylinder survival rate was lower than that of the other compartment of AMS (American medical system) 700 CXM . The AMS 700 CXM survival rate was lower in the neurogenic erectile dysfunction than the other causes of erectile dysfunction. The survival rate was reliable in the original and revised cylinder. CONCLUSIONS: The overall survival failure rate was 16.4%. Neurogenic erectile dysfunction was the most prevalent risk factor of survival failure in AMS 700 CXM . The survival rate must be considered in neurogenic patients who want to be implanted with the inflatable prosthesis. The infection rate was not increased in AMS 700 CXM revision cases. However, further research is warranted for the development of a failure- free prosthesis.
Erectile Dysfunction ; Follow-Up Studies* ; Humans ; Male ; Natural History ; Penile Implantation ; Penile Prosthesis* ; Prostheses and Implants ; Reoperation ; Risk Factors ; Survival Rate* ; Urology