A 53-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for the evaluation of a mass (13 x 10 cm) in the left lobe of the liver seen by imaging studies. On subsequent biopsy of the mass, the lesion was histologically diagnosed as malignant small round-cell tumor, consistent with metastatic small-cell carcinoma. Segment IV segmentectomy was performed. On pathological examination, the mass showed a yellowish-gray granular appearance with multifocal hemorrhage and necrosis. The phenotypes shown by immunohistochemistry revealed characteristic patterns of small-cell carcinoma (neuron-specific enolase [NSE]+, synaptophysin+, c-Kit+, cluster designation [CD]56+, epithelial membrane antigen [EMA]+, cytokeratin [CK]7-). High resolution-computed tomography (HRCT) revealed inactive pulmonary tuberculosis with small calcified tuberculoma in the right upper lobe. Sputum cytology was negative for malignancy. The postoperative course was uneventful, and platinum-based chemotherapy (cisplatin, etoposide) was initiated.

Background: This study assessed the predictive value of receptor-interacting protein kinase 3 (RIPK3) expression and its correlation with clinicopathological characteristics, disease-free survival, and overall survival of patients with cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy after lung adenocarcinoma resection. Methods: This study included 50 patients who underwent cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy after lung adenocarcinoma (stage IB-IIIA) resection. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed by probing tumor tissue microarrays with anti-RIPK3 antibody. Results: High RIPK3 expression was detected in 24 (48.0%) of the 50 patients. Moreover, high RIPK3 expression was associated with a prolonged disease-free survival (P=0.015) but not with a prolonged overall survival (P=0.109) of the patients who underwent cisplatin doublet therapy after lung adenocarcinoma resection. We also examined whether RIPK3 expression was associated with prognosis based on chemotherapeutic response and found that patients with low RIPK3 expression showed a higher tendency of developing a progressive disease [14/26 (53.8%) patients] than patients with high RIPK3 expression [6/24 (25.0%) patients] (P=0.03). Results of Cox univariate proportional hazards regression model showed that age, N stage, and high RIPK3 expression (P=0.04) were associated with the prolonged disease-free survival of the patients who underwent cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy after lung adenocarcinoma resection. Conclusions: These results suggest that RIPK3 overexpression is a potential biomarker to identify patients with lung adenocarcinoma who can benefit the most from cisplatin-based adjuvant chemotherapy after complete adenocarcinoma resection.

Adaptable and sensitive materials are essential for the development of advanced sensor systems such as bio and chemical sensors. Biomaterials can be used to develop multifunctional biosensor applications using genetic engineering. In particular, a plasmonic sensor system using a coupled film nanostructure with tunable gap sizes is a potential candidate in optical sensors because of its simple fabrication, stability, extensive tuning range, and sensitivity to small changes. Although this system has shown a good ability to eliminate humidity as an interferant, its performance in real-world environments is limited by low selectivity. To overcome these issues, we demonstrated the rapid response of gap plasmonic color sensors by utilizing metal nanostructures combined with genetically engineered M13 bacteriophages to detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and diagnose lung cancer from breath samples. The M13 bacteriophage was chosen as a recognition element because the structural protein capsid can readily be modified to target the desired analyte. Consequently, the VOCs from various functional groups were distinguished by using a multiarray biosensor based on a gap plasmonic color film observed by hierarchical cluster analysis. Furthermore, the lung cancer breath samples collected from 70 healthy participants and 50 lung cancer patients were successfully classified with a high rate of over 89% through supporting machine learning analysis.

BackgroundPredicting how long a patient with far advanced cancer has to live is a significant part of hospice and palliative care. Various prognostic models have been developed, but have not been fully compared in South Korea.ObjectivesWe aimed to compare the accuracy of the Prognosis in Palliative Care Study (PiPS), Palliative Prognostic Index (PPI), Palliative Prognostic Score (PaP) and Objective Prognostic Score (OPS) for patients with far advanced cancer in a palliative care unit in South Korea.MethodsThis prospective study included patients with far advanced cancer who were admitted to a single palliative care unit at the National University Hospital. Variables for calculating the prognostic models were recorded by a palliative care physician. The survival rate was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of each model were calculated.ResultsA total of 160 patients participated. There was a significant difference in survival rates across all groups, each categorised through the five prognostic models. The overall accuracy (OA) of the prognostic models ranged between 54.5% and 77.6%. The OA of clinicians’ predictions of survival ranged between 61.9% and 81.3%.ConclusionThe PiPS, PPI, PaP and OPS were successfully validated in a palliative care unit of South Korea. There was no difference in accuracy between the prognostic models, and OA tended to be lower than in previous studies.

