International Journal of Cancer Management
Volume:15 Issue: 6, Jun 2022

One of the most common aggressive and primary brain tumors is glioma. The majority of diagnoses are referred to highgrade malignant glioblastoma, which carries the worst prognosis. Still, treatment of brain tumors remains a big challenge for clinicians. This study was designed to investigate the efficacy of gene therapy in the treatment of brain cancer.

Studies use genes as a therapeutic agent in brain cancer treatment even alone or in combination with other treatment methods. Full-text papers, which met the inclusion criteria, were independently assessed by two reviewers. Disagreements were resolved by consultation with a third reviewer.

Statistical analysis showed that 50% of the papers used a virus, 36% used polymers, and 14% used cells as carriers to transfect the genes as a therapeutic agent in brain tumor models. Data showed that the estimated size of the brain tumor was reduced by using co-treatment of the gene with one of the conventional therapies.

According to the results, co-treatment of the gene with conventional therapies could be more effective than the monotherapy methods.

In apheresis, collecting an adequate number of CD34+ cells is required for successful autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (auto-HSCT) procedure. It is difficult to harvest a sufficient number of stem cells in certain patients due to their old age and history of intensive chemotherapy. Plerixafor could mobilize stem cells and facilitate peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell collection. However, not enough information is available on the appropriate time intervals from plerixafor administration to apheresis.

In this study, we aimed at evaluating the level of peripheral blood CD34+ cells at plerixafor administration time and every three hours to identify the peak time of circulating CD34+ cells.

Circulating CD34+ cells were enumerated by flow cytometry on day 4 post mobilization. Plerixafor was administered to patients with poor mobilization based on the count of peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cells. The number of circulating CD34+ cells was evaluated before and 3, 6, 9, and 12 hours after plerixafor administration to assess the time it takes for stem cells to reach their peak level.

The highest level of stem cell concentration was found in 9 hours after plerixafor administration with an increasing trend. A statistically significant relationship was also observed between factors including platelet count on the first day of GCSF injection and the day of stem cell infusion, leukocyte count on admission, and basal levels of CD34+ cells in peripheral blood and the amount of harvested stem cells.

We demonstrated that plerixafor causes an incremental trend in CD34+ cells mobilization, reaching its peak after 9 hours. Further research should be performed to provide insights into graft cells’ population and hematologic and immunological recovery

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. An in-depth understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlies tumor GC will lead to breakthroughs in the targeted treatment of GC. Based on multiple lines of evidence, death-associated protein kinase 3 (DAPK3) regulates both programmed cell death including apoptosis and autophagy. The widespread experimental evidence raises the possibility of using DAPK-based gene therapy strategies.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of overexpression of DAPK3 using the PEGFPN1 vector on the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (MKN45).

The MKN45 cell lines were cultured in a DMEM culture medium and, then, the recombinant vector PEGFPN1-DAPK3 was transfected into the cells by lipofectamine 2000. The effects of the overexpression of the DAPK3 gene on MKN45 cells were evaluated by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT), flow cytometry, and Real-time quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) techniques.

Our findings indicated that overexpression of DAPK3 in MKN45 cells not only affects the expression of apoptosis-related genes but also changes the expression of autophagy-related genes. Additionally, overexpression of DAPK3 reduces the metabolic activity of cells.

The overexpression of the DAPK3 gene can lead to cell death by both inducing apoptosis and autophagy pathways in the gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (MKN45). This anti-cancer activity may describe a hopeful strategy in the application of novel gene therapy for the treatment of gastric adenocarcinoma; however, further research is required to examine the clinical effectiveness of this strategy in GC treatment.

Cancer incidence is a major public health concern and one of the leading causes of premature death worldwide. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the death rate and years of life lost (YLL) due to cancer in Iran.

In this study, death registration system (DRS) data in Iran was used. The Global Health Estimates (GHE-2016) cause categories and ICD-10 codes (C00-C97 and D00-D48) were assigned for deaths due to cancer. The crude, age-standardized mortality rates (ASMR) via world standard population was measured, and also YLL due to cancer were calculated using standard life expectancy.

