The purpose of the study is to investigate the associations between sarcopenia and health-related quality of life in elderly men and women in Korea. In a cross-sectional study using data from 2008 to 2011 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 4,937 adults aged 60 years and older who underwent a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan were included in the study. Sarcopenia is defined as an appendicular skeletal muscle index of two standard deviations or more below the mean for young, healthy reference populations. The health-related quality of life was measured using the EuroQol-5 dimension questionnaire. The overall prevalence of sarcopenia was 6.6% in these Korean people over the age of 60 years: 11.1% for men and 3.2% for women. Sarcopenic men tended to have lower income, lower physical activity, lower body mass index, and smaller waist circumference compared with nonsarcopenic men. Sarcopenic women tended to have higher body mass index and larger waist circumference compared with nonsarcopenic women. Sarcopenic men showed higher impairments in mobility, self-care, usual activities, and pain/discomfort compared with nonsarcopenic men. Women with sarcopenia also showed higher impairments in mobility, self-care, usual activities, and anxiety/depression compared with nonsarcopenic women. Sarcopenia showed an association with impairments in selfcare for men, and with impairments in self-care, usual activities, and anxiety/depression for women, after adjusting for other confounding factors. There is a significant association between sarcopenia and impaired health-related quality of life in this elderly Korean population, and these results differ between men and women.

Background: CD44s is a cell adhesion molecule known to mediate cellular adhesion to the extracellular matrix, a prerequisite for tumor cell migration. CD44s plays an important role in invasion and metastasis of various cancers. In the present study, we sought to determine whether CD44s is involved in clinical outcomes of patients with resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Using immunohistochemical staining, we investigated CD44s protein expression using tissue array specimens from 159 patients with resected NSCLC (adenocarcinoma (AC; n = 82) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC; n = 77). Additionally, the immunoreactivity of cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 was also studied. The clinicopathological implications of these molecules were analyzed statistically. Results: High CD44s expression was detected more frequently in NSCLC patients with SCC (66/72; 91.7%) than in those with AC histology (P < 0.001). Additionally, high CD44s expression was significant correlated with more advanced regional lymph node metastasis (P = 0.021). In multivariate analysis of survival in NSCLC patients with AC histology, significant predictors were lymph node metastasis status (P < 0.001), high-grade tumor differentiation (P = 0.046), and high CD44s expression (P = 0.014). For NSCLC patients with SCC histology, the significant predictor was a more advanced tumor stage (P = 0.015). No significant association was found between CD44s and clinical outcome (P = 0.311). Conclusions: High CD44s expression was a negative prognostic marker with significance in patients with resected NSCLC, particularly those with AC histology, and was independent of tumor stage.

Background: A common side effect of oxaliplatin is peripheral neurotoxicity. Oxidative stress to dorsal root ganglion (DRG) may be one of important pathogenic mechanisms. Green tea contains four polyphenol catechins, which are known to be potent antioxidants. The present work is aimed to determine whether green tea extracts have neuroproective or palliative effects on neurotoxicity symptoms induced by oxaliplatin. Methods: We conducted behavioral tests including sensory and thermal thresholds, an electrophysiological study, and TUNEL staining to assess neurotoxicity during the experimental period using animal models. Results: A total of 14 adult rats were randomly allocated into two groups. Oxaliplatin (4 mg/kg) with or without green tea (300 mg/kg orally once daily) was administered intraperitoneally twice per week for 6 weeks. At 4 and 6 weeks after oxaliplatin administration, sensory threshold values were significantly decreased and at 6 weeks after oxaliplatin administration, thermal threshold values were significantly increased in oxaliplatin-treated rats compared with those in rat treated with oxaliplatin and green tea extracts. The electrophysiological assessment, including sensory nerve conduction and H-reflex-related sensory nerve conduction velocity, revealed no significant changes in the two groups. TUNEL staining showed no significant difference in the number of apoptotic-featured cells between the two experimental groups in the DRG or peripheral nerves, but the number of apoptotic-featured cells in DRG was higher than that in sciatic nerves within each group. Conclusions: Green tea extracts may be a useful adjuvant to alleviate sensory symptoms after oxaliplatin administration, such as allodynia, but did not prevent morphometric or electrophysiological alterations induced by oxaliplatin.

11q13 region is a frequently amplified locus in human malignancies. Among the genes located in this region, FADD is one of the alleged driving genes. Because amplification is not generally confined to a single gene and amplified genes may not show increased expression, we need to evaluate clinical significance of changes occurring in 11q13 region to understand their roles in carcinogenesis. Therefore, we screened expressions of FADD and closely located genes (PPFIA1 and TMEM16A) and evaluated the expressions to find clinical significance in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast.

Pseudocirrhosis refers to a condition that shows changes in hepatic contour that mimic cirrhosis radiographically in the absence of the typical histopathological findings of cirrhosis. This condition has been observed in patients with cancer metastatic to the liver, both in those who have undergone prior systemic chemotherapy and those who have not. Pseudocirrhosis may cause difficulty in interpretation of the response to chemotherapy and hepatic decompression and complication of portal hypertension have a negative effect on the prognosis. We report on a case of breast cancer with liver metastases that showed cirrhotic changes during disease progression. Progression of liver metastases was confirmed by F18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET-CT). We also performed ultrasound-guided liver biopsy and confirmed tumor infiltration with severe desmoplastic fibrosis. This case suggests the pathogenesis of pseudocirrhosis through histopathological findings and the role of PET-CT in evaluation of the response to chemotherapy in patients with pseudocirrhosis.

Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) is a Wnt/ß-catenin pathway antagonist related to gastric cancer (GC) carcinogenesis. However, the prognostic role of combined DKK1 and ß-catenin expression in advanced GC (AGC) is not clear. In total, 158 patients with AGC who underwent gastric resection were enrolled in this study. DKK1 and ß-catenin expression was evaluated in whole tumor sections by immunohistochemistry. DKK1 expression was high in 73 (46.2%) patients, while ß-catenin expression was positive in 51 (32.3%) patients. The expression of DKK1 was positively correlated with that of ß-catenin (P < 0.001). The combined expression of DKK1 and ß-catenin was significantly associated with high N stage (N2 and N3) (P = 0.042). In addition, patients with high DKK expression demonstrated poorer overall (OS) (P < 0.001) and disease-free survival (DFS) (P = 0.001). However, there were no differences between high DKK1 expression with ß-catenin positivity and high DKK1 expression with ß-catenin negativity (OS, P = 0.379: DFS, P = 0.255). Multivariate analysis revealed that high DKK1 alone or high DKK1 with ß-catenin positivity were independent prognostic factors for both OS (high DKK1: hazard ratio [HR], 2.130; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 1.370–3.312, P = 0.001; high DKK1 with ß-catenin positivity: HR, 2.140; 95% CI, 1.343–3.409: P = 0.001) and DFS (high DKK1: HR, 2.092; 95% CI, 1.180–3.708; P = 0.012; high DKK1 with ß-catenin positivity: HR, 2.357; 95% CI, 1.291–4.306; P = 0.005). Our results indicate that high DKK1 expression regardless of ß-catenin positivity is a crucial prognostic factor for predicting tumor recurrence and survival in patients with resected AGC.