Basic and Clinical Cancer Research
Volume:8 Issue: 3, Summer 2016

Pain adversely affects cancer patients quality of life . Knowing different sources of pain helps physicians and patients to manage it. The aim of this study was investigating physical factors affecting pain in Iranian cancer patients.
This cross-sectional study randomly enrolled cancer patients who were newly admitted to the Medical Oncology Department of Cancer Institute of Iran in 2013 . Patients divided in to two groups by questioning whether they have pain or not. Patient's demographic characteristics were collected from medical records. Multivariate Logistic Regression method was used to analyze results.
A total 269 subjects were included. 52.78% patients suffered pain. 69.72% of pain group and 54.33% of no-pain group were female and average age for the pain group was 49.59±13.57. There was significant difference at pain control of patients who “capable to work but with misery” and “able to conduct personal affairs” (OR: 9.60, 95% CI: 2.38-38.71 Р=0.00). Cancer treatment was a protective factor from pain experience (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.37-2.05 Р=0.76). 62.70% of pain group was in advanced stage; had 2.18-fold higher risk of pain compared to the patients who was in limited stage (CI: 1.02-4.65). Patients who took more pain-killer drugs had less control of pain (54.41%) (OR analgesic: 3.07, OR opium: 12.11 and OR multi drugs: 8.97).
Although pain could be relieved in most cancer cases, more than 50% of our patients showed under-controlled pain. Understanding patients’ desires and past experiences of disease and collaboration of medical, radiation and surgical oncologists with palliative care nursing, psychological specialties in multidisciplinary teams is urgent to solve miss-treatment of cancer pain.

For xenograft models of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) to be valuable in development of molecularly-targeted drugs, careful characterization is essential to their validation. The present study aimed to validate the TNBC xenograft model with a specific focus on angiogenesis.
Twelve TNBC xenograft tumors and 12 human breast cancer tumors (HTNBC) were included in this study. Both groups were grade III and p53 positive. Nuclear pleomorphism and mitotic count were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stains respectively. Basal cytokeratin (CK5/6), vimentin, cathepsin-D, Ki-67 (for proliferation), and MVD-CD34 (for angiogenesis) markers were examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC). The association of Microvesseles density (MVD) with Ki-67, nuclear pleomorphism, and mitotic count was assessed in each group separately, and HTNBCs were compared with the xenograft group.
The xenograft models showed a significant correlation between angiogenesis (MVD) and cell proliferation (Ki-67), nuclear pleomorphism, and mitotic count (p= 0.0398; p= 0.020; p=0.001, respectively). The HTNBC group also showed a similar trend, except nuclear pleomorphism (p=0.193), which did not correlate with angiogenesis. Comparison between the two groups showed significant changes in cell proliferation (Ki-67 and vimentin). The difference in proliferation rate and vimentin expression between the two groups can be due to biological diversity between human and mice and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), respectively.
Our results, re-emphasize the significance of angiogenic treatment therapy in patients with TNBC, and further validate the TNBC xenograft model as a valid model for drug discovery and development.

Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) is a fundamental stage in cancer metastasis and the presence of vascular invasion is a strong indication of the spread of the malignant tumor cells. Regulation of the EMT is a complex process in which several different transcription factors are involved. Eomesodermin (Eomes) as a member of the T-box gene family is an important component in the induction of germ-line layer during gastrulation. However, its role in cancer is not well understood. Thereby, in this project we aimed to assess the Eomes gene expression in tumor tissues and to find out its possible relevance with vascular invasion.
Seventy one breast cancer tumors were obtained from tumor bank of Cancer Institute, Imam Khomeini Hospital. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was done to evaluate Eomes gene expression at RNA level.
Our results have shown that Eomes has been remarkably expressed in the majority of the tumor samples. High level of expression of Eomes was concomitant with the presence of vascular invasion in 72% of samples, however no significant association was found. To the best of our knowledge this is for the first time that Eomes expression has been reported in breast cancer tumors.
This important finding suggests that Eomes has the potential to be used as a biomarker in breast cancer.

Adiponectin is one of the most important members of adipokine family which is widely synthesized and secreted by adipose tissue. The action of adiponectin is via binding to main receptors. It has several actions including regulation of glucose level, lipid homeo­stasis and reproductive system. Adiponectin can also influence vascular endothelium via preventing the migration of monocytes. The role of adiponectin has been detected in progression of certain cancers associated with obesity. Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer and develops the progression of breast cancer, since adipocytokines are produced exclusively by adipose tissue and may influence the association between obesity and breast cancer risk. Therefore, it seems that obesity can play important role in the pathogenesis of breast cancer. The mechanism of adiponectin action in breast cancer is currently unknown. It seems that adiponectin motivates the sensitivity of peripheral tissue to insulin. Insulin can motivate the proliferation of breast cancer cells via signaling through insulin and insulin –like growth factor (IGF-1) receptors. Also insulin may upregulate a potent angiogenic agent including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression that is secreted by breast cancer cells.