Ahn JH, et al. Korean J Radiol. 2023 Apr;24:e31. https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2022.0629

Typical treatment for recurrent pancreatic cancer is potent chemotherapy or chemoradiotherapy. However, recent clinical investigations suggest a potential therapeutic role of local resection in recurrent pancreatic cancer. Based on accumulating surgical experience of minimally invasive pancreatectomy, we report cases of two patients who underwent successful laparoscopic re-resection of isolated local recurrence following laparoscopic radical pancreatectomy for pancreatic cancer.

Background: Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive type of human brain tumor with a poor prognosis and a low survival rate. Secreted proteins from tumors are recently considered as important modulators to promote tumorigenesis by communicating with microenvironments. Repulsive guidance molecule A (RGMA) was initially characterized as an axon guidance molecule after secretion in the brain during embryogenesis but has not been studied in GBM. In this study, we investigated secreted gene expression patterns and the correlation between RGMA expression and prognosis in GBM using in silico analysis. Methods: RGMA mRNA levels in normal human astrocyte (NHA), human glioma cells, and GBM patient-derived glioma stem cells (GSCs) were assessed by qRT‐PCR. Patient survival analysis was performed with the Kaplan–Meier curve and univariate and multivariate analyses using publicly available datasets. The predictive roles of RGMA in progressive malignancy were evaluated using Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG), and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA). Results: RGMA mRNA expression was elevated in glioma cells and GSCs compared with NHA and correlated with unfavorable prognosis in glioma patients. Thus, RGMA could serve as an independent predictive factor for GBM. Furthermore, the increased levels of RGMA expression and its putative receptor, neogenin (NEO1), were associated with poor patient survival rates in GBM. Conclusion: We identified RGMA as an independent prognostic biomarker for progressive malignancy in glioblastoma and address the possibilities to develop novel therapeutic strategies against glioblastoma.

Lee SJ, et al. Yonsei Med J. 2025 Jun;66:e64. https://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2024.0408

Background: Oncotype DX (ODX) is widely used to estimate recurrence risk and guide adjuvant therapy in hormone receptor-positive (HR+), HER2-negative early-stage breast cancer. However, limited accessibility and high costs have prompted the use of alternative clinical models, such as the Tennessee nomogram. This study aimed to validate the predictive performance of the Tennessee nomogram in a Korean breast cancer cohort and identify factors contributing to discrepancies between nomogram predictions and ODX results. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data on1298 patients with HR+/HER2−, node-negative invasive breast cancer who underwent ODX testing between May 2013 and August 2023. Predictive probabilities were calculated using the Tennessee nomogram and compared with actual ODX recurrence scores. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and area under the curve (AUC) were determined. Discordant cases were examined for clinicopathologic characteristics contributing to prediction errors. Results: The nomogram demonstrated an overall accuracy of 86.1% (sensitivity 0.130, specificity 0.989, AUC 0.776). Discordant results were observed in 13.9% of cases, primarily in patients with a high histologic grade, PR negativity, and elevated Ki-67 index. Most false negatives clustered within the ODX score range of 25–30, suggesting underestimation of risk in borderline-high cases. Conclusions: The Tennessee nomogram may be a useful surrogate when ODX testing is unavailable, but caution is warranted in patients with aggressive tumor biology. In such cases, ODX testing should be prioritized to guide adjuvant therapy decisions.

Park JM, et al. Ann Surg Treat Res. 2025 Apr;108(4):219-230. https://doi.org/10.4174/astr.2025.108.4.219