Purpose: This multicenter, open-label, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of bortezomib combined with dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in previously treated patients across 14 institutions in South Korea. Materials and Methods: Between September 2017 and July 2020, 29 patients with histologically confirmed CTCL received treatment, consisting of eight 4-week cycles of induction therapy followed by maintenance therapy, contingent upon response, for up to one year. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving an objective global response. Results: Thirteen of the 29 patients (44.8%) achieved an objective global response, including two complete responses. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months, with responders showing a median PFS of 14.0 months. Treatment-emergent adverse events were generally mild, with a low incidence of peripheral neuropathy and hematologic toxicities. Despite the trend toward shorter PFS in patients with higher mutation burdens, genomic profiling before and after treatment showed no significant emergence of new mutations indicative of disease progression. Conclusion This study supports the use of bortezomib and dexamethasone as a viable and safe treatment option for previously treated CTCL, demonstrating substantial efficacy and manageability in adverse effects. Further research with a larger cohort is suggested to validate these findings and explore the prognostic value of mutation profiles.

Purpose: This multicenter, open-label, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of bortezomib combined with dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in previously treated patients across 14 institutions in South Korea. Materials and Methods: Between September 2017 and July 2020, 29 patients with histologically confirmed CTCL received treatment, consisting of eight 4-week cycles of induction therapy followed by maintenance therapy, contingent upon response, for up to one year. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving an objective global response. Results: Thirteen of the 29 patients (44.8%) achieved an objective global response, including two complete responses. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months, with responders showing a median PFS of 14.0 months. Treatment-emergent adverse events were generally mild, with a low incidence of peripheral neuropathy and hematologic toxicities. Despite the trend toward shorter PFS in patients with higher mutation burdens, genomic profiling before and after treatment showed no significant emergence of new mutations indicative of disease progression. Conclusion This study supports the use of bortezomib and dexamethasone as a viable and safe treatment option for previously treated CTCL, demonstrating substantial efficacy and manageability in adverse effects. Further research with a larger cohort is suggested to validate these findings and explore the prognostic value of mutation profiles.

Purpose: This multicenter, open-label, phase II trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of bortezomib combined with dexamethasone for the treatment of relapsed/refractory cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) in previously treated patients across 14 institutions in South Korea. Materials and Methods: Between September 2017 and July 2020, 29 patients with histologically confirmed CTCL received treatment, consisting of eight 4-week cycles of induction therapy followed by maintenance therapy, contingent upon response, for up to one year. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients achieving an objective global response. Results: Thirteen of the 29 patients (44.8%) achieved an objective global response, including two complete responses. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 5.8 months, with responders showing a median PFS of 14.0 months. Treatment-emergent adverse events were generally mild, with a low incidence of peripheral neuropathy and hematologic toxicities. Despite the trend toward shorter PFS in patients with higher mutation burdens, genomic profiling before and after treatment showed no significant emergence of new mutations indicative of disease progression. Conclusion This study supports the use of bortezomib and dexamethasone as a viable and safe treatment option for previously treated CTCL, demonstrating substantial efficacy and manageability in adverse effects. Further research with a larger cohort is suggested to validate these findings and explore the prognostic value of mutation profiles.

Purpose: We developed a comprehensive return to work (RTW) intervention covering physical, psycho-social and practical issues for patients newly diagnosed and evaluated its efficacy in terms of RTW. Materials and Methods: A multi-center randomized controlled trial was done to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention conducted at two university-based cancer centers in Korea. The intervention program comprised educational material at diagnosis, a face-to-face educational session at completion of active treatment, and three individualized telephone counseling sessions. The control group received other education at enrollment. Results: At 1-month post-intervention (T2), the intervention group was more likely to be working compared to the control group after controlling working status at diagnosis (65.4% vs. 55.9%, p=0.037). Among patients who did not work at baseline, the intervention group was 1.99-times more likely to be working at T2. The mean of knowledge score was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group (7.4 vs. 6.8, p=0.029). At the 1-year follow-up, the intervention group was 65% (95% confidence interval, 0.78 to 3.48) more likely to have higher odds for having work. Conclusion The intervention improved work-related knowledge and was effective in facilitating cancer patients’ RTW.

Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of a community-based follow-up program on parenting stress, parenting efficacy, and coping among parents with premature infants. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pre-post quasi-experimental design was used. This program consisted of structured home visits and self-help group meetings for 6 months. The experimental group (n=29) received visits by an experienced neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse and the control group (n=27) was visited by a visiting nurse. Data were analyzed using the x2 test, t-test, and analysis of covariance. Results: Parents' coping behavior significantly differed in the experimental group compared to the control group (t=3.14, p=.003). In particular, coping subscale I, for maintaining the family situation (t=2.63, p=.011), and subscale III, for understanding the infant's medical situation (t=4.30, p<.001), showed significant differences in the experimental group. There were no significant between-group differences in parenting stress or parenting efficacy. Conclusion The findings of this study suggest that home visits by an experienced NICU nurse provided through a community-based follow-up program were an effective intervention to improve coping behavior among parents with premature infants.

Background and Objectives: Iodine is known to be an important factor in the occurrence of goiter, and South Korea is a region with sufficient iodine supplementation. In this regard, we checked the size change of thyroid nodules found by health check-up in Koreans and examined which risk factors influence the size change. Materials and Methods: A total 7753 subjects who underwent thyroid sonography two or more times were included. We defined that there was a change in the size of the nodule when the difference in diameter identified in the last ultrasound was more than 3 mm. Results: Thyroid nodules were decreased in 895 subjects (11.5%) and increased in 1041 subjects (13.5%). The rate of increased nodule was on an increasing trend according to the duration (annual percent change 2.6%, p＜0.001). In contrast, the rate of decreased nodule was unchanged. Predictive factors related to decrease of the nodule size were young age, male sex, larger initial nodule size and thyroiditis. Similarly, young age, larger initial nodule size and diffuse parenchymal abnormality were significant predictive factors for increased nodules. However, diffuse parenchymal abnormality was not a predictive factor when we analyzed only thyroid nodules larger than 1 cm. Conclusion In our study, 11.5-13.5% of benign thyroid nodules were increased or decreased during median 27 months of follow-up in iodine sufficient condition. Young age, larger initial size and diffuse parenchymal abnormality were common predictive factor affecting both the increase and decrease of thyroid nodules.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: We evaluated the prevalence and characteristics of thyroid nodules detected by thyroid ultrasound (US) at health checkups and the associated clinical parameters. METHODS: A total of 72,319 subjects who underwent thyroid US at three health checkup centers in Korea from January 2004 to December 2010 were included in this study. The correlations between the presence of thyroid nodules and other clinical parameters were analyzed. RESULTS: The prevalence of thyroid nodules and cysts was 34.2% (n = 24,757). Thyroid nodules were more prevalent in women and older age groups. Among the subjects with thyroid nodules with size information (n = 24,686), 18,833 (76.3%) had nodules measuring ≤ 1.0 cm. Women and older age groups showed higher proportion of larger nodules. Percentage of women, age, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, body fat composition, blood pressure, and the level of fasting glucose, total cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein cholesterol were higher in the subjects with thyroid nodules compared to those without nodules. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and overt/subclinical thyrotoxic state was higher in the subjects with thyroid nodules. In the multivariable logistic regression analysis, women, age, BMI, metabolic syndrome, and thyrotoxicosis were independently associated with the presence of thyroid nodules. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of thyroid nodules in people who underwent thyroid US at a health checkup suggests that increased detection of thyroid nodules resulted in an increased prevalence in the general population. However, metabolic disturbances may also have contributed to the increase in thyroid nodule prevalence in Korea.
Adipose Tissue ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Fasting ; Female ; Glucose ; Humans ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Prevalence* ; Thyroid Gland* ; Thyroid Nodule* ; Thyrotoxicosis ; Ultrasonography ; Waist Circumference

