Family Intervention Based on the FOCUS Program Effects on Cancer Coping in Iranian Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomized Control Trial

Background: Breast cancer affects patients’ lives. Many breast cancer patients have problems with coping andthey need support from their families. Family involvement based on the FOCUS program is designed to support breastcancer survivors within their families. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of family involvement basedon the FOCUS program on coping in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy in academic centers in Urmiain 2016. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial study, sixty breast cancer survivors were randomly assignedinto intervention (N=30) and control (N=30) groups. The FOCUS program family-based intervention featured sixsessions covering subject areas of family involvement, optimism, cancer coping, uncertainty reduction and symptommanagement. The instruments used were demographic and cancer coping questionnaires. Data were analyzed withSPSS 20 software. Result: The findings revealed a significant improvement in total cancer coping scores (t= -12/39,p<0.001), in all subscales including individual (t= -11/52, p<0.001), positive focus (t= -7/03, p<0.001), coping (t=-7/28, p<0.001), diversion (t= -11/76, p<0.001), planning (t=-4/91, p<0.001) and in interpersonal (t=-11/14, p<0.001).No significant changes were observed for the control group. Conclusion: The results showed that family involvementbased on the FOCUS program increases the ability to cope in breast cancer survivors.     

Induction of Apoptosis by an Extract of Persian Gulf Marine Mollusc,Turbo Coronatus through the Production of Reactive Oxygen Species in Mouse Melanoma Cells

Objective: A variety of approaches such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormonal therapy andimmunotherapy are used to treat melanomas, but unfortunately in most case, the response is very weak and often sideeffects are serious. This study concerns selective toxicity of an extract of Turbo coronatus on cells and mitochondria froma syngeneic mouse model of melanoma. Methods: Cells and mitochondria isolated from extra tumoral and melanomatissues were exposed toa T. coronatus crude extract and fractions obtained by gel-filtration chromatography and assayedfor mitochondrial and cellular parameters. Result: Crude extract (375, 750 and 1,500 μg/ml) and fraction 1; F1; (275,550 and 1100 μg/ml) of T. coronatus extract induced a significant (p<0.05) increase of the reactive oxygen species(ROS) level, swelling of mitochondria, collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), release of cytochromec and caspase-3 activation only in the mitochondria and cells obtained from melanoma but not extra tumoral tissues. Inaddition, the F1 fraction decreased the percentage of viable cells and induced apoptosis in melanoma cells. Conclusion:For the first time we could demonstrate that the F1 fraction of a T. coronatus extract, selectively induces ROS mediatedcytotoxicity by directly targeting mitochondria in melanoma tissues and it may be a suitable candidate for novel drugtreatment of malignant melanomas.     

SAR thresholds for electromagnetic exposure using functional thermal dose limits

Background and purpose: To protect against any potential adverse effects to human health from localised exposure to radio frequency (100?kHz–3?GHz) electromagnetic fields (RF EMF), international health organisations have defined basic restrictions on specific absorption rate (SAR) in tissues. These exposure restrictions incorporate safety factors which are generally conservative so that exposures that exceed the basic restrictions are not necessarily harmful. The magnitude of safety margin for various exposure scenarios is unknown. This shortcoming becomes more critical for medical applications where the safety guidelines are required to be relaxed. The purpose of this study was to quantify the magnitude of the safety factor included in the current basic restrictions for various exposure scenarios under localised exposure to RF EMF.

Materials and methods: For each exposure scenario, we used the lowest thermal dose (TD) required to induce acute local tissue damage reported in literature, calculated the corresponding TD-functional SAR limits (SAR_TDFL) and related these limits to the existing basic restrictions, thereby estimating the respective safety factor.

Results: The margin of safety factor in the current basic restrictions on 10?g peak spatial average SAR (psSAR_10g) for muscle is large and can reach up to 31.2.

Conclusions: Our analysis provides clear instructions for calculation of SAR_TDFL and consequently quantification of the incorporated safety factor in the current basic restrictions. This research can form the basis for further discussion on establishing the guidelines dedicated to a specific exposure scenario, i.e. exposure-specific SAR limits, rather than the current generic guidelines.     

Emerging ways to treat breast cancer: will promises be met?

Background

Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer among women and it is responsible for more than 40,000 deaths in the United States and more than 500,000 deaths worldwide each year. In previous decades, the development of improved screening, diagnosis and treatment methods has led to decreases in BC mortality rates. More recently, novel targeted therapeutic options, such as the use of monoclonal antibodies and small molecule inhibitors that target specific cancer cell-related components, have been developed. These components include ErbB family members (HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4), Ras/MAPK pathway components (Ras, Raf, MEK and ERK), VEGF family members (VEGFA, VEGFB, VEGFC, VEGF and PGF), apoptosis and cell cycle regulators (BAK, BAX, BCL-2, BCL-X, MCL-1 and BCL-W, p53 and PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway components) and DNA repair pathway components such as BRCA1. In addition, long noncoding RNA inhibitor-, microRNA inhibitor/mimic- and immunotherapy-based approaches are being developed for the treatment of BC. Finally, a novel powerful technique called CRISPR-Cas9-based gene editing is emerging as a precise tool for the targeted treatment of cancer, including BC.

Conclusions

Potential new strategies that are designed to specifically target BC are presented. Several clinical trials using these strategies are already in progress and have shown promising results, but inherent limitations such as off-target effects and low delivery efficiencies still have to be resolved. By improving the clinical efficacy of current therapies and exploring new ones, it is anticipated that novel ways to overcome BC may become attainable.

     

Diagnostic value of frozen section examination in thyroid nodule-surgery at the shariati hospital (1997–2000)

Introduction There is controversy regarding the use and accuracy of frozen section (FS) in managing thyroid nodules. We compared the diagnostic value of FS with that of permanent histopathology examination and fine needle aspiration (FNA). Materials and Methods Permanent, FS, and FNA sample reports were compared in 214 patients between 1997 and 2000. FS, FNA, and permanent pathology (gold standard) results were compared using McNemar's test. Results 160 women and 54 men (mean age: 42.3±5.4 yr) took part in the study; 163 patients (76%) had benign and 51 (24%) malignant lesions; 76% of our thyroid cancer cases were papillary, 13.5% follicular, 6% medullary carcinoma, 4% Hürthle cell carcinoma, and 0.5% anaplastic carcinoma. FNA yielded definite results in 150 patients (sensitivity 72%, specificity 96%, and precision 90%). In 64 patients with equivocal FNA, FS was performed (sensitivity 36%, specificity 73%, and precision 85%). The observed difference between FNA and FS was not statistically significant. Discussion When FNA results are inconclusive, FS does not provide any further information. In suspected cases of papillary, undifferentiated, or medullary carcinomas, FS can confirm FNA findings and guide surgical therapy. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Cytotoxic furanosesquiterpenoids and steroids from Ircinia mutans sponges

ContextIrcinia mutans Wilson (Irciniidae) is a sponge with antimicrobial and cytotoxic constituents.ObjectiveOur objective was to characterise the cytotoxic constituents of two seasonal collections of I. mutans.Materials and methodsThe sponges were extracted in methanol-dichloromethane and their constituents were purified and characterised using column chromatography, GC-MS, 1 D and 2 D NMR. Anti-proliferative activities of the compounds, were evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay (0.25–100 μg/mL, 72 h) against leukaemia (MOLT-4), breast (MCF-7) and colon cancer (HT-29) human cells.ResultsThree furanosesquiterpoids; furodysin (1), ent-furodysinin (2) and furoircin (3) and ten sterols were characterised in I. mutans, for the first time. Cholesterol (4), cholesta-5, 7-dien-3β-ol (5) and ergosterol (6) were determined in the sponge from the winter collections, while cholesta-5, 22-dien-3β-ol (7), 24-methyldesmosterol (8), campesterol (9), stigmasterol (10), γ-ergostenol (11), chondrillasterol (12) and γ-sitosterol (13) were detected in the summer samples. The steroids from the winter collection exhibited cytotoxic activity with IC₅₀ values of 13.0 ± 0.9, 11.1 ± 1.7 and 1.1 ± 0.4 µg/mL, against the mentioned cancer cell lines, respectively, while those from the summer sample, showed greater activity, IC₅₀ = 1.1 ± 0.2 μg/mL against MOLT-4. The purified steroids showed potent MOLT-4 cytotoxic activity, IC₅₀ values = 2.3–7.8 µg/mL.Discussion and conclusionThe present study suggests that I. mutans is a rich source of cytotoxic steroids, and introduces 3 as new natural product. Considering the high cytotoxic activity of the steroids, these structures could be candidates for anticancer drug development in future research.     

