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Multidisciplinary Cancer Investigation - Volume:1 Issue: 1, Jan 2017

Multidisciplinary Cancer Investigation
Volume:1 Issue: 1, Jan 2017

  • تاریخ انتشار: 1395/09/20
  • تعداد عناوین: 7
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  • Keivan Majidzadeh, A. Pages 1-2
    On behalf of the editorial and executive board members, it is my great pleasure to present the Multidisciplinary
    Cancer Investigation Journal. The rapid growth of medical sciences has necessitated the development of platforms to distribute and publish the results of research projects, and declare new discoveries.
    Among all medical disciplines, cancer is the one that involves the largest number of scientists, and is counted among the most important areas of research and discovery, for a number of reasons, including: 1. Its high impact on public health. Globally, cancer is identified among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Recent statistics have shown some 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million cancer deaths annually, while some 32.6 million people were living with cancer in 2012 around the world [1].
    2. Cancer is a mysterious disease, and this mystery in itself is an attraction. Many scientists around the world are striving to identify the root causes of cancer, and they generally believe cancer to be a genetic disease, with its complex processes commencing with a sole mutation and proceeding with other mutations [2]. Each mutation or group of mutations confers a new characteristic to this fast growing cellular mass, including angiogenesis, anti-apoptosis, extracellular matrix break and etc. [3]. A minority of scientists, on the other hand, believe that malignancy originates from the micro-environment of the cell and mutational processes occur afterward [4, 5]. Moreover, there are sporadic attitudes and observations in parapsychology and pseudoscience regarding the origin of cancer, which claim that the human body possesses dimensions beyond its corporal composition, some of which are physical and others metaphysical [6]. According to these unproved approaches that can be named dimensional medicine, tumorigenic events begin from these dimensions, and mutational processes or micro-environmental changes follow. Therefore, major mysteries are still to be uncovered, and that has made cancer attractive in the eyes of many scientists seeking the answer to such questions.
    3. Many novel approaches to the treatment and even eradication of cancer have recently emerged. Some of which are: The targeted therapy approach, in which lots of monoclonal antibodies have been developed to target the principal role players in cancer signaling pathways [7]; the cancer stem cell approach, which suggests the extermination of tumor to be dependent on the annihilation power of cancer stem cells; the immunotherapy and cell therapy approach that relies on training of the host’s immune system to defend against cancer cells [8]; and finally, the personalized medicine approach, the great achievement of pharmacogenomics and biomarker discovery, especially with the help of high throughput technology, which has faced the challenge of big data in its primary phases of introduction to the community [9]. This challenge has opened a new window for the involvement of many other professionals, such as bioinformaticians, statisticians, and software designers to solve this recent challenge. Statistical model-based software would be the main outcome of the efforts of such professionals. Such software is able to predict sensitivity and resistance to each specific treatment for each specific patient, and also predict prognosis and survival of cancer patients based on their biomarker profile.
    4. Integrative Medicine in cancer have brought many professionals of alternative and complementary medicine to the scene to present their potential, especially to raise the quality of life of cancer patients [10].
    5. There are also numerous professionals of non-medical specialties, such as electromagnetic, photonic, biomaterial and many other engineers, which have entered the field of cancer and created an interdisciplinary atmosphere of research. Recently, microfluidic-based platforms have shown the potential of paradigm change in critical areas of cancer research, such as biomarker discovery, molecular diagnostics, tumor biology and high-throughput screening for therapeutics; liquid biopsy for isolation of circulating tumor cells (CTC), cell-free DNA and nano-vesicles, such as exosomes, is one of its important potentials. Furthermore, as an alternative to conventional monolayer cell culture and animal models, modeling of primary tumors on microfluidic-based chips will change the face of cancer research in the near future. These three-dimensional models can be applied to investigate cancer growth and metastasis, drug target discovery for immunotherapy purposes, testing drug compounds, and also associated companion diagnostics [11, 12].
