International Journal of Cancer Management
Volume:10 Issue: 3, Mar 2017

Asparginase is known to be one of the most important bedrocks of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment in almost all pediatric regimens in treatment protocols. Escherichia coli L-Asparginase (EC 3.5.1.1) is one of the most common resources to produce this enzyme. One of the affordable methods to overcome the side effects of drug is utilizing bioinformatic tools in the form of In silico study. In this study we designed a new structure of L-Asparginase to decrease its toxicity, reduce some side effects and increase the stability.
We used some bioinformatics software and servers like Toxin red, Popmusic, kobami and I-TASSER server to reduce toxicity level of enzyme, and to increase stability and enzyme half-life.
We obtained 6 protein sequences in which the best was Mut 6 with four changes in structure: L23G, K129L, S263C and R291F. In contrast to the wild type, the new predicted protein is not toxic and has 25 hours more half-life and 600 kcal/mol more stable with no significant change in protein secondary, tertiary structure, antigenicity and allergenicity.
Finally, sequence number 6 was the only sequence with all distinct characteristics: non-toxic, more stability and more half life.

To test a novel neural network prediction model for prostate cancer based on age, rectal examination, prostate specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume.
572 men who underwent trans-rectal ultrasound guided prostate biopsy from February, 2013 to September, 2014 participated in the study. Prostate configuration based on digital rectal examination, serum PSA level, and prostate volume were recorded. Pathologic outcomes were categorized in two groups: adenocarcinoma vs. noncancerous reports. A multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network was designed in which total PSA, free PSA, age, rectal examination results and prostate volume were vectors.
566 men with the average age of 65.9 ± 8.6 years. Average total and free PSA levels were 19.77 ± 50.03 ng/mL and 2.46 ± 8.36 ng/mL respectively. Average free to total PSA ratio was 14.68 ± 11.24%. Prostate size was 58.58 ± 31.64CC on average. Age, total PSA, prostate volume and abnormal DRE were correlated with prostate cancer at biopsy, and the most powerful of all was abnormal DRE with odds ratio of 0.12. Neural networks were formed on a 3-layer perceptron and finally a network of 6 entry, 9 middle, and 2 output nodes was selected with the learning rate of 0.05. The Correct prediction rate for the model was 85.3%.
It seems that our three-layer perceptron neural network model proves better results than the logistic regression model in predicting the presence of prostate cancer based on total and free PSA, DRE result, prostate volume and age.

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is a key nuclear receptor that is associated with the risk and progression of breast cancer (BC).
The present study investigated the Fok1, Bsm1, Taq1 and Cdx2 polymorphisms in the VDR gene and susceptibility to BC in a sample of Southeastern Iranian population.
This case-control study was conducted on 180 women with BC and 178 age-matched healthy women. RFLP-PCR method was used for analysis of Bsm1 (rs 1544410), Apa1 (rs 7975232), Fok1 (rs 2228570) and Taq1 (rs 731236) and also TETRA-ARMS method for Cdx2 (rs 11568820).
No significant correlation was found between polymorphisms of Taq1, Fok1 and Apa1 with BC, but was for Bsm1 (odds ratio (OR) = 3.452, 95% CI 1.769 - 6.738; P The present study findings showed that there were significant correlations between Bsm1 and Cdx2 polymorphisms with BC in women of Sistan and Baluchestan Province (southeastern Iran). Also, signals of Rs1544410-Bsm1 and Rs11568820-Cdx2 positions were difference with routes of estrogen and progesterone per person and they probably act independently.

Under normal physiological condition, melanosomal melanin acts as a natural UV photoprotective filter. However, after long exposure to UV radiation, melanin has shown to involve in reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation and increases the risk of developing ageing, melasma and melanoma skin cancers. A number of plant polyphenols influenced the melanin biosynthesis and growth of various melanoma cells through their anti-tyrosinase activity as well as antioxidant effect.
In this study, we evaluated the anti-melanogeneic and cytotoxic effects of methanol extract of Phlomis caucasica (Lamiaceceae) on human melanoma SKMEL-3 cells.
The level of antioxidant and anti-tyrosinase capacity of MeOH extract from P. caucasica (MPc) were evaluated in vitro by DPPH radical scavenging and mushroom tyrosinase activity assays, respectively. Moreover, the effects of MPc on the melanin content, cellular tyrosinase activity and cytotoxicity (using MTT assay) on human melanoma SKMEL-3 cells were determined 72 hours after the treatment.
The results showed that MPc weakly inhibited DPPH radicals and mushroom tyrosinase activity with SC50 = 1.037 mg/mL and IC50 = 1.316 mg/mL, respectively. The cytotoxicity assay showed that its IC50 value was approximately 0.134 mg/mL (0.09791 to 0.1834) on SKMEL-3 cells. The extract had no effect on the melanin content at concentrations of ≤ 0.1 mg/mL. Additionally, no effect on cellular tyrosinase activity was observed at concentrations ranging from 0.001 to 0.25 mg/mL of MPc.
The results obtained suggest that the P. caucasica extract can reveal cytotoxic effect on human melanoma SKMEL-3 cells at higher concentrations of 0.1 mg/mL. Therefore, it can be considered as a good candidate for anti-melanoma therapy.

