BACKGROUND: Asbestos exposure causes asbestos-related diseases (ARDs) including asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer. Although Korea used substantial amounts of asbestos in the past, no study has focused on its occupational burden of disease (OBD). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the OBDs of ARDs in Korea. METHODS: The CARcinogen Exposure (CAREX) database was used to determine the proportion of exposed population. Relative risks for lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were used to determine the population-attributable fraction. Data for deaths caused by ARDs during 1998–2013 were obtained from the World Health Organization mortality database. The potential years of life lost (PYLL) and annual average PYLL (APYLL) indicated OBDs. RESULTS: In Korea, the number of ARD-attributable deaths and PYLL due to all ARDs during 1998–2013 were 4,492 and 71,763.7, respectively. The number of attributable deaths and PYLL due to asbestosis, malignant mesothelioma, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer were 37 and 554.2, 808 and 15,877.0, 3,256 and 47,375.9, 120 and 1,605.5, and 271 and 6,331.1, respectively; additionally, the APYLL were 15.0, 19.7, 14.6, 13.4, and 23.4, respectively, and the average age at death was 70.4, 62.6, 69.1, 69.9, and 61.8, respectively. Our study showed that although the use of asbestos has ceased in Korea, the incidence of ARDs tends to increase. CONCLUSION: Therefore, efforts to reduce future OBDs of ARDs, including early detection and proper management of ARDs, are needed in Korea.
Asbestos ; Asbestosis* ; Incidence ; Korea* ; Laryngeal Neoplasms* ; Lung Neoplasms* ; Lung* ; Mesothelioma* ; Mortality ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate uterine and ovarian cancer mortality trends in East Asian countries. METHODS: For three Asian countries and one region (Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Hong Kong), we extracted number of deaths for each year from the World Health Organization (WHO) mortality database, focusing on women > or =20 years old. The WHO population data were used to estimate person-years at risk for women. The annual age-standardized, truncated rates were evaluated for four age groups. We also compared age-specific mortality rates during three calendar periods (1979 to 1988, 1989 to 1998, and 1999 to 2010). Joinpoint regression was used to determine secular trends in mortality. To obtain cervical and uterine corpus cancer mortality rates in Korea, we re-allocated the cases with uterine cancer of unspecified subsite according to the proportion in the National Cancer Incidence Databases. RESULTS: Overall, uterine cancer mortality has decreased in each of the Asian regions. In Korea, corrected cervical cancer mortality has declined since 1993, at an annual percentage change (APC) of -4.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], -5.3 to -4.4). On the other hand, corrected uterine corpus cancer mortality has abruptly increased since 1995 (APC, 6.7; 95% CI, 5.4 to 8.0). Ovarian cancer mortality was stable, except in Korea, where mortality rates steadily increased at an APC of 6.2% (95% CI, 3.4 to 9.0) during 1995 to 2000, and subsequently stabilized. CONCLUSION: Although uterine cancer mortality rates are declining in East Asia, additional effort is warranted to reduce the burden of gynecologic cancer in the future, through the implementation of early detection programs and the use of optimal therapeutic strategies.
Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Databases, Factual ; Far East/epidemiology ; Female ; Genital Neoplasms, Female/*mortality ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Mortality/trends ; Ovarian Neoplasms/mortality ; Uterine Neoplasms/mortality ; Young Adult

It is often difficult to conclude that improvements in survival with time are due to a screening programme alone. Although a reduction in the death rate from a given cancer may reflect the benefits of early detection or improved treatment, the benefits may also result from lead time bias and over-diagnosis, the former resulting in longer survival of screen-identified cancers because the time before the cancer would have been clinically diagnosed is included in calculations. Furthermore, recent reviews on randomised clinical trials of cancer screening have provided strong evidence that misclassifications in causes of death have been a major problem, leading to an over-estimation of the effectiveness (or alternatively an under-estimation of potential harm) of screening.
Cervix Neoplasms/*diagnosis ; Endometrial Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Female ; Genital Neoplasms, Female/*diagnosis/epidemiology/mortality ; Human ; Incidence ; Ovarian Neoplasms/diagnosis ; Risk

Ovarian cancer has the highest mortality rate among gynecologic malignancies in developed countries. Most women present with advanced disease and require a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. One patient presented with recurrent ovarian cancer was initially treated with taxol and platinum-based compounds. Although response to these agents occurred, tumor progression was evident by elevated CA 125 levels and CT findings after a period of 4 months. This patient was then treated with topotecan and exhibited a response and stopped therapy. Topotecan exhibited activity in this patient with ovarian cancer resistent to both platinum and paclitaxel. We report a case of advanced ovarian cancer which was treated with topotecan after taxol-cisplatin treatment failed.
Developed Countries ; Drug Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Mortality ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Paclitaxel ; Platinum ; Topotecan*

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors/*therapeutic use ; Ovarian Neoplasms/mortality/*prevention & control ; Risk Factors

