Introduction Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia affecting patients in open heart ICU after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Most cardiac surgery textbooks recommend beta blockers as the drug of choice for treating such a condition while many experienced physicians and a number of anesthesiology references offer amiodarone as the drug of choice. Therefore, because of insufficient evidence and the aforementioned controversy, we decided to conduct a study evaluating these two antiarrhythmic medicines. Methods This is a double-blind, randomized, clinical trial performed on patients admitted for CABG at Amir al Momenin hospital in Arak province, Iran, who developed new onset AF after surgery. Based on the type of medication used, these patients were randomly divided into two groups: amiodarone (A) group and metoprolol (M) group. Each group consisted of 73 cases. All data were analyzed via SPSS 19. Results Among the results achieved in this study, amiodarone was successful in treating AF in 55 patients (73%), while metoprolol achieved normal rhythm in treating AF in 69 patients (92%). With a p-value of 0.04, it seems that metoprolol is more effective in treating AF. Conclusion Metoprolol seems to be a most efficacious medication for post-CABG AF (p-value = 0.004).

Cancer immunotherapy approaches have progressed significantly during the last decade due to the significant improvement of our understanding of immunologic evasion of malignant cells. Depending on the type, stage, and grade of cancer, distinct immunotherapy approaches are being designed and recommended; each is different in efficacy and adverse effects. Malignant cells can adopt multiple strategies to alter the normal functioning of the immune system in recognizing and eliminating them. These strategies include secreting different immunosuppressive factors, polarizing tumor microenvironment cells to immunosuppressive ones, and interfering with the normal function of the antigen processing machinery (APM). In this context, careful evaluation of immune surveillance has led to a better understanding of the roles of cytokines, including IL-2, IL-12, IL-15, interferon-α (IFN-α), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) in cancer formation and their potential application in cancer immunotherapy. Additionally, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), adoptive cell therapy approaches, immune checkpoint blockade, and cancer vaccines also play significant roles in cancer immunotherapy. Moreover, the development of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/CAS9) as an outstanding genome editing tool resolved many obstacles in cancer immunotherapy. In this regard, this review aimed to investigate the impacts of different immunotherapy approaches and their potential roles in the current and future roads of cancer treatment. Whatever the underlying solution for treating highly malignant cancers is, it seems that solving the question is nowhere near an achievement unless the precise cooperation of basic science knowledge with our translational experience.

Background: Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune and multi-organ disease. Cardiovascular involvement is one of most important causes of death in these patients. In some studies, it has been observed that the prolongation of the QTc interval is a prognostic factor in cardiovascular failure. Objectives: In this study, we intended to assess the role of drugs used in treating patients with lupus on the prolonged QTc interval. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 150 patients with SLE referring to Rheumatology Clinics in the City of Arak during 2014 and 2015. Then, ECGs were taken from all patients in two phases, first on admission and second six hours later. The QTc interval was determined using Bazett's formula. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 16 software. Results: The mean age of the studied patients was 35.36 ± 11.8 years and 80.7% were females. An anti-Ro/SSA antibody and treatment with hydroxychloroquine were significantly associated with the prolongation of QTc in patients; however, the duration and dosage of hydroxychloroquine did not affect the QTc interval. Conclusions: Based on the obtained results, hydroxychloroquine may influence the cardiac condition of patients; thus, it needs more studies in this field.