Usually, tumor stem cells have been assessed functionally in animals with various in vivo transplantation assays or with in vitro colony forming assays. Such studies indicate the tumor stem cell assays can be used to study the properties of tumor stem cells and to delineate the difference in individual sensitivities to chemotherapeutic agents. Over the past year (1987,5-1988,4) we attempted to culture the epithelial tumor cells in laboratory to test the chemosensitivity to Methotrexate, cytarabine, and daunorubicin in different concentrations. The in vitro chemosensitivity of these cells to anticancer drugs was disappointed in much. Only 14% of the cultured cells were inhibited the growth more than 50% in over-all.
Animals ; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell ; Cells, Cultured ; Cytarabine ; Daunorubicin ; Methotrexate ; Neoplastic Stem Cells

Inflammatory pseudotumor of the urinary bladder is a proliferative spindle cell lesion that microscopically may suggest a sarcoma but that are benign without a recent history of an operation. The first such case was reported by Roth, in 1980, and thereafter about seven more cases were reported in medical literatures. We reported a case of inflammatory pseudotumor of the urinary bladder mimicking leiomyosarcoma. Patient was a 36-year-old woman with complaint of painless total and gross hematuria for 3 weeks. Partial cystectomy specimen showed a well-demarcated nodular mass of yellow white color, involving the submucosal and muscular layers. Microscopic examination revealed proliferating bundles of spindle cells interspersed with infiltration of many inflammatory cells including eosinophils. Spindle cells were positive for vimentin on immunohistochemistry and corresponding to myofibroblasts on the electron microscopic examination.
Female ; Humans

Various immunologic studies were performed for the investigation of humoral immunity in 30 patients with Behcet's syndrome who had been registered in Behcet Special Clinic of Severance Hospital: direct immunofluorescent staining, quantitation of serurn Ig, complement by immunoelectrophoresis and B-cell by EAC-rosette method. The results can be summerized as follows: 1. Direct immunofluorescent staining occurs in biopsies from patients with Behcets syndrome: 11 of the 30 patients(36. 7%). Among them, vascular fluorescene with C3 was noted in 10 of 11 patients (90. 9%), in addition of IgG, IgA, IgM, and fibrinogen on dermoepidermal junction or vessel. 2. The results of direct immunofluorescence staining showed different tendency according to biopsy sites and clinical types: 5 of 10(50%,) in the specimens from oral mucosa, 5 of 13(38.5%) from leg, 1 of 3(33.3%,) from genitalia, and 0 of 7(0%) from other sites: higher in complete and incomplete types than in suspected and possible types. 3. Immunofluorescent staining rates were statistically not significant according to sex, age and Lehner's classification. 4. Serum IgG, IgA, IgM, C3, C4 and B-cell were statistically not significant between DIF positive and negative groups. Therefore it is considered that vascular deposits of immune complexes and activation of complements by immune omplexes may be a role of pathogenetic mechanisms of Behcet's syndrorne.
Antigen-Antibody Complex ; B-Lymphocytes ; Behcet Syndrome* ; Biopsy ; Classification ; Complement System Proteins ; Fibrinogen ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct ; Genitalia ; Humans ; Immunity, Humoral* ; Immunoelectrophoresis ; Immunoglobulin A ; Immunoglobulin G ; Immunoglobulin M ; Leg ; Mouth Mucosa

We present a case of retroperitoneal teratoma in a 4-year-old girl in which a Wilms' tumor-like element was predominant, unlike the usual pattern of the immature or malignant teratoma. Mature elements were composed of adipose tissue, neural plexus and ganglia, cartilage, smooth and skeletal muscles, and glandular epithelium of the respiratory and gastrointestinal types. Three months after complete excision of the mass, a recurrent tumor developed. It consisted of only nephroblastomatous elements without teratomatous components. Theories for the histogenesis of this rare tumor are discussed.
Child, Preschool ; Female ; Humans ; Kidney Neoplasms/*pathology ; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local/pathology ; Neoplasms, Multiple Primary/*pathology ; Retroperitoneal Neoplasms/*pathology ; Teratoma/*pathology ; Wilms Tumor/*pathology

