Purpose: Since 1995, the Korean Gastric Cancer Association (KGCA) has been periodically conducting nationwide surveys on patients with surgically treated gastric cancer. This study details the results of the survey conducted in 2023. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted from March to December 2024 using a standardized case report form. Data were collected on 86 items, including patient demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical procedures, and surgical outcomes. The results of the 2023 survey were compared with those of previous surveys. Results: Data from 12,751 cases were collected from 66 institutions. The mean patient age was 64.6 years, and the proportion of patients aged ≥71 years increased from 9.1% in 1995 to 31.7% in 2023. The proportion of upper-third tumors slightly decreased to 16.8% compared to 20.9% in 2019. Early gastric cancer accounted for 63.1% of cases in 2023.Regarding operative procedures, a totally laparoscopic approach was most frequently applied (63.2%) in 2023, while robotic gastrectomy steadily increased to 9.5% from 2.1% in 2014.The most common anastomotic method was the Billroth II procedure (48.8%) after distal gastrectomy and double-tract reconstruction (51.9%) after proximal gastrectomy in 2023.However, the proportion of esophago-gastrostomy with anti-reflux procedures increased to 30.9%. The rates of post-operative mortality and overall complications were 1.0% and 15.3%, respectively. Conclusions The results of the 2023 nationwide survey demonstrate the current status of gastric cancer treatment in Korea. This information will provide a basis for future gastric cancer research.

Purpose: Since 1995, the Korean Gastric Cancer Association (KGCA) has been periodically conducting nationwide surveys on patients with surgically treated gastric cancer. This study details the results of the survey conducted in 2023. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted from March to December 2024 using a standardized case report form. Data were collected on 86 items, including patient demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical procedures, and surgical outcomes. The results of the 2023 survey were compared with those of previous surveys. Results: Data from 12,751 cases were collected from 66 institutions. The mean patient age was 64.6 years, and the proportion of patients aged ≥71 years increased from 9.1% in 1995 to 31.7% in 2023. The proportion of upper-third tumors slightly decreased to 16.8% compared to 20.9% in 2019. Early gastric cancer accounted for 63.1% of cases in 2023.Regarding operative procedures, a totally laparoscopic approach was most frequently applied (63.2%) in 2023, while robotic gastrectomy steadily increased to 9.5% from 2.1% in 2014.The most common anastomotic method was the Billroth II procedure (48.8%) after distal gastrectomy and double-tract reconstruction (51.9%) after proximal gastrectomy in 2023.However, the proportion of esophago-gastrostomy with anti-reflux procedures increased to 30.9%. The rates of post-operative mortality and overall complications were 1.0% and 15.3%, respectively. Conclusions The results of the 2023 nationwide survey demonstrate the current status of gastric cancer treatment in Korea. This information will provide a basis for future gastric cancer research.

Purpose: Since 1995, the Korean Gastric Cancer Association (KGCA) has been periodically conducting nationwide surveys on patients with surgically treated gastric cancer. This study details the results of the survey conducted in 2023. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted from March to December 2024 using a standardized case report form. Data were collected on 86 items, including patient demographics, tumor characteristics, surgical procedures, and surgical outcomes. The results of the 2023 survey were compared with those of previous surveys. Results: Data from 12,751 cases were collected from 66 institutions. The mean patient age was 64.6 years, and the proportion of patients aged ≥71 years increased from 9.1% in 1995 to 31.7% in 2023. The proportion of upper-third tumors slightly decreased to 16.8% compared to 20.9% in 2019. Early gastric cancer accounted for 63.1% of cases in 2023.Regarding operative procedures, a totally laparoscopic approach was most frequently applied (63.2%) in 2023, while robotic gastrectomy steadily increased to 9.5% from 2.1% in 2014.The most common anastomotic method was the Billroth II procedure (48.8%) after distal gastrectomy and double-tract reconstruction (51.9%) after proximal gastrectomy in 2023.However, the proportion of esophago-gastrostomy with anti-reflux procedures increased to 30.9%. The rates of post-operative mortality and overall complications were 1.0% and 15.3%, respectively. Conclusions The results of the 2023 nationwide survey demonstrate the current status of gastric cancer treatment in Korea. This information will provide a basis for future gastric cancer research.

Purpose: This study identified factors that affect lecture evaluation by analyzing sophomores from Dankook University, examining each cluster’s characteristics, and comparing differences among trajectories. Methods: This study identified factors that affect lecture evaluation by analyzing sophomores from Dankook University, examining each cluster’s characteristics, and comparing differences among trajectories. Results: The lecture evaluation score decreased as the teaching hours per instructor in a year increased by an hour, and the number of instructors per lecture increased by one individual. During trajectory analysis, the first trajectory had lower lecture evaluation scores overall but relatively high appropriateness of the textbook and punctuality of class, whereas the second trajectory had higher lecture evaluation scores overall for all four items. Conclusion The two trajectories showed differences in teaching methods (understanding of lecture content and usefulness of the lecture) rather than in external factors (appropriateness of the textbook and punctuality of class). Therefore, to improve lecture satisfaction, enhancing instructors’ instructional competencies through lectures and adjusting the teaching hours by assigning an adequate number of instructors per lecture are recommended.

