Search

Background: Breast cancer is among the most common malignancies in women around the world. There is evidence of high prevalence of serum/blood Vitamin D deficiency in Iranian women. Considering the multitude of factors that may be involved in the prognosis and lifespan of breast cancer patients, this study investigated the level of Vitamin D in Iranian patients with nonmetastatic breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 214 women diagnosed with breast cancer, who were referred to the radio-oncology department. Serum Vitamin D level of the patients was measured. Prognostic factors were determined based on demographic and pathological characteristics. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics tests, Chi-square, one-way analysis of variance, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox regression model in SPSS v22. For all cases, the significance level was considered to be P < 0.05. Results: The total mean of 25-hydroxyvitamin D serum level was 25.15 ± 17.68 ng/ml. There was no significant relationship between levels of Vitamin D with disease stage, tumor size, tumor grade, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (P > 0.05). The mean survival time was 5 years and 45 days. Conclusion: No relationship was found between serum Vitamin D levels and the factors affecting the prognosis of nonmetastatic breast cancer. The Cox analysis showed that the survival time was not influenced by Vitamin D as a prognosis factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims. The anthracycline and taxane-based chemotherapy regimens are the standard adjuvant treatment of node-positive breast cancer patients. Although it was believed that docetaxel and paclitaxel are similarly effective as adjuvant treatment in node-positive breast cancer, recent studies report that weekly paclitaxel is superior to weekly and triweekly docetaxel schedules in terms of overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). However, to the best of our knowledge, no study has compared weekly paclitaxel with a dose-dense regimen of docetaxel. The current study is aimed at evaluating the outcome of women with node-positive breast cancer who had received weekly paclitaxel compared with those treated with dose-dense docetaxel. Methods. This study included patients from two prospective studies conducted in our institute from April 2007 to March 2009. Ninety-one women with axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer who had received four cycles of dose-dense epirubicin and cyclophosphamide were treated with either weekly paclitaxel (80 mg/m2) for 12 doses or biweekly docetaxel (75 mg/m2) for four cycles. Results. After a median follow-up of 88 and 109 months, 11 (23.4%) and 10 (22.7%) patients had experienced disease recurrence (p = 0.16), while 10 (21.3%) and 5 (11.4%) patients had died in the paclitaxel and docetaxel arm, respectively (p = 0.56). No significant difference could be seen in 5-year DFS or OS among groups (HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.19–1.81, p = 0.35 ; HR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.19–1.81, p = 0.35 , respectively). Conclusion. In conclusion, both evaluated adjuvant chemotherapy regimens have comparable effectiveness regarding DFS and OS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) within breast conserving surgery (BCS) is progressively utilized to deliver the optimal dose of radiotherapy immediately after the excision of cancer during the same operation to the well-vascularized tissue and to the margin of resected cancer to damage the cancer cells, which might remain nearby the tumor just on time without no delay as radical irradiation for particular cases or as boost dose for others. Methods: This study reports 54-month single-center experiences after introduction to deliver IORT (50 kV x-ray) as a tumor bed boost in BCS for breast cancer and comparison with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). In this retrospective study, 255 patients (stages 1 - 3) with breast cancer were treated with BCS and IORT in the Cancer Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (April 2014-September 2018). They received 20 Gy IORT as a boost compared with 321 patients in the same stages with EBRT. Results: Within 54 months, there were 3 (1.2%) occurrences of local recurrence in IORT patients compared with 8 (2.5%) local recurrences in EBRT patients (P = 0.361) and 12 (4.7%) metastasis in the IORT group vs. 20 (6.2%) in the EBRT group (P = 0.724). The 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) was 85.1% in the IORT group compared with 86% in the EBRT group. Conclusions: IORT tumor bed boost with 50 kV x-ray during breast conserving therapy had a better outcome, but it was not significant compared with EBRT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Tumor growth, invasion, and metastasis are angiogenesis dependent; so, using anti-angiogenic therapies can block these procedures. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a strong proangiogenic factor that is expressed by many cancer cells like bladder cancer. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of the VEGFR in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of bladder and its relationship with other prognostic factors. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out on 61 patients with TCC of bladder after radical cystectomy (RC). These patients were referred to the UrologyWard in Labbafineazhad Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The relationship of VEGF and the prognostic factors was determined, using the Fisher's Exact and Chi-square for data analyzing by SPSS software version 17. Results: Among 61 patients with TCC of bladder, only 8 patients (13.1%) were VEGFR positive, and there was no significant relation between frequency of VEGFR expression and the other factors like age, gender, stage, lymph node involvement, lymphovascular, or perineural space invasion. Conclusions: According to this study, the most patients with TCC of bladder did not express VEGFR; also, none of the prognostic factors showed any relation with VEGFR expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common recurrent malignancies since there is no effective therapy for it. Silibinin, a widely used drug and supplement for various liver disorders, demonstrated anti-cancer effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma, human prostate adenocarcinoma cells, human breast carcinoma cells, human ectocervical carcinoma cells, and human colon cancer cells. Considering the anti-hepatotoxic activity of silibinin and its strong preventive and anti-cancer efficacy against various