Occult papillary thyroid carcinoma presenting with cervical neck lymph node metastasis

A 74-year-old male patient was conducted total thyroidectomy with functional neck dissection and final pathologic report confirm occult thyroid carcinoma. Although the frequency of occult thyroid cancer (OTC) has decreased owing to developments in cervical ultrasonography and improved accuracy of histological tests, rare cases are still reported. Due to the decreased frequency of OTC, a benign cervical neck lymph node mass is sometimes diagnosed, which can result in delays to more accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment. Therefore, we report our case.

A Phase II Trial of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy with Genexol(R) (Paclitaxel) and Epirubicin for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) is yet to be established as the definitive treatment regimen for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy and toxicity of NC with epirubicin and paclitaxel. METHODS: Between March 2007 and January 2009, 50 patients with LABC were enrolled in an open-label, phase II, multicenter study carried out at five distinct institutions. All patients were scheduled to receive four cycles of 60 mg/m2 epirubicin and 175 mg/m2 paclitaxel every 3 weeks, preoperatively, unless they developed profound side effects or disease progression. After curative surgery, two additional cycles of chemotherapy were administered to patients who had shown a positive response to NC. RESULTS: In all, 196 cycles of chemotherapy were administered preoperatively; 47 of the 50 patients (94%) underwent all four cycles of designated treatment. Complete disappearance of invasive foci of the primary tumor, and negative axillary lymph nodes were confirmed in eight patients (16.0%), post operation. The cumulative 5-year disease-free survival rate was 70.0% for patients with complete remission (CR) and partial remission (PR), and 33.3% for patients with stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) (p=0.018). The cumulative 5-year overall survival was 90.0% for patients who achieved CR and PR and 55.6% for patients who had SD and PD (p=0.001). Neutropenia (42.0%) was the most common grade 3/4 toxicity. However, none of the toxicities resulted in cessation of the treatment. CONCLUSION: The encouraging pathologic response observed in the patients treated with epirubicin plus paclitaxel NC in this study suggests that epirubicin could be a substitute for doxorubicin, which is the most cardiotoxic agent.

Genetic identification of internal transcribed spacers sequence in rDNA of Artemisis iwayomogi Kitam. and other two Artemisia species / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE: To make an useful identification method for the molecule of DNA on 3 herbs of Artemisia genus and compare the differences of the genes of Korean and Chinese species of Artemisia. METHODS: Sequence of 3 herbs (Artemisia sacrorum Ledeb., Artemisia iwayomogi Kitam. and Artemisia capillaris Thunb.) was determined by PCR sequence system. DNA was extracted from rDNA/ITS (internal transcribed spacers) and 5.8 s. The analysis was based on the amplification through DNA sequence system. RESULTS: There were profound differences between the Korean Artemisia and Artemisia sacrorum L. These 2 herbs had a difference in the PCR amplifications of the agarose gel electrophoresis. There was a slight difference in the analysis of the DNA sequence system, and the substitution percentage for ITS gene fragments sequence was 3.96%. CONCLUSION: Analytic identification method on sequence system of ITS in rDNA is effective for these 3 herbs.