Search

Background and Objective: BRAF mutations were studied in various populations for prostate carcinoma (PC); however, mutations in BRAF gene are unusual compared to KRAS . Oncogenic activating of BRAF mutations were studied lately in almost 0%10% of prostate cancer cases., Methods: In this retrospective study, we gathered 100 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded samples of prostate adenocarcinoma. A hundred archived samples of adjacent benign prostatic hyperplasia were chosen as normal control. This study was done in pathology laboratory of Qaem Hospital during 2013-2015., Results: Total number of 200 PC and normal cases was investigated for BRAF V600E mutation. The BRAF V600E mutation was found in only 4 patients but it was not detected in normal cases. There were no significant differences between patient and control groups for this mutation ( P >0.99). The frequency of BRAF V600E mutation was not significant in different age groups ( P >0.285); the most frequency was related to the age range of 71-80. No significant difference was observed between tumor grade and BRAF mutation ( P =0.21)., Conclusion: According to our findings, BRAF gene mutations did not play essential role in PC. Therefore, anti-BRAF (V600E) could not be considered as a proper target for therapy.

Background and Objective: Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and Myeloproliferative Leukemia (MPL) mutations are confirmatory indicators for Myeloproliferative Neoplasm (MPN). The current study was performed to determine the frequency of MPL mutation in MPN patients without JAK2 mutation, in order to assign MPL mutation frequency in North-East of Iran., Methods: Total of 105 negative JAK2 cases including 5 Myeloproliferative Disorders (MPD), 15 Polycytemia Vera (PV) and 15 Essential Thrombocytosis (ET) who referred to Qaem Medical Center were assigned to this study. ARMS-PCR was carried out for measuring MPL mutations., Results: A significant difference was observed between MPL mutant and non-mutant groups from overview of MPL mutation ( P =0.00001). From the total studied population, 14.28% were ET cases and 4.71% of them had splenomegaly. About 66.66% had thrombocytosis and 33.33% of all the individuals had leukocytosis according to WHO criteria, and 4.76% of non-MPL mutant individuals had splenomegaly ( P =1).This mutation was reported in 4-6% of ET and PMF individuals. In this research, 4.76 % of studied individuals had MPL (W515L/K) mutation, which were diagnosed with ET., Conclusion: Generally, the presence of JAK2 and MPL mutations are the most important criteria for MPN diagnosis. The obtained frequency of MPL mutation was similar to previous studies. Despite the high frequency of JAK2 and Philadelphia abnormality, MPL mutation was rare in myeloprolifrative disorders. Further studies are suggested to investigate its prognostic effects for these diseases., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.

Background & Objective: The current study aimed at assessing the relationship between gastritis and peptic ulcer susceptibility and inflammation-related gene polymorphisms in Iranian patients.Gastritis and peptic ulcer are common medical complications with serious outcomes on the quality of life. Inflammatory responses of gastric mucosa are associated with helicobacter pylori, but most infected patients remain asymptomatic. There is strong evidence that inflammatory response is a major part of its etiology., Methods: The current case-control study aimed atexamining genetic polymorphisms in inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-10 using polymerase chain reaction-variable number tandem reaped (PCR-VNTR) and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) methods, respectively in 603 genotyped patients admitted to Mohammadi Hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran(198 patients with gastritis, 84 with peptic ulcer, and 321 patients as controls)., Results: No significant associations were detected in genotype and allele frequencies of IL-10 and IL-4 between the case (with gastritis and peptic ulcer) and control groups., Conclusion: In conclusion, the results of the analyses suggested that these polymorphisms may not predispose the carriers to gastritis and peptic ulcer development., Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflict of interests.

Background & Objective: KRAS mutations are reported in many types of cancers including pancreas, lung, colon, breast,and gastric (GC). High frequency of KRAS mutation is observed in the pancreas,colon, and lung cancers; they commonly arise in codon 12 and 13 of exon 2. Due to the lack of information about the frequency of KRAS mutations in the Northeast of Iran, the currentstudy aimed at evaluating KRAS frequency in cases with GC in this region., Methods: A total of120 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks of patients with GC were assessed. The assays to detect KRAS in codon 12 and13 were obtained through the peptide nucleic acid (PNA)-clamp., Results: Totally 87 male and 33 female patients were analyzed in the current study. The mean age of the subjects was 55years.The most common tumoral fragment was located on the body with 48 cases (40%) and the less frequent was related to fondues with six cases (5%).Of the 120 GC samples, 16(13.3%) caseshad codon 12 KRAS mutation, and 16.7% had codon 13 mutations. There were no significant relationships between gender,age, and KRAS mutations in the studied specimens., Conclusion: In conclusion, the overall frequency of KRAS codon 12 and 13 mutations in GC was 30% in the current study population.Frequency of KRAS codon 12 and 13 mutations hadsignificant correlation with tumors location. Different pathogenic mechanismsare suggested for GC according to tumor location. The current study resultsmay be an important diagnostic tool for physicians managing atrophic gastritis., Competing Interests: Authors declared no conflict of interests.

Background: Breast cancer remains the most common and second lethal cancer in females. HER-2/neu is one of the most important amplified oncogene in breast cancer. The amplification of HER-2 is correlated with decreased survival, metastasis, and early recurrence. The amplification of HER-2/neu gene and synthesis of the protein are reported in 10%-34% of breast cancer cases associated with tumor size, advanced tumor stage, high-grade tumor, young age at diagnosis, absence of steroid hormone receptor, and lymph node involvement., Methods: Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods are options to evaluate HER-2 expression. The current study aimed at identifying the correlation between FISH and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in measuring HER-2 expression., Results: The study investigated the performance of the real-time PCR as measured against FISH method in IHC +2 borderline cases. In a total of 120 IHC 2+ samples, 58.3% were negative and 41.6% positive for HER-2 gene, confirmed by FISH as a gold standard method. The real-time PCR ratio was <1.8 for a majority (82.8%) of the tumor samples with unamplified HER-2 gene by FISH as a gold standard assay., Conclusion: Despite the fact that real-time PCR is a promising method to evaluate HER-2 over expression and a supplementary array to FISH, according to the results of the present study it cannot be utilized instead of gold standard techniques; therefore, additional studies should be carried out to appraise the value of this method to evaluate HER-2 over expression.

Background and Objective: The assessment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status has become of great importance in the diagnosis of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic value of quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (qPCR) and Chromogenic In Situ Hybridization (CISH) to assess HER2 status of biopsy specimens., Methods: To elucidate the status of HER2 gene amplification, biopsies of breast carcinoma from 120 patients with 2+ IHC status were analyzed by qPCR and CISH., Results: The results of the two experiments were compared, and it was depicted that the concordance rate between CISH and qPCR assays was 88.1%.The quantification of HER2 gene with CISH and qPCR showed that there was a significant correlation (p value= 0.0001 and r= 0.808)., Conclusion: The results of this research support the idea that qPCR is a precise and reproducible technique, which can be employed as a supplementary method to evaluate HER2 status., Competing Interests: The authors declared no conflict of interest.