Question: What are the parental needs and challenges when their children return to school after cancer? Finding: In addition to scholastic aptitude-oriented programs, emotional and psychosocial support is necessary for a successful return to school. Meaning: Pediatric oncologists should actively engage in improving oncology practices to better integrate individualized school plans and educate peers and teachers to improve health literacy to make them understand the needs of children with cancer. |
Purpose: We aimed to determine the prognostic significance of lymphocyte counts and the lymphocytemonocyte ratio (LMR) in pediatric patients with osteosarcoma. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 27 pediatric patients with localized extremity osteosarcoma, treated at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital between May 2002 and March 2016. Leukocyte counts and LMR before treatment and on day 14 (LMR14) of... |
Patients with unresectable, relapsed, or refractory osteosarcoma need a novel therapeutic agent. Metformin is a biguanide derivative used in the treatment of type II diabetes, and is recently gaining attention in cancer research. We evaluated the effect of metformin against human osteosarcoma. Four osteosarcoma cell lines (KHOS/NP, HOS, MG-63, U-2 OS) were treated with metformin and cell proliferation was evaluated using... |
We present a case of tuberculosis-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis in a 14-year-old girl. The patient presented with weight loss, malaise, fatigue, prolonged fever, and generalized lymphadenopathy. Laboratory investigation revealed pancytopenia (white blood cells, 2,020 cells/µL; hemoglobin, 10.2 g/dL; platelets, 52,000 cells/µL), hypertriglyceridemia (229 mg/dL), and hyperferritinemia (1,420 ng/mL). Bone marrow biopsy showed a hypocellular bone marrow with a large numbers of... |
Osteosarcoma is the most frequent primary bone tumor. Advances in combination chemotherapy and surgical technique have greatly improved the survival of patients with osteosarcoma. In Korea, improvements in osteosarcoma treatment have been made over the past two decades. The 5-year event-free survival rate of Korean children and adolescents with localized disease is 64.6%, comparable to that of American or European... |
We performed a pilot study to determine the benefit of high-dose chemotherapy and autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation (HDCT/autoPBSCT) for patients with Ewing sarcoma family of tumors. We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients who received HDCT/autoPBSCT at Korea Cancer Center Hospital. Patients with relapsed, metastatic, or centrally located tumors were eligible for the study. A total of 9 patients (3... |
For evaluating the immunogenicity of an influenza vaccine, the microneutralization (MN) test has a higher sensitivity and specificity as compared to the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. However, the MN test is more time consuming and is difficult to standardize. We performed the MN test to determine its usefulness as an alternative or complementary test to the HI test for evaluating... |
Fungal infections are rarely responsible for arthritis. Few cases of fungal arthritis have been reported, even in immunocompromised hosts susceptible to low-virulence organisms. Herein, the authors report the first case of |
Purpose:The differential diagnosis for a pulmonary nodule is intriguing in cancer patients. Metastasis might be a preferential diagnosis, and yet possibilities of other medical conditions still exist. Pulmonary tuberculosis should be enlisted in the differential diagnosis for a pulmonary nodule in cancer patients in Korea. This study was aimed at analyzing the incidence and clinical features of pulmonary tuberculosis that were misdiagnosed as... |
Purpose : The authors aimed to analyze the long-term effects of treatments, especially external beam radiotherapy (EBRT), in bilateral retinoblastoma patients. Methods : This retrospective study analyzed the medical records of 22 bilateral retinoblastoma patients who were registered between October, 1987 and October, 1998 and followed-up for more than 10 years. They were treated by enucleation, EBRT, and systemic chemotherapy.... |
Purpose : To evaluate the correlation between serum methotrexate (MTX) peak levels and clinical outcome of osteosarcoma, as well as to determine the correlation of these levels with the histologic response and event-free survival (EFS). Methods : To maintain the homogeneity of the study population, we selected 52 patients with localized extremity osteosarcoma who had received two cycles of neoadjuvant... |
Bone pain in a child could be associated with cancer as an initial manifestation of the disease. The childhood malignancies that frequently present bone pain are leukemia, neuroblastoma, and primary bone tumors such as osteosarcoma and Ewing sarcoma. Persistent bone or joint pain associated with swelling, mass, or limitation of motion implies underlying serious causes. Systemic manifestations such as lymphadenopathy,... |
Purpose : We tried to assess the optimal conditions to improve low transduction efficiency and their effect on target cells. Methods : Cultured NIH 3T3 cells were incubated with retroviral vectors bearing an enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) gene. We varied the ratio of viral vectors to target cells (1:1-1:8) and the number of transfections (X1, X2), and compared transduction... |
Purpose : We evaluated the response to immunomodulation therapy, long-term survival and relapse rate of aplastic anemia during follow-up for more than 1 year. Methods : Twenty-eight children, with moderate to severe aplastic anemia were followed for more than one year and 7 children expired after therapy, were analyzed. Antilymphocyte globulin(ALG) or antithymocyte globulin(ATG) by itself was given to 27 patients, and cyclosporine A(CsA)... |
Purpose : We have undertaken this study to evaluate the effects of induction chemotherapy involving BH-AC, idarubicin, and 6-thioguanine(6-TG). Methods : BH-AC 300mg/m2/day was administered intravenously over three hours for seven consecutive days. Idarubicin 12mg/m2/day was administered intravenously for three days. 6-TG 100 mg/m2/day was administered orally for seven days. Intrathecal ara-C was administered on the first day of treatment. Results... |
Purpose : Germ cell tumors have variable clinical characteristics according to the age, sex, primary site, and pathologic diagnosis. To provide the therapeutic principle, the clinical characteristics, response to the treatment, and prognostic factors were analyzed. Methods : Medical records of 57 children who were diagnosed as malignant germ cell tumor in Seoul National University Children' s Hospital from January 1986 till June 1996 were... |