Background: Thymidylate synthase (TS) catalyzes the methylation of deoxyuridylate to deoxythymidylate and is involved in DNA methylation, synthesis and repair. Two common polymorphisms have been reported, tandem repeats in the promoter-enhancer region (TSER), and 6bp ins/del in the 5'UTR, that are implicated in a number of human diseases, including cancer. The association between the two polymorphisms in risk for lung cancer (LC) was here investigated in the Jordanian population. Materials and Methods: An age, gender, and smoking-matched case-control study involving 84 lung cancer cases and 71 controls was conducted. The polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique was used to detect the polymorphism of interest. Results: Individuals bearing the ins/ins genotype were 2.5 times more likely to have lung cancer [(95%CI: 0.98-6.37), p=0.051]. Individuals who were less than or equal to 57 years and carrying ins/ins genotype were 4.6 times more susceptible to lung cancer [OR<57 vs >57years: 4.6 (95%CI: 0.93-22.5), p=0.059)]. Genotypes and alleles of TSER were distributed similarly between cases and controls. Weak linkage disequilibrium existed between the two loci of interest (Lewontin's coefficient [D']) (LC: D' =0.03, r2: 0. 001, p= 0.8; Controls: D' =0.29, r2: 0.08, p=0.02). Carriers of the "3 tandem repeats_insertion" haplotype (3R_ins) were 2 times more likely to have lung cancer [2 (95%CI: 1.13-3.48), p=0.061]. Conclusions: Genetic polymorphism of TS at 3` UTR and its haplotype analysis may modulate the risk of lung cancer in Jordanians. The 6bp ins/del polymorphism of TS at 3 `UTR is more informative than TSER polymorphism in predicting increased risk.

Background hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide and it is one of the major causes of death, because of its high frequency and poor prognosis. Hepatocellular carcinoma is now a common malignancy in Egypt which usually develops on top of liver cirrhosis secondary to viral infection, as hepatitis C viruses increased the risk of HCC in the Egyptian patients. Aim of the Work was to verify the possibility of using the plasma squamous cell carcinoma antigen level as a tumor marker for hepatocellular carcinoma and to evaluate its prognostic value in management of HCC. Patients and Methods the study included 60 subjects divided into three groups: group I was 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinomas, group II was 15 patients with liver cirrhosis and group III was 15 normal subjects serving as a control group. Follow up of the patients who had HCC and undergone either RFA or TACE will be done after 1 month by measuring serum level of alfa feto protein & SCCA. Results the plasma SCCA level was significantly higher in group I patients (with HCC), than in the group II patients (cirrhosis) and control group. SCCA showed direct significant correlation with the most of laboratory data specially AST, INR, number and size of lesion and its values were decreased after intervention. Conclusion plasma SCCA is a sensitive and specific serum marker for the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC and combination of AFP and SCCA in screening and diagnosis of HCC yielded a better sensitivity in diagnosis of HCC.

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