epithelial cancers, we investigated the efficacy of silibinin against human HCC and HUVEC cell lines. Silibinin effects on the growth and mode of cell death of these two cell lines are presented in this paper. HepG2 and HUVEC cells were incubated with different doses of silibinin (12.5, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 µg/mL) at 24, 48, and 72 h. Cytotoxicity was assessed using MTT and Trypan blue assays. Mode of cell death induced by silibinin was investigated using LDH assay and acridine orange/PI double dye staining. The results showed that silibinin has dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the viability of HepG2 and HUVEC cells. However, Silibinin causes a more continuous dose-dependent cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells compared to the HUVEC cells in which some degrees of resistance is apparent at the beginning. The mode of cell death looks also different in these two cell lines with HepG2 cells being more in favor of apoptosis while necrosis is more evident for the HUVEC cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Adding taxanes to anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy has shown significant improvement in node-positive breast cancer patients but the optimal dose schedule has still remained undetermined. Objectives. The feasibility of dose-dense epirubicin in combination with cyclophosphamide (EC) followed by weekly paclitaxel as adjuvant chemotherapy in node-positive breast cancer patients was investigated. Methods. All patients were treated with epirubicin (100mg/m²) and cyclophosphamide (600mg/m²) every two weeks for four cycles with daily Pegfilgrastim (G-CSF) that was administered 3-10 days after each cycle of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide infusion which followed by (80mg/m²) paclitaxel for twelve consecutive weeks. Results. Sixty consecutive patients were analyzed, of whom 57 patients (95%) completed the regimen and no case of toxicity-related death was observed. Grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity was uncommon and the most common grade 3/4 nonhematological adverse event was neuropathy disorders. Conclusions. Dose-dense epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by weekly paclitaxel with G-CSF support is a well-tolerated and feasible regimen in node-positive breast cancer patients without serious complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Adding taxanes to anthracycline-based adjuvant chemotherapy has shown significant improvement particularly in node-positive patients, but optimal dose and schedule remain undetermined. Objectives. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of dose-dense epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel in node-positive breast cancer. Methods. All Patients first received 4 cycles of epirubicin (100mg/m2) and cyclophosphamide (600mg/m2) at 2-week interval then followed by docetaxel (100mg/m²) at 2-week interval for 4 cycles, with daily Pegfilgrastim (G-CSF) that was administered in all patients on days 3-10 after each cycle of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide infusion. Results. Fifty-eight patients with axillary lymph node-positive breast cancer were enrolled in the study, of whom 42 (72.4%) completed the regimen. There were two toxicity-related deaths, one patient due to grade 4 febrile neutropenia and the other due to congestive heart failure. Grade 3/4 neutropenia and febrile neutropenia were 13.8% and 5.1%. The most common grade 3/4 nonhematological complications were as follows: skin-nail disorders (48.3%), hand-foot syndrome (34.4%), paresthesia (38%), arthralgia (27.5%), and paresis (24.1%). Conclusions. Dose-dense epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by docetaxel with G-CSF support are not feasible, and it is not recommended for further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Determining the scattered radiation dose absorbed by specific body organs and tissues in radiotherapy is very important. In this study we choose thyroid as one of the radiosensitive tissues in the human body to determine absorbed dose in breast cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy. Beside direct dosimetry, the other way to determine the absorbed dose to identified organ of human body is MCNP simulation. Materials and methods In this study, the absorbed dose by thyroid was obtained by two manners: 1. MCNP simulation, 2. Direct measurement by TLD. We modeled each patient's body using three dimensional Monte Carlo Nuclear Particles Code (MCNP-4C). In our simulation, the dose distribution from Co-60 γ-rays, with its photon energy spectra, was used and the received dose to thyroid was calculated by the code. In order to validate the calculated data, we measured the dose distribution at the same selected point during a real radiotherapy by TLDs on the same patients without any build-up-cap. For each patient, we compared the measured dose with the relevant calculated data. Results The comparison showed that the measured data was about 22% higher than the calculated data. The measurement showed that 10% of all received dose was absorbed by the thyroid, While the result of calculation showed that only 9% of that was absorbed by thyroid which is 1% less with respect to measured values. Conclusion The scattered dose to the thyroid was not much. However, clinicians and radiotherapists should be aware of the magnitude of the risk in order to expose the thyroid as little as possible. MCNP version 4C, used in this study, was found to be a valid practical way of performing accurate calculations of 3-D dose distributions from particle interactions in a complex target such as the human body. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Breast cancer, a life-threatening serious disease with a high incident rate among women, is responsible for thousands of cancer-associated death worldwide. Numerous investigations have evaluated the possible mechanisms related to this malignancy. Among them, non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), i.e., microRNAs (miRNAs), long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), and circular RNAs have recently attracted attention of researchers. In addition to recent studies for evaluating the role of ncRNAs in breast cancer etiology, some investigations have revealed that vitamin D has regulatory and therapeutic roles in breast cancer. Moreover, an important link between vitamin D and ncRNAs in cancer therapy has been highlighted. Herein, the aim of this study was to discuss the available data on the mentioned link in breast cancer., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.)

Human hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common recurrent malignancies since there is no effective therapy for it. Silibinin, a widely used drug and supplement for various liver disorders, demonstrated anti-cancer effects on human hepatocellular carcinoma, human prostate adenocarcinoma cells, human breast carcinoma cells, human ectocervical carcinoma cells, and human colon cancer cells. Considering the anti-hepatotoxic activity of silibinin and its strong preventive and anti-cancer efficacy against various epithelial cancers, we investigated the efficacy of silibinin against human HCC and HUVEC cell lines. Silibinin effects on the growth and mode of cell death of these two cell lines are presented in this paper. HepG2 and HUVEC cells were incubated with different doses of silibinin (12.5, 25, 50, 100, 150 and 200 μg/mL) at 24, 48, and 72 h. Cytotoxicity was assessed using MTT and Trypan blue assays. Mode of cell death induced by silibinin was investigated using LDH assay and acridine orange/PI double dye staining. The results showed that silibinin has dose-dependent inhibitory effect on the viability of HepG2 and HUVEC cells. However, Silibinin causes a more continuous dose-dependent cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells compared to the HUVEC cells in which some degrees of resistance is apparent at the beginning. The mode of cell death looks also different in these two cell lines with HepG2 cells being more in favor of apoptosis while necrosis is more evident for the HUVEC cells.

Background: Cancer diagnosis for everybody may be perceived as crisis and breast cancer, as the most common malignancy in women, can influence their well-being and multiple aspects of their health. So understanding that how women in various contexts and communities adjust to the illness is necessary to facilitate this adjustment and improve their quality of life., Objectives: The aim of this study was to: 1) identify the core components of coping strategies to adjust to the illness in Iranian women with breast cancer perspective, 2) to develop and determine psychometric properties of a native self-report instrument to assess coping behaviors and measure the degree of adjustment with the breast cancer., Methods: The present exploratory mixed method study was conducted in two consecutive stages: 1) the hermeneutic phenomenological study was done to explore the life experiences of coping styles to adjust with the breast cancer using in-depth interviews with patients that lead to item generation; 2) psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the instrument were evaluated recruiting 340 eligible women. The item pool was reduced systematically and resulted in a 49-item instrument., Results: From the qualitative stage, item pool containing 78 items related to coping strategies to adjust with the breast cancer. After eliminating unwanted statements from the results, qualitative and quantitative face and content validity, the 10 factors extracted employing construct validity were: feeling of guilt, abstention-diversion, role preservation and seeking support, efforts for threat control, confronting, fear and anxiety, role wasting, maturation and growth, isolation, and fatalism. These factors accounted for the 59.1% of variance observed. The Cronbach reliability test was carried out and alpha value of 10 factors was calculated from 0.78 to 0.87 confirming all factors were internally consistent. The scale's stability was tested using the test-retest method., Conclusions: The 49-item AIMI-IBC revealed acceptable psychometric properties. This instrument provides healthcare professionals to systematically assess the coping strategies of Iranian women with breast cancer and measure the degree of adjustment with illness.

