• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.131-133
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• 2016

Background: Combination chemotherapy regimes are common treatments for cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluation the effect of individual chemotherapeutic agents in comparison with a first line chemotherapy regime treatment in the AGS gastric cancer cell line by MTT assay. Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, AGS cells were grown in RPMI-1640 supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum and 100 IU/ml penicillin, and $10{\mu}g/ml$ streptomycinin, under a humidified condition at $37^{\circ}C$ with 5% CO2. All cells were washed with PBS and detached with trypsin, centrifuged and 8000 cells re-plated on to 96- well plates. LD50 doses of Epirubicin, Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil were added to each well in mono or triple therapy. Anti-proliferative activities were determined by MTT assay after 24, 48 or 72 h. Results: Results of MTT assays showed that there were no significant differences among 3 drugs in monotherapy (p=0.088), but there was significant difference between combination therapy with epirubicin (P=0.031) and 5FU (p=0.013) on cell survival at 24 h. After 48 and 72 hours, cell viability showed significant differences between the 3 drugs (p=0.048 and P=0.000 for 48 and 72 h, respectively) and there was significant difference between combination therapy with epirubicin (P=0.035 and P=0.002 for 48 and 72 h, respectively). Conclusions: The results showed no significant differences between these chemotherapy drugs each given alone, but combination therapy with 3 drugs had significant effects on cell viability in comparison with epirubicin alone.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.89-93
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• 2016

Background: Limited data are available regarding the impact of time duration between chemoradiation (CRT) and surgery on pathological complete response (PCR). A PCR translates into better overall and disease free survival. The objective of this study was to determine effect of time duration on outcome after preoperative CRT in rectal cancer. Materials and Methods: A retrospective review of patients undergoing operations for rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2005 and December 2010 was performed. Patients were divided in two groups: Group 1 underwent surgery in ${\leq}8weeks$ post neoadjuvant CRT and Group 2 after 8 weeks. Patient characteristics, surgical procedure, histopathological details and number of loco-regional and distant failures were compared. Expected 5 year overall survival and disease free survival was calculated using Kaplan Meier curves and significance was determined using the log rank test. Results: There were 66 patients in group 1 and 93 in group 2. No significant difference in PCR was observed between the two. However, estimated 5 year DFS was significantly higher in Group 1 (66.7%) as compared to Group 2 (53.8%) (P=0.04). Estimated overall 5 year overall survival was not significantly different at 68.2% versus 54.3% (P= 0.09). Conclusions: Delaying surgery more than 8 weeks after preoperative CRT does not impact for PCR in rectal cancer.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5493-5498
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• 2015

Due to the lack of nationwide population-based cancer registration, the total cancer prevalence in Iran is unknown. Our previous work in which we used a basic network scale-up (NSU) method, failed to provide plausible estimates of total cancer prevalence in Kerman. The aim of the present study was to estimate total and partial prevalence of cancer in southeastern Iran using an adapted version of the generalized network scale-up method. A survey was conducted in 2014 using multi-stage cluster sampling. A total of 1995 face-to-face gender-matched interviews were performed based on an adapted version of the NSU questionnaire. Interviewees were asked about their family cancer history. Total and partial prevalence were estimated using a generalized NSU estimator. The Monte Carlo method was adopted for the estimation of upper/lower bounds of the uncertainty range of point estimates. One-yr, 2-3 yr, and 4-5 yr prevalence (per 100,000 people) was respectively estimated at 78 (95%CI, 66, 90), 128 (95%CI, 118, 147), and 59 (95%CI, 49, 70) for women, and 48 (95%CI, 38, 58), 78 (95%CI, 66, 91), and 42 (95%CI, 32, 52) for men. The 5-yr prevalence of all cancers was estimated at 0.18 percent for men, and 0.27 percent for women. This study showed that the generalized familial network scale-up method is capable of estimating cancer prevalence, with acceptable precision.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.15
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• pp.6339-6342
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• 2014

