Yafteh

Background: Today, breast cancer is the biggest health threat to women. The current common treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. In most cancers, metastasis is the primary cause of treatment failure. Surgery and radiotherapy are effective on local tumors, but they cannot affect metastatic cancers. Chemotherapy is often used to treat metastatic cancers, the effectiveness of which is basically limited due to its toxic side effects at high doses. Due to the side effects of chemotherapy drugs, peptide therapy has become increasingly popular in the world. Accordingly, this study aims to investigate the effect of a designed bFGF antagonist peptide on inhibition of tumor growth in 4T1 metastatic breast cancer model and the serum levels of interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha.
Materials and Methods: Female Balb/c mice (5-7 weeks old) were used in this study. Tumors were established using 4T1 tumor transplantation method. Treatment began after two weeks, when tumors reached an appropriate size. After that, the designed peptides at three selected doses were injected intraperitoneally for 14 days. Positive and negative controls were also used for each injection. The mice in the positive and negative control groups were injected with PBS and doxorubicin, respectively. Tumors size was measured every other day using a digital caliper, and their volume was measured using the formula: length × width² × 0.5. After blood samples were taken from the mice’s eyes and plasma isolation was performed, interleukin-8 (IL-8) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha were measured by ELISA.
Results: The data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS. Given the value of p≤0.05, it can be concluded that peptide injection is effective in the reduction or inhibition of tumor growth. Significant differences are observed among the negative control group  positive contro, group, and the peptide-treated group.
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the anti-angiogenic peptide effectively inhibited the growth of the breast cancer and  the results indicate that compared with the negative control group, serum levels of interleukin-8 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha are significantly different.

Background: Cancer is a destructive and usually progressive disease while put too much stress on the patient's family and the society. Therfore, recognizing the factors which are effective in well-being of these patients is very influentioal and important to help to diminish the stress they are experience. This study was administered aimed to determine the relationship between coping strategies with the psychological well-being in women suffered from breast cancer
Materials and Methods: This research was a descriptive-correlation study. The statistical population consiseted of all women with breast cancer who referred to Shahid Rahimi Hospital of Khoramabad (Cancer Department). Using convenient sampling method 300 patients were selected. To measure the variables, the psychological well-being questionnaire of Ryff and the coping strategies questionnaire of Lazarus were used. Data were analyzed in two descriptive and inferential levels by regression and correlation analysis and using SPSS software version 24.
Results: Results indicated that there were significant relationships between the coping strategies and the psychological well-being among the women with breast cancer. But there was no relationship between Emotional coping strategy and psychological well-being.
Conclusion: It is infered from the study results that there is the relationship between coping strategy and psychological well-being. The type of coping strategy used in stressful situations affects the psychological well-being of breast cancer. Considering these results designing the therapeutic and educational programs in area of identifying and applying adaptive coping styles could be helpful in increasing the psychological well-being of these patients.

Background: Breast cancer, which is a major cancer for women, affects the angiogenesis process. Exercise training can decrease the process of angiogenesis in tumor tissue. The aim of present study was to investigate the effects of 8 weeks of aerobic training on HIF-1α, miR-21 and VEGF gene expression in female Balb/c mice with breast cancer.
Materials and Methods: 16 female Balb/c mice (age: 3-5 weeks and weight: 17/1 ± 0.1 g) were selected and randomly divided into two groups: aerobic training and control. The aerobic training involved running with intensity of 14-20 m/min for 5 sessions per week over 8 weeks. The gene expression of HIF-1α, miR-21 and VEGF was examined by RT&PCR. The repeated measurement ANOVA, Bonferroni post hoc test and the independent T-test were used to analyse the data, with a significant level set at p<0.05.
Results: The results showed that aerobic training induced significant differences in the growth of tumor volume and an increase in HIF-1α. In addition, aerobic training caused a significant decrease in the gene expression of miR-21, whereas the changes in gene expression of VEGF were not significant.
Conclusion: It appears that aerobic training caused a reduction in the gene expression of miR-21 and VEGF, which in turn, induced a decrease in the tumor volume and a corresponding improvement in the cancer

Cancer is a major and serious problem for human health. Despite the many advances in the field of treatment, it remains the biggest global medical challenge. The main barrier to treating this disease is a process called metastasis, which occurs in 90% of cancers.
According to World Health Statistics, breast cancer is among the three world's prevalent cancers and the second largest cause of cancer deaths in the world that is about 1.67 million people. Bone, liver, lung and brain are common organs for metastatic breast cancer. Proprietary processes and various molecules play a role in metastasis to each of these organs. The target microorganisms first cause the cancer cells to be present in these organs, and then the release of specific factors from cancer cells and their interaction with the target micro-environment results in the survival of these cells and the formation of metastasis. In this review article, we try to find out the key molecules of these mechanisms that can be considered as an appropriate therapeutic target for breast cancer by studying the mechanisms involved in metastatic breast cancer to target organs.

