Development of a coffee bean certified reference material (KRISS CRM 108-10-023) for elemental analysis.

The development of a novel coffee bean matrix certified reference material (CRM) for elemental analysis is described. The CRM was prepared by processing green coffee beans into a dry homogeneous powder. Mass fractions of elements in the CRM were measured using double isotope dilution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (double ID-ICP-MS), and measurement results for eight elements (Mg, Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd, Hg, and Pb) of sufficient quality were certified. The mass fraction range was from 0.09476 mg/kg (Cd) to 1908 mg/kg (Mg), with relative expanded uncertainty range of 0.66% (Cd) to 12% (Pb). Measurement results of two elements (Cr and Ni) with insufficient quality were provided for information only. During characterization, an effective approach for the measurement of isotopic abundances and molar masses of elements with high natural isotopic variations for double ID-ICP-MS was developed and applied. The CRM developed in the present study is expected to be a useful measurement standard for assuring the quality of measurement procedures for coffee beans or related materials.

Preoperative prediction model of lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to develop a preoperative prediction model identifying the low-risk group for lymph node metastasis in endometrial cancer. METHODS: In 110 patients who underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging and serum CA-125 test, logistic analysis was performed to identify predictors. The coefficients obtained from logistic regression were used to construct a scoring system, and a receiver operator characteristic curve was created. RESULTS: Lymph node metastases were found in 14 (12.7%) of 110 patients. After multivariate logistic regression analysis, histologic grade, preoperative CA-125 levels, disease extent, and myometrial invasion assessed by magnetic resonance imaging were selected as viable predictors. The scoring system was internally validated using bootstrapping (P < 0.001), and receiver operator characteristic curve yielded the area under the curve of 0.902. The patients with the score of 0 or 1 (57.3%) were identified as a low-risk group, and no nodal metastasis was observed among them (negative predictive value, 100%: 95% confidence interval, 94.3%-100%). CONCLUSION: The current study suggests that preoperative prediction system to identify the risk of lymph node metastasis is feasible. This model may be useful in preoperative counseling about cost and benefit of systemic lymph node dissection.

Primary yolk sac tumor of the omentum: a case report and review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Extraovarian yolk sac tumors (YSTs) arising in the omentum represent an exceedingly rare malignancy. CASE: A 37-year-old Korean woman was admitted with a history of lower abdominal pain of 3 weeks duration. Pelvic computerized tomography (CT) scanning reported a bilateral ovarian malignancy with peritoneal seeding. Exploration findings revealed a greater omental mass and the result of frozen biopsy was adenocarcinoma or mesothelioma. She was treated with supracolic omentectomy, bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, pelvic and paraaortic lymph node dissection, multiple peritoneal biopsies and appendectomy. Histological evaluation of the specimen after operation exhibited typical patterns of YST and stained for alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and cytokeratin. Four courses of bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (BEP) combination chemotherapy repeated every 3 weeks were added to therapy and she has remained free of disease for 1 year after completion of the therapy. CONCLUSION: To our knowledge this is the fourth case of primary omental YST. A review of the literature indicates that the diagnosis of YST requires proper evaluations of tumor makers and a skilled pathologist for analysis of frozen sections.

Pelvic lymph node status assessed by 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography predicts low-risk group for distant recurrence in locally advanced cervical cancer: a prospective study.

PURPOSE: To develop a prediction model to identify a low-risk group for distant recurrence in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer treated by concurrent chemoradiation. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Prospectively, 62 patients with locally advanced cervical cancer were recruited as a training cohort. Clinical variables and parameters obtained from positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging were analyzed by logistic regression. For the test set, 54 patients were recruited independently. To identify the low-risk group, negative likelihood ratio (LR) less than 0.2 was set to be a cutoff. RESULTS: Among the training cohort, multivariate logistic analysis revealed that advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and a high serum squamous cancer cell (SCC) antigen level were significant risk factors (p=0.015 and 0.025, respectively). Using the two parameters, criteria to determine a low-risk subset for distant recurrence were postulated: (1) FIGO Stage IIB or less and (2) pretreatment SCC<2.4 (Model A). Positive pelvic node on PET completely predicted all cases with distant recurrence and thus was considered as another prediction model (Model B). In the test cohort, although Model A did not showed diagnostic performance, Model B completely predicted all cases with distant recurrence and showed a sensitivity of 100% with negative LR of 0. Across the training and test cohort (n=116), the false negative rate was 0 (95% confidence interval 0%-7.6%). CONCLUSIONS: Positive pelvic node on PET is a useful marker in prediction of distant recurrence in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer who are treated with concurrent chemoradiation.