Cytochrome P450 IBI (CYP1B1) is involved in the metabolism of a wide range of internal and external substrates and also plays a key role in the metabolism of oestrogen. This enzyme is a factor that could potentially affect the likelihood of a person developing breast cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between polymorphism (RS1056827) and the occurrence of breast cancer in Iranian women.
We used a case-control study design. After an initial evaluation, 79 women with breast cancer (the patient group) and 79 women without breast cancer (the control group) were selected to participate in the study. Their blood samples were then obtained, and a sample of their DNA was extracted. PCR-RELP was used to determine the genotypes of the participants. The data were subjected to statistical tests using the SPSS software package.
The results demonstrated that the frequency of the G allele in the patient and the control group were 34% and 69%, respectively. In addition, the frequency of the T allele in the patient and control group were 66% and 31%, respectively. The genotype frequency of TT, GG and TG in patients with breast cancer were 26.59%, 20.25% and 53.16%, respectively, and 22.79%, 60.76% and 16.45%, respectively, in the control group. There was a statistically meaningful correlation between the results of the genotypes in the patient and control groups.
The results demonstrated that patients with the TT genotype are 3.85 times more likely to develop breast cancer. Therefore, the presence of this polymorphism could be one of the factors that lead to the development of breast cancer.

An association between cancer survival and socioeconomic status (SES) has been evaluated for many different cancers but calculating socioeconomic inequality in survival is very late. In this study we aimed to determine associations between socioeconomic inequality and survival risk factors in patients with gastric carcinoma (GC).
In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 235 patients with confirmed GC. SES data were retrieved from three sources pathological records, official death certificates and telephone interviews. Polychoric correlation matrix was used to reduce the number of variables. Inequality was measured by concentration index (CI) and we decomposed CI to determine contribution in inequality. All analyses were performed by standard statistical software STATA (version 11.2).
The overall CI for late diagnosis (2 stage onwards) and positive history of smoking were -0.020 (95% CI = -0.041 - 0.004) and -0.105 (95% CI = -0.110 - -0.076), respectively. Results of decomposition shows past medical history of gastrointestinal diseases (29%) and history of smoking (18%) have the largest contributions in inequality in GC survival.
Results of this study showed risk factors in GC survival such as smoking, having a past medical history of gastrointestinal diseases and late diagnosis are more prevalent among people of lower SES.

Cervical cancer is one of the main causes of women’s death in the world. Human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 have been known as a cause of more than 2/3 of cervical cancers. New combination treatment strategies based on immune responses against viral antigens are likely to be beneficial. Considering the important role of angiogenesis in nutrition and oxygenation of tumor cells, the inhibition of this process can help tumor clearance.
In this study, co-administration of a plasmid encoding immune stimulatory epitopes of E6-E7-L1 genes of HPV with an anti-angiogenic peptide derived from Endostatin in tumor mice model was examined.
C57BL/6 mice were injected subcutaneously with TC-1 tumor cells and monitored for tumor progression. At exact time points, tumor size was determined. Then they were injected by pIRES-E6/E7/L1 as DNA vaccine, and anti angiogenic peptide. Relative tumor volume measurements and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay was carried out in order to investigate therapeutic antitumor effects of vaccine and peptide.
Based on the results, the group of mice that received vaccine and vaccine-peptide had significant inhibition rate of tumor growth in comparison with control groups (P In general, it could be concluded that the co-administration of DNA vaccine due to the good immunogenicity and suitable inhibitory effect of peptide in reduction of tumor size, shows higher efficacy and can be considered as a new therapeutic strategy.