Background: Many researchers have identified that adequate sleep duration is linked to the quality of life and metabolic diseases. Nowadays, it is hard to take enough sleep, so weekend catch-up sleep (CUS) may be an alternative option in modern society. To our knowledge, no previous studies reported the association between weekend CUS and metabolic syndrome, especially in the Korean population. Objective: We investigated the association between weekend CUS and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korean adults (≥20 years old) with less than 6 hours of average weekday sleep. Patients and Methods: A total of 1,453 individuals were selected from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Weekend CUS was divided into four categories: ≤0 hour, 0-1 hour, 1-2 hours, and ≥2 hours. Odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were derived by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results: Participants with weekend CUS ≥1 hour had decreased risk of metabolic syndrome in univariate analysis (CUS 1-2 hours: OR: 0.413, 95% CI: 0.301-0.568; CUS ≥2 hours: OR: 0.382, 95% CI 0.296-0.493). Weekend CUS 1-2 hours reduced the risk of metabolic syndrome in multivariate logistic regression analysis (OR: 0.552, 95% CI: 0.369-0.823). Based on the age group analysis, weekend CUS ≥1 hour reduced the metabolic syndrome among those aged 20-39 and 40-65 (20-39: CUS 1-2 hours OR: 0.248, 95% CI: 0.078-0.783, CUS ≥2 hours OR: 0.374, 95% CI: 0.141-0.991; 40-65: CUS 1-2 hours OR: 0.507, 95% CI 0.309-0.832 CUS ≥2 hours OR: 0.638, 95% CI: 0.415-0.981). Conclusion: Weekend CUS was associated with a low risk of metabolic syndrome among Korean adults with sleep restriction.

Background Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a malignancy of the large intestine, whose development and prognosis have been demonstrated to be associated with altered lipid metabolism. High cholesterol intake is associated with an increased risk of CRC, and elevated serum cholesterol levels are known to be correlated with risk of developing CRC. Niemann-Pick C1-Like 1 (NPC1L1), a target of ezetimibe, plays an essential role in the absorption of intestinal cholesterol. However, whether the altered expression of NPC1L1 affects CRC development and prognosis is currently unknown. Methods Data corresponding to patients with CRC were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCAG). Datasets from the Genome Data Analysis Center (GDAC) platform were analyzed to compare the expression of NPC1L1 in normal and CRC tissues using the Mann–Whitney U test and chi-square test. Further, the datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database were analyzed. The log-rank test and multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed to determine whether NPC1L1 significantly affects the prognosis of CRC. Results The expression of NPC1L1 was found to be upregulated in CRC and was significantly associated with the N and pathological stages but not with the histological type, age, and sex. Increased NPC1L1 expression in CRC was related to poor patient survival, as evidenced by the Kaplan–Meier and multivariate regression analyses. Conclusions As high expression of NPC1L1 was associated with CRC development, pathological stage, and prognosis, NPC1L1 can serve as an independent prognostic marker for CRC.

Background The protein kinase A (PKA)/cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) has been suggested to be related to the inhibition of the proliferation of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of a novel diarylcyclohexanone derivative, MHY4571, in regulating the PKA-CREB pathway and to study its anti-tumor role in squamous NSCLC. Methods We designed MHY4571 as a novel PKA inhibitor with acceptable in silico ADME properties and tested it in vitro in lung cancer cell lines and in vivo in xenograft and orthotopic mouse models of squamous cell lung carcinoma. Results MHY4571 inhibited PKA activity (> 70% inhibition) and suppressed the expression of p-PKA and p-CREB dose-dependently. MHY4571 treatment reduced lung cancer cell viability and promoted caspase 3-dependent apoptotic cell death. Orally administered MHY4571 significantly suppressed lung tumor growth in xenograft and orthotopic mouse models. PKA catalytic subunit alpha-silencing by siRNA (siPKA) strongly attenuated CREB phosphorylation; siCREB did not alter PKA protein levels or its phosphorylation, suggesting that PKA is an upstream regulator of CREB activity. MHY4571 acted synergistically with cisplatin (on co-treatment) to induce apoptotic cell death in lung cancer cells. Conclusions Our results imply that MHY4571 may be a potential drug candidate for squamous cell lung cancer treatment.

Background: Sleep duration is associated with hearing loss, especially presbycusis, which is the most common type of hearing loss; however, there is limited evidence regarding this association among the Korean population. We aimed to determine the relationship between sleep duration and high-frequency hearing loss in Korean adults aged ≥40 years.Methods: We examined 5,547 Korean adults aged ≥40 years who completed audiometric tests and questionnaires regarding sleep duration during the 2010–2012 cycle of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mild presbycusis was defined as >25 decibels (dB) and <40 dB, whereas moderate-to-severe presbycusis was defined as >40 dB pure tone averages at high frequencies (3,000, 4,000, and 6,000 Hz) for both ears. Additionally, the sleep duration was divided into quartiles. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were estimated using multivariable logistic regression after adjusting for covariates.Results: The prevalence of presbycusis in South Korean adults was 62.1%, of which 61.4% showed moderate to severe presbycusis. The incidence of moderate-to-severe, but not mild, presbycusis showed a significant positive correlation with sleep duration.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that sleep duration is associated with the prevalence of presbycusis.