مجله دانشکده پزشکی اصفهان
پیاپی 753 (هفته اول فروردین 1403)

Treatment planning target volume (PTV) motion in prostate cancer tomotherapy is an important challenge in treatment planning. This study aimed to evaluate PTV margins for prostate cancer tomotherapy.

From 2021 to 2023, 20 patients with prostate cancer underwent tomotherapy. Before each treatment session, the MVCT image was taken from the patient, and the patient's settings were made using pelvic bone markers and tattoos. Before treatment, prostate volume was measured by ultrasound. Bladder volume was measured in MVCT images and compared with CTSim images. PTV displacements were measured and the required margin for 95% PTV dose was determined using the average prostate displacement. Correlation coefficients between bladder volume, prostate volume, and PTV displacement were calculated.

This study analyzed a total of 497 MVCT and 20 CT images. Anisotropic PTV margins, accounting for random uncertainties, were 14-6.9 mm for PTV1, 11.4-6.2 mm for PTV2, and 5.9-3.5 mm for PTV3 in the anterior-posterior direction, respectively.

This research reveals that a non-uniform PTV margin is needed to compensate for the random uncertainties caused by the movement of the prostate between tomotherapy sessions. Filling of the bladder and diet play a vital role in the displacement of the prostate.

In recent years, more attention has been paid to the role of nutritional literacy in the formation of a healthy eating pattern. The present study was conducted to investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the nutritional knowledge scale in women of reproductive age.

A cross-sectional was done on 320 women of reproductive age who were referred to health service centers in Kerman city. Data was collected through a two-part questionnaire that included demographic information and the Persian version of the nutritional knowledge scale. This scale has 31 questions with a score between 0 and 124. Lisrel version 8.8 software was used.

Most of the participants were married (76.1%), housewives, had an average level of economic state (67.5%), had a university degree (56.6%) and were housewives (52.5%). Cronbach's alpha of 0.87 indicated the appropriate internal consistency of the Persian version. The goodness of fit indices was at an acceptable level after removing some items with a factor load of less than (0.3). The average score of nutritional knowledge was 86.46 ± 13.85, and the status of it in 108 people (33.7%) was low. Women with academic education levels, those working in the private sector, and those with good economic levels obtained higher scores.

The Persian version of the scale had appropriate psychometric properties. About one-third of women had low nutritional knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize increasing nutritional awareness of women of reproductive age.

Platelets are multi-purpose cell parts circulating abundantly in the blood and can be educated by their environment. Platelets actively change their nucleic acid content in response to local and systemic pathological conditions and can play a role in cancer development and progression by supporting the growth, survival, and dissemination of tumor cells. In the current study, the importance of RNAs in platelets -as less invasive biomarkers- for early diagnosis of cancers and also for tracking tumor progression has been investigated.

Reliable scientific databases such as PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar were used to gather relevant articles for this review study.

The nucleic acid content of platelets is provided both by their generator (megakaryocyte) and mediators such as cancer cells. Different types of coding and non-coding RNA make up the nucleic acid content of platelets, and cancer cells affect platelet RNA content in tumor-educated platelets through direct and indirect pathways.

Advances in molecular technologies and subsequent deep insight into the profile of tumor-educated platelet RNAs, including the discovery of small and longer regulatory RNAs, have enabled the analysis of tumor-educated platelet RNA profiles as a new source for early cancer diagnosis.