PNA-Mediated PCR Clamping for the Detection of EGFR Mutations in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUND: Recent studies have demonstrated that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) genotype is the most important predictive marker to EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and first-line gefitinib treatment will be approved in the near future for use in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with the EGFR mutation. Direct sequencing is known to be the standard for detecting EGFR mutations; however, it has limited sensitivity. Peptide nucleic acids (PNA)-mediated PCR clamping method is a newly introduced method for analyzing EGFR mutations with increased sensitivity and stability. METHODS: A total of 71 NSCLC patients were analyzed for EGFR mutations using the PNA-mediated PCR clamping technique. Sixty-nine patients were analyzed for clinicopathologic correlation with EGFR genotype; 2 patients with indeterminate results were excluded. In order to determine EGFR-TKI drug response, 57 patients (42 gefitinib, 15 erlotinib) were included in the analysis. RESULTS: The EGFR mutation rate was 47.8%. Being female, a non-smoker, and having adenocarcinoma were favorable clinicopathologic factors, as expected. However, more than a few smokers (33.3%), male (28.1%), and patients with non-adenocarcinoma (28.6%) had the EGFR mutation. Having a combination of favorable clinicopathologic factors did not increase the EGFR mutation rate significantly. Drug response to EGFR-TKIs showed significant differences depending on the EGFR genotype; ORR was 14.3% for wild type vs 69.0% for mutant type; DCR is 28.6% for wild type vs 96.6% for mutant type. The median EGFR-TKI treatment duration is 7.6 months for mutant type group and 1.4 months for wild type group. CONCLUSION: EGFR genotype determined using the PNA-mediated PCR clamping method is significantly correlated with the clinical EGFR-TKI responses and PNA-mediated PCR.

Dramatic Tumor Response to 2nd-line Pemetrexed/Cisplatin Combination Chemotherapy in Patient with Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma / 결핵및호흡기질환

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare tumor that is difficult to clearly distinguish from an adenocarcinoma but usually has a poor prognosis. Numerous cytotoxic agents have been used in the primary treatment of MPM with limited success. A complete response is unusual and a partial response occurs in less than one-third of patients. Recently, a phase III trial showed that a combination of pemetrexed with cisplatin resulted in a significantly higher response rate and median survival time than with cisplatin alone. We encountered a case of a dramatic tumor response to pemetrexed/cisplatin combination chemotherapy in patients with MPM, which was resistant to the 1st-line gemcitabine/cisplatin therapy. After six cycles of pemetrexed/cisplatin combination chemotherapy, the tumor volume had decreased dramatically with complete symptom relief. There was no chemotherapy-related toxicity or scheduled violation. The patient is under maintenance chemotherapy with the same regimen.

A Glomus Tumor of the Trachea / 결핵및호흡기질환

A glomus tumor is composed of modified smooth muscle cells that are similar to those of the glomus body. Its occurrence in the trachea is quite rare. To our knowledge, only 20 cases of glomus tumor of the trachea have been reported worldwide and there has been only 1 case in Korea. We report one case of a 58-year-old man with dyspnea who had a glomus tumor in the upper trachea with a review of literatures. The chest CT scan and bronchoscopy demonstrated a 2.5 cm sized lobulated tumor at the posterior wall of the upper trachea. It had an elongated shape with a broad base and with a highly vascularity. A simple resection of 3 levels of the trachearing was with a tumor and end-to-end anastomosis performed. Microscopic and immunohistochemical staining of the tumor revealed the characteristics of a glomus tumor.

A Glomus Tumor of the Trachea / 결핵및호흡기질환

A glomus tumor is composed of modified smooth muscle cells that are similar to those of the glomus body. Its occurrence in the trachea is quite rare. To our knowledge, only 20 cases of glomus tumor of the trachea have been reported worldwide and there has been only 1 case in Korea. We report one case of a 58-year-old man with dyspnea who had a glomus tumor in the upper trachea with a review of literatures. The chest CT scan and bronchoscopy demonstrated a 2.5 cm sized lobulated tumor at the posterior wall of the upper trachea. It had an elongated shape with a broad base and with a highly vascularity. A simple resection of 3 levels of the trachearing was with a tumor and end-to-end anastomosis performed. Microscopic and immunohistochemical staining of the tumor revealed the characteristics of a glomus tumor.

A Case of Crohn's Disease with Repeated Bowel Obstruction / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Crohn's disease is a rare inflammatory bowel disease in Korea which requires a differential diagnosis with intestinal tuberculosis. In the early stages of Crohn's diseaae, the combiation of bowel wall edema and spasm produces intermittent obstructive manifestations, so the usual subjective symptoms were appeared long standing diarrhea, low grade fever and abdominal pain and distension. We recently experienced a case of Crohn's colitis with repeated bowel obstruction in female adult who underwent surgical resection.

A Case of Crohn's Disease with Repeated Bowel Obstruction / 대한소화기내시경학회지

Crohn's disease is a rare inflammatory bowel disease in Korea which requires a differential diagnosis with intestinal tuberculosis. In the early stages of Crohn's diseaae, the combiation of bowel wall edema and spasm produces intermittent obstructive manifestations, so the usual subjective symptoms were appeared long standing diarrhea, low grade fever and abdominal pain and distension. We recently experienced a case of Crohn's colitis with repeated bowel obstruction in female adult who underwent surgical resection.