Background: The incidence of rectal cancer is increasing in younger age groups. Limited data is available regarding survival outcome in younger patients with conflicting results from western world. The goal of this study was to determine survival in patients with rectal cancer <30 years of age and compare it with their older counterparts in the Pakistani population. Materials and Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients operated for rectal adenocarcinoma between January 2005 and December 2010 was performed. Patients were divided into two groups, Group 1 aged ${\leq}30years$ and Group 2 aged >30years. Patient characteristics, surgical procedure, histopathological details and number of loco-regional and distant failures were compared. Expected 5 year survival was calculated using Kaplan Meier curves and significance was determined using the Log rank test. Results: There were 38 patients in group 1 and 144 in group 2. A significantly high number of younger patients presented with poorly differentiated histology (44.7% vs 9.7%) (p=0.0001) and advanced pathological stage (63.1% vs 38.1%) (p=0.04). Predicted overall 5 year survival was 38% versus 57% in groups I and II, respectively (p=0.05). Disease free survival was 37% versus 52% and was significantly different (p=0.007). Conclusions: Early onset rectal cancer is associated with poor pathological features and a worse outcome in Pakistani population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.3133-3137
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• 2014

Background: To determine the histopathological pattern of colorectal cancer (CRC) among Saudi patients with a view to determine various epidemiological and histopathological features of the disease. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected and analyzed the demographic and histopathological data of all the patients with CRC diagnosed at King Fahad Hospital, Madinah, Saudi Arabia over a period of 8 years from January 2006 to December 2013. Results: Of 324 cases of CRC reviewed, 200 cases (61.7%) were males while 124 cases (38.3%) were females giving a male to female ratio of 1.6: 1. Age of the patients ranged from 20 to 100 years with a mean age 57.9 years. The rectosigmoid region was the most frequent anatomical site (13.6%) involved and adenocarcinoma (88.6%) was the most common histopathological type. The majority of adenocarcinomas (87.3%) were moderately differentiated. A total of 47.8% of patients were in stage B and 43.5% of patients were in stage C of the Aster-Coller classification. Most patients (75.7%) presented with large size tumors. Lymphovascular invasion and lymph node metastasis were recorded in 67.9% and 43.6% of cases, respectively. Conclusions: Colorectal cancer is common in our environment and the majority of patients present late with an advanced stage. Screening programs regarding CRC should be enhanced to improve the outcome of the patients.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.7
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• pp.947-953
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• 2004

The present research was designed to evaluate the effects of pre and post-partum energy level and feeding pattern on the performance of crossbred dairy cows and their calves under farm conditions. A total of 16 crossbred dairy cows were divided into two equal groups on the basis of their body weight and milk production. One group was given 30% less and the another was given 30% more energy than MAFF's (1984) recommendation. After calving all cows were given same ad.libitum diet to assess the effects of feeding during pregnancy on their performance. It was observed that just before calving cows on low energy group gained less (p<0.05) weight than that of the cows on high energy group (12.9$\pm$11.71 vs. 42.25$\pm$12.74 kg/cow. Birth weight of calves of low energy group was lower (p<0.05) than that of the calves of high energy group (17.87$\pm$1.78 vs. 20.73$\pm$2.24 kg/calf). Cows that were on low pre-calving dietary energy level produced less milk during lactation than the cows of high energy pre-calving group (3.45$\pm$0.75 vs. 4.27$\pm$0.79 lit./cow). No significant difference was noticed on calf growth rate and reproductive parameters of cow. Energy level that was 30 % less than MAFF's (1984) recommendation was found to be very low and not suitable for our crossbred cows during their last three months of pregnancy.

• CELLMED
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.4.1-4.7
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• 2016

Dysmenorrhoea is the most important under diagnosed and undertreated gynaecologic disorder of all menstrual complaints. It affects 50% women of childbearing age and has a major impact on health and societal costs worldwideespecially in developing countries. Therefore, a literary exploration of traditional sources for aetiopathogenesis and clinical features of usr-i-tamth (dysmenorrhoea) were reviewed to correlate with contemporary knowledge.The traditional Unani sources viz., Al Hawi fi'l Tibb (Continens Liber),Tarjuma Kamil al-Sana'a al-Tibbiyya, Al-Qanun fi'l Tibb (Canon of Medicine), Dhakhira Khawarizam Shahi, Tibb-i-Akbar, Iksir-i-A'zam, Kitab al-Kulliyyat, and Kulliyyat-i-Qanun were reviewed. Further, recent studies in the contemporary era were also browsed on the website. The causes of usre-i-tamth as per classical sources are distemperament, uterine diseases (atresia, inflammation, amenorrhoea, cancer, prolapse, ulcer, tenuous morbid matter, and cervical obstruction), psychological disturbances, environmental factors, menstrual irregularities, obesity and young age. Recent studies also prove that obesity, psychological disturbance, menstrual irregularities, environmental factors, uterine diseases and young age lead to dysmenorrhea.Unani classical sources are very much enriched with the informative knowledge related to menstruation and uterine pain/dysmenorrhoea and recent studies in contemporary proves the same. Hence, implementation of the traditional system of medicines in present-day era may play a vital role to restore health in a holistic way.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2285-2289
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• 2016

