The first edition of ‘A Standardized Pathology Report for Gastric Cancer’ was initiated by the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists and published 17 years ago. Since then, significant advances have been made in the pathologic diagnosis, molecular genetics, and management of gastric cancer (GC). To reflect those changes, a committee for publishing a second edition of the report was formed within the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists. This second edition consists of two parts: standard data elements and conditional data elements.The standard data elements contain the basic pathologic findings and items necessary to predict the prognosis of GC patients, and they are adequate for routine surgical pathology service. Other diagnostic and prognostic factors relevant to adjuvant therapy, including molecular biomarkers, are classified as conditional data elements to allow each pathologist to selectively choose items appropriate to the environment in their institution. We trust that the standardized pathology report will be helpful for GC diagnosis and facilitate large-scale multidisciplinary collaborative studies.

The first edition of ‘A Standardized Pathology Report for Gastric Cancer’ was initiated by the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists and published 17 years ago. Since then, significant advances have been made in the pathologic diagnosis, molecular genetics, and management of gastric cancer (GC). To reflect those changes, a committee for publishing a second edition of the report was formed within the Gastrointestinal Pathology Study Group of the Korean Society of Pathologists. This second edition consists of two parts: standard data elements and conditional data elements. The standard data elements contain the basic pathologic findings and items necessary to predict the prognosis of GC patients, and they are adequate for routine surgical pathology service. Other diagnostic and prognostic factors relevant to adjuvant therapy, including molecular biomarkers, are classified as conditional data elements to allow each pathologist to selectively choose items appropriate to the environment in their institution. We trust that the standardized pathology report will be helpful for GC diagnosis and facilitate large-scale multidisciplinary collaborative studies.

Immune status including the immune cells and cytokine profiles has been implicated in the development of endometriosis. In this study, we analyzed Th17 cells and IL-17A in peritoneal fluid (PF) and endometrial tissues of patients with (n=10) and without (n=26) endometriosis. Our study has shown increased Th17 cell population and IL-17A level in PF with endometriosis patients. To determine the roles of IL-17A and Th17 cells in the development of endometriosis, the effect of IL-17A, major cytokine of Th17, on endometrial cells isolated from endometriotic tissues was examined. Recombinant IL-17A promoted survival of endometrial cells accompanied by increased expression of anti-apoptotic genes, including Bcl-2 and MCL1, and the activation of ERK1/2 signaling. In addition, treatment of IL-17A to endometrial cells inhibited NK cell mediated cytotoxicity and induced HLA-G expression on endometrial cells. IL-17A also promoted migration of endometrial cells. Our data suggest that Th17 cells and IL-17A play critical roles in the development of endometriosis by promoting endometrial cell survival and conferring a resistance to NK cell cytotoxicity through the activation of ERK1/2 signaling. Targeting IL-17A has potential as a new strategy for the treatment of endometriosis.

The soft palate of carcinoma limited to the uvular region is infrequent among oropharyngeal cancers. The oropharynx regulates swallowing and speech through dynamic motions. Failure to reconstruct after surgical resection of the oropharynx structure can lead to permanent velopharyngeal insufficiency. Therefore, suitable reconstruction is important in establishing proper functional outcomes while maintaining oncological safety.
We present a case of a 66-year-old male who was diagnosed with oropharynx cancer limited in the uvula accompanied by lymph node metastasis. After surgical resection, reconstruction was performed with the united arrangement of bilateral palatal mucomuscular flap and superiorly based posterior pharyngeal flap. There was no aspiration or reflux after feeding and epithelialization completely occurred after 1 month postoperatively. We report a successful case that the reconstruction with the local flap described above could preserve proper oropharyngeal function after primary surgery in small-sized oropharyngeal cancer.

Background: Prohibitin (PHB) regulates intracellular signal pathways, transcription, and cell cycles. Aberrant expression of the PHB gene is known to be related totumorigenesis, tumor progression, and chronic metabolic and inflammatory diseases. The present study aimed to develop a one-step quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) kit for quantifying PHB mRNA levels and evaluate its performance in the laboratory. Methods: TaqMan chemistry was used to develop the one-step PHB1 and PHB2 RT-qPCR kit. Normal peripheral blood cells from healthy individuals (N=20) and leukemia cells from patients initially diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML, N=20), chronic myeloid leukemia (CML, N=13), and acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL, N=7) were enrolled to evaluate the laboratory performance of the kit using commercially available total human RNA controls. Results: The intra-assay and inter-assay precision of the kit developed in this study was less than 2%. The distribution of PHB1 mRNA expression of AML, CML, and ALL was 0.898-0.993 (median: 0.936), 0.817-0.976 (0.918), and 0.844-1.074 (0.973), respectively. The distribution of PHB2 mRNA expression of AML, CML, and ALL was 0.957-1.024 (median: 0.985), 0.988-1.047 (1.002), and 0.937-1.059 (1.004), respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive value, and test effectiveness of the developed PHB1 and PHB2 kit were greater than 50% for each parameter. Conclusions Our developed kit would be useful for diagnosing leukemia as well as detecting residual disease. Additionally, this kit could be used for monitoring and conducting molecular pathophysiological studies of obesity, metabolic, and inflammatory diseases.

