Weight Gain and its Correlates among Breast Cancer Survivors

SummaryPurposeWeight gain after diagnosis of breast cancer is a profound issue that may negatively impact cancer prognosis. However, most existing research on weight change has been conducted in Western countries. In addition, several factors related to weight gain have been reported; however, the evidence is inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to examine weight gain and its correlates among Korean breast cancer survivors.MethodsA total of 132 female breast cancer survivors were recruited from one university hospital in South Korea. Participants completed anthropometric measurements (i.e., body weight, height) and a self-reported questionnaire, including the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form and Mini Dietary Assessment.ResultsThe mean weight change was −0.09 kg (SD = 4.28). Only 27 women (19.7%) gained more than 5% of their weight at diagnosis, 59.1% maintained weight, and 21.2% lost weight. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, significant correlates of weight gain were younger age, obesity at diagnosis, duration of more than 36 months since diagnosis, and low diet quality.ConclusionYounger women, women who were obese at diagnosis, women with more than 36 months since diagnosis, or women who showed lower diet quality should be considered at high-risk for weight gain. Findings from our study suggest that optimal weight management strategies should be developed using ethnically- or culturally-appropriate approaches

Ectopic Hidradenoma Papilliferum of the Breast: Ultrasound Finding

Hidradenoma papilliferum (HP) is a benign neoplasm arising from mammary-like glands which typically involves the dermal layer of the female anogenital area. The prognosis for HP is good. Recurrence is unusual and is typically attributed to incomplete excision of the primary tumor. Malignant transformation is rare and HP of the breast has not yet been reported. Ectopic HP is usually solitary, small, and asymptomatic. It appears as a well-circumscribed, complex cystic mass in the dermis on ultrasound. We present a case of HP arising from the axillary tail of the breast

Left Paraduodenal Hernia Presenting with Atypical Symptoms

Paraduodenal hernias are a rare congenital malformation, but they are the most common internal hernias. They develop secondary to a failure in midgut rotation, which may lead to small bowel obstruction or other clinical manifestations. The authors recently experienced a case of a left paraduodenal hernia presenting with unusual symptoms of left flank pain and vomiting

Exergy Analysis for Utilizing Latent Energy of Thermal Energy Storage System in District Heating

The thermal energy storage (TES) system stores the district heating (DH) water when the heating load is low. Since a TES system stores heat at atmospheric pressure, the DH water temperature of 115 °C has to be lowered to less than 100 °C. Therefore, the temperature drop of the DH water results in thermal loss during storage. In addition, the DH water must have high pressure to supply heat to DH users a long distance from the CHP plant. If heat is to be stored in the TES system, a pressure drop in the throttling valve occurs. These exergy losses, which occur in the thermal storage process of the general TES system, can be analyzed by exergy analysis to identify the location, cause and the amount of loss. This study evaluated the efficiency improvement of a TES system through exergy calculation in the heat storage process. The method involves power generation technology using the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and a hydraulic turbine. As a result, the 930 kW capacity ORC and the 270 kW capacity hydraulic turbine were considered suitable for a heat storage system that stores 3000 m3/h. In this case, each power generation facility was 50% of the thermal storage capacity, which was attributed to the variation of actual heat storage from the annual operating pattern analysis. Therefore, it was possible to produce 1200 kW of power by recovering the exergy losses. The payback period of the ORC and the hydraulic turbine will be 3.5 and 7.13 years, respectively

CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cell depletion modulates anxiety and depression-like behaviors in mice.

Stress has been shown to suppress immune function and increase susceptibility to inflammatory disease and psychiatric disease. CD4(+)CD25(+) regulatory T (Treg) cells are prominent in immune regulation. This study was conducted to determine if anti-CD25 antibody (Ab) mediated depletion of Treg cells in mice susceptibility to stress-induced development of depression-like behaviors, as well as immunological and neurochemical activity. To accomplish this, an elevated plus-maze test (EPM), tail suspension test (TST), and forced swim test (FST) were used to examine depression-like behaviors upon chronic immobilization stress. Immune imbalance status was observed based on analysis of serum cytokines using a mouse cytometric bead array in conjunction with flow cytometry and changes in the levels of serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) in the brain were measured by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The time spent in the open arms of the EPM decreased significantly and the immobility time in the FST increased significantly in the anti-CD25 Ab-treated group when compared with the non stressed wild-type group. In addition, interlukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-á (TNF-á), interlukin-2 (IL-2), interferon-gamma (IFN-γ), interlukin-4 (IL-4) and interlukin-17A (IL-17A) concentrations were significantly upregulated in the stressed anti-CD25 Ab-treated group when compared with the non stressed wild-type group. Furthermore, the non stressed anti-CD25 Ab-treated group displayed decreased 5-HT levels within the hippocampus when compared with the non stressed wild-type group. These results suggest that CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cell depletion modulated alterations in depressive behavior, cytokine and monoaminergic activity. Therefore, controlling CD4(+)CD25(+) Treg cell function during stress may be a potent therapeutic strategy for the treatment of depression-like symptoms

Metachronous bile duct cancer nine years after resection of gallbladder cancer

We report a rare case of a 74-year-old man with metachronous gallbladder cancer and bile duct cancer who underwent curative resection twice, with the operations nine years apart. At the age of 65 years, the patient underwent a cholecystectomy and resection of the liver bed for gallbladder cancer. This was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma, with negative resection margins (T2N0M0, stage IB). Nine years later, during a follow-up examination, abdominal computed tomography and MRCP showed an enhanced 1.7 cm mass in the hilum that extended to the second branch of the right intrahepatic bile duct. We diagnosed this lesion as a perihilar bile duct cancer, Bismuth type IIIa, and performed bile duct excision, right hepatic lobectomy and Roux-en-Y hepaticojejunostomy. The histological diagnosis was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma with one regional lymph node metastasis (T1N1M0, stage IIB). Twelve months after the second operation, the patient is well, with no signs of recurrence. This case is compared with 11 other cases of metachronous biliary tract cancer published in the world medical literature