Background: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of B-cell lymphocyte kinase (BLK) expression for survival outcomes in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients treated with R-CHOP. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 89 patients from two tertiary referral hospitals. The expression of BLK, SYK, and CDK1 were evaluated in a semiquantitative method using an H-score, and the proportions of BCL2 and C-MYC were evaluated. Results: A total of 89 patients received R-CHOP chemotherapy as a first-line chemotherapy. The expression rates of BLK in tumor cells was 39.2% (n = 34). BLK expression status was not significantly associated with clinical variables; however, BLK expression in tumor cells was significantly associated with the expression of both C-MYC and BCL2 (p = .003). With a median follow-up of 60.4 months, patients with BLK expression had significantly lower 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival rates (49.8% and 60.9%, respectively) than patients without BLK expression (77.3% and 86.7%, respectively). In multivariate analysis for PFS, BLK positivity was an independent poor prognostic factor (hazard ratio, 2.208; p = .040). Conclusions Here, we describe the clinicopathological features and survival outcome according to expression of BLK in DLBCL. Approximately 39% of DLBCL patients showed BLK positivity, which was associated as a predictive marker for poor prognosis in patients who received R-CHOP chemotherapy.

Accessory spleens are common congenital anatomic variations that are usually asymptomatic. On the other hand, they can be clinically significant if complicated by hemorrhage, torsion, or infarction. This paper describes a case of an infarcted accessory spleen in a 30-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal CT and MRI revealed an isolated mass, 4.5 cm in size, in the perisplenic area. An infarcted accessory spleen was suspected. The patient underwent laparoscopic accessory splenectomy. Histopathology identified the mass as splenic tissue that had undergone ischemic necrosis. A definitive diagnosis of an infarcted accessory spleen was made, and the patient was discharged on day 5 after surgery symptom-free.

Accessory spleens are common congenital anatomic variations that are usually asymptomatic. On the other hand, they can be clinically significant if complicated by hemorrhage, torsion, or infarction. This paper describes a case of an infarcted accessory spleen in a 30-year-old male who presented with abdominal pain. Abdominal CT and MRI revealed an isolated mass, 4.5 cm in size, in the perisplenic area. An infarcted accessory spleen was suspected. The patient underwent laparoscopic accessory splenectomy. Histopathology identified the mass as splenic tissue that had undergone ischemic necrosis. A definitive diagnosis of an infarcted accessory spleen was made, and the patient was discharged on day 5 after surgery symptom-free.

Extranodal marginal zone lymphoma of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma), is one of the specific type of low-grade B-cell lymphoma not infrequently found worldwide. It typically involves mucosal sites such as stomach and conjunctiva; however, primary hepatic MALT lymphoma has been extremely rarely reported. We describe a case of hepatic MALT lymphoma in a 70-year-old male patient who underwent left hepatectomy due to the incidentally detected liver masses at a medical checkup. The resected specimen revealed multinodular masses consisting of small-to-intermediate-sized lymphoid cells with serpentine pattern and focal lymphoepithelial lesions. The tumor cells were diffusely positive for CD20 and Bcl-2 but negative for CD3, CD10, CD5, CD23, CD43, and cyclinD1. The Ki-67 labeling index was 10% and immunoglobulin heavy chain gene rearrangement study confirmed monoclonal proliferation. In this paper, we discuss several unique clinicopathologic characteristics which will be helpful to the differential diagnosis of hepatic MALT lymphoma.