During mid-life, women experienced not only physical but also neurological transition. Because of this, many women suffer from physiological and/or psychological menopausal symptoms. Although hormone therapy (HT) was broadly used to alleviate menopausal symptoms, HT showed inconsistent effects in case of psychological symptoms. Moreover, mid-life women’s brains have distinct characteristics than in other periods of life, it is needed to study psychological symptoms in shifted brain network of mid-life women. As an alternative, inhalation of fragrances may alleviate psychological menopausal symptoms. To characterize the alleviation mechanism by fragrances, we tested the effect of fragrances on menopausal symptoms using electroencephalographic (EEG) methods. We hypothesized that fragrance could restore mid-life women’s brain response to stressful situations. We tested six fragrance conditions, including no-odor condition (solvent only) in twenty-eight mid-life women (49.75 years±3.49).Our results showed that fragrances increased alpha power and decreased β/α ratio depending on the severity of menopausal symptoms in a stressful situation. Our study would be helpful in psychological menopausal symptom alleviation as well as fragrance screening for well-being in mid-life.

Background: Symptom burden is an important factor in determining the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). AF is frequently accompanied by heart failure (HF). This study investigated the characteristics of AF symptoms with concomitant HF. Methods: A total of 4885 patients with AF were consecutively enrolled through a prospective observational registry (the Comparison Study of Drugs for Symptom Control and Complication Prevention of Atrial Fibrillation [CODE-AF] registry). Clinically diagnosed HF was divided into three categories (preserved, mid-range, and reduced ejection fraction [EF]). Symptom severity was assessed using the European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA) classification. Results: The presence of AF-related symptoms was comparable irrespective of concomitant HF. Patients with HF with reduced EF demonstrated severe (EHRA classes 3 and 4) and atypical symptoms. HF with preserved EF was also associated with atypical symptoms. Female sex and AF type were associated with the presence of symptoms in AF without HF, and non-maintenance of sinus rhythm and increased left atrial pressure (E/e′ ≥ 15) were factors related to the presence of symptoms in AF with HF. Conclusion AF with concomitant HF presented with more severe and atypical symptoms than AF without HF. Maintaining the sinus rhythm and reducing the E/e’ ratio are important factors for reducing symptoms in AF with concomitant HF.

Background: Chromosomal analysis is essential for the diagnosis and risk stratification of all leukemia patients. Not surprisingly, racial differences in chromosomal aberrations (CA) in hematological malignancies could be found, and CA incidence in leukemia might change over time, possibly due to environmental and lifestyle changes. Thus, we compared the frequency and range of CA in patients with acute leukemia (AL) during two time periods (2006‒2009 vs. 2010‒2015) and compared them with other prior studies. Methods: We enrolled 717 patients with AL during a six-year period (2010‒2015). We compared the results to those of our earlier study (2006‒2009) [1]. Conventional cytogenetics, a multiplex reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR system, and fluorescence in situ hybridization were employed to assess bone marrow specimens or peripheral blood at the diagnostic stage in AL patients to detect CA. Results: The incidence of CA changed in the leukemia subgroups during the two time periods.Notably, the most frequent CA of childhood acute myeloid leukemia (AML) was PML/RARA, and was followed by RUNX1/RUNX1T1 in the current study. In contrast, the most common CA was RUNX1/RUNX1T1 in a previous study [1] and was followed by PML/RARA. In this study, the most frequent CA of the mixed phenotype AL was BCR/ABL1, which was followed by KMT2A/MLLT3. In a previous report, [1] the most frequent CA was BCR/ABL1, which was followed by KMT2A/ELL. Conclusion The distribution of CA in Korean AL patients changed over time in a single institute. This change might be due to environmental and lifestyle changes.

No abstract available.
Hematopoietic Stem Cells ; Receptors, Aryl Hydrocarbon