Health systems science (HSS) is recognized as the third pillar of medical education. alongside basic and clinical sciences. Today’s physicians must also be systems thinkers who are able to discern how social, economic, environmental, and technological forces influence clinical decision-making. This study aimed to propose strategies for structuring an HSS curriculum that is tailored to the Korean healthcare and medical education context. First, the authors of this study conducted a survey to identify the present curricular contents of HSS related education at Korean medical schools. Second, a needs assessment was performed to determine the necessity of HSS competencies, as well as the prerequisites for the seamless integration of HSS into the existing curriculum. Third, literature reviews on HSS education at 14 US medical schools and expert consultations was conducted. We would like to propose a set of strategic approaches, classified into two levels: comprehensive and partial restructuring of the current medical curriculum to incorporate HSS. The partial restructuring approach entails a gradual, incremental incorporation of HSS content, while maintaining the current curricular structure. In contrast, a complete overhaul of the curriculum may be ideal to build HSS as the third pillar of medical education, but its feasibility remains relatively limited. The partial reorganization approach, however, has the advantage of being highly feasible. Collaborative efforts between professors and students are imperative to collectively devise effective methods for the seamless integration of HSS into the existing curriculum.

Background and Objectives: Epidemiological investigations have shown positive correlations between increased diesel exhaust particles (DEP) in ambient air and adverse health outcomes. DEP are the major constituent of particulate atmospheric pollution and have been shown to induce proinflammatory responses both in the lung and systemically. Here, we report the effects of DEP exposure on the properties of human Wharton’s jelly-derived mesenchymal stem cells (WJ-MSCs), including stemness, regeneration, and immunomodulation. Methods: and Results: Non-apoptotic concentrations of DEP (10 μg/ml) inhibited the migration and osteogenic differentiation capacity of WJ-MSCs. Gene expression profiling showed that DEP increased intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and expression of pro-inflammatory and metabolic-process-related genes including cFos. Furthermore, WJ-MSCs cultured with DEP showed impaired suppression of T cell proliferation that was reversed by inhibition of ROS or knockdown of cFos. ERK inhibition assay revealed that DEP-induced ROS regulated cFos through activation of ERK but not NF-κB signaling. Overall, low concentrations of DEP (10 μg/ml) significantly suppressed the stemness and immunomodulatory properties of WJ-MSCs through ROS/ERK/cFos signaling pathways. Furthermore, WJ-MSCs cultured with DEP impaired the therapeutic effect of WJ-MSCs in experimental colitis mice, but was partly reversed by inhibition of ROS. Conclusions Taken together, these results indicate that exposure to DEP enhances the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and immune responses through a mechanism involving the ROS/ERK/cFos pathway in WJ-MSCs, and that DEP-induced ROS damage impairs the therapeutic effect of WJ-MSCs in colitis. Our results suggest that modulation of ROS/ERK/cFos signaling pathways in WJ-MSCs might be a novel therapeutic strategy for DEP-induced diseases.

Background: The interest in Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) has increased, and the choice of assays became wider since the first national survey in Korea on CDI diagnosis in 2015. We conducted a survey of the domestic CDI assays with more varied questions to understand the current situation in Korea. Methods: In April 2018, about 50 questions on the current status of CDI assays and details on implementation and perceptions were written, and a survey questionnaire was administered to laboratory medicine specialists in 200 institutions. Results: One-hundred and fifty institutions responded to the questionnaire, of which 90 (60.0%) including one commercial laboratory, performed CDI assays. The toxin AB enzyme immunoassay (toxin AB EIA), nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), and C. difficile culture, glutamate dehydrogenase assay, alone or in combination with other assays, were used in 75 (84.3%), 52 (58.4%), 35 (36.0%), and 23 (25.8%), respectively, and 65 (73.0%) institutions performed a combination of two or more assays. The sensitivity of toxin AB EIA was more negatively perceived, and that on specificity was more positively perceived. The perception of sensitivity and specificity of NAAT was mostly positive. Perception on the algorithm test projected it as useful but in need of countermeasures. Sixty-three (73.3%) institutions responded that they performed surveillance on CDI. Conclusion This study provides useful evidence on the current status of CDI laboratory diagnosis in Korea as well as on items that require improvement and is thought to aid in standardizing and improving the CDI laboratory diagnosis in Korea.