PURPOSE: Patients treated with anticancer agents often experience a variety of treatment-related skin problems, which can impair their quality of life. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and clinical information were evaluated in patients under active anticancer treatment using a questionnaire survey and their medical records review. RESULTS: Of 375 evaluated subjects with anticancer therapy, 136 (36.27%) and 114 (30.40%) were treated for breast cancer and colorectal cancer, respectively. We found that women, breast cancer, targeted agent use, and longer duration of anticancer therapy were associated with higher dermatology-specific quality of life distraction. In addition, itching, dry skin, easy bruising, pigmentation, papulopustules on face, periungual inflammation, nail changes, and palmoplantar lesions were associated with significantly higher DLQI scores. Periungual inflammation and palmoplantar lesions scored the highest DLQI. CONCLUSION: We believe our findings can be helpful to clinicians in counseling and managing the patients undergoing anticancer therapy.
Antineoplastic Agents* ; Breast Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Counseling ; Cross-Sectional Studies* ; Dermatology ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Female ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Medical Records ; Pigmentation ; Pruritus ; Quality of Life* ; Skin*

PURPOSE: The eighth American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for breast cancer was recently published to more accurately predict the prognosis by adding biomarkers such as estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. However, this system is very complicated and difficult to use by clinicians. The authors developed a program to aid in setting up the staging system and confirmed its usefulness by applying it to theoretical combinations and actual clinical data. METHODS: The program was developed using the Microsoft Excel Macro. It was used for the anatomic, clinical and pathological prognostic staging of 588 theoretical combinations. The stages were also calculated the stages using 840 patients with breast cancer without carcinoma in situ or distant metastasis who did not undergo preoperative chemotherapy. RESULTS: The anatomic, clinical and pathological prognostic stages were identical in 240 out of 588 theoretical combinations. In the actual patients' data, stages IB and IIIB were more frequent in clinical and pathological prognostic stages than in the anatomic stage. The anatomic stage was similar to the clinical prognostic stage in 58.2% and to the pathological prognostic stage in 61.9% of patients. Oncotype DX changed the pathological prognostic stage in 2.1% of patients. CONCLUSION: We developed a program for the new American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system that will be useful for clinical prognostic prediction and large survival data analysis.
Biomarkers ; Breast Neoplasms* ; Breast* ; Carcinoma in Situ ; Drug Therapy ; Humans ; Joints* ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Neoplasm Staging ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Receptors, Estrogen ; Receptors, Progesterone ; Statistics as Topic

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Accurately diagnosing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remains a challenge, but is crucial for providing proper management for affected patients. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the frequency of change in diagnosis in Korean patients who were referred to our institution with a diagnosis of IBD. METHODS: We enrolled 1,444 patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC) and 1,452 diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD), who had been referred to the Asan Medical Center between January 2010 and December 2014. These patients were assessed and subsequently classified as having UC, CD, indeterminate colitis, possible IBD, or non-IBD. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 15.9 months, 400 of the 2,896 patients (13.8%) analyzed in this study experienced a change in diagnosis. A change in diagnosis from UC to CD, or vice-versa, was made in 24 of 1,444 patients (1.7%) and 23 of 1,452 patients (1.6%), respectively. A change to a non-IBD diagnosis was the most common modification; 7.5% (108 of 1444) and 12.7% (184 of 1452) of the patients with a referral diagnosis of UC and CD, respectively, were reclassified as having non-IBD. Among the 292 patients who were ultimately determined not to have IBD, 135 (55 UC and 80 CD cases) had received IBD-related medication. CONCLUSIONS: There are diagnostic uncertainties and difficulties in relation to IBD. Therefore, precise assessment and systematic follow-up are essential in the management of this condition.
Chungcheongnam-do ; Cohort Studies* ; Colitis ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diagnosis* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Korea* ; Referral and Consultation

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Chicken skin mucosa (CSM), surrounding colorectal adenoma, is an endoscopic finding with pale yellow-speckled mucosa; however, its clinical significance is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and clinical characteristics of CSM, and the association between colorectal carcinogenesis and CSM. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed in 733 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic polypectomy for colorectal adenoma after the screening of colonoscopy at the Asan Health Promotion Center between June 2009 and December 2011. The colonoscopic and pathological findings of colorectal adenoma including number, size, location, dysplasia, morphology, and clinical parameters were reviewed. RESULTS: The prevalence of CSM was 30.7% (225 of 733 patients), and most CSM-related adenomas were located in the distal colon (93.3%). Histological analysis revealed lipid-laden macrophages in the lamina propria of the mucosa. Multivariate analyses showed that CSM was significantly associated with advanced pathology, including villous adenoma and high-grade dysplasia (odds ratio [OR], 2.078; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.191-3.627; P=0.010), multiple adenomas (i.e., > or =2 adenomas; OR, 1.692; 95% CI, 1.143-2.507; P=0.009), and a protruding morphology (OR, 1.493; 95% CI, 1.027-2.170; P=0.036). There were no significant differences in polyp size or clinical parameters between patients with and without CSM. CONCLUSIONS: CSM-related adenoma was mainly found in the distal colon, and was associated with advanced pathology and multiple adenomas. CSM could be a potential predictive marker of the carcinogenetic progression of distally located colorectal adenomas.
Adenoma* ; Adenoma, Villous ; Carcinogenesis ; Chickens* ; Chungcheongnam-do ; Colon* ; Colonoscopy ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; Macrophages ; Mass Screening ; Mucous Membrane* ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pathology ; Polyps ; Prevalence ; Skin*

Primary aortic malignant tumors are extremely rare. When symptomatic, aortic intimal sarcomas give clinical findings secondary to embolic phenomena;they can produce mesenteric ischemia, hypertension, skin necrosis, absence of peripheral pulses. The diagnosis can be suspected radiologically Fibrosarcoma is the most common primary aortic malignancy, but angiosarcoma and leiomyosarcoma may also occur. We experienced a case of intraaortic mass, that was suspected as angiosarcoma, that diagnosed by chest CT, transesophageal echocardiography, aortography, and biopsy.
Aorta ; Aortography ; Biopsy ; Diagnosis ; Echocardiography, Transesophageal ; Fibrosarcoma ; Hemangiosarcoma ; Hypertension ; Ischemia ; Leiomyosarcoma ; Necrosis ; Sarcoma ; Skin ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed