Cancer Statistics in I.R. Iran in 2018

Background: Saffron carotenoids have been known as powerful phytochemicals in breast cancer treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-cancer properties of an important saffron carotenoid, crocin, on BT-474 which is a known HER2+ breast cancer cell line. Methods: The effect of crocin on cell viability was investigated using MTT assay. Apoptosis induction was studied via flow cytometry and Western blotting of caspase-9 and cleaved caspase-9. Involvement of unfolded protein response (UPR) was also investigated via RT-PCR study of the XBP1 gene. Results: The results showed that crocin treatment decreases the viability of BT-474 cells and induces early and late apoptosis in these cells. The mechanism of crocin action was through the induction of caspase-9 expression and cleavage. Furthermore, we found that crocin induced XBP1 gene splicing in these cells. Conclusion: The present study provides important evidence that crocin induces apoptosis in BT-474 cells. In addition, the activation of UPR may play a role in the anticancer effects of crocin.

Background: Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD)  has recently been introduced as a reproductive choice for individuals who carry a disease-causing BRCA1/2 mutation. Since this technology has not yet been launched for patients at the Cancer Institute of Imam Khomeini Hospital harboring gene mutations that predispose patients to breast cancer, this study aimed to introduce a PGD-based model using a single cell lymphocyte instead of an embryonic blastomere. Methods: Two affected and unrelated women with a known mutation in BRCA1/2 were enrolled in this study. Each patient (together with her siblings) was considered as an embryo derived from a hypothetical couple. Blood samples were collected from these individuals as well as their parents. Linkage analysis was performed. Following this process, a mutation-free individual and a mutation carrier was selected from the first and second family, respectively. A single lymphocyte was then extracted from their freshly taken peripheral blood, and afterwards Nested Multiplex PCR was performed. Results: PGD confirmed that the individual from the first family is free of a mutation and the second one is a pathogenic mutation carrier. Conclusions: Our results suggested that PGD is a viable choice to offer to families with "Hereditary Breast Cancer Syndrome", who have been diagnosed with a known pathogenic mutation. Our introduced model can be used as a possible option by other laboratories that are planning to launch this technology.

 Background: Prostate cancer (PC) is the second most common malignancy in men, accounting for 12.5% of total number of cancers. The development of molecular studies (such as transcriptomics analysis) helps to characterization of Cancer, development of new targets for therapy, and introduction of the novel prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers. Recent studies have confirmed Mammalian Sterile 20-Like kinase (MST1) as a tumor suppressor gene. In this study we focus on MST1 expression level in WBC of PC patients, due to inheritance pattern of PC.  Material and Methods: This case-control study was conducted in two groups (20 patients with PC and 20 healthy individuals). After RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis, quantitative Real-Time PCR was done in order to determine the MST1 expression level. GAPDH was considered as internal control gene. Statistical analysis was performed by “Rotor-Gene Q series software 2.3.1” and “Rest 2.0.13 software”. Results: the study on 20 PC patients aged 50 to 70 years old and 20 healthy individuals shown that MST1 expression level in the WBC samples of PC patients have been reduced ≈62% compared to normal individuals. Conclusion: Introducing the reduced expression level of MST1 as a prostate cancer biomarker requires complementary research. However, in this study, biomarker validation and potential of MST1 has been approved

Background: Research shows that prostate cancer ranks second among the top five most common cancers in men. It has been confirmed that if the circulating Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) transcripts are detected successfully, the prostate cancer cells will be diagnosed early. A reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay was developed and compared to reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay for detection of PSA. Methods: 47 patients, including 30 patients, 15 with Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) and 2 healthy subjects as negative controls were included in this study. Also, the prostate cancer cell lines (PC3 and LNCaP) of two patients were included in the study as positive controls. Next, using the fresh samples, RNA was extracted and a first strand cDNA synthesis kit was applied for synthesis of cDNA. The human prostate specific antigen gene was used to design specific primers. Results: The results indicated that the control subjects and BPH were not positive. 13 out of 15 (86.6%) patients suffering from were localized cancer PSA positive. PSA positive results were observed among all 15 metastatic patients and positive controls (100%). RT-LAMP is an advantageous method because it is highly sensitive (1000-fold), quite cheap, user-friendly, and safe; in addition, it is performed quickly by visual detection using GineFinderTM dye in a water bath. Conclusions: RT-LAMP technique can be simply and reliably applied with basic instruments through visual inspection in laboratory studies.  

Background: Approximately 20 million individuals with cancer are living in the world. Gastric cancer is the fourth leading cause of death in the world. The aim of this study was to evaluate the costs of direct medical care of gastric cancer patients in a tertiary teaching hospital in Iran. Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical, which has been done in two main stages. The first stage was done by the aim of designing a form based on the valid international guidelines. The second step was done to identify the costs of diagnosis and treatment of Gastric cancer. To analyze the costs data, descriptive statistics such as mean and standard deviation were utilized. According to the violation of the assumption of normalization of the data, nonparametric statistical tests such as Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon and SPSS 16 were used for data analysis. Results: In this research, the records of 449 gastric cancer patients who referred to Omid tertiary teaching Hospital in Mashhad from the year 2005 to 2015 were studied. According to the results, the hospitalization costs has the highest average costs. Based on the signification level of the Mann Whitney test, no remarkable difference can be seen in the total costs of metastatic and non-metastatic patients (P-value: P> 0.05). Conclusion: In addition, new policies to reduce the heavy costs of these patients, which are performed by insurance agencies, financial supports from financial institution and charities and etc. can reduce the financial barriers for patients and prevent them from meeting catastrophic costs.      

Background: Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) with slow-growing and rarely metastasise character is the most common human neoplasm. Multiple BCCs is mostly raised from germline mutations in the tumour suppressor gene, PTCH with a genetically transmission pattern. Multiple BCCs, as well may be originated from radiodermatitis which is a significant side effect of ionizing radiation exposure delivered to the skin in different skin treatments. PTCH is a critical member of the Sonic Hedgehog signalling pathway and its mutations reported as an important event in 40 to 80 % of skin cancers. The exon number 23 is a critical exon in the function of PTCH protein. Mutations are reported in codon 1315 of PTCH in non-melanoma skin cancers. Methods: We assessed the mutations in exon 23 of PTCH gene by polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing in peripheral blood cells from 10 patients with multiple BCCs. All of the subjects were selected among whom had a history of radiation exposure and subsequent radiodermatitis. Results: Direct sequencing revealed a Cytosine to Thymine mutation in codon 1315 of the PTCH gene in 60% of the patients, from which 50% detected as heterozygotes with both of the C and T allele and 10% were homozygotes for T allele in the same position. Four subjects (40%) were detected as normal homozygotes of C allele, same as the normal population. Conclusion: The mutations with ID: rs 3575564 were detected in codon 1315 which transform the proline amino acid to leucine in the PTCH protein. This transformation may affect the normal function of the PTCH protein as reported previously. Patients with multiple BCC who had a history of radiation exposure show a transformation from Cytosine to Thymine in codon number 1315 of PTCH gene in their peripheral blood cells. Subsequent assessment of the BCC tissues will clarify the somatic mutagenesis effects of the radiation.

Evidence shows that there has been an increasing incidence of melanoma cancer in Iran, especially among the young population, which has led to increased mortality,disability and disablement, mostly due to the complications of disease and treatment.New treatments such as targeted therapy are extremely costly, and their results arenot clear.The objective of this study is to review different current guidelines for the management of cutaneous melanoma cancer and discuss the differences in the various phases of patient assessment (prevention, risk factors, genetic assessment, clinical diagnosis,biopsy, staging, treatment and follow-up, pediatric melanoma, melanoma duringpregnancy, and the necessity of social and mental support for melanoma patients).Then, based on the results, we will prepare a national guideline for the management of cutaneous melanoma in accordance with the prevailing conditions in Iran.

Hyperthermia is a novel method for cancer therapy. To have the best control when heating tissues in  hyperthermia, the use of magnetic nanoparticles is suggested. The local control of heat is very important in this technique, to prevent the damage of healthy tissues around the tumor, and therefore it is necessary to measure changes in temperature to determine the optimum conditions in which hyperthermia can create the desired results. The type and concentration of nanoparticles and nanoparticle distribution within the cancerous tissue are key factors affecting temperature distribution throughout the hyperthermia process. One of the main factors influencing nanoparticle distribution is the characteristics of the diffusion media, such as chemicalcomposition, morphological and mechanical features, all of which affect the diffusion of nanoparticles at the cancer site. In this review, the most common in vitro and in vivo media and their influence on the results of hyperthermia are discussed.We also mention in silico as a computational model. Buffer solutions, cell cultures,microfluids, dead tissues and animal models are some of the in vitro media that are discussed in this review paper. In addition, some of the animal models used for hyperthermia will be mentioned.