Woo Sang Ryu

Expression of estrogen receptors in gastric cancer and their clinical significance.

The male predominance of gastric cancer suggests that female sex hormones may have a protective effect against gastric cancer. We evaluated the expression of estrogen receptors in gastric cancer tissue and cells and the clinical significance of ER‐β expression in gastric cancer.

Primary papillary thyroid carcinoma previously treated incompletely with radiofrequency ablation

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) recently has been applied to benign thyroid nodules, mainly for the cosmetic reasons, and limited cases of local recurrences or focal distant metastases of well-differentiated thyroid cancer, in the high-risk reoperative condition or for the palliative purpose. But no report has been made on the RFA for primary thyroid cancer to date. We report on a patient with primary papillary carcinoma of thyroid gland who had undergone RFA before the cytological diagnosis of malignancy, later referred and treated with robotic surgery successfully. We can learn the following lessons from our case; (1) the RFA for operable primary thyroid malignancy should be avoided, because of the possibility of remnant viable cancer and undetectable nodal metastasis, and (2) robotic or endoscopic thyroid surgery may be a feasible operative method for benign or malignant thyroid nodules previously treated with RFA.

Acquired Omental Cystic Lymphangioma after Subtotal Gastrectomy: A Case Report

We herein describe a case of cystic lymphangioma in the greater omentum of the remnant stomach, which is thought it to be related with subtotal gastrectomy 10 yr ago for early gastric cancer. A 76-yr-old man was admitted to our department with postprandial abdominal discomfort and bowel habit change. Intraabdominal multilocular cystic mass was detected by ultrasonography and computed tomography. We performed a complete En-bloc tumor resection including spleen and distal pancreas, and histological examination confirmed cystic lymphangioma originated from the greater omentum of the remnant stomach. Although the etiology of omental lymphangioma remains largely unclear, these findings suggested strongly that obstruction of the lymphatic vessels after gastric resection for gastric carcinoma might be the most plausible cause. The surgical extirpation with resection of organs involved appears to be a treatment of choice for such unusual case.

Growing occult synchronous adrenal metastasis from rectal cancer after surgery and during adjuvant chemotherapy: A Case Report

We report a case of an occult synchronous adrenal metastasis of rectal cancer. A left adrenal mass was found by computed tomography (CT) 6 months after low anterior resection for rectal cancer. This lesion was growing during adjuvant systemic chemotherapy. The level of serum carcinoembryonic antigen and that of adrenal hormones were within the normal range. Radical left adrenalectomy was performed, and histopathological examination revealed metastatic adenocarcinoma compatible with rectal cancer. Adrenal metastasis is not rare in autopsy series. The possibility of adrenal metastasis should be considered in the follow-up of rectal cancer patients. Surgery may be the treatment of choice in occult synchronous metastasis of adrenal gland in rectal cancer.

Lympho-Vascular Invasion by Detecting D2-40 Was the Potent Prognostic Predictor in Breast Cancer Patients.

(Introduction) Distant metastasis and recurrence are the major factors of prognosis in breast cancer patients. Both of lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and blood vascular invasion (BVI) are known to be the important route for metastasis to regional lymph nodes and systemic metastasis. Despite the importance of vascular invasion as a prognostic factor, the application of vascular invasion as a histopathologic criterion is controversial. The aims of this study were to distinguish between LVI and BVI for the role of prognosis and recurrence in breast cancer patients by using an endothelial subtype specific immunohitochemical stain (podoplanin, D2-40 and CD31)Methods) Sections from 80 paraffin-embedded archival specimens of invasive breast cancer were stained for expression of podoplanin, D2-40, and CD31. The results of immunohistochemical staining were correlated with clinicopathologic features, such as tumor size, the status of lymph node metastases, estrogen receptor status, progesterone receptor status and HER2 expression, and recurrence. The patients with ductal carcinoma in situ and stage 4 breast cancer were excluded.Results) A significant correlation was found in the higher expression of D2-40, and lymph node metastasis. (P=0.02) We found a significant correlation between the expression of D2-40 and the recurrence of breast cancer. (P=0.04) However, there was no significant correlation between BVI and recurrence. A poorer disease free survival was shown in the higher expression of D2-40. (P Citation Information: Cancer Res 2009;69(24 Suppl):Abstract nr 6171.