BACKGROUND Cigarette smoking is associated with the etiology of nasopharyngeal carcinoma; however, the influence of smoking on survival in patients with established nasopharyngeal carcinoma remains unknown. METHODS We retrospectively analyzed 1,849 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were categorized as never, former, and current smokers. Cumulative effect of smoking was defined in ter...

OBJECTIVES To compare the therapeutic results between selective neck dissection (SND) and conversion modified radical neck dissection (MRND) for the occult nodal metastasis cases in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. METHODS Forty-four cases with occult nodal metastasis were enrolled in this observational cohort study. For twenty-nine cases, SNDs were done and for fifteen cases, as metast...

This study was conducted to investigate prognosis and survival of patients undergoing distal subtotal gastrectomy with D2 and D2+ lymphadenectomy for patients with locally advanced gastric cancer. Overall survival rates of 416 patients with locally advanced gastric cancer were compared between D2 and D2+ lymphadenectomy. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis was used to identify signifi...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the role of radiotherapy (RT) in patients who underwent hysterectomy for uterine carcinosarcoma (UCS). METHODS Patients with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage I-IVa UCS who were treated between 1990 and 2012 were identified retrospectively in a multi-institutional database. Of 235 identified patients, 97 (41.3%) received adjuvant RT. Twen...

Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is a rare and aggressive neuroendocrine carcinoma of the skin. MCC is characterized by a high incidence of locoregional recurrence, and distant metastasis, and often requires short-term follow-up after treatment. In this present paper, we describe a rare case of MCC, which presented as a palpable axillary mass and an incidental adrenal mass, and report on the ultraso...

PURPOSE Compared to conventional radiotherapy (RT), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) significantly reduces the rate of treatment-induced late toxicities in head and neck cancer. However, a clear survival benefit of IMRT over conventional RT has not yet been shown. This study is among the first comparative study to compare the survival rates between conventional RT and helical tomotherapy...

Lymphadenectomy of lymph node metastasis (LNM) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may potentially improve survival of patients with intrahepatic tumors controllable by means of locolegional treatment. However, the treatment strategy has not gained wide clinical acceptance, especially in patients with multiple advanced HCC. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of lymphadenect...

Several studies have suggested that the intratumoral level of thymidylate synthase (TS) in colorectal tumors correlates with survival. We have studied the correlation between TS expression in primary rectal cancer and locoregional recurrence, distant metastases, and survival. TS enzyme levels were evaluated immunohistochemically using the specific monoclonal antibody TS 106 in paraffin-embedded...

BACKGROUND Carcinomas of the salivary glands are uncommon heterogeneous tumors characterized by locoregional invasion and distant metastasis. Angiogenesis is a necessary condition for invasion and metastasis, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered a prime mediator of this process. The relationship between VEGF and clinical outcome in cancers of diverse locations has been ex...