Background: Due to proven anti-tumor activity of quercetin (QT), however the low effectiveness of QT has restricted its use. This study aimed to assess the toxic effect of QT encapsulated in solid lipid nanoparticles (QT-SLNs) on the cell death (Autophagy) of MCF-7 human breast cancer cells.
 Materials and Methods: MCF-7 and MCF-10A (non-tumorigenic cell line) cell lines treated with 25 µml/mL of QT or QT-SLNs for 48 h. Cell viability and Autophagy were evaluated to determine the toxic effectiveness of the QT-SLNs.
Results: The QT-SLNs with appropriate characteristics were prepared. The QT-SLNs showed sustained QT release until 48 h. Cytotoxicity assessments indicated that QT-SLNs inhibited MCF-7 cells growth with a low IC50 (50% inhibitory concentration) value, compared to the free QT. QT-SLNs induced a significantly increased in Autophagy in the MCF-7 cells. Following QT-SLNs treatment, the expression of the ATG-5 protein significantly increased in comparison with free QT-treated cells. Furthermore, The QT-SLNs significantly increased autophagy indexes in MCF-7 cells. Viability and autophagy of MCF-10A cells were not affected by QT or QT-SLNs.
Conclusions: According to these results, SLN significantly enhanced the toxic effect of QT against human breast cancer cells.

Background: Various studies proposed virus infection is to be a possible cause of human breast cancer. However, the data argue the association between virus and cancer are inconsistent. This study was conducted to detect whether HPV-DNA is present in tissue samples of breast cancer in Isfahan province.
Materials and Methods: Paraffin embedded formalin fixed specimens were prepared from 40 breast tumor and 20 healthy tissues in women with breast cancer from Isfahan province. After DNA extraction and amplification of beta-actin housekeeping gene for evaluation of DNA purity, all DNA samples with appropriate purity were examined for detection of DNA-HPV by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using virus specific primers. Data was analyzed with Cramer test using SPSS16.0 software.
Result: Presence of DNA-HPV 16 in 3 out of 40 cases (5.7%) and DNA-HPV18 in 8 out of 40 (20%) cases of breast cancer samples was observed and DNA-HPV18. DNA-HPV 16 and 18 were detected in none of the 20 control samples. Statistically, Cramerʹs index for HPV16 infection was 0.197 and Sig=0.077 in cancer samples, and Cramerʹs index for HPV18 infection was 0.333 and Sig=0.003 in cancer samples.
Conclusion: Therefore, in Isfahan province, HPV18 is meaningful associated with breast cancer in women and HPV16 is not meaningful associated with breast cancer in women. Further studies in other regions are needed to clarify the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms behind the association of HPV16, 18 infection and breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Iran based on age standardized incidence. Multidisciplinary approach including surgery, pathology, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in treatment of this cancer is of a great importance. In this study, we intend to investigate 2-year relapse free survival and the measure of tumor free safe margin in the breast conservation surgery patients undergoing multidisciplinary treatment.
Methods: This study was conducted in Firoozgar hospital of Tehran. Patient were imported to the study by census from May 2016 to September 2018 and followed up by September 2020. For the patients, superior, inferior, lateral, medial, anterior and deep margins were measured in lumpectomy samples. In addition, 2-year relapse was reported based on Poisson distribution.
Results: In this study, 156 cases were initially selected by census that 81 of them were breast conservation surgery. The mean of safe margin was 1.73 superior, 2.02 inferior, 2.30 lateral, 2.41 medial, 1.49 anterior and 1.27 deep. Only one case of local recurrence was observed (relapse free survival = 98.77%).
Conclusion: Enough safe margin along with a multidisciplinary treatment approach was associated with the 98% relapse free survival which was more than previous studies. It seems that lower amounts of margin could also be associated with lower recurrence, but it is more important to use specialists of different majors to manage the patients. This approach is suggested to be used in future.

