BACKGROUND Some recent studies reported human epidermal growth factor receptor (HER-2/neu) as a marker that can be used in immunological studies of colorectal carcinoma for predicting the prognosis and the treatment. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the frequency of HER-2 expression in patients with colorectal cancer, and explore the relationship between clinicopathological prognostic factors and its expression based on immunohistochemical analysis. METHODS This study included 50 patients with a histologically proven diagnosis of colorectal carcinoma who received surgery at Imam Khomeini Hospital affiliated to Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. First, HER-2/neu protein expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry and then the data extracted from recorded files. RESULTS The median age of the patients was 60.2±13.9 years (range: 25-93 years). There was no significant relationship between size of tumor, age, sex, lymph node metastases, distant metastasis, differentiation, and stage of the disease with positive expression of HER-2 in this study. CONCLUSION No significant relationship between expression of HER-2 and clinicopathological prognostic factors was found in our study. Further comprehensive and prospective trial with standard method to evaluate the role of HER-2 expression among patients with colorectal cancer is needed.

Purpose The aim of this study was to compare the expression of miR-21 gene in stages II-IV of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue in patients with colon cancer and introduce miR-21 as a potential molecular marker for detection of colon cancer in the early stages. Introduction Currently, identification of key molecules involved in the pathogenesis of cancer is one of the areas under consideration. miRNAs, are small RNAs which have been identified in many cancers. In this study, we investigated the expression of miR-21 in three pathologic stages in patients with colon cancer in the north of Iran. Patients and methods A total of 40 FFPE samples were obtained from patients with stages II, III, and IV from hospitals in Mazandaran and Golestan provinces. After extraction of RNA, treatment with DNase I and cDNA synthesis was performed and miR-21 expression was assessed by qPCR. Then, the data were analyzed using statistical software R (3.4.3). Results The expression of miR-21 in stage II was significantly different from stage IV. However, no significant difference was observed between the other stages. In stage II, the level of miR-21 expression was higher in men than women. Moreover, in the second pathological stage, miR-21 expression was reduced in patients with adjacent lymphoid tissue engagement. In addition, the expression of miR-21 in grade I was significantly higher than grade II. Conclusion The results of this study suggest that miR-21 can be a diagnostic marker for early stages of colon cancer, especially in men. It can also be considered as a good candidate for targeted treatment of colon cancer in the early stages of the disease. Furthermore, for the first time, we suggested that miR-21 can be a good molecular marker for classification of the stages of colon cancer.

Introduction. Preeclampsia (PE) is an important cause of mortality and morbidity for mothers, fetuses, and the newborns. Placenta plays a pivotal role in pathogenesis of PE. Hepatic growth factor (HGF) is a cytokine expressed by the mesenchymal stalk of placental villi during pregnancy and assumes a paracrine role in trophoblasts which express its receptor (c-MET). In the present study, we investigate the diagnostic value of s-Met (the soluble form of the receptor) in the first and second trimesters of pregnancy for early diagnosis of preeclampsia. Method and Materials. This is a case-control study conducted on 95 pregnant women. The serum level of s-Met was measured in the first and second trimesters, and the participants were followed until delivery. 44 individuals with preeclampsia (the case group) and 51 individuals without preeclampsia (the control group) were evaluated. Results. Serum level of s-Met in preeclamptic participants was lower than that of the control group in both the first and the second trimesters (P < 0.0001). In addition, serum levels of s-Met were significantly lower during the first and second trimesters in patients with early, severe preeclampsia compared to those with late, mild preeclampsia (P < 0.0001). The sensitivity and specificity of s-Met in the first and second trimesters were, respectively, (83%, 94%) and (77%, 94%) for early preeclampsia and (88%, 92%) and (86%, 98%) for severe preeclampsia. Conclusion. Considering our findings, serum level of s-Met may be used as a predictive factor for early detection of preeclampsia. Further research is required to corroborate the functional and therapeutic value of s-Met in preeclampsia.

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in females worldwide. Several etiological factors including environmental factors have been recognized for breast cancer. Epstein Barr virus as a viral etiological factor has been proposed. So far, several studies have investigated the relationship between development of breast cancer and Epstein Barr virus, but few have been done in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine whether there was an association between EBV infection and female breast cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods:We analyzed paraffin embedded breast tissue specimens by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) including breast cancer specimens (as case group) and breast fibroadenoma specimens (as control group). PCR was performed to amplify specific sequences of EBV. Results: From 130 cases of breast samples, 67 cases of breast cancer tissues and 41 cases of breast fibroadenoma tissues had adequate quality and quantity of DNA to detect EBV. PCR for EBV was positive in 4 invasive ductal carcinoma specimens (7.3%) and only one of the fibroadenoma specimens (2.4%). No significant association was found between EBV infection and invasive ductal carcinoma (p> 0.05). Also, patient's age and histological grade of IDC were not correlated with EBV infection (p>0.05). Conclusion:We observed no etiologic association between EBV infection and invasive ductal carcinoma of female breast in our regions; however, further studies are required to elucidate this association.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and a major cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. Incidence of GC is affected by various factors, including genetic and environmental factors. Despite extensive research has been done for molecular characterization of GC, it remains largely unknown. Therefore, further studies specially conducted among various ethnicities in different geographic locations, are required to know the precise molecular mechanisms leading to tumorigenesis and progression of GC. The expression patterns of seven candidate genes, including β-catenin, Notch1, GATA6, CDX2, miR-34a, miR-181a, and miR-93 were determined in 24 paired GC tissues and corresponding non-cancerous tissues by quantitative Real-Time PCR. The association between the expression of these genes and clinicopathologic factors were also investigated. Our results demonstrated that overall mRNA levels of GATA6 were significantly decreased in the tumor samples in comparison with the non-cancerous tissues (median fold change (FC) = 0.3143; P = 0.0003). Overall miR-93 levels were significantly increased in the tumor samples relative to the non-cancerous gastric tissues (FC = 2.441; P = 0.0002). β-catenin mRNA expression showed a strong positive correlation with miR-34a (r = 0.5784; P = 0.0031), and miR-181a (r = 0.5652; P = 0.004) expression. miR-34a and miR-181a expression showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.4862; P = 0.016). Moreover, lower expression of Notch1 was related to distant metastasis in GC patients with a borderline statistical significance (p = 0.0549). These data may advance our understanding of the molecular biology that drives GC as well as provide potential targets for defining novel therapeutic strategies for GC treatment. Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most prevalent cancers and the second leading cause of cancer-associated deaths worldwide. GC is a multifactorial disease affected by various genetic and environmental factors, including Helicobacter pylori infection, lifestyle, socioeconomic factors, dietary behavior, and aging 1,2. This matter reflects an imperative need for conduction of studies among different geographic locations and ethnicities to detect