    All of the above approaches to various aspects of cancer have engaged many different professionals and scientists worldwide. Cancer has thus encompassed diverse areas of science and technology to encounter challenges. However, the separate involvement of each discipline would not be greatly beneficial, and what is required is a suitable atmosphere where disciplines can influence one another. This highlights the urgent need to gather all the relevant professionals to discuss and reach a mutual understanding of the interdisciplinary points of view and new insights into cancer. That is, we need a multidisciplinary cancer investigation to achieve the target. In this journal, we attempt to highlight and facilitate the spreading of such approaches. We look forward to receiving meritorious manuscripts and works from around the world, and disseminating them for the benefit of all enthusiastic scientists thirsty for progress.
  • Shima Nazem, Mahbobeh Masoumi, Naser Amirizadeh, Fatemeh Zolghadr, Majid Sadeghizadeh Pages 3-10
    Introduction
    Benzene a well-known environmental pollutant is a human carcinogen which is involved in the manifestation of a number of malignancies. Activation of benzene and its reactive metabolites such as hydroquinone (HQ) leads to continuous production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), causing oxidative Stress. Curcumin, the yellow pigment of curcuma longa, has been shown to possess antioxidant activity in vitro and in vivo. However, poor bioavailability is the major drawback about of this drug. By using dendrosome, a nontoxic nanoparticle, we tried to deal with this problem. In the present study, we have investigated the protective effects of encapsulated nanocurcumin-PEGOA (ENC) against the HQ-induced oxidative damage in human mesenchymal bone marrow stem cells (hMSCs).
    Methods
    hMSCs were pre-treated with ENC and then exposed to HQ. Cell viability, intracellular ROS and lipid peroxidation extent were assessed by MTT assay, DCFHDA fluorescent dye and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), respectively. Moreover, mRNA levels of antioxidant enzymes, catalase and hemeoxygenase-1 were evaluated by qRT-PCR.
    Results
    The results showed that treatment of MSCs with ENC (10 μM) for 12 hours prior to HQ exposure, significantly attenuated the cell viability loss, suppressed the elevation of ROS and reduced the extent of lipid peroxidation caused by HQ compared with the control. Moreover, a significant increase in mRNA expression of antioxidant genes of catalase and hemeoxygenase-1 was observed after treatment with ENC.
    Conclusions
    These results suggest that 10 μM ENC could protect hMSCs against toxic and oxidative effects of HQ. Therefore, ENC may have cancer protective effect.
    Keywords: Nanocapsules, Hydroquinone, Mesenchymal Stromal Cells, Oxidative Stress, qRT, PCR.
  • Mehdi Rahmanian, Seyed Morteza Naghib *, Amir Seyfoori, Ali Akbar Zare, Hasan Sanati, Keivan Majidzadeh, A. Pages 11-14
    Introduction
    Achievement of new drugs with minimal side effects is a important goal in the cancer treatment due to irreversible side effects of conventional drugs. Tricalcium phosphates as natural bone components have unique characteristics including excellent biocompatibility, high biosorption and superior bioactivity. This research aimed at investigating the inhibitory effect of tricalcium phosphate (TCP) sintered at different temperatures.
    Methods
    TCP nanoparticles (nTCP) were sintered at three temperatures of 700°C, 900°C and 1000°C, and their structural characterization was examined. Heat treatment of TCP at 900°C was found optimal due to its morphological properties, such as particle size and its crystallinity. The inhibitory effect of optimized nTCP sintered at 900°C was surveyed through in vitro tests.
    Results
    Cell culture assay studies exhibited that such effect depended on the concentration of nTCP. Moreover, the results depicted that the effect was 80%, which could be attributed to the 50 mg.L-1 dose of nTCP.
    Conclusions
    In lower concentrations, higher inhibitory effect of nTCP was observed. In comparison with hydroxyapatite, at low concentrations, anti-cancer properties of TCP were far greater than other calcium phosphates.
    Keywords: Tricalcium Phosphate, Nanoparticles, Therapeutics.
