Breast cancer is a prominent cause of mortality in women worldwide, with about 2/3(rd) cases linked to hormone mediated malignancy itself. A hormone receptor positive breast cancer represents cells showing rigorous proliferation upon hormonal exposure. BRCA1 is the predominant marker gene responsible for estrogen regulation. However increased exposure to estrogen is not the sole cause for this abnormality as there is no significant alteration reported in breast tissue estrogen levels. Iron metabolism has also been shown to be frequently altered in breast cancer with considerably higher iron in post menstrual women. In fact estrogen and iron have been implicated to exert synergistic effects on cellular proliferation in BRCA1 linked hormone responsive breast cancer. Thus establishing a link between estrogen and iron metabolism has a great prognostic value in predicting clinical outcome in BRCA1 linked hormone responsive breast cancer patients. Since the time immemorial Iron chelators have been implicated in combating iron dysregulation especially in breast cancer. We summarize here in this review the recent advancements in the area of iron chelation therapy delineating the role of iron in hormone receptor positive Breast cancer.

Infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV)is serious and may lead to death. Venous blood samples were collected from HCV-infected patients (n=60) and from people without infection (n=60) as controls. These patients visited the Digestive System and Liver Disease Hospital, Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from 1st February to 1st November 2021. The results revealed no significant difference between males (31; 50.8%) and females(29; 49.2%) HCV-infected patients. The highest infection rate (55.6%) was observed among the 50–78 years age group, then 53.7% among the 25–49 years age group, then 36.7% among the 5–24 years age group with a significant difference(P=0.2). A highly significant difference was observed in the mean glutamic-pyruvic transaminase levels between HCV-infected patients (25.56±12.45) and the controls(17.86±4.91) (P=0.01), and a significant difference was observed in the mean glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase levels between HCV-infected patients (21.70±8.63) and the controls(15.93±4.35) (P=0.02). A highly significant difference was demonstrated in mean alkaline phosphatase levels between HCV-infected patients (362.15±113.60) and controls (197.81±34.70)(P=0.001). Overall, we found that blood markers could aid in disease diagnosis and prognosis rather than mutations within the nonstructural 5A.1 hot spot. The frequency of mutations within this site was found to be very low.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) represents the most prevalent malignancy among untreated HIV-positive individuals. Herpesvirus linked with Kaposi's sarcoma (KSHV; also termed as human herpesvirus 8 (HHV8)). In this study, blood samples were collected from 120 individuals, 60 of them had HHV-8 infection with kaposi sarcoma and 60 persons as apparently healthy control. These patients attended Baghdad Teaching Hospital from the period of 15th February 2021 to 15th January 2022. Infections are seen to be more prevalent in the age group of 25-49 years when compared to other groups. The distribution of the biomarkers confirmed that 50, 25 and 80% of the 20 infected patients were positive for Ca19.9, Ca125 and Ca15.3 respectively. The Ca19.9, Ca125, and Ca15.3 biomarkers all produced good results in patients with Human Herpes Virus 8 (HHV-8) infections, leading us to the conclusion that these biomarkers gave favorable results. All of the PCR products showed a positive amplification at 434bp. Phylogenetic analysis confirmed the belongingness to the HHV strain. Further, this could lead to the development of a novel molecular diagnostic tool.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes tuberculosis (TB), the world's deadliest infectious illness. In addition to the lungs, bone marrow is also impacted by tuberculosis. Significant haematological abnormalities can be found in TB patients. This means that these haematological markers can be used to assess a patient's diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment outcome. The goals of this study are (a) to assess the hematological characteristics of TB patients, and (b) to examine the impact of rifampin (RIF) resistance on the prevalence of mutations in the whole rpoB gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Fifty people participated in the study after being chosen through a systematic random sample process. From each participant, about 4 milliliters of blood were taken from a vein and estimated for the haematological parameters like Hb, WBC, Lymphocyes, neutrophils, Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and platelet count.  Fifty tuberculosis isolates had their whole rpoB genes sequenced so that we could analyze the positions of the codons and the frequency with which they occurred. When compared to healthy controls, the values of hemoglobin and other blood indices were significantly lower or abnormal (p<0.05). ESR values were alarmingly increased in the subjects along with platelets (P value < 0.05).  All of our 25 isolates exhibited four types of mutations at four RRDR positions (codons 510, 516, 522 and 526). We found codons 526 showed a high level (92%) of RIF resistance or mutations when compared to other positions. An easy and affordable way to forecast the progression of the illness and keep track of complications in underdeveloped nations is to test the haematological parameters of tuberculosis patients. RIF resistance is linked to certain mutations in the rpoB gene that may impact how RpoB and RIF interact. These results may be used to create new antibiotics and create cutting-edge diagnostic tools for TB medication resistance.

Breast cancer is a most common malignancy especially in Iraqi women accounting for high morbidity and mortality. Mutations in BRCA1 gene is one of the important genetic predisposing factors inbreast cancer. Similarly ERBB2 and TP53 are also key prognostic markers in breast cancer treatment.We were interested to explore the gene expression profiles of BRCA1, ERBB2 and TP53 in breast cancer women patients from Iraq so as to assess the potential of such markers in breast cancer treatment. The mRNA levels were significantly over-expressed in tumor tissues in comparison to normal ones with p values (p<0.005) observed between malignant BRCA1 and control tissue samples. Similarly significant difference (p<0.001) was observed between malignant ERBB2 in comparison to control, and malignant TP53 and benign tissue samples as well. However in blood samples, no considerable expression of these markers was observed. Out of three selected genes, ERBB2 expression was significantly expressed in comparison to BRCA1 and TP53 in cancer tissue. Mutation analysis of BRCA1, ERBB2 and TP53 has been made to find out the region most susceptible to mutations in these genes The BRCA1 exon 11, ERBB2 16 and TP53 exon 5 displayed increased chances of having mutations. We can conclude from the study that differential gene expression of BRCA1, ERBB2 and TP53 at mRNA levels may act as a diagnostic marker of circulating tumor cells having important prognostic value in breast cancer patients.