The membrane epithelial mucin MUC1 is expressed at the luminal surface of most simple epithelial cells, but expression is greatly increased in most breast cancers. The aims of present study were to investigate expression of the MUC1 gene and interactive affects in metastases. Whole cell RNA isolation from 50 sentinel lymph nodes (SNLs) of breast cancer patients was performed using reverse transcription and real-time PCR. All patients were diagnosed with breast cancer and without metastasis, confirmed by IHC staining. The evaluation of tumor and normal samples for expression of MUC1 gene, the results were 49.1% non-expressive and 45.3% expression (Student t, p = 0.03). Also in comparison of normal breast tissue and breast cancer SLN for MUC1 gene, MUC1 negative SLNs were 75.0% (18 samples) and MUC1 positive samples were 25.0% (6 samples). Over-expression of MUC1 gene may offer a target for therapy related to progression and metastasis in women with breast cancer.

Background: In adults, malignant glioma (high-grade glioma) is one of the most common brain tumors. In spite of different types of treatment, the outcome is still not likely to be favorable. The aim of this study was to determine the difference between survival rate in adult patients with high grade glioma treated by radiotherapy only and those treated by a combination of radiotherapy and nitrosurea-based chemotherapy., Methods: This study was conducted using the records of 48 patients with grade 3 or 4 of glial brain tumor referred to the radiation-oncology ward of Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital in Tehran, Iran from 2005 to 2012. The patients had undergone radiotherapy alone or adjuvant chemoradiation with nitrosourea. The median survival of patients after receiving the different types of treatment were evaluated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the log -rank exam. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis for median survival regarding to the patients' age, gender, extent of surgery, Karnofsky performance status (KPS) with the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank exam. We used the Cox-model for multivariate analysis., Results: Records of 48 patients were studied (34 men and 14 women). The mean survival were 18 months for men and 15.2 months for women (P=0.05). Around 58% (28 patients) were more than 50 years old, and 42% (20 patients) were less than 50, and mean survival for the two age groups were 13 and 20 months, respectively (P<0.001). Then, the patients were divided into three groups according to the extent of surgery, i.e., excisional biopsy (11 patients), stereotactic biopsy (22 patients), and resection (15 patients), and the mean survival for the three groups were 14.7, 17.3, and 18.8 months, respectively. There was no significant statistical difference for mean survival between the three groups (P=0.23). The KPS was greater than 70% in 23 patients and less than 70% in 21 patients, and the mean survival for the former and latter groups were 17.6 and 16 months, respectively (P=0.67), four patients had unknown KPS. Twenty patients received only radiotherapy, and chemoradiation was done for 28 patients, and the mean survival for the former and latter patients were 14.5 and 19 months, respectively (P=0.15)., Conclusion: In this study, we concluded that age was the only effective factor in the survival of the patients and that chemotherapy had no significant effect on the survival of the patients.

Background: Violence against women is one of the worst consequences of cultural, political, and socio-economic inequalities between men and women. Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) has been identified as an important cause of morbidity from multiple mental, physical, sexual, and reproductive health outcomes. Nonetheless, the prevalence and related factors of this international problem have not been investigated extensively in some parts of the world. The aims of this research were to determine the prevalence of physical and mental violence perpetrated by men against their intimate partners and to assess the associated factors of partner violence among women in Shahroud in northeastern region of Iran in 2010., Methods: This Cross-Sectional study was conducted in Shahroud, in northeast of Iran in 2010. Cluster sampling was done from primary health service institutions, universities, public schools and governmental organizations throughout the city and six hundred married women completed the study. A structured questionnaire with 34 items was designed in three parts to assess the physically (10 items) and mentally (15 items) violent acts by a current intimate male partner and identify collative behaviors (9 items) of victims. The Logistic regression analysis was applied to determine the net effect of background variables on the IPV occurrence within the past year., Results: About 20% of the participants experienced at least one type of physical violence. Increased risk of physical violence was positively associated with the younger age of the couple (OR=3.08, P<0.05), lower education (OR=2.28, P<0.01) and having a semi-manual skilled occupation of husband (OR=3.62, P<0.05), husband's heavy cigarette smoking (OR=2.62, P<0.01), and his drug abuse (OR=2.1, P<0.05). About 85% of the women had experienced mental harassment within the past twelve months. Logistic Regression Analysis found that lower education (OR=3.06, P<0.01) and having semi-manual skilled occupation (OR=3.8, P<0.05) of husband, increasing years of marriage (OR=2.8, P<0.01), husband's heavy cigarette smoking (OR=2.3, P<0.01) and his abusing the use of drugs (OR=3.4, P<0.01) had significant associations with women's experience of mental violence., Conclusions: Some socioeconomic characteristics such as educational level, occupational status of men, heavy smoking and drug abusing are associated with the occurrence of violence against one's intimate partner. Since IPV is usually unreported, healthcare providers should be aware of the risk factors associated with domestic violence to be able to design preventive measures against its negative health outcomes in women.