International Journal of Cancer Management
Year:2018 | Volume:11 | Issue:9|Papers Count:7

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 Urology Ward 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.

Background: Women with breast cancer experience major problems. One counseling method improving mental health is problem solving therapy (PST). Since psychological wellbeing is a measure of mental health, individuals with poor psychological wellbeing are subject to depression and anxiety. Therefore, improvement of psychological wellbeing results in physical and mental health. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of problem solving therapy on the psychological wellbeing of women with breast cancer. Methods: This clinical trial was performed on 34 women affected with breast cancer. Convenience sampling was employed to collect samples in Shafa Specialty Hospital of Ahvaz, Iran (2017). Patients were randomly assigned into intervention (n = 17) and control group (n = 17). Problem solving therapy was applied in 8 ninety-minute sessions weekly. The Data were gathered using the demographic questionnaire and Ryff 's psychological wellbeing questionnaire, including 84 items. In a one-month follow-up study, the patients filled in Ryff's psychological wellbeing questionnaire again. Results: The results of investigating the effect of group problem solving therapy on psychological wellbeing revealed that the average of psychological wellbeing of pretest, posttest and follow-up study of the weekly intervention group was 240. 94 ± 4. 84, 421 ± 11. 11, and 429. 52 ± 10. 94, respectively. In fact, all scores showed an increase. However, the scores of the pretest and follow-up study of the control group showed no increase. The highest score belonged to environmental mastery dimension. The mean of environmental mastery of intervention group in pretest, posttest and follow-up study was 40. 00 ± 4. 18, 76. 11 ± 2. 54, and 77. 05 ± 2. 10, respectively. Therefore, problem solving therapy improves the psychological wellbeing of the patients (P < 0. 05). Conclusions: Problem Solving Therapy can be applied to improve psychological wellbeing of women with breast cancer.

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease that occurs in different parts of the gastrointestinal system. Objectives: This study aimed at analyzing the effects of risk factors on survival and cure fraction of patients with CRC in a population of Iranian patients, using parametric non-mixture cure rate model. Methods: This retrospective cohort study was conducted at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences on 512 patients with CRC. Patients were followed-up for 8 years, from January 2009 until February 2017. Stepwise selection and parametric non-mixture cure rate model were used to find the risk factors of survival in patients with CRC. Akaike information criteria was used to identify the best parametric non-mixture cure rate model in this study. Results: Staging III (OR = 0. 41, 95% CI: 0. 19-0. 90, P = 0. 026), staging IV (OR = 0. 15, 95% CI: 0. 04-0. 50, P = 0. 002), Perineural invasion (OR = 0. 41, 95% CI: 0. 21-0. 92, P = 0. 007), and lymph node ratio (OR = 0. 94, 95% CI: 0. 51-0. 82, P = 0. 002) had significant effects on cure fraction and survival of patients with CRC. Conclusions: Perineural invasion, Lymph node ratio, and American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging should be assessed as an important factor in modeling survival analysis of patients with CRC. Patients who were in advanced stages of CRC should have received treatment and appropriate therapies given their shorter survival rates.

Dear Editor, Over-activation of Ras signaling pathway is implicated in the pathogenesis of several malignancies including breast cancer. Ras Guanyl nucleotide releasing peptides (RasGRPs) are a group of Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factors (RasGEFs), which participate in the activation of Ras signaling pathway. The RasGRP3 induces the expression and function of H-Ras and R-Ras proteins and plays oncogenic roles in numerous malignancies (1). Over-expression of RasGRP3 protein has been demonstrated in human breast tumor tissue samples compared with normal breast samples. Its silencing in breast cancer cells has diminished cell proliferation, triggered apoptosis in MCF7 cells, and made T-47D cells responsive to Tamoxifen and trastuzumab (1). On the other hand, RASGRP3 has been predicted to be a target of miR-100 regulatory function (2) a miRNA, whose participation in breast cancer pathogenesis has been highlighted (3). In order to find the clinical relevance of RASGRP3 expression in breast cancer patients, we evaluated RASGRP3 expression in 50 invasive ductal carcinoma samples compared with the corresponding adjacent non-cancerous tissues (ANCTs) by means of quantitative real time PCR after receiving the approval of Ethics Committee of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (IR. SBMU. MSP. REC. 1396. 451) and obtaining informed consents from all patients. All patients were sporadic cases of breast cancer and had no history of radio/chemotherapy. The nucleotide sequences of primers are as follow:

Context: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most common cancers in the world. Despite the existence of different treatment strategies such as chemoradiation and surgery, CRC therapy still remains a significant challenge as a result of the existence of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Evidence Acquisition: This review is comprised of research and review studies published in valid databases such as PubMed, ScienceDirect, Medline, Google Scholar, and Scopus, using the following keywords: BMI1, cancer stem cell, microRNA, and colorectal cancer. Results: BMI1 (B cell-specific Moloney murine leukemia virus integration site 1) is a key component of polycomb repressor complex 1 (PRC1) and plays a significant role in CSCs self-renewal in various types of cancer including CRC. It has been proven that BMI1, in association with deregulated microRNAs (miRNAs), can promote cell cycle progression as well as epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer. Conclusions: BMI1 is a colon stem cell marker that is up-regulated in colon CSCs and can be taken as a promising target for CRC therapy. This review describes the role of BMI-1 in the self-renewal of CSCs and EMT in association with miRNA dysregulation (with emphasis on CRC).

Introduction: One of the rare platelet dysfunction, which is impairment of receptor GPIIb/IIIa and platelet aggregation defect, is acquired Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. A common cause of this thrombasthenia is an autoantibody or plasma protein inhibitor against a normal GPIIb/IIIa glycoprotein. Case Presentation: In this case report, a 28-year-old female with a history of treated Hodgkin's lymphoma presented with a menometrorrhagia and ecchymosis. Before that, she had no bleeding history and there was no family history bleeding tendency. Laboratory findings revealed bleeding time > 10 minutes, normal partial thromboplastin time (APTT), prothrombin time (PT), fibrinogen, and von Willebrand factor. Platelet-aggregation studies showed no aggregation to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, and a normal response to ristocetin. The clinical history, medical history, and laboratory findings supported a diagnosis of acquired Glanzmann's thrombasthenia. Imaging revealed significant lymph nodes was compatible with recurrent disease. The patient's menorrhagia and bleeding tendency were controlled by systemic chemotherapy. Conclusions: This report shows the association of acquired thrombasthenia with the recurrent Hodgkin's lymphoma, which can be controlled by remission induction chemotherapy.

Dear Editor, Erectile dysfunction (ED) is characterized as men's inability to terminate or hold penile erection to complete the coitus (1). Sexual dysfunction (SD) contributes to quality of life (2). Malignancy can cause sexual adverse effects by direct and indirect ways. It can involve sexual organs, indirectly affect body image, or cause depression or fatigue with effects on libido (3). Most sexual disabilities are not caused by the cancer itself, but by side effects of cancer management (4). Chemotherapy and radiotherapy-related SD generally ends after the completion of therapeutic manipulations, whereas anatomical defects due to surgery might have a permanent effect on the patients' sexual activity (2, 5). Other aspects that play a role include subjects' age, general and urogenital co-morbidity, and degree of ED before cancer treatment (6-9). Determining the incidence of ED in various chemotherapeutic regimens in these patients can lead to finding ways to improve quality of life, decrease anxiety, and increase acceptance in these patients. . .