The correlates of unemployment and its association with quality of life in cervical cancer survivors / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: Little is known regarding cervical cancer survivors' employment status, which represents social integration of cancer survivors as a pivotal domain of long-term quality of life. The goal of this study was to assess the correlates of unemployment and evaluate the impact on the comprehensive quality of life in cervical cancer survivors. METHODS: We enrolled 858 cervical cancer survivors from the gynecologic oncology departments of multi-centers in Korea. Factors associated with unemployment were identified using multivariate logistic regression analyses. We assessed different health-related quality of life domains with multivariate-adjusted least-square means between cervical cancer survivors who currently work and do not. RESULTS: After diagnosis and treatment, the percentage of unemployed survivors increased from 50.6% to 72.8%. Lower income (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.38 to 2.81), medical aid (aOR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.05 to 2.38), two or more comorbidities (aOR, 1.80; 95% CI, 1.12 to 2.90), current alcohol drinkers (aOR, 2.33; 95% CI, 1.54 to 3.52), and employed at the time of diagnosis (aOR, 10.72; 95% CI, 7.10 to 16.16) were significantly associated with unemployment. Non-working groups showed significant differences with respect to physical functioning, role functioning, depression, and existential well-being. CONCLUSION: The proportion of unemployed cervical cancer survivors seems to increase, with low-income status and the presence of medical aid negatively being associated with employment, in addition to other comorbidities and previous working status. Effort should be made to secure the financial status of cervical cancer survivors.

Proliferation of CD4(+)CD25(high+)Foxp3(+) regulatory T lymphocytes in ex vivo expanded ascitic fluid from primary and recurrent ovarian carcinoma / 부인종양

No abstract available.

The effectiveness of levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system in the treatment of endometrial hyperplasia in Korean women / 부인종양

OBJECTIVE: Levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (LNG-IUS) has been shown to treat patients with non-atypical & atypical endometrial hyperplasia (EH) successfully in many western studies. Our purpose was to examine the effectiveness of LNG-IUS in the treatment of Korean women with EH. METHODS: We conducted a prospective observational study of 12 women diagnosed with EH and treated with LNG-IUS insertion between February 2007 and August 2009 at the Department of Gynecology of Gangnam CHA Hospital, CHA University School of Medicine. Baseline endometrial biopsies were done before insertion of LNG-IUS, and outpatient follow-up endometrial biopsies were undertaken at 3-month intervals after insertion of LNG-IUS. We investigated the regression rate and the time to regression. RESULTS: Four patients had simple hyperplasia without atypia, 7 patients complex hyperplasia without atypia, and just 1 patient complex atypical hyperplasia. Complete regression of EH was achieved in all cases (100%, 12/12), with the significant proportion (66%, 8/12) achieving it within 3 months. The mean duration to regression was 4.5 months. All cases had regression within 9 months. In the case of complex atypical hyperplasia, the regression was attained at the 9th month after insertion of LNG-IUS. The mean follow-up duration was 12 months (range, 3 to 27 months). As long as LNG-IUS was maintained, the EH did not recur. CONCLUSION: LNG-IUS appears to be as highly effective in treating Korean women with EH.

Cellular fibroma of the ovary containing Leydig cell hyperplasia: a case report / 부인종양

Ovarian stromal tumors containing Leydig cell components are rare. Only a few cases of ovarian stromal Leydig cell tumors characterized by clusters of Leydig cells have been reported to date. Here, we present the first case report of a 65-year-old woman with a cellular fibroma of the ovary containing Leydig cell hyperplasia. Microscopic examination revealed the proliferation of spindle cells arranged in intersecting bundles with mild nuclear atypia and an average of 2-3 mitotic figures per ten high-power fields. Multifocal nests of polygonal cells with abundant eosinophilic cytoplasm and round nuclei were seen within the spindle cells. Final pathology of the tumor revealed a cellular fibroma including Leydig cell hyperplasia.