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to evaluate the safety of fertility-sparing surgery as the treatment for patients with primary mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of patients with mucinous ovarian cancer between 1991 and 2010 was performed. The demographics and survival outcomes were compared between patients who underwent fertility-sparing surgery and those who underwent radical surgery. RESULTS: A total of 110 patients underwent primary surgery. At the time of surgery, tumors appeared to be grossly confined to the ovaries in 90 patients, and evidence of metastasis was definite in 20 patients. Of the 90 patients with tumors that appeared to be grossly confined to the ovaries at surgical exploration, 35 (38.9%) underwent fertility-sparing surgery. The Kaplan- Meier curve and the log rank test showed no difference in either recurrence-free survival (p=0.792) or disease-specific survival (p=0.706) between the two groups. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in recurrence-free survival (p=0.126) or disease-specific survival (p=0.377) between the two groups, even when the analysis was limited to women below the age of 40. In a multivariate Cox model, fertility-sparing surgery had no effect on either recurrence-free survival (recurrence hazard ratio [HR], 1.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.25 to 5.71) or disease-specific survival (death HR, 0.88; 95% CI, 0.17 to 4.60). CONCLUSION: Fertility-sparing surgery in primary mucinous cancer grossly confined to the ovaries may be a safe option and one not associated with an increase in recurrence or mortality.
Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous* ; Demography ; Female ; Humans ; Mortality ; Mucins ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Ovary* ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies

Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality rate among gynecological malignancies. Because chemokine network is involved in OC progression, we evaluated associations between chemokine expression and survival in tumor suppressor protein p53 (TP53) wild-type (TP53WT) and mutant (TP53m) OC datasets. TP53 was highly mutated in OC compared to other cancer types. Among OC subtypes, CXCL14 was predominantly expressed in clear cell OC, and CCL15 and CCL20 in mucinous OC. TP53WT endometrioid OC highly expressed CXCL14 compared to TP53m, showing better progression-free survival but no difference in overall survival (OS). TP53m serous OC highly expressed CCL8, CCL20, CXCL10 and CXCL11 compared to TP53WT. CXCL12 and CCL21 were associated with poor OS in TP53WT serous OC. CXCR2 was associated with poor OS in TP53m serous OC, while CXCL9, CCL5, CXCR4, CXCL11, and CXCL13 were associated with better OS. Taken together, specific chemokine signatures may differentially influence OS in TP53WT and TP53m OC.
Chemokines ; Dataset ; Disease-Free Survival ; Mortality ; Mucins ; Ovarian Neoplasms* ; Tumor Suppressor Protein p53

Ovarian cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in gynecological malignancies. Over 70% of ovarian cancer cases are high-grade serous ovarian cancers and have high death rates due to their resistance to chemotherapy. Despite advances in surgical and pharmaceutical therapies, overall survival rates are not good, and making an accurate prediction of the prognosis is not easy because of the highly heterogeneous nature of ovarian cancer. To improve the patient's prognosis through proper treatment, we present a prognostic prediction model by integrating high-dimensional RNA sequencing data with their clinical data through the following steps: gene filtration, pre-screening, gene marker selection, integrated study of selected gene markers and prediction model building. These steps of the prognostic prediction model can be applied to other types of cancer besides ovarian cancer.
Drug Therapy ; Filtration ; Mortality ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Prognosis ; RNA ; Sequence Analysis, RNA ; Survival Rate

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the clinical features and to assess the risk factors in the treatment of small-bowel obstructions. METHODS: This retrospective clinical report was based on the medical records of 67 patients who were treated between Jan. 1992 and Dec. 1999 and who had had a history of abdominal surgery due to cancer. RESULTS: The distribution of primary cancer was as follows: stomach cancer 36 (53.7%), colorectal cancer 25 (37.3%), uterine and ovarian cancer 4 (6.0%), and other cancers 2 (3.0%). The mean interval from the primary operation to the development of a small- bowel obstruction was 27 months. Conservative treatment produced a successful outcome in 36 patients (59.0%), but recurrences of obstruction were noted in 18 of those patients. There were 34 operations in 30 patients. The initial success rate of operative treatment was 80% (24/30), obstructions recurred in 6 patients. The causes of obstructions in the surgically treated patients were adhesion (53.3%) and recurrence of cancer (46.7%). The postoperative complication rate was 44.1%, and the mortality rate was 20.0%. The mean survival time of the patients with benign causes of obstruction was significantly longer than that of the patients with malignant causes of obstruction (46 months vs 11 months). CONCLUSION: In the treatment of such patients, conservative treatment should be considered first. However if conservative treatment fails, surgery should be done without hesitation, especially in patients with no definite evidence of recurrence.
Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Stomach Neoplasms ; Survival Rate

OBJECTIVETo explore the clinical characteristics of ovarian cancer in hereditary breast/ovarian cancer.

METHODSNinety-one cases of hereditary breast/ovarian cancer were analyzed in terms of age, histological features, stage, familial history, survival time and prognostic factors by SPSS statistical software.

RESULTSThe overall median survival time of the patients was 47 months, and the 2-and 5-year survival rates were 71.2% and 33.5%, respectively. The median age at diagnosis of ovarian cancer was 52 years with the majority of patients (60.4%) diagnosed before 55. Among 39 cases with double primary cancers, there are 20 cases (51.3%) with interval no less than 60 months. The most frequent histological types of ovarian cancer is serous adeno-carcinoma (59.3%). Most patients were in stage III or IV (76.9%) with poor differentiation (59.3%).

CONCLUSIONThe age of diagnosis in ovarian cancer in patients with hereditary breast/ovarian cancer is earlier than that of sporadic ones. Most of the cases were advanced with poor differentiation. Stage and differentiation are the prognostic factors. In patients with double primary cancers, the clinical pathological characteristics of ovarian cancer had the main effect on their prognosis. The survival of hereditary ovarian cancer is similar to that of sporadic ones.

Breast Neoplasms ; genetics ; mortality ; pathology ; Cystadenocarcinoma, Serous ; genetics ; mortality ; Family Health ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; genetics ; mortality ; pathology ; Prognosis ; Survival Rate