Background: Immunomodulatory therapies targeting the interaction between programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) have become increasingly important in anticancer treatment. Previous research on the subject of this immune response has established an association with tumor aggressiveness and a poor prognosis in certain cancers. Currently, scant information is available on the relationship between PD-L1 expression and gallbladder cancer (GBC). Methods: We investigated the expression of PD-L1 in 101 primary GBC cases to determine the potential association with prognostic impact. PD-L1 expression was immunohistochemically assessed using a single PD-L1 antibody (clone SP263). Correlations with clinicopathological parameters, overall survival (OS), or progression- free survival (PFS) were analyzed. Results: PD-L1 expression in tumor cells at cutoff levels of 1%, 10%, and 50% was present in 18.8%, 13.8%, and 7.9% of cases. Our study showed that positive PD-L1 expression at any cutoff was significantly correlated with poorly differentiated histologic grade and the presence of lymphovascular invasion (p < .05). PD-L1 expression at cutoff levels of 10% and 50% was significantly positive in patients with perineural invasion, higher T categories, and higher pathologic stages (p < .05). Additionally, there was a significant association noted between PD-L1 expression at a cutoff level of 50% and worse OS or PFS (p = .049 for OS, p = .028 for PFS). Other poor prognostic factors included histologic grade, T category, N category, pathologic stage, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, growth pattern, and margin of resection (p < .05). Conclusions The expression of PD-L1 in GBC varies according to cutoff level but is valuably associated with poor prognostic parameters and survival. Our study indicates that the overexpression of PD-L1 in GBC had a negative prognostic impact.

No abstract available.
Cerebral Infarction* ; Humans ; Myxoma*

OBJECTIVES: This study compared the differences of postmenopausal women's bone mineral density in relation to the degree of obesity, metabolism index and dietary factors that affect bone mineral density. METHODS: The subjects included in the study are 39 postmenopausal women of normal weight with body mass index less than 25 kg/m2 and 32 postmenopausal who are obese. Anthropometry and biochemical analysis were performed and nutrient intakes and DQI-I were assessed. RESULTS: Normal weight women were 56.03 ± 3.76 years old and obese women were 58.09 ± 5.13 years old and there was no significant difference in age between the two groups. The T-score of bone mineral density was 0.03 ± 1.06 in normal weight women and -0.60 ± 1.47 in obese women and this was significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). Blood Leptin concentration was significantly lower in normal weight women (6.09 ± 3.37 ng/mL) compared to obese women in (9.01 ± 4.99 ng/mL) (p<0.05). The total score of diet quality index-international was 70.41±9.34 in normal weight women and 64.93 ± 7.82 in obese women (p<0.05). T-score of bone mineral density showed negative correlations with percentage of body fat (r = -0.233, p=0.05), BMI (r = -0.197, p=0.017), triglyceride (r = -0.281, p=0.020) and leptin (r = -0.308, p=0.011). The results of multiple regression analysis performed as the method of entry showed that with 22.0% of explanation power, percentage of body fat (β=-0.048, p<0.05), triglyceride (β=-0.005, p<0.05) and HDL-cholesterol (β=0.034, p<0.01), moderation of DQI-I (β=-0.231, p<0.05) affected T-score significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the study showed that obese women have less bone density than those with normal weight women. In addition, the factor analysis result that affect bone mineral density showed that intake of fat is a very important factor. Therefore, postmenopausal women need to maintain normal weight and manage blood lipid levels within normal range. They also need to take various sources of protein and reduce consumption of empty calorie foods that have high calories, fat, cholesterol and sodium.
Adipose Tissue ; Anthropometry ; Biomarkers* ; Body Mass Index ; Bone Density* ; Cholesterol ; Diet* ; Female ; Humans ; Leptin ; Metabolism ; Methods ; Obesity ; Reference Values ; Sodium ; Triglycerides

This study was conducted to validate a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) to assess vitamin K intake in clinical and research settings based on data from the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES V). We collected a subset of data on informative food items using the 24-hour recall method from adults aged 19 to 64 years from KNHANES V. The cumulative percent contribution and cumulative multiple regression coefficients for vitamin K intake from each food were computed. Twenty-five foods items were selected for the FFQ to assess vitamin K intake. The FFQ was validated against intakes derived from a 5-day food record (5DR) (n = 48). To assess the reliability of the FFQ, participants completed the self-administered FFQ (FFQ1) and a second FFQ (FFQ2) after a 6-month period (n = 54). Data were analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficients, the cross-classification method, and Bland-Altman plots. Mean intakes were similar for vitamin K between the FFQ and dietary records, with significant correlations observed (r = 0.652), and cross-classification analyses demonstrated no major misclassification of participants into intake quartiles. Bland-Altman plots showed no serious systematic bias between the administrations of the two dietary assessment methods over the range of mean intakes. FFQ reliability was high, with a Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.560. This pilot study shows promising validation and reliability evidence for the use of this FFQ, which is focused on vitamin K intake in adults, as an efficient screening tool in clinical and research settings.
Adult* ; Bias (Epidemiology) ; Diet Records ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Methods ; Nutrition Surveys ; Pilot Projects ; Reproducibility of Results* ; Vitamin K* ; Vitamins*