Comparison of surgical outcomes after laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy and total laparoscopic hysterectomy / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: To compare the surgical outcomes between laparoscopy-assisted vaginal hysterectomy (LAVH) and total laparoscopic hysterectomy (TLH). METHODS: The data were collected retrospectively from hospital records. Between September 2006 and August 2007, Patients undergone with LAVH (93 cases) and TLH (142 cases) with pathologic reports of leiomyoma or adenomyosis were enrolled. The characteristics and surgical results were compared according to the operation type. The correlations among the variables were analyzed with multiple linear regression. RESULTS: Between two groups, the characteristics of patients were similar such as age, body mass index, surgical history, and pathologic findings. In the univariate analysis, the differences of operation duration and blood loss between LAVH (129.0+/-34.5 min, 385.5+/-296.1 mL) and TLH (123.6+/-40.8 min, 294.7+/-285.4 mL) were significant (P0.050). In multivariate analysis, blood loss was correlated with operation duration and specimen weight (P=0.000) but not with operation type (P=0.213). CONCLUSIONS: LAVH tends to be selected in larger uteri and results in more blood loss and longer operation duration. Operation type (LAVH or TLH) does not affect blood loss which is related with operation duration and uterine weight.

Clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant germ cell tumors of ovary / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinicopathologic characteristics of malignant germ cell tumors of ovary. METHODS: Thirty five patients who were dignosed as malignant germ cell tumors of ovary and treated in Cheil General Hospital from January 1995 to December 2003, were retrospectively analyzed. The age, chief complaints, histologic type, tumor marker, FIGO stage, maximal tumor diameter, management, survival and future pregnancy outcome were reviewed. RESULTS: The mean age was 23.4 years (8-34) and 2 patients were premenarche. The mean follow-up period was 59.6 months (16-118). Palpable lower abdominal mass and pain were the most frequent symptoms. Preoperative CA125 were checked in 32 patients and elevated in 23 patients . The tumors were ranging from 7cm to 27cm in diameter (mean : 16.6). The site of tumors was right-sided in 17(48.6%), left-sided in 15(42.9%), and bilateral in 3(8.6%) which were dysgerminomas only. Post-surgical FIGO stage was stage I in 28 cases (80.0%), stage II in 4 cases (11.4%), and stage III in 3 cases (8.6%). Histologically, immature teratomas were found most frequently (n=14, 40.0%), followed by dysgerminoma (n=10, 28.6%), endodermal sinus tumor (n=9, 25.7%), and mixed form (n=2, 5.7%). Unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy was performed in 9, cystectomy in 4, and staging operation in 22, which included 16 patients of fertility sparing operation. Postoperative chemotherapy was administered in 30 and most were BEP except one TIP. Two patients had recurred, who were stage Ic and IIIb EST at diagnosis and expired at 59 and 16 months after first operation. Recurrence rate was 5.7% and 5-year survival rate was 94.7%. During follow-up period, 8 patients were pregnant and the results were 4 normal deliveries at term, 1 missed abortion, 1 therapeutic abortion due to acne medication, 1 H-mole and 1 current pregnant state at 20 weeks without problem. CONCLUSION: These results shows that most malignant germ cell tumors of ovary is detected in early stage and have relatively excellent survival with conservative operation and combination chemotherapy.

Detection of Sentinel Lymph Nodes in patients with Early Stage Cervical Cancer

The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of identifying the sentinel lymph nodes (SNs) as well as to evaluate factors that might influence the SN detection rate in patients with cervical cancer of the uterus. Eighty nine patients underwent intracervical injection of 1% isosulfan blue dye at the time of planned radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy between January 2003 and December 2003. With the visual detection of lymph nodes that stained blue, SNs were identified and removed separately. Then all patients underwent complete pelvic lymph node dissection and/or para-aortic lymph node dissection. SNs were identified in 51 of 89 (57.3%) patients. The most common site for SN detection was the external iliac area. Metastatic nodes were detected in 21 of 89 (23.5%) patients. One false negative SN was obtained. Successful SN detection was more likely in patients younger than 50 yr (p=0.02) and with a history of preoperative conization (p=0.05). However, stage, histological type, surgical procedure and neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed no significant difference for SN detection rate. Therefore, the identification of SNs with isosulfan blue dye is feasible and safe. The SN detection rate was high in patients younger than 50 yr or with a history of preoperative conization.