The DRS recorded 53,492 deaths due to cancer (58.82% males and 41.18% females). The cancer mortality rate was 66.92 per 100,000 population (77.7 and 55.87 per 100,000 population in men and women, respectively) and ASMR was 96.4 per 100,000 population (115.7 and 77 per 100,000 population for males and females, respectively). The total YLL due to premature death was 736,564 in males, 580,254 in females, and 1,316,818 in both sexes. Death due to stomach cancer, tracheal, bronchus, and lung, leukemia, brain, and nervous system cancer, and breast cancer comprised the largest YLL category among different cancer sites.

Accounting for more than 1,300,000 YLL attributed to cancer, it is a major public health problem in Iran. Therefore, promoting the prevention and control programs and policies are necessary to improve health indicators and since some cancers are preventable, the burden can be reduced by controlling tobacco use, dietary interventions, and promoting physical activity

Anastomotic leakage is a significant complication after colorectal anastomosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors and preventive measures for anastomotic leakage after rectal cancer surgery.

A total of 171 patients who had undergone laparoscopic and open rectal cancer resection with a double stapling participated in this study. Twelve independent variables include age, sex, obesity, smoking, ASA grading, medical diseases, preoperative radiotherapy, preoperative chemotherapy, splenic flexure mobilization, diverting ileostomy, and the number of stapler firing were analyzed.

The anastomotic leakage rate was 2.33% (4 of 171). The mean age of the patients was 58.33 years old while their mean body mass index (BMI) was calculated as 24.10 kg/m2 . In our study, 16.3% of patients were cigarette smokers. Of the 171 rectal surgeries, 69.0% of patients were diverted by loop ileostomy and 1.16% were supported by ghost ileostomy. Of 171 patients included in this study, 17.5 % of patients required a single staple firing for rectal division. In contrast, 47.9% of patients required 2 linear staplers, others, 24.5% of patients required 3 cartridges for rectal division, and 9.9% of patients required 4 cartridges in their surgeries. There were significant differences between men and women in the number of cartridges used (P = 0.023).

All our leakage cases were men and the higher number of stapler firings for rectal division, history of smoking; male gender, and level of anastomosis were independent risk factors for the anastomotic leak.

Vulvovaginal atrophy (VVA) usually occurs during and after menopause due to low estrogen levels and can cause frustrating symptoms. Existing treatments such as estrogen compounds have undesired side effects.

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of a chicken tallow product for vaginal use on subjective symptoms of VVA in women with breast cancer.

Menopause induced by chemical drugs with subjective symptoms of VVA were selected from the Oncology-Radiotherapy Clinic of Shohadaye Tajrish Hospital between March and July 2020. Informed consent was obtained. Patients were instructed to apply 5g cream every other night before bedtime for 2 weeks, and 2 nights a week for the next 2 weeks and stop themedication. Patients were assessed at the time of initiation of medication, and 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after initiation of the trial, and VVA subjective symptoms were assessed. VVA subjective symptom score (VVA-SSS) form was used to assess itching, burning, dryness, and dyspareunia, using a 5-point Likert scale. Data were, then, analyzed.

Fifty women were included in the study (age above 18 years). All 5 monitored indices (itching, burning, dryness, dyspareunia, and VVA subjective symptoms score) diminished after initiation of intervention and reached a minimum level after 4 weeks of intervention (1.10 ± 1.16 baseline to 0.04 ± 0.20 at 4 weeks for itching, 1.42 ± 1.09 to 0.04 ± 0.20 for burning, 2.68 ± 0.91 to 0.30 ± 0.54 for dryness, 2.96± 0.88 to 0.50 ± 0.61 for dyspareunia, and 8.12 ± 2.70 to 0.86 ± 1.07 for VVA-SSS). During the 4 weeks following discontinuation of treatment, the symptoms slightly increased but remained significantly lower than the baseline (P-value < 0.001 for all 5 indices at all monitored time points).

The proposed treatment, rooted in Persian traditional medicine, may offer a safe and effective treatment for VVA symptoms in BCS.