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Ding-Shinn Chen

Publications and source records attributed to Ding-Shinn Chen.

114 records · Page 7Linked to original sources
PubMed2002

A hospital-based study on the use of alternative medicine in patients with chronic liver and gastrointestinal diseases.

To determine the extent to which Taiwanese patients use alternative medicine, we interviewed 500 consecutive patients with chronic liver and gastrointestinal disorders at an outpatient-service. Forty-two patients were excluded due to incomplete data. The percentages of patients with chronic liver (102/269, 37.9%) and gastrointestinal (74/189, 39.2%) diseases using alternative medicine were not significantly different (p = 0.70). The patients who used alternative medicine were not statistically different in gender (p = 0.37), age (p = 0.59), education level (p = 0.83), family income (p = 0.90), or occupation (p = 0.72). Only 36% (64/176) of patients informed their doctors of their use of alternative medicine. The kinds of alternative medicine used by the 176 patients included: Chinese/herbal medicine, 169 (96%); acupuncture, 31 (18%); nutritional supplements, 22 (13%); chiropractic, 17 (10%); scratching, 14 (8%); Qigong, 13 (7%); cupping, 13 (7%); and incense ash, 3 (2%). Sixty-six percent (111/169) of patients used Chinese/herbal medicine in addition to Western allopathic medicine. Only 11% (19/169) of them believed that Chinese/herbal medicine had side effects. Our study indicates the use of alternative medicine occurs across all demographic groups in one-third of patients with chronic liver and gastrointestinal diseases at a major general hospital in Taipei. We suggest that the doctors question all patients for history of alternative therapy use.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Recent research progress in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality throughout the world, and is clearly linked to viral infections. Mass vaccination programs against hepatitis B virus have reduced the incidence of HCC in Taiwanese children, and are likely to yield similar benefits elsewhere. In many countries, a definite increase in the incidence of HCC has been reported, largely attributable to the increasing incidence of hepatitis C virus infection. Although the major viral and environmental risk factors for the development of HCC have been determined, the oncogenic pathways leading to malignant transformation of liver cells have long remained obscure. HCC is also extremely difficult to manage. Although patients at risk can be identified and early detection of HCC is feasible, the current management of HCC is confusing due to the lack of well-designed, randomized clinical trials comparing various treatment modalities. New surgical techniques and postoperative therapies may improve the outcome in some resectable cancers; however, the vast majority of patients have unresectable tumors. Local ablation treatments may shrink or necrose tumors, but the clear benefit of such therapies remains to be seen. Further elucidation of the genetic and molecular features of HCC may lend insight that will lead to the development of innovative strategies to manage this cancer. In this article, the current understanding of HCC with respect to etiologic factors, genetic mechanisms responsible for hepatocarcinogenesis, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention are reviewed.

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Curative potential of GM-CSF-secreting tumor cell vaccines on established orthotopic liver tumors: mechanisms for the superior antitumor activity of live tumor cell vaccines.

In preclinical studies, tumor cells genetically engineered to secrete cytokines, hereafter referred to as tumor cell vaccines, can often generate systemic antitumor immunity. This study investigated the therapeutic effects of live or irradiated tumor cell vaccines that secrete granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) on established orthotopic liver tumors. Experimental results indicated that two doses (3 x 10(7) cells per dose) of irradiated tumor cell vaccines were therapeutically ineffective, whereas one dose (3 x 10(6) cells) of live tumor cell vaccines caused complete tumor regression. In vivo depletion of CD8+ T cells, but not natural killer cells, restored tumor formation in the live vaccine-treated animals. Additionally, the treatment of cells with live vaccine induced markedly higher levels of cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity than the irradiated vaccines in the draining lymph nodes. The higher levels of cytokine and antigen loads could partly explain the superior antitumor activity of live tumor cell vaccines, but other unidentified mechanisms could also play a role in the early T cell activation in the lymph nodes. A protocol using multiple and higher dosages of irradiated tumor cell vaccines also caused significant regression of liver tumors. These results suggest that the GM-CSF-secreting tumor cell vaccines are highly promising for orthotopic liver tumors if higher levels of immune responses are elicited during early tumor development.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Combination of interferon alfa-2a and amantadine does not improve the efficacy of interferon therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: A recent pilot study suggested that 18% of patients with hepatitis C viral infection achieved a sustained response to a 6-month course of 200 mg of oral amantadine alone with disappearance of serum hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid. We prospectively studied 30 naive patients with chronic hepatitis C viral infection for the possible role of amantadine in improving the efficiency of interferon for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. METHODOLOGY: Patients were assigned into two groups on a double-blind and randomized controlled basis. Placebo group received 4.5 MU of interferon alfa-2a thrice weekly and oral placebo daily for 24 weeks. Amantadine group received a combination of the interferon and 200 mg of oral amantadine daily for 24 weeks. Patients were observed and tested for blood chemistry every week for the initial 4 weeks and every 2 weeks thereafter during the treatment until 24 weeks. After the end of treatment, patients were followed up at 4-week intervals for an additional 12 months. RESULTS: At the end of treatment, 5 (33.3%) patients responded to the combination therapy, and 7 (46.7%) patients responded to interferon therapy alone. Twelve months after cessation of the treatment, 3 (21.4%) patients had a sustained complete response to the combination therapy, and 3 (20.0%) patients had a sustained complete response to interferon alone (P = 0.64). CONCLUSION: Amantadine does not increase the efficacy of interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

Adult↗