Role of Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug in Treatment of Extra-abdominal Desmoid Tumors

BACKGROUND: We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of patients who had been treated with meloxicam for the extra-abdominal desmoid tumors and evaluated the correlation between clinical outcome and clinic pathological variables. METHODS: Twenty patients treated with meloxicam were followed up every 3 to 6 months. Meloxicam administration was planned at 15 mg/day orally for 6 months. RESULTS: Of the 20 patients evaluated, according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria, there were five patients with partial response (25.0%), eight with stable disease (40.0%), and seven with tumor progression (35.0%). The cumulative probability of dropping out from our nonsurgical strategy using meloxicam was 35.0% at 1 year and 35.0% at 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggests that conservative treatment would be a primary treatment option for this perplexing disease even though we were not able to determine that the use of a cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor would have an additional influence on the natural course of a desmoid tumor.

Clinical Meaning of Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR)in Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma / 대한내분비외과학회지

PURPOSE: Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a marker of systemic inflammatory response, which is inexpensive, easily calculated, and known to show correlation with prognosis of cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between NLR and prognosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma. METHODS: A total of 1,142 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for papillary thyroid carcinoma between 1995~2005 at Asan Medical Center were enrolled in this study. Patients were categorized according to two groups based on NLR and clinico-pathological variables and disease survival were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Median age of patients was 45.4 years, and the median follow-up period was 48 months. The cut-off value of NLR for prediction of disease-free survival (DFS) was 2. Comparison of DFS between two groups stratified by NLR (NLR ≤2, NLR>2) showed little statistical difference (P=0.48). After adjusting for risk (N stage), there was no significant difference according to N stage (N0: P=0.86, N1a: P=0.4, N1b: P=0.12). CONCLUSION: NLR did not show correlation with disease free survival of papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Hormonal Changes during Extended Letrozole Treatment after Completion of 5 Years of Tamoxifen in Premenopausal Patients with Breast Cancer who Became Postmenopausal / 한국유방암학회지

PURPOSE: Extended treatment with aromatase inhibitors (AIs) after tamoxifen has shown effectiveness in postmenopausal patients with breast cancer. However it is very difficult to start on AIs for patients who become postmenopausal after tamoxifen because tamoxifen is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) that influences menopause, confusing the menopausal status of patients. We assessed the menopausal status and hormone concentrations at the start of letrozole treatment in women with breast cancer who were premenopausal when diagnosed with breast cancer and who became postmenopausal during 5 years of tamoxifen therapy. METHODS: We evaluated 164 patients with breast cancer who received extended letrozole therapy between May 2006 and December 2007. All had been premenopausal at diagnosis but became postmenopausal during 5 years of tamoxifen therapy. Menopause was defined as amenorrhea for >1 year, serum follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) concentration > or =30 mIU/mL or serum estradiol (E2) concentrations or =30 mIU/mL and 113 (70.2%) had E2 concentrations or =30 mIU/mL were observed in 87 patients (57.6%) after 6 months of letrozole and in 133 (88.1%) after 2 years, and E2 concentrations or =30 mIU/mL and E2 levels < or =20 pg/mL were not significantly related to age at surgery (p=0.836 and p=0.228, respectively), at start of letrozole (p=0.855 and p=0.357, respectively), or at amenorrhea (p=0.098 and p=0.154, respectively). CONCLUSION: Applying postmenopausal ranges of hormone concentrations observed in normal healthy people to patients who completed 5 years of tamoxifen is inappropriate, because tamoxifen itself may affect FSH concentration. Further studies should focus on identifying an indicator of ovarian function so that these patients can start extended hormone therapy.

Hypoglycemic and Antioxidative Effects of Dietary Sea-Tangle Extracts Supplementation in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of dietary sea-tangle extracts on blood glucose levels, serum lipid levels, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) and glutathione enzymes in diabetic rats treated with streptozotocin (STZ) Four groups of rats (Sprague-Dawley male rats, 180 - 200g) were consisted of normal rats fed control diet (C), diabetic rats fed control diet (CD), normal rats fed sea-tangl extracts diet (E), and diabetic rats fed sea-tangle extracts diet (ED). Diabetes was induced by single injection of streptozotocin (60 mg/kg B.W.). After 7 weeks, rats were sacrificed, serum glucose, serum total cholesterol, triglyceride levels and glutathione enzymes were measured. Urine was significantly higher in CD and ED groups than those of others (p < 0.05). Levels of amylase, calcium, uric acid, hemoglobin, cholesterol and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol were different among four groups. But high density cholesterol (HDL)-cholesterol of ED group was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than other groups (C and E group) And the weekly change of serum glucose was decreased in the 3th,4th and 5th weeks. But serum triglyceride (TG) of diabetic rats fed sea-tangle extracts diet (ED) was lower than diabetic rats fed control diet (CD). Activity of hepatic microsomal G6Pase was significantly increased CD and ED groups higher than C and E group, but kidney was decreased ED group. Hepateic glutathione S-transferase (GST) of CD and ED group were significantly lower than C and E group (p<0.05), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) of E and ED group were significantly higher than C and CD group (p<0.05), glutathione reductase (GR) activities of ED group was significantly lower than other groups, malondialdehyde (MDA) of ED was lower than E and CD group, but kidney was increased significant in ED group compared to liver. These results suggested that dietary sea-tangle extracts reduce .hepatic disorders such as oxidant than kidney. In conclusion, dietary sea-tangle extracts groups reduced blood TG and hepatic MDA levels in STZ-induced diabetic rats.