Sekyung Lee

PURPOSE: This study aims to evaluate the impact of chemotherapy-induced alopecia (CIA) distress on body image, psychosocial well-being, and depression among breast cancer patients. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at the breast cancer advocacy events held at 16 hospitals in Korea. Alopecia distress was assessed using the 'Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia Distress Scale', body image and psychosocial well-being were measured by the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Ca

Breast cancer (BC) in the Asia Pacific regions is enriched in younger patients and rapidly rising in incidence yet its molecular bases remain poorly characterized. Here we analyze the whole exomes and transcriptomes of 187 primary tumors from a Korean BC cohort (SMC) enriched in pre-menopausal patients and perform systematic comparison with a primarily Caucasian and post-menopausal BC cohort (TCGA). SMC harbors higher proportions of HER2+ and Luminal B subtypes, lower proportion of Luminal A wit

BACKGROUND: Response to endocrine therapy in breast cancer correlates with estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) status. Generally, hormone receptor-positive (HR+) breast cancers have favorable prognosis. In order to understand the exact clinical characteristics and prognosis of single HR-positive breast cancer (ER + PR- tumors and ER-PR+ tumors), we compared these tumors to double HR+ tumors as well as HR- negative tumors (ER-PR-). METHODS: We examined the clinical and biologica

To elucidate the effects of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), we conduct whole transcriptome profiling coupled with histopathology analyses of a longitudinal breast cancer cohort of 146 patients including 110 pairs of serial tumor biopsies collected before treatment, after the first cycle of treatment and at the time of surgery. Here, we show that cytotoxic chemotherapies induce dynamic changes in the tumor immune microenvironment that vary by subtype and pathologic response. Just one cycle of tre

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Breast metastasis from extramammary neoplasm is rare. We present the cases of metastasis to the breast after review of results in one institute and we want to show the difference of previous report. METHODS: The surgical and pathology databases of Samsung Medical Center from November 1994 to March 2009 were investigated to identify all patients with a diagnosis of metastasis to the breast. RESULTS: Thirty-three patients with breast metastases from extramammary neoplasm

Overexpression of p53 is the most frequent genetic alteration in breast cancer. Recently, many studies have shown that the expression of mutant p53 differs for each subtype of breast cancer and is associated with different prognoses. In this study, we aimed to determine the suitable cut-off value to predict the clinical outcome of p53 overexpression and its usefulness as a prognostic factor in each subtype of breast cancer, especially in luminal A breast cancer. Approval was granted by the Insti

BACKGROUND: Although occult lymph node metastasis to the lateral neck compartment is common in papillary thyroid carcinoma, the incidence and patterns of lateral neck node metastasis in papillary carcinoma are not known. We hypothesized that sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) with radioisotope in the detection of occult lateral neck node metastasis would be useful in characterizing metastasis in papillary carcinoma. METHODS: Ninety-four patients with papillary thyroid carcinoma were included from

Endoscopic thyroidectomy is a safe and feasible alternative as compared with conventional open thyroidectomy in patients with a small thyroid cancer or a benign thyroid tumor. However, despite the many advantages of endoscopic surgery, it can result in unexpected complications. Recently, the authors experienced a case of follicular thyroid cancer recurrence that developed around the operative bed and along the port insertion site after endoscopic thyroidectomy for a large follicular neoplasm. Th

OBJECTIVE: Inflammation is associated with worse outcomes in cancer. Operations induce an acute inflammatory response and could impact the clinical outcomes in breast cancer. The neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is a well-known indicator of inflammation. We investigated the prognostic significance of perioperative inflammation with the NLR in breast cancer. METHODS: We reviewed the clinical and pathological records of women diagnosed with invasive breast carcinoma at the Samsung Medical Center

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Lymph node (LN) metastasis of ductal carcinoma in situ with microinvasion (DCISM) is variable (0-14%). To ascertain the role of lymphangiogenesis in LN metastasis in DCISM, we compared the lymphatic vessel density with the presence of LN metastasis in a group of patients that underwent axillary dissection with breast surgery due to DCISM. METHODS: We identified 46 patients with a diagnosis of DCISM who underwent breast surgery with axillary dissection to evaluate LN st