Clinical Benefits of Narrow Band Imaging Bronchoscopy in Central Lung Cancer / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. The detection of these lesions at an earlier stage would be a clear benefit to patients. However, it is extremely difficult to detect carcinomatous lesions in the bronchial mucosal sites during a routine bronchoscopy. METHODS: This study employed a novel optical technique, known as narrowband imaging (NBI), which allows noninvasive visualization of the microvascular structure of an organ's surface using reflected light. RESULTS: Narrow band imaging was performed on 10 patients who were radiologically suspicious or had a high risk of lung cancer. The median age of the patients was 57.5 years (range, 44~81 years), and 80% of the patients were male. All lesions showed a microvascular proliferation pattern (dotted, tortuous and abruptly ending vessel) on the magnified NBI. Two lesions were confirmed histologically to be adenocarcinoma and the remaining lesions were squamous cell carcinomas. Two lesions were confirmed histologically to be a carcinoma in situ. CONCLUSION: NBI is a promising and potentially powerful tool for identifying carcinomas at an earlier stage or a central lesion during a routine bronchoscopy examination.

A case of pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasm (PanIN-III) manifesting as recurrent pancreatitis / 대한내과학회지

Acute recurrent pancreatitis has a variety of etiologies. We experienced a case of a tumor-forming pancreatitis in a 49 year old Korean woman who also had pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasm III (PanIN-III), and this manifested just like recurrent pancreatitis. She had a history of recurrent pancreatitis. She was found to have an early stage of pancreatic cancer via computed tomography and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. EUS guided fine needle aspiration (FNA) showed only many acinar cells of the pancreas. But due to the possibility of her having pancreatic carcinoma, she underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy with lymph node dissection. Pathologically, the tumor of the pancreatic body showed secondary changes with focal fibrosis from the localized chronic pancreatitis. PanIN-III was observed in the pancreatic duct within the tumor, and there were no cancerous findings in the 13 dissected lymph nodes.

Angiogenesis in the Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Angiogenesis is a necessary process for solid tumor to grow in human body, and thought to play an important role in metastasis. In some solid tumor such as the breast cancer and prostatic cancer, the angiogenesis is thought to be one of the most significant prognostic factors that predict the patient survival rate and metastasis. The purpose of this study is to define the significance of angiogenesis in the head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We measured the microvascular density (MVD) using immunohistochemistry with anti-CD34 antibody in 40 HNSCC. The maximal and average MVD was compared with the clinical parameters such as stage, cervical lymph node metastasis, recurrence, and survival rate, obtained through the retrospective review of the medical records. RESULTS: 1) The maximal and average MVD correlated with overall stage, T stage and N stage statistically. The MVD were increased according to the increasement of the T and N stage. 2) The maximal and average MVD showed a significant relationship with 3 year survival rate. 3) There were no relationship between maximal and average MVD and local or regional recurrence. CONCLUSION: The maximal and average MVD may be a significant prognostic factors which can predict the survival rate of the patients with HNSCC.