The risk of osteoporosis or osteopenia is known to increase after childhood cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to evaluate patterns of bone mineral density (BMD) and to identify factors related to the decreased BMD in childhood cancer survivors. We studied 78 patients (34 boys, 44 girls) treated for childhood cancer. Twenty (25.7%) patients had lumbar BMD (LBMD) standard deviation score (SDS) lower than -2. Nineteen (24.4%) patients had femur neck BMD (FNBMD) SDS lower than -2. The patients treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation had lower LBMD SDS (-1.17 +/- 1.39 vs -0.43 +/- 1.33, P = 0.025). The risk of having LBMD SDS < -2 was higher in the patients treated with glucocorticoid (GC) for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) (36.6% vs 13.5%; odds ratio [OR], 3.7; P = 0.020). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, longer duration of GC treatment for GVHD (OR, 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.05-1.20) and lower body mass index (BMI) SDS (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.36-0.95) were associated with decreased LBMD SDS. These findings suggest that prolonged GC use and reduction in BMI are risk factors for decreased BMD in childhood cancer survivors. Anticipatory follow-up and appropriate treatment are necessary, especially for the patients with risk factors.
Adolescent ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density/*drug effects ; Bone Diseases, Metabolic/*chemically induced ; Child ; Female ; Glucocorticoids/*adverse effects/*therapeutic use ; Graft vs Host Disease/drug therapy ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects ; Hormones/blood ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive/pathology ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute/pathology ; Male ; Osteoporosis/*chemically induced ; Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/pathology ; Risk Factors ; Survivors

BACKGROUND: Tinea pedis is the most common dermatophytosis in Korea. It has been increased gradually with time and the proportion of that in the aged has been significantly increased. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical characteristics of tinea pedis according to the clinical types and their mycologic findings. METHODS: A clinical and mycological study was performed with 212 cases of tinea pedis among outpatients examined for 9 months from March 2005 to November 2005 at Department of Dermatology of the 11 University Hospitals in Korea. RESULTS 1. The age distribution showed patients in their 50s and 60s to be the most common. The ratio of male to female was 1.33:1 2. The most frequent clinical type was interdigital only type (55.2%), interdigital hyperkeratotic type (39.8%), vesicular type (2.8%) and interdigital vesicular type (2.2%), in descending order. There are no hyperkeratotic only type and hyperkeratotic vesicular type. 3. The duration of tinea pedis was longer than 5 years in 73.1%. The proportion of interdigital hyperkeratotic type was the highest in longer than 10 years of duration group than in other duration groups. 4. The rate of coexistent dermatophytosis with tinea pedis was 19.3%, and tinea cruris was the most common (10.3%). 5. The positive culture rate was 73.1%, and Trichophyton(T.) rubrum was the most common isolates (93.5%) followed by T. mentagrophytes var. mentagrophytes (3.9%) and T. mentagrophytes var. interdigitale (2.6%). CONCLUSIONS: All these findings suggest that the prevalence of tinea pedis in the aged was high, longer duration of the disease was more common and the rate of coexistent dermatophytosis increased. Further studies about tinea pedis and other dermatophytosis in the aged person will be necessary.
Age Distribution ; Dermatology ; Female ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Outpatients ; Prevalence ; Tinea Pedis* ; Tinea*

The prevalence of Behcet's disease is the highest in the East Asian and the Medi-terranean countries. Behcet's disease is also distributed in the Asian countries, but the nationwide survey has not been performed in Korea yet. The Korean Study Group for Behcet's Disease, founded in 1999, conducted a multicenter, retrospective survey on epidemiologic and clinical features of the patients with Behcet's disease from 20 hospitals around the nation from 1997 to 1999. Of 3,497 patients, 1,527 were classified into complete or incomplete type of Behcet's disease according to the revised Shimizu's classification. The sex ratio was 1:1.75 with the female predominance. Geographical distribution showed the highest frequency in Seoul (38.5%). Clinically, 98.8% had oral ulcers, 83.2% had genital ulcers, 84.3% had skin lesions and 50.9% had ocular lesions. As for the minor clinical manifestations, articular symptoms were the most frequent. The pathergy test showed positive in 15.4% of patients and revealed a higher positive rate in males (20.2%) than in females (12.7%). In conclusion, we performed the first multicenter study on Behcet's disease in Korea and revealed the female predominance, higher frequency of ocular lesions, and lower positivity of pathergy test in the patients.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Aged ; Behcet's Syndrome/complications/*epidemiology ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Human ; Infant ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Distribution