Production of nZVI–Cl nanocomposite as a novel eco–friendly adsorbent for efficient As(V) ions removal from aqueous media: Adsorption modeling by response surface methodology

By combination of the nano zero–valent iron (nZVI) nanoparticles and clinoptilolite (Cl) natural zeolite and by chemical reduction method, the nZVI–Cl nanocomposite was produced. The physical and chemical characteristics of the produced nanocomposite were examined using FE–SEM, EDX, VSM and zeta potential analyses and its fine structure was confirmed. The produced nanocomposite was applied for efficient As(V) heavy metal ions removal from aqueous media as a novel eco–friendly adsorbent. The adsorption process was optimized using a minimum number of designed experiments by Design–Expert software using central composite design (CCD) and response surface methodology (RSM) and the adsorption optimum conditions were determined as solution pH of 4, nZVI–Cl dosage of 1 g L^?1 and As(V) concentration of 50 mg L^?1 by the numerical optimization of the software. In these conditions, the removal efficiency was 88.10% and desirability parameter was 0.986. The adsorption kinetic study showed that the chemisorption effectively controls the adsorption process by a better fit of pseudo–second order model with the experimental data. The adsorption isotherms study demonstrated that the Langmuir model had the best fit with the experimental data, proving homogeneous surface of nZVI–Cl adsorbent and monolayer adsorption of As(V) ions on it. The adsorption thermodynamic study illustrated that the adsorption is thermodynamically spontaneous and exothermic in nature. Also, the adsorbent reusability test verified the adsorbent stability after five consecutive adsorption–desorption cycles without a tangible reduction in removal efficiency.     

A two-week,double-blind,placebo-controlled trial of Viola odorata,Echium amoenum and Physalis alkekengi mixture in symptomatic benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) men

Context: As an alternative approach, administration of phytotherapeutic agents in management of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), is rapidly growing each day. Different authors have indicated effectiveness of Viola odorata L. (Violaceae), Echium amoenum Fisch. &; C.A.Mey. (Boraginaceae) and Physalis alkekengi L. (Solanaceae) in treatment of BPH. However, none have reported the beneficial outcomes of the mixture yet.

Objective: This study evaluates the therapeutical effects of V. odorata, E. amoenum and P. alkekengi mixture on symptomatic BPH patients.

Materials and methods: Eighty six symptomatic BPH patients with International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) of more than 13 and prostate volume of more than 30?cm³ were randomly allocated to receive a two-week course of placebo (control group) or 1?mL of mixed hydro-alcoholic solution of P. alkekengi, E. amoenum and V. odorata extracts (1.5, 1 and 1.5% respectively) (treatment group).

Results: IPSS score of incomplete urination (42.3?±?2.04%), frequency of urination (20.08?±?1.02%), intermittency (40.78?±?2.16%), urgency (60.91?±?3.14%), weak stream (50.58?±?2.14%), straining (55.67?±?2.53%) and nocturia (40.14?±?1.89%) in treatment group were significantly decreased after treatment compare to placebo receiving group. Furthermore, the prostate volume (16.92?±?0.89%) and extant urine volume (28.12?±?1.36%) also significantly decreased in treatment group compared to control group. No significant side effects or abnormalities in biochemical tests and urinalysis were observed throughout the study.

Discussion and conclusions: Based on results, mentioned mixture is safe and effective in improving life quality of patients suffering from BPH.