  • Safa Najafi, Arezoo Baktashian, Mandana Ebrahimi, Parisa Mokhtari Hesari, Mehdi Rajabi Pages 15-20
    Introduction
    Around half of Iranian women with breast cancer are below 50 years of age and over 70% of them are reported to have experienced an earlier menopause after chemotherapy. Due to the high and prevalent appearance of amenorrhea among women being treated for breast cancer, this study focused on the efficacy of citalopram plus aspirin, compared to citalopram plus a placebo on cancerous women with chemotherapy-induced amenorrhea (CIA) symptoms in premenopausal stages.
    Methods
    In this randomized clinical trial study, 32 participants were randomly allocated to treatment (receiving citalopram and aspirin), and 28 to control (receiving citalopram and placebo) groups. Participants were selected from patients referring to Breast Cancer Research Center of the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (BCRC, ACECR), and Seyyed-o-Shohada Hospital in Isfahan, Iran. To assess their functional, physical, emotional and socio-familial well-being, as well as their hot flashes, Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaires were used, while the effect of treatment was measured using paired t-test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
    Results
    The means of participants ages were 45.03 ± 5.1 and 44.7 ± 5.3 in treatment and control groups, respectively. Hot flashes decreased in both groups to a statistically significant degree (P value
    Conclusions
    The study demonstrated that premenopausal women undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer experience disturbing symptoms such as hot flashes, and lower emotional and physical well-being, which can largely be treated with citalopram and aspirin. Relevant specialists and physicians could thus prescribe this drug regimen to alleviate these major symptoms.
    Keywords: Premenopause Women, Drug Therapy, Hot Flashes, Breast Neoplasms
  • Sasan Talaneh, Abolfazl Ghorbani, Tayebe Oghabi Bakhshaiesh, Behbuod Jafari Pages 21-25
    Introduction
    Vitamin D fulfills its crucial role in cell proliferation and death through signal transduction into the nucleus by vitamin D receptor (VDR). Recent studies have depicted the association between VDR gene polymorphisms and different cancers, including breast cancer. This study attempted to consider the relationship between VDR gene polymorphisms and breast cancer risk among women in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran.
    Methods
    FokI and BsmI polymorphisms were studied through the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique on blood samples taken from 95 cancer and 71 healthy participants from Urmia City. The association between the mentioned polymorphisms and breast cancer risk was considered using calculated odds ratio (OR).
    Results
    The findings showed the protective effect of the FokI polymorphism in breast cancer development (OR = 0.2731), while no statistically significant correlation was observed between breast cancer and BsmI polymorphism (P > 0.05).
    Conclusions
    This study identified the protective effect of the FokI polymorphism in breast cancer, and the absence of statistically significant association between BsmI polymorphism and breast cancer.
    Keywords: Breast Cancer, Calcitriol Receptors, Polymorphism, RFLP.
  • Parisa Hoseinpour, Asieh Olfatbakhsh, Mahsa Keshavarz, Fathi, Toktam Beheshtian, Esmat Alsadat Hashemi, Parandis Hoseinpour Pages 26-28
    Introduction
    Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an intermediate and slowgrowing sarcoma, developing most commonly in the trunk and extremities and rarely in the breast. It may be recurrent, but metastasis is not common. Excisional surgery with enough resection margins decreases the recurrence rate much more.
    Case Presentation
    An 18-year-old woman presented with posttraumatic bruising of the right axilla near her breast which had been converted to a nodular mass. A well-defined firm mass, fixed to the dermis, palpable with mild tenderness, was present. Ultrasound (US) revealed a cyst with thickened wall, internal echo septa and high vascularity. The findings were suggestive of a complex cyst or infected epidermal inclusion cyst (EIC). Pathological investigation revealed uniform spindle cells in a storiform arrangement. In immunohistochemistry (IHC), tumoral cells showed reactivity for CD34 and the diagnosis of DFSP was made.
    Conclusion
    Various breast lesions including cysts as well as benign and malignant masses may show similar appearance in imaging studies, which makes clear the crucial role of the pathological and immunohistochemical investigations to confirm a definite diagnosis.
    Keywords: DFSP, Dermis, Cyst, CD34
  • Ehsan Shamsi Gooshki Pages 29-30