Background: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) positive diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) of the elderly is an entity introduced in the latest WHO classification of lymphoid tumors and defined in patients older than 50 years without prior lymphoma or immunodeficiency. However, recently it has also been seen in patients under 50. There is thus debate as to whether these are separate entities. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, we analyzed de novo DLBCL admitted to our institute over a period of two years. Clinical data included age, sex, nodal and extranodal presentation. The results of an immunohistochemistry (IHC) panel were also reviewed. IHC findings were mainly used to sub-classify DLBCL as germinal center vs. non germinal center types. IHC for identification of LMP-1 (latent membrane protein) and in situ hybridization for detection of EBV-encoded RNA (EBER) was performed. EBV prevalence, clinical data and IHC findings were compared between patients under and over 50 years of age. Results: Out of 95 DLBCL, 11.6% were EBV positive (7.5% and 14.5% in the young and old groups). We did not find any significant differences in IHC subclasses and clinical data between EBV positive DLBCL (EBV+DLBCL) of young and old groups. Conclusions: EBV+DLBCL are not exclusive to patients older than 50 years. With regard to clinical data as well as IHC subclasses, no differences were evident between EBV+DLBCL of young and old groups. Our suggestion is to eliminate any cut off age for EBV+DLBCL.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3273-3277
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• 2015

Network scale up (NSU) is a novel approach to estimate parameters in hard to reach populations through asking people the number of individuals they know in their active social network. Although the method have been used in hidden populations, advantages of NSU indicate that exploration of applicability to disease like cancer might be feasible. The aim of this study was to assess the application of NSU to estimate the size of the population of breast, ovarian/cervical, prostate, and bladder cancers in the South-east of Iran. A total of 3,052 (99% response rate) Kermanian people were interviewed in 2012-2013. Based on NSU, participants were asked about if they know any people on their social network who suffered from breast, ovarian/cervical, prostate, and bladder cancers, if yes, they should enumerate them. A total of 1,650 persons living with four types of cancers (breast, ovary/cervix, prostate, and bladder) were identified by the respondents. Totally, the prevalence of people living with the four types of cancers was 228.4 per 100,000 Kermanian inhabitants. The most prevalent cancer was breast cancer, at 168.9 per 100,000, followed by prostate cancer with 116.9, ovarian/cervical cancer with 99.8, and bladder cancer with 36.3 per 100000 Kerman city population. NSU values provide a usable but not very precise way of estimating the size of subpopulations in the context of the four major cancers (breast, ovary/cervix, prostate, and bladder).

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.1247-1250
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• 2015

Background: Psoriasis, a common cutaneous disorder characterized by inflammation and abnormal epidermal proliferation with a prevalence of 2-3% in the general population, may be linked to certain types of cancer. Several studies have reported an association between interleukin 10 (IL-10) variant polymorphisms and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis vulgaris although the results vary according to the population studied. No studies have been performed in the Saudi population. The present study concerned novel variants and other genetic polymorphisms of the promoter and exonic regions of the IL10 gene in patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and potential differences in genotype compared to a group of healthy volunteers. Materials and Methods: Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis and healthy controls with no personal or family history of psoriasis were selected from the central region of Saudi Arabia. Polymorphisms of the IL 10 gene of both groups were genotyped. Results: We observed two novel variants in 5'UTR region of the promoter precursor with higher prevalence of the genotype with both wild-type alleles in patients compared to the healthy control group. The differences at positions -377 and -150 were significantly associated with disease, both the variants conferred strong protection against psoriasis in Saudi patients. Conclusions: This observation provides further support for the importance of the part that IL10 plays in the pathophysiology of this disease. Confirmation of our findings in larger populations of different ethnicities would provide evidence for the role of IL-10 in psoriasis.