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Osteosarcoma (OS) is a kind of primary bone cancer that is considered as the leading cause of children death. Surgery and chemotherapy are considered as common treatment approaches for OS; the rate of survival for patients is almost 60-70%. Besides the used therapeutic approaches, it seems that there is a crucial need to launch new treatments for OS. In this regard, more understanding about cellular and molecular pathways involved in OS can contribute to recovery and develop new therapeutic platforms. Autophagy is a cellular machinery that digests and degrades dysfunctional proteins and organelles, so it can regulate the cell proliferation and survival. Most of the time, OS cells use autophagy to increase their survival and proliferation and to gain the ability to resist chemotherapy. Although, there are several controversial evidences on how OS cells use autophagy. A variety of cellular and molecular pathways, that is, microRNAs (miRNAs) can modulate autophagy. MiRNAs are some endogenous, approximately 22 nucleotide RNAs that have an important role in posttranscriptional regulation of mRNAs by targeting them. There are many evidences that the various miRNA expressions in OS cells are dysregulated, so it can propel a normal cell to cancerous one by influencing the cell survival, apoptosis, and autophagy, and eventually increased chemoresitance. Hence, miRNAs can be considered as new biomarkers for OS diagnosis, and according to the role of autophagy in OS progression, miRNAs can use inhibiting or promoting autophagy agents. The present review summarizes the effects of

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is considered as a neglected disease with significant mortality and morbidity in most of the developing countries. The current study aimed to retrospectively assess the demographic and epidemiologic features of human CE surgical cases in a 15-year period in Fars province, southwestern Iran. Methods: A 15-year (2004-2018) retrospective study was conducted to find out the epidemiological and clinical picture of CE in patients who undergone surgeries for CE in two main hospitals in Fars Province, southwestern Iran. Hospital records were reviewed, and data were retrieved from each CE patient's record. Results: A total of 501 CE surgical cases were recorded during a 15-year period, corresponding to an average annual incidence of 33.4 and a surgical incidence rate of 0.74/100,000 population. Of these, 242 (48.6%) were male, and 256 (52.4%) were female. Patients' age ranged from 2 to 96 years, with a mean age of 34.92 (± 19.87) years. A significantly higher rate of CE cases was noted in subject's ≥ 50 years of age. The highest frequency of cases (62: 12.5%) was recorded in the year 2017. The most commonly involved organs were liver (339 cases; 57.8%) and lung (279 cases; 47.6%). Concurrent involvement of two organs was seen in 58 (9.9%) cases of both lung and liver, 10 (1.6%) cases of lung and other locations (but not liver), and 23 (3.9%) cases of liver and other locations (but not lung). Reoperation was noted in 67 (13.4%) of the cases. The size of the lung hydatid cyst varied, ranging between 2 and 24 cm (mean = 7.33, SD = 3.737). The size of liver hydatid cysts ranged from 1 to 26 cm (mean 9.04, SD = 4.275). Conclusion: The findings of the current study demonstrated a nearly constant prevalence of CE during the last 15 years in southern Iran. Further studies are needed to find out the reasons behind the recurrence of the disease, which is substantial, in surgically-treated patients.

No abstract

Background: Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is considered a neglected disease with significant mortality and morbidity in most of the developing countries. The current study aimed to retrospectively assess the epidemiologic and clinical features of human CE in a 15-year period in Fars province, southwestern Iran. Methods: Hospital records of patients undergone surgeries for CE in two main hospitals in Fars Province, southwestern Iran in a 15-year period (2004-2018) were reviewed and data concerning the patients' demographical and clinical features were retrieved from each record. Results: A total of 501 CE surgical cases were recorded during a 15-year period, giving an average annual incidence of 33.4 cases in which 242 (48.6%) were male and 256 (52.4%) were female. Patients' age ranged from 2 to 96 years, with a mean age of 34.92 (±19.87) years. A significantly higher rate of CE cases was noted in subjects ≥ 50 years of age. The highest frequency of cases (62: 12.5%) was recorded in the year 2017. The most commonly involved organs were liver (339 cases; 57.8%), and lung (279 cases; 47.6%). Concurrent involvement of two organs was seen in 58 (9.9%) cases of both lung and liver, 10 (1.6%) cases of lung and other locations (but not liver) and 23 (3.9%) cases of liver and other locations (but not lung). Recurrence was noted in 67 (13.37%) of the cases. The size of the lung hydatid cyst varied, ranging between 2 to 24 cm (mean = 7.33, SD= 3.737). The size of liver hydatid cysts ranged from 1 to 26 cm (mean: 9.04, SD= 4.275). Conclusion: The findings of the current study demonstrated a nearly constant prevalence of CE during the last 15 years in southern Iran. Further studies are needed to find out the reasons behind the recurrence of the disease, which is substantial, in surgically-treated patients.