Fatty acid synthase is a multifunctional protein that catalyzes de novo synthesis of long-chain fatty acids. FASN expression is higher in HER2-positive cells, such as SKBR3 and MCF-7/HER2 cells, than in MCF-7 cells, which express lower HER2 levels. Curcumin, a yellow-colored hydrophobic polyphenol derived from the rhizome turmeric, significantly suppressed growth of human breast cancer cells. In this study, we assessed the effect of curcumin on expression and activity of fatty acid synthase in SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells.
In this study, we decided to determine the effects of Curcumin on Fatty Acid Synthase expression and enzyme activity in breast cancer cell line SKBR3.
We assessed the cytotoxicity effect of curcumin in SK-BR-3 cells by MTT. Apoptosis was performed by flow cytometry. FAS activity was measured by a spectrophotometer at 340 nm of NADPH absorption. Fatty acid synthase gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR.
Curcumin could decrease cell viability and induce apoptosis in SK-BR-3 cells. Curcumin also reduces the enzyme activity and expression of fatty acid synthase.
It is possible that inhibitory effects of curcumin on FAS may induce apoptosis in SK-BR-3 breast cancer cells.

Evidence about survival of the patients with nasopharyngeal cancer is scant in our region and the aim of the current study was to determine clinico-pathological factors influencing outcome of these patients.
We reviewed all patients with a new diagnosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma admitted between 2008 and 2014 to Jorjani cancer center, Tehran, Iran. Overall survival (OS) of the patients and their relation with demographic and clinico-pathological factors were analyzed.
Of 88 included patients, 56 were male and 32 were female with mean age of 46 years. With a median follow-up period of 31 months (range: 3 to 86 months), the overall survival of the whole patients and those without distant metastasis were 64% and 67% respectively. Tumor stage and presence or absence of distant metastasis at presentation were the only parameters that significantly influenced the patients’ OS.
Our study provides some evidence on the outcome of Iranian patients with nasopharyngeal cancer and factors influencing it.

Rhabdoid Tumor is one of the rare and aggressive malignant tumors of childhood that was introduced as a subgroup of the rhabdomyosarcomatoid of the Wilm’s tumor in 1978 at first.
Our patient is a 15-month-old girl referred due to two soft masses, one in the anterior distal-half part of the left forearm and the other in the left anterior axillary space with about 5cm × 14cm and 8 - 10cm diameter respectively, and started one month prior to the study. They were warm, relatively stiff and painless causing decreased left hand’s movements. In color doppler sonography of left upper limb, one solid heteroechogenic mass was seen around the distal left forearm bones and also several hyperechoic ovoid masses were found (with the greatest diameter of 20 × 14mm). MRI of left upper limb and finally microscopic and immunohistochemical study on tissue biopsy sample of anterior mass of left forearm showed the certain diagnosis.
Invasiveness, young age of the patients, limitations of the use of the radiation in this young age and the tolerance of the chemotheraputic agents in infancy have important roles in the prognosis of these patients.

Pituitary adenoma producing symptomatic carotid compression of the internal carotid artery without any apoplexy sign would be extremely rare and there was only one report regarding to this condition.
In this case report we have described a 57-year-old woman with a nonfunctional pituitary macro adenoma which has resulted to symptomatic internal carotid occlusion. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a large pituitary adenoma caused tight stenosis of right internal carotid. The patient has also experienced the transient ischemic attack which has confirmed to be the cause of internal carotid artery occlusion by this macro adenoma tumor. There was not any sign of apoplexy at the time of admission and the patient has not shown a history of pituitary adenoma. The patient then has undergone an endonasal transsphenoidal resection because of this nonfunctional pituitary adenoma.
Pituitary macro adenoma producing symptomatic internal carotid occlusion might develop to several serious conditions including transient ischemic attack. Urgent surgical procedure might be the best approach to prevent further severe complications in such patients.

Recently the use of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) for the treatment of cancers called “Plasma Oncology” has gained promising results. The developments have raised the hope that this technology could be an interesting new therapeutic approach in the treatment of cancer.
The process of this study includes a narrative review in two stages. At the first stage “literature overview”, all mechanisms of action related to cold atmospheric plasma have been reviewed. To relevant as much as papers for this review, multiple effective techniques have been applied in our search strategy. An extensive search of the published literature has been conducted.
Results of this study include three sections as follow: the mechanism of action, in vivo and in vitro findings, and studied focused on selectivity effect of CAP. According to several publications, reactive oxidative species (ROS) can be the major cause of the biological effect of plasma. Several publications concerning in vivo and in vitro studies on different cell lines and selectivity effect showed that there are promising results in favor of anti-cancer effect of CAP.
The results of several studies that are summarized within this review show that CAP is effective against cancer which also indicate that CAP seems to be selective for cancer cells compared to non-neoplastic cells. It has been concluded that the feasibility of applying CAP for treating human tissue has already gained momentum although future studies require more studies for clarifying that if CAP is capable to discriminate between normal and malignant cells or not.