Recent studies have shown that polymorphisms in leptin and leptin receptor genes are associated with increased risk for breast cancer. This study aimed at investigating -2548 G/A polymorphism in leptin gene and Q223R polymorphism in leptin receptor gene in patients with breast cancer. The study included 45 women with breast cancer and 41 healthy women. PCR-RFLP was used to determine the genotype of the subjects in terms of -2548 G/A polymorphism in leptin gene and Q223R polymorphism in leptin receptor gene. Serum levels of leptin were also measured by ELISA. For -2548 G/A polymorphism, the genotypes were homozygous AA (OR = 1.13; p = 0.8) and heterozygous GA (OR = 0.41; p = 0.2) and for Q223R polymorphism, the genotypes were homozygous RR (OR = 6.7; p = 0.09) and heterozygous QR (OR = 8.3; p = 0.06). The mean serum level of leptin was 33.22 ± 21.35 ng/mL in patients and 29.49 ± 23.27 ng/mL in the normal participants (p = 0.3). Although, despite the magnitude of the associations, the results suggested no statistically significant contribution of -2548 G/A polymorphism (in leptin gene), Q223R polymorphism (in leptin receptor gene), and serum leptin levels in predicting the risk of breast cancer, further studies with larger sample size are suggested.

No abstract

Background: Due to their poor immune system, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and hemodialysis patients are more at risk for toxoplasmosis and its complications than the healthy people. The current study aimed to determine prevalence of toxoplasmosis in these patients and comparing it with healthy subjects in southwest Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on sera and buffy coat of 100 cancer patients, 47 hemodialysis patients, and 170 healthy subjects. IgG and IgM anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies in serum were measured by ELISA method. Molecular diagnosis was conducted by PCR method on buffy coat of the seropositive samples. Results: The seroprevalence of T. gondii in cancer, hemodialysis patients and healthy subjects were 13%, 27.7% and 15.9% respectively. Moreover, seropositivity for IgM antibody was 2.1% in hemodialysis, 2% in cancer patients and 0.6% in healthy individuals. Our results were showed there was no significant difference between prevalence toxoplasmosis in case and control group. In molecular survey, only one case (cancer patient) was positive for Toxoplasma DNA. Contact with cats and consumption of undercooked meat were two studied risk factors which had significant associations with T. gondii seropositivity in the hemodialysis patients (odds ratio [OR] = 14.667; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.453-148.045) and control (odds ratio [OR] = 3.07; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.093-8.639) respectively. Conclusion: Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in hemodialysis patients was higher than Healthy Individuals; however, the seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in cancer patients was similar to the Healthy Individuals.

The aim of this retrospective study was to define the natural history, clinicopathological findings, prognostic factors, and treatment outcome of 43 patients with localized stages I and II primary non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) of the nasopharynx, followed up in a single institution over a 17-year period. Forty-three (13 women and 30 men) consecutive patients with localized stages I (N = 12) and II (N = 31) primary nasopharyngeal NHL were treated in our institution between 1990 and 2007. The pathologic reports were classified according to the International Working Formulation (N = 22) or Revised European-American Lymphoma classification (N = 21). The vast majority of patients (88%) were managed with a sequential combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Chemotherapy mainly consisted of 4-8 (median 6) cycles of CHOP regimen (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine and prednisolone). Involved-field radiation therapy with a median dose of 44 Gy was delivered to the primary site and entire cervical lymph nodes. The median age of the patients was 53 years (range, 6 to 86 years). The majority of the patients (70%) had high-grade histology. B-cell types represented 67% of the cases, among which diffuse large B cell was the most common histological subtype. After a median follow-up of 70 months, the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival were 58.8% and 70.6%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, age less than or equal to 30 years (hazard ratio (HR) = 5.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.69-16.76), elevated serum lactate dehydrogenase level (HR = 3.69, 95% CI = 1.43-9.51), and modified International Prognostic Index with more than or equal to two risk factors (HR = 17.99, 95% CI = 2.32-139.30) retained statistical significance. Our limited data suggest that primary nasopharyngeal NHL tends to have aggressive histology and unfavorable clinical course with poor outcome, despite a considerably localized disease at the time of presentation and high frequency of complete initial response rates. Combined modality therapy should be considered for the majority of patients with primary localized nasopharyngeal NHL.

The present study was carried out to investigate the efficacy of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy in treating pain and subjective distress of patients with cancer. A randomized controlled trial was performed on patients with cancer suffering from moderate to severe cancer pain in Yasuj, Iran, in 2019 and 2020. Sixty patients aged 30–60 years who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were selected using a consensus sampling technique. Patients were randomly assigned to EMDR therapy or control groups based on random block allocation. EMDR therapy was administered in six to eight daily 1-hour sessions. The control group received the standard treatment provided by the hospital. A Numeric Pain-Rating Scale (NRS) and the Subjective Units of Disturbance Scale (SUDS) were used to assess pain and subjective distress before and after the intervention in each session. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and independent t test using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24. The mean pain intensity and subjective distress score in the experimental group before and after the EMDR intervention were significantly reduced (p < .001). In the control group, no decreases in NRS and SUDS scores occurred at any time (p > .05). Differences in pain scores between the groups were statistically significant (p < .001). EMDR can effectively and sustainably reduce the pain and subjective distress experienced by patients with cancer. Thus, EMDR is a recommended therapeutic option to mitigate pain and subjective distress among patients with cancer.