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Objective:Cancer is considered a global health problem and its prevalence has been growing in recent years. The present study was conducted to investigate the role of hopelessness and perceived social support for Iranian patients with cancer.Methods:Convenience sampling was used to select the study sample comprising 100 patients with cancer presenting to the Education and Treatment Center of Valiasr in Zanjan, Iran. A demographic questionnaire, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the Social Support from Family and Friends Scale were used to collect the data. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS-16.Results:Of the 98 study patients, 52 (53.1%) were female and the remainder were male. Lung cancer constituted the most prevalent type of cancer (25.5%). The mean hopelessness score was 5.93 ± 4.71. The mean scores for social support provided by family and friends were 10.89 ± 5.61 and 14.94 ± 4.16, respectively. Significantly negative correlations were observed between the mean scores of hopelessness and social support provided by family (P = 0.007; r = −0.270) and friends (P = 0.001; r = −0.327).Conclusion:According to the findings of the present study, Iranian patients with cancer have relatively mild levels of hopelessness and moderate levels of social support. Perceived social support was also found to affect the patients' hopefulness. Given the lack of studies on this subject, it is recommended that further studies are performed.

the asymptomatic nature of the disease until it progresses to advanced stages. Moreover, upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, which is currently used for GC diagnosis, is an invasive procedure. Thus, new studies have focused on the discovery of less-invasive diagnostic; among them, serum indices have received the most attention (Necula et al., 2019). Unfortunately, the current gastrointestinal tumor biomarkers, such as carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cancer antigen (CA) 72-4, are not very precise (Matsuoka and Yashiro, 2018). Hence the discovery of biomarkers with higher levels of sensitivity and specificity to screen

Background:Patients with breast cancer are predisposed to some psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders due to their life styles or disease conditions. These problems cause patients to deal with daily stress, feeling guilty, anxiety, dysphoric mood, and impaired social relations. Such problems would lead to serious mental disorders.Objectives:Therefore, life skills training may help patients to cope better with their condition, and improve their mental health.Materials and Method:In an experimental study, 50 patients with breast cancer were selected randomly and assigned to 2 experimental and control groups. The experimental group attended life skills training classes for 10 weeks continuously (each class lasting 2 hours). Participants in both the experimental and control groups completed a GHQ-28 questionnaire form before the commencement of classes, and again after 2 weeks to 2 months of the course completion. T-test was used as the statistical method.Results:In life skills training group, depressive and anxiety symptoms, somatization disorders, sleep disorders and disorders of social functioning were significantly decreased (p<0.0001). These changes were not observed in the control group.Conclusions:The results showed that life skills training is an effective method in reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, sleep and somatic disorders. Also, it would be useful in reducing problems of social dysfunction.

Evaluation of anti-mutated citrullinated vimentin antibodies, anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in comparison with other rheumatic diseases; a nephrology point of view