Purpose: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) is a rare disease in children and there are some different characteristics between children and adult. We aimed to evaluate incidence, clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of pediatric APL in Korea. Materials and Methods: Seventy-nine pediatric APL patients diagnosed from January 2009 to December 2016 in 16 tertiary medical centers in Korea were reviewed retrospectively. Results: Of 801 acute myeloid leukemia children, 79 (9.9%) were diagnosed with APL. The median age at diagnosis was 10.6 years (range, 1.3 to 18.0). Male and female ratio was 1:0.93. Thirty patients (38.0%) had white blood cell (WBC) count greater than 10×109/L at diagnosis. All patients received induction therapy consisting of all-trans retinoic acid and chemotherapy. Five patients (6.6%) died during induction chemotherapy and 66 patients (86.8%) achieved complete remission (CR) after induction chemotherapy. The causes of death were three intracranial hemorrhage, one cerebral infarction, and one sepsis. Five patients (7.1%) suffered a relapse during or after maintenance chemotherapy. The estimated 4-year event-free survival and overall survival (OS) rates were 82.1%±4.4%, 89.7%±5.1%, respectively. The 4-year OS was significantly higher in patients with initial WBC < 10×109/L than in those with initial WBC ≥ 10×109/L (p=0.020). Conclusion This study showed that the CR rates and survival outcomes in Korean pediatric APL patients were relatively good. The initial WBC count was the most important prognostic factor and most causes of death were related to serious bleeding in the early stage of treatment.

BACKGROUND: Onychomycosis, especially toenail onychomycosis has become one of the common fungal infection and has historically been regarded as a cosmetic rather than medical problem by many patients, even by physicians. Recently, however, there are several reports that this is a refractory disease which may cause a deleterious effect on patients' quality of life (QOL). OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of toenail onychomycosis on QOL in Korea and to assess the changes of QOL after treatment. METHODS: Total 1004 patients with toenail onychomycosis which was confirmed by clinical findings and KOH preparation were enrolled at 47 dermatologic centers in Korea, and interviewed with standardized QOL questionnaire before and after systemic antifungal treatment. Responses to the questionnaire were scored by f-point scale (0~4) and averaged, and were analyzed for 5 dimensions of emotional impact, social impact, symptom and functional impact, patients' views concerning treatment, and relationship with doctor. RESULTS: 1. Before and after treatment, the most serious impact was emotional dimension showing 1.90 and 1.30 in average score (AS), and social (AS: 1.14 and 0.83) and symptom and functional impact (AS: 1.05 and 0.92) was also affected. 2. In female rather than male, statistically more significant impact on patients' QOL was observed in all dimensions. 3. After treatment, 3 of 5 dimensions were improved significantly - emotional dimension (AS: from 1.90 to 1.30), social dimension (AS: from 1.14 to 0.83), patients' view concerning treatment(AS: from 1.34 to 1.02) 4. The degree of patients' satisfaction at the therapeutic effect was very high - 62.4% (immediately after. treatment) and 65.8% (9 months after initiation of treatment) of patients answered excellent or good. CONCLUSION: This study confirms that toenail onychomycosis has significant Impact on the overall QOL of patients. Also the effect of antifungal therapy on patients' QOL were satisfactory. Therefore, both doctor and patient should pay more attention to the treatment of onychomycosis.
Female ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Nails* ; Onychomycosis* ; Quality of Life* ; Social Change ; Surveys and Questionnaires

PURPOSE: Dexrazoxane has been used as an effective cardioprotector against anthracycline cardiotoxicity. This study intended to analyze cardioprotective efficacy and secondary malignancy development, and elucidate risk factors for secondary malignancies in dexrazoxane-treated pediatric patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data was collected from 15 hospitals in Korea. Patients who received any anthracyclines, and completed treatment without stem cell transplantation were included. For efficacy evaluation, the incidence of cardiac events and cardiac event-free survival rates were compared. Data about risk factors of secondary malignancies were collected. RESULTS: Data of total 1,453 cases were analyzed; dexrazoxane with every anthracyclines group (D group, 1,035 patients) and no dexrazoxane group (non-D group, 418 patients). Incidence of the reported cardiac events was not statistically different between two groups; however, the cardiac event-free survival rate of patients with more than 400 mg/m2 of anthracyclines was significantly higher in D group (91.2% vs. 80.1%, p=0.04). The 6-year cumulative incidence of secondary malignancy was not different between both groups after considering follow-up duration difference (non-D, 0.52%±0.37%; D, 0.60%±0.28%; p=0.55). The most influential risk factor for secondary malignancy was the duration of anthracycline administration according to multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Dexrazoxane had an efficacy in lowering cardiac event-free survival rates in patients with higher cumulative anthracyclines. As a result of multivariate analysis for assessing risk factors of secondary malignancy, the occurrence of secondary malignancy was not related to dexrazoxane administration.
Anthracyclines ; Cardiotoxicity ; Dexrazoxane ; Disease-Free Survival ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasms, Second Primary ; Risk Factors* ; Stem Cell Transplantation