PURPOSE: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) plays an important role in cancer progression during tumor proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. This study evaluated the prognostic role of FGFR4 polymorphism in patients with resected colon cancer, including the underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FGFR4 polymorphism was characterized in patientswho received curative resection for stage III colon cancer. FGFR4-dependent signal pathways involving cell proliferation, invasion, and migration according to genotypes were also evaluated in transfected colon cancer cell lines. RESULTS: Among a total of 273 patients, the GG of FGFR4 showed significantly better overall survival than the AG or AA, regardless of adjuvant treatment. In the group of AG or AA, combination of folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) resulted in better survival than fluorouracil/leucovorin or no adjuvant chemotherapy. However, in GG, there was no difference among treatment regimens. Using multivariate analyses, the Arg388 carriers, together with age, N stage, poor differentiation, absence of a lymphocyte response, and no adjuvant chemotherapy, had a significantly worse OS than patients with the Gly388 allele. In transfected colon cancer cells, overexpression of Arg388 significantly increased cell proliferation and changes in epithelial to mesenchymal transition markers compared with cells overexpressing the Gly388 allele. CONCLUSION: The Arg388 allele of FGFR4 may be a biomarker and a candidate target for adjuvant treatment of patients with resected colon cancer.
Alleles ; Biomarkers ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Fluorouracil ; Genotype ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; Lymphocytes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4 ; Signal Transduction

PURPOSE: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) plays an important role in cancer progression during tumor proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. This study evaluated the prognostic role of FGFR4 polymorphism in patients with resected colon cancer, including the underlying mechanism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FGFR4 polymorphism was characterized in patientswho received curative resection for stage III colon cancer. FGFR4-dependent signal pathways involving cell proliferation, invasion, and migration according to genotypes were also evaluated in transfected colon cancer cell lines. RESULTS: Among a total of 273 patients, the GG of FGFR4 showed significantly better overall survival than the AG or AA, regardless of adjuvant treatment. In the group of AG or AA, combination of folinic acid, fluorouracil, and oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) resulted in better survival than fluorouracil/leucovorin or no adjuvant chemotherapy. However, in GG, there was no difference among treatment regimens. Using multivariate analyses, the Arg388 carriers, together with age, N stage, poor differentiation, absence of a lymphocyte response, and no adjuvant chemotherapy, had a significantly worse OS than patients with the Gly388 allele. In transfected colon cancer cells, overexpression of Arg388 significantly increased cell proliferation and changes in epithelial to mesenchymal transition markers compared with cells overexpressing the Gly388 allele. CONCLUSION: The Arg388 allele of FGFR4 may be a biomarker and a candidate target for adjuvant treatment of patients with resected colon cancer.
Alleles ; Biomarkers ; Cell Line ; Cell Proliferation ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms* ; Fluorouracil ; Genotype ; Humans ; Leucovorin ; Lymphocytes ; Multivariate Analysis ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Prognosis ; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 4 ; Signal Transduction

Sixteen genomic DNA simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers of Lentinula edodes were developed from 205 SSR motifs present in 46.1-Mb long L. edodes genome sequences. The number of alleles ranged from 3–14 and the major allele frequency was distributed from 0.17–0.96. The values of observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.00–0.76 and 0.07–0.90, respectively. The polymorphic information content value ranged from 0.07–0.89. A dendrogram, based on 16 SSR markers clustered by the paired hierarchical clustering' method, showed that 33 shiitake cultivars could be divided into three major groups and successfully identified. These SSR markers will contribute to the efficient breeding of this species by providing diversity in shiitake varieties. Furthermore, the genomic information covered by the markers can provide a valuable resource for genetic linkage map construction, molecular mapping, and marker-assisted selection in the shiitake mushroom.
Alleles ; Breeding ; DNA* ; Gene Frequency ; Genetic Linkage ; Genetic Variation ; Genome ; Lentinula* ; Methods ; Microsatellite Repeats ; Shiitake Mushrooms*