Therapeutic Inhibitors against Mutated BRAF and MEK for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma / 전남의대학술지

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers in the world and is responsible for the majority of skin cancer deaths. Recent advances in the field of immunotherapy using active, adoptive, and antigen-specific therapeutic approaches, have generated the expectation that these technologies have the potential to improve the treatment of advanced malignancies, including melanoma. Treatment options for metastatic melanoma patients have been dramatically improved by the FDA approval of new therapeutic agents including vemurafenib, dabrafenib, and sorafenib. These kinase inhibitors have the potential to work in tandem with MEK, PI3K/AKT, and mTOR to inhibit the activity of melanoma inducing BRAF mutations. This review summarizes the effects of the new therapeutic agents against melanoma and the underlying biology of these BRAF inhibitors.

Therapeutic Inhibitors against Mutated BRAF and MEK for the Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma / 전남의대학술지

Melanoma is one of the most aggressive cancers in the world and is responsible for the majority of skin cancer deaths. Recent advances in the field of immunotherapy using active, adoptive, and antigen-specific therapeutic approaches, have generated the expectation that these technologies have the potential to improve the treatment of advanced malignancies, including melanoma. Treatment options for metastatic melanoma patients have been dramatically improved by the FDA approval of new therapeutic agents including vemurafenib, dabrafenib, and sorafenib. These kinase inhibitors have the potential to work in tandem with MEK, PI3K/AKT, and mTOR to inhibit the activity of melanoma inducing BRAF mutations. This review summarizes the effects of the new therapeutic agents against melanoma and the underlying biology of these BRAF inhibitors.

Evaluation of an oral health promotion program for elders based on a cooperation model between public and private sectors / 대한구강보건학회지

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a seniors' oral health promotion program for establishing a cooperation model between public and private sectors. METHODS: This study was carried out targeting the seniors frequenting a community center in the Sosa-gu district of Bucheon-si in the Gyeonggi-do province of South Korea. Data were obtained from self-administered questionnaires or personal interviews with elders after they participated in the oral health promotion program. Their perceived satisfaction with their oral health before and after the oral health program was compared. The data were analyzed by t-tests, ANOVA, paired t-tests, and logistic regression using SPSS to assess the effects of explanatory factors on the seniors' satisfaction of the oral health promotion program. RESULTS: In total, 22.7% of participants had a positive idea about the oral health promotion program before their participation. The mean score of change in and difference of satisfaction with oral health tended to increase in each of the following groups: women, aged 80-84 years, number of permanent teeth, full denture wearers, and those who did not require dentures. Satisfaction notably increased 0.4 points in the group of full denture wearers (P<0.05). Moreover, after 1 month, the satisfaction level of the subjects who participated in the oral health promotion program increased 5.2 times (95% CI, 1.04-25.49) compared to dissatisfaction levels. Ultimately, satisfaction with oral health shows a major impact on the satisfaction with an oral health promotion program. CONCLUSIONS: The subjects who received the oral health promotion program responded very positively, but this program needs overall consideration about work processes and further reliable evaluations.

Detection of Minimal Residual Disease by IgH gene rearrangement-PCR in Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia / 대한임상병리학회지

BACKGROUND: The IgH gene rearrangement (IgH GR) involving highly specific CDR3 region can be used as a minimal residual disease marker in ALL. The IgH GR-PCR has the advantages of the high positive rate in ALL and the detection of clonal evolution. METHODS: In 30 cases of childhood ALL, the DNA was extracted from the bone marrow aspirates at the diagnosis and during the chemotherapy. The 40 cycle polymerase chain reaction was performed with seven each VH family specific primer and common JH primer. The PCR products were electrophoresed on the agarose gel, and those showing specific bands were electrophoresed on 6M urea 6% polyacrylamide DNA sequencing gel. We compared and analyzed the IgH GR-PCR results, the morphologic diagnosis of the bone marrow and the clinical course. RESULTS: IgH GR was detected in 93.3% (28/30) at the diagnosis and the rest of two cases showed IgH GR during the therapy. IgH GR was detected in all specimens diagnosed as persistence, partial remission and relapse, the 80.0% of hypocellular marrow with persistence of blasts, the 72.7% of hypocellular marrow, and the 59.2% of complete remission. In the complete remission states the patients with IgH GR showed significantly higher relapse rate (26.2%) than those without IgH GR (7.1%) (p=0.019). Number of clones of IgH GR was from one to five. The more number of clones showed the shorter mean survival time (p=0.1172). The usage of VH3 was most frequent (70.0%). IgH GR had been detected average 3.5 months (range 1-12 months) earlier than the morphologic relapse appeared. During the chemotherapy the evolution of IgH GR was observed in the seven cases (23.3%). CONCLUSIONS: The IgH GR-PCR will help the understanding of biological characteristics of leukemic cells, the interpretation of the bone marrow studies after chemotherapy and the plans of further therapy, and can be used as a prognostic indicator in the morphologic complete remission state.