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to investigate the association between sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity and cardiovascular disease risk in Korean postmenopausal women. METHODS: We analyzed data of 2,019 postmenopausal women aged 50-64 years who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2008-2011 and were free of cardiovascular disease history. Blood pressure, height, and weight were measured. We analyzed the serum concentrations of glucose, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Waist circumference was used to measure obesity. Appendicular skeletal muscle mass was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Sarcopenia was defined as the appendicular skeletal muscle mass/body weight<1 standard deviation below the gender-specific means for healthy young adults. The estimated 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease risk was calculated by Pooled Cohort Equation. Subjects were classified as non-sarcopenia, sarcopenia, or sarcopenic obesity based on status of waist circumference and appendicular skeletal muscle mass. RESULTS: The prevalence of sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity was 16.3% (n=317) and 18.3% (n=369), respectively. The 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease risk in the sarcopenic obesity group was higher (3.82 ± 0.22%) than the normal group (2.73 ± 0.09%) and sarcopenia group (3.17 ± 0.22%) (p < 0.000). The odd ratios (ORs) for the ≥7.5% 10-year risk of cardiovascular disease risk were significantly higher in the sarcopenic obesity group (OR 3.609, 95% CI: 2.030-6.417) compared to the sarcopenia group (OR 2.799, 95% CI: 1.463-5.352) (p for trend < 0.000) after adjusting for independent variables (i.e., exercise, period of menopausal, alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT) score, income, education level, calorie intake, %fat intake and hormonal replacement therapy). CONCLUSIONS: Sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity appear to be associated with higher risk factors predicting the 10-year risks of cardiovascular disease risk in postmenopausal women. These findings imply that maintaining normal weight and muscle mass may be important for cardiovascular disease risk prevention in postmenopausal women.
Absorptiometry, Photon ; Blood Pressure ; Cardiovascular Diseases* ; Cholesterol ; Cholesterol, HDL ; Cholesterol, LDL ; Cohort Studies ; Education ; Female ; Glucose ; Humans ; Korea* ; Muscle, Skeletal ; Nutrition Surveys* ; Obesity* ; Prevalence ; Risk Factors ; Sarcopenia* ; Triglycerides ; Waist Circumference ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: As the prevalence of chronic diseases has risen, the need for straightforward diagnostic tools for monitoring nutrition status to improve nutrition counseling and disease prevention has likewise increased. This study developed an easily usable dietary behavior pattern diagnosis checklist and investigated its correlation with dietary quality index. SUBJECTS/METHODS: A draft dietary pattern evaluation tool was generated by analyzing previous studies. The draft questionnaire comprised 61 questions for assessing dietary habits. A survey was administered to 320 adults (19 to 64 years old) using the dietary pattern evaluation tool and 24-hour-recall method between March and May of 2014 in Jeonbuk province and the metropolitan area. Principal component analysis with varimax rotation was performed to identify dietary behavior patterns. Nutritional analysis was conducted using CAN-Pro 4.0, and the Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) was calculated to assess dietary quality. The correlation between dietary pattern scores and DQI-I scores was also analyzed. RESULTS: The factor analysis resulted in a total of 34 questions mapped to four main dietary behavior patterns: "high fat and calorie" pattern (12 questions), "overeating/binge" pattern (nine questions), "dietary impulse" pattern (eight questions), and "unbalanced food intake" pattern (five questions). The four dietary behavior patterns were negatively correlated with DQI-I adequacy and total scores (P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The dietary pattern evaluation tool developed in this study can be used to diagnose a client's dietary behavior problems and is available as a nutrition counseling tool in the field.
Adult* ; Checklist ; Chronic Disease ; Counseling ; Diagnosis ; Diet ; Food Habits ; Humans ; Jeollabuk-do ; Methods ; Nutrition Assessment ; Nutritional Status ; Nutritive Value ; Prevalence ; Principal Component Analysis