Background: Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers and the first leading cause of cancer death (25.5%) among women across the world. Oxidative stress and overproduction of free radicals are among the most important reasons for the progression of cancers. This study aimed to investigate the effect of eight weeks of aerobic exercise with pomegranate juice on Serum microRNAs levels related to the oxidant/antioxidant system of women recovering from breast cancer.
Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 40 women recovering from breast cancer with a mean age of 42.45±1.95 were randomly assigned into four equal groups (n=10), including control, pomegranate juice, aerobic exercise, and aerobic-pomegranate. The aerobic and aerobic-pomegranate groups performed eight 60-90-min sessions of exercises three times a week with an intensity of 50% to 70% of the target heart rate. The pomegranate juice group received 100 cc of juice before each training session. Blood samples were collected 48 h before and after the intervention. Oncogenic microRNAs, such as miR-21 and miR-155, were assayed by RT-PCR. The obtained data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA, ANCOVA, and Bonferroni post hoc test at a significance level of P≤0/05.
Results: In total, eight weeks of aerobic exercise with the consumption of pomegranate juice caused a significant decrease in miR-21 (P=0.001) and miR-155 (P=0.001) levels in women recovering from breast cancer, compared to the control group.
Conclusion: Aerobic exercise and consumption of pomegranate juice simultaneously reduced oncogene microRNAs, such as miR-21 and miR-155, in women recovering from breast cancer.

Background: Carvacrol is a natural monoterpene phenolic compound that has biological activities with therapeutic applications, and this study aimed to investigate the apoptotic effect of Carvacrol on the human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231.
Materials and Methods: After the preparation and cultivation of MDA-MB-231 cells, the IC50 value of Carvacrol on the cells was evaluated by the MTT assay method, and then the induction of apoptosis in the cell line treated with different concentrations of Carvacrol was observed by DAPI staining. The qPCR method was used to check the expression levels of Bax, P53, and Bcl-2 genes at the mRNA level. The results were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 9 software.
Results: The results showed that the cytotoxicity of Carvacrol against MDA-MB-231 cancer cells was dose-dependent at 24 (P=0.034) and 48 (P=0.041) hours. The IC50 of Carvacrol at 48 h was 154.2 μM. The MDA-MB-231 cells treated with Carvacrol showed induction of apoptosis from the mitochondrial pathway by increasing the expression of P53 and BAX genes and decreasing the expression of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 gene. In addition, the number of apoptotic cells with dense DNA increased significantly in the Carvacrol treatment group (P=0.001).
Conclusion: This study showed that treatment of the MDA-MB-231 cell line with Carvacrol can inhibit its growth and proliferation through the induction of apoptosis from the BAX/BCL-2 pathway. Considering the significant inhibitory effect of the treatment of cells with the Carvacrol compound, it seems that there is a suitable research field for using this compound in the control and treatment of breast cancer.
 

Background: The incidence of breast cancer is increasing in many countries. Therefore, early-stage breast cancer detection is of great importance in order to improve the chances of detection and treatment, as well as the prevention of women's deaths. Nowadays, despite the progress in cancer treatment, the use of non-molecular technologies, such as gastroscopy, computed tomography, and protein biomarkers, is still at the center of clinical cancer screening. These methods have some disadvantages, including low specificity and sensitivity. As a result, in breast cancer screening, most cancer patients may fail to be diagnosed and then miss the ideal treatment period. The objective of the present study was to examine the efficacy of biomarkers, specifically circulating cell-free DNA, circulating tumor DNA, and exosomes present in peripheral blood plasma, as a non-invasive means of detecting cancer at an early stage. In recent years, many efforts have been made to investigate the relationship between methylation markers and breast cancer. It appears that analyzing the DNA methylation pattern in blood for breast cancer could be a promising candidate for further research to confirm their roles in early diagnosis, prognosis prediction, and dynamic monitoring of breast cancer as a non-invasive method. Although the use of blood-based DNA methylation for medical applications is still in its early stages and is along with some challenges (e.g., the lack of unified standards for detection methods between studies and poor reproducibility of selected markers), in some cases, false negative results may be reported due to the low blood-based DNA concentration. However, with the increased sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic kits, their broader applications can be seen in the future.