Influences of Psychological Resilience and Self-control on Suicidal Ideation of Undergraduate Students / 정신간호학회지

PURPOSE: The study was done to examine undergraduate student' suicidal ideation and to identify influences of individual characteristics including psychological resilience and self-control on suicidal ideation. METHODS: Data were collected from 400 students in 11 universities in D city from May 1 to June 30, 2011. Data were analyzed with t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson' correlation using SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: Of the students, 11.3% reported suicidal ideation levels higher than average. Woman students and those with high career anxiety, perceived poor health condition and bad relationships showed higher points on suicidal ideation. Suicidal ideation was also negatively correlated with psychological resilience and self-control. CONCLUSION: Over 10.0% of students need careful attention on suicidal ideation, especially counselling service related to suicide prevention for students with poor health, high career anxiety, and bad relationships. Various programs should be developed to promote psychological resilience to improve health and relationships, as well as job guidance for students. It is also suggested the students' experiences be examined to determine how they overcame suicidal ideation.

The GSTT1 Genotype as A Marker for Susceptibility to Lung Cancer in Korean Female Never-Smokers / 결핵

BACKGROUND: Most previous studies regarding the role of GSTMl and GSTT1 on lung cancer risk have been focused mainly on male smokers. However, epidemiological characteristics, histologic types and risk factors are different in female and male lung cancers, we investigated the association between these genotypes and lung cancer risk in males and females separately. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 253 lung cancer (153 males and 100 females) and 243 controls (140 males and 103 females). GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined by a multiplex PCR. RESULTS: In the male population, neither GSTM1 nor GSTT1 null genotype showed significant difference between cases and controls. In the female population, the frequencies of GSTM1 null genotype showed no significant difference between cases and controls. However, the frequencies of GSTT1 null genotype was significantly higher in cases (70.3%) than controls (55.3%, odds ratio (OR)=2.18; 95% confidence interval (CI=l.21-3.93). When the female population was stratified by age and smoking status, the ORs for GSTT1 null genotype were significantly higher in subgroups of ≤60 years (OR=4.82; 95% CI=l.61-14.4) and never-smokers (OR=4.29; 95% CI=1.94-9.48) but not in subgroups of >60 years or smokers. When stratifying the female never-smokers by age, the ORs for GSTT1 null genotype were significantly higher in both age groups of ≤60 years (OR=7.64; 95% CI=2.00-29.2) and >60 years (OR=2.89; 95% CI=1.05-7.94). CONCLUSION: We found that GSTT1 null genotype was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer in Korean female never-smokers. This result suggests that GSTT1 null genotype could be used as a biomarker for genetic susceptibility to lung cancer in Korean female never-smokers.

Prognostic Factors in Long-Term Survivors with Glioblastoma

OBJECTIVE: The authors analyze the clinical characteristics of the long-term survivors and elucidate the biological factors responsible for long-term survival. METHODS: The 166 cases of histologically confirmed glioblastoma from Jan 1983 to Aug 1999 were included. Medical records and radiological findings were reviewed to analyze age, performance status, location and number of the tumor, the amount of peri-tumoral edema, the extent of surgical resection and history of radiation and/or chemotherapy. The overall survival was 13.6 months and the 1-year survival rate was 59%. The thirteen patients(6.9%), lived more than three years after diagnosis, defined as the long-term survivors. RESULTS: Performance status(KPS>or=70), number of masses(single with no CSF seeding), and hemispheric location(not involving basal ganglia and/or brain stem) showed favorable influence on the patient survival in univariate analysis. Also post-operative radiation and chemotherapy resulted in significant improvement of the survival. However, in multivariate analysis, age(under 40 years) was the most significant prognostic factor. All the other factors which was significant in univariate analysis except the location of the tumor, also verified as significant prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. The long-term survivors had at least more than five out of seven significant prognostic factors in multivariate analysis. And these factors occurred more frequently and showed significances in the long-term survivors than the other patient group except the debulking surgery. CONCLUSION: The age at the diagnosis and invasiveness resulted in multiple tumor and/or CSF seeding were the most significant prognostic factors.

Microsatellite Instability in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer / 결핵

PURPOSE: Microsatellite instability (MSI) is frequently used as an indicative of microsatellite mutator phenotype (MMP) tumors. MSI has been observed in a fraction of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, its role in tumorigenesis of NSCLC remains unknown. We evaluated the frequency and pattern of MSI in NSCLC, and compared the clinical parameters of MSI-positive tumors with those of MSS (microsatellite stable) tumors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty surgically resected NSCLCs were analyzed for 15 microsatellite markers located at chromosome 3p and 9p. Patients' peripheral blood lymphocytes were used as the source of the normal DNA. RESULTS: 1) Of 20 cases, 8 (40%) demonstrated MSI. 2) Instability observed more commonly in tri- and tetra-nucleotide repeats rather than dinucleotide repeats. In all cases, instability appeared as a shift of individual allelic bands. 3) LOH was observed in 10 (50%) of 20 tumors analyzed. 4) Of 20 cases, MSI-H tumor (showing MSI in the majority of markers) was absent. There were 5 MSI-L tumors (showing MSI in a greater than 10% of markers). 5) No significant difference was observed between MSI-L tumors and MSI-negative tumors in clinicopathologic features such as pack-year history of smoking, histologic subtype, and the stage of disease. There was also no significant difference in the incidence of LOH according to the status of MSI. CONCLUSION: These data strongly suggest that MSI has different roles in lung and colon cancer. MMP pathway appears far less important in the tumorigenesis of NSCLC, caused mainly by cigarette smoke, with little familial tendency.

Diagnosis and Management of Patients with Neurofibromatosis Type 2 : Experience of 16 Cases

Neurofibromatosis type 2(NF-2) is a dominantly inherited disorder characterized by the occurrence of bilateral acoustic neurinomas and the frequent association of other central nervous system tumors. We present a retrospective review of 16 patients with NF-2 who were treated at our hospital from 1984 to 1995. In 13 cases, the diagnoses of NF-2 were based on the criteria developed at the Consensus Development Conference of National Institute of Health in the United States, and in another 3 cases, the criterias of NF-2 were not fully satisfied, but the diagnoses of NF-2 were highly suspected. The average age of the patients was 27.6 years, ranging from 13 years to 56 years. The most common symptom was hearing difficulty;intervals between symptom onset and deafness ranged from 8 months to 6 years(mean:2.9 years.) One family of NF-2 was documented, consisting of a sister, a brother and their mother. Nine patients underwent operations on unilateral acoustic neurinomas;these were subtotally removed in eight patient s and totally in one patient. Among these patients, five were deaf on the ipsilateral side at surgery. Among the other four patients with useful hearing before surgery, hearing was preserved to preoperative status in two patients. Four patients with diagnoses of meningioma, received operations to relieve mass effect with subtotal removal in two patients and total removal in the other two. Early diagnosis and treatment are the most important in the management planning of patients with NF-2 for reasons of early manifestation and rapid progression of the disease.