A Clinical Study of 25 Cases of Uterine Papillary Serous Carcinoma / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: Uterine papillary serous carcinoma (UPSC) has been recognized as an aggressive tumor characterized by deep myometrial invasion and reported high recurrence and low survival rates. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the clinicopathologic findings and analyzed the survival rate and prognostic factors in 25 patients with UPSC who were surgically staged at the oncology department between January 1994 and December 2003. RESULTS: The mean age of the cases was 55.8 (range: 45-69) years. The most frequent presenting symptom was abnormal uterine bleeding (88%). According to FIGO staging, seven of the cases were stage I, six of the cases were stage II, eleven of the cases were stage III, and one case was stage IV. Mean follow up period is 42.7 months (range: 9-123 months). Overall survival rate was 80 percent. The recurrence was seen in 5 patients (25%). CONCLUSION: Univariate analysis showed that invasion of uterine serosa, ovarian and tubal metastasis, and positive peritoneal washing cytology were significantly associated with prediction of prognosis. In multivariate analysis, tubal metastasis was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival.

Clinical Efficacy of HPV DNA Chip test in Human papillomavirus detection of Uterine Cervix / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to investigate the efficacy of HPV DNA chip method for detection and genotyping of various human papillomavirus in the patients with intraepithelial lesions of uterine cervix. METHODS: The study subjects included two hundred patients with abnormal Pap smear from July 2004 to October 2004. After confirmed the pathological status of the cervix with colposcopic biopsy or conization, we evaluated for HPV infection and genotyping with the commercially available Hybrid-Capture II assay (HC-II) and HPV DNA chip. Then we compared the concordance rate between the two methods for the detection of HPV and analysed the HPV genotypes. RESULTS: We compared the results in HPV DNA chip with those in HC-II. In result, the concordance rate between the two methods for the detection of HPV was 85.5% (171 of 200 cases). In 111 patients confirmed the presence of lesions higher than flat condyloma in cervix by pathologc examination, sensitivities of HC-II and HPV DNA chip in detecting HPV were 91.0% and 88.3%, respectively. In HPV DNA chip, HPV-16 was the most frequent type (14.7%) in all patients, the next frequent types were HPV-58 (14.1%) and HPV-18 (9.2%). CONCLUSION: We confirmed that HPV DNA chip method was as sensitive and effective method for detecting HPV in cervical lesions as HC-II. And that it would provide useful clinical information on genotyping and multiple infections of HPV.

Time Trend of Survival and Treatment Modalities of Endometrial Cancer in Korea (1990-2005) / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to evaluate the overall survival and the change in treatment modalities in patients with uterine endometrial cancer in Korea. METHODS: From January 1990 to March 2005, medical records of 740 patients with endometrial cancer in nine hospitals were reviewed. The overall survival was determined supported by the death statistics of Korea National Statistical Office. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 51.5 years (range: 21-82 years). The mean gravidity and parity were 3.3 and 2.1 (range: 0-18, 0-9), respectively. The most common stage, grade and histological type at diagnosis were FIGO stage I, grade 1 and endometrioid adenocarcinoma (76.5%, 56.4% and 87.2%), respectively. The main treatment modalities was surgery on stage I (59.8%), surgery-adjuvant radiotherapy on stage II (55.1%), surgery-adjuvant radiotherapy or surgery-adjuvant chemoradiation on stage III (38.3%) and surgery-adjuvant chemotherapy on stage IV (55.6%). The preferred treatment modality was surgery only on grade 1 (69.0%) and surgery-adjuvant radiotherapy on grade 2-3 (43.4% and 53.2%). Surgery had been the most common method of therapy before 1998 but its prevalence gradually decreased. As a result, surgery-adjuvant radiotherapy and surgery-adjuvant chemotherapy were most widely performed in 2004-2005 and surgery-adjuvant chemoradiation also increased more than a twofold. The overall 5 years survival rate (5YSR) for all 740 patients was 81.3%. The overall 5YSR of stage I was 89.0%. The overall 5YSR of grade 1, grade 2, grade 3 were 96.0%, 92.0%, 80.0%. Before 1998, the survival rate was 77.0%. Since then it increased to 83-88% and in 2000-2001 it increased to 88.0%, and it was the highest survival rate. CONCLUSION: The survival rate of endometrial cancer has been improving for the past 15 years and the method of treatment is also being changed currently. In order to improve the survival rate of endometrial cancer, a close investigation including genetic and environmental factors of the pathophysiology of endometrial cancer along with the epidemiology of risk factors, should be carried out.