Seung Woo Park

FDG-PET is a very useful tool in diagnosing pancreatic cancer. FDG-PET may be also used as an adjunct for determining the treatment modality of pancreatic cancer and evaluating tumor response to chemoradiation therapy.

The strong expression of Oct4 and Nanog in metaplastic ducts and Oct4 expression preceding Ras mutation suggests that these homeobox transcription factors are associated with the early stage of pancreatic cancer carcinogenesis and may play an important role in that process.

Among 67 cases of AIP, either IgG or IgG4 was elevated in 76% of patients, and 14 patients (21%) had other organ involvement. New Korean diagnostic criteria are useful for diagnosis of AIP.

Our data suggest that VEGF-C expression serves as an independent and important prognostic factor in ICC patients, and it may play an important role in the lymph node metastasis of ICC.

Chronic inflammation is an important process leading to tumorigenesis. Therefore, targeting and controlling inflammation can be a promising cancer therapy. Inflammation is often caused by a variety of inflammatory cytokine such as the interleukin (IL)-6, a pleiotrophic cytokine known to be involved in the tumorigenesis. In this study, an in vivo hepatic tumorigenesis model of zebrafish was generated to demonstrate a direct consequence of the human IL6 expression causing hepatocarcinogenesis. To

BACKGROUND: One of the main objectives of the molecular evolution and evolutionary systems biology field is to reveal the underlying principles that dictate protein evolutionary rates. Several studies argue that expression abundance is the most critical component in determining the rate of evolution, especially in unicellular organisms. However, the expression breadth also needs to be considered for multicellular organisms. RESULTS: In the present paper, we analyzed the relationship between the

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling is frequently up-regulated in fibrogenic pancreatic diseases including chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. Although recent series suggest exclusive paracrine activation of stromal cells by Hh ligands from epithelial components, debates still exist on how Hh signaling works in pathologic conditions. To explore how Hh signaling affects the pancreas, we investigated transgenic phenotypes in zebrafish that over-express either Indian Hh or Sonic Hh along with green flu

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Palliative biliary decompression by metal stent is the treatment of choice for unresectable malignant biliary obstruction; however, conventional stents provide only mechanical palliation and exert no anti-tumor effects. Gemcitabine (GEM) has been reported to be more effective in unresectable pancreatic cancer and biliary cancer compared with other chemotherapeutic drugs. We evaluated the safety of a GEM-eluting stent by analyzing histologic responses of the porcine bile duct.

Liver damage upon exposure to ionizing radiation, whether accidental or because of therapy can contribute to liver dysfunction. Currently, radiation therapy is used for various cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma; however, the treatment dose is limited by poor liver tolerance to radiation. Furthermore, reliable biomarkers to predict liver damage and associated side-effects are unavailable. Here, we investigated fibrinogen-like 1 (FGL1)-expression in the liver and plasma after radiation ex

Though surgical resection has been the traditional treatment for tumors of the ampulla of Vater, endoscopic maneuvers such as snare resection, laser photodestruction and electrofulguration have recently been introduced to avoid operation-related morbidity and mortality. From 1994 to 1996, 6 patients with ampullary tumor were managed by endoscopic snare resection and regularly followed. Endoscopic snare resection of the ampullary tumor was technically feasible in all patients and each procedure w

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The complete surgical removal of bile duct cancer offers the only chance of cure. Long-term survival, however, is very limited because of frequent recurrence after surgery. As it is important to know the mode of recurrence and its relevant factors for early detection, prevention, and selecting an ideal strategy for adjuvant therapy, we determined the frequent mode of recurrence after curative surgery and analyzed its risk factors. METHODOLOGY: Eighty-three patients who underwent

Aberrant expression of the claudin family of proteins has been reported in many human cancers, including pancreatic ductal carcinoma. Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms of the pancreas (IPMN) and mucinous cystic neoplasms (MCN) are considered precancerous lesions that are able to progress towards pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. We analyzed the expression of several claudin family members using surgical IPMN and MCN specimens to clarify the relationships between claudin expression and cli

BACKGROUND AND AIM: In hilar cholangiocarcinoma, an accurate assessment of preoperative resectability is important to optimize surgical resection. We investigated the accuracy of the combination of intraductal ultrasonography (IDUS) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS) for evaluating longitudinal extent in hilar cholangiocarcinoma. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with hilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and magnetic resonance cholangiography (MR