Organochlorines (OCs) are common environmental pollutants that have been linked to cancer. This work aims to assess the role of OCs as a risk factor for breast cancer and to evaluate the cellular changes induced by exposure to such environmental contaminants. The study included 70 cancer patients subjected to thorough history taking and routine investigations. Samples from tumor and normal adjacent tissue were taken to measure OCs’ levels and to perform molecular analysis (some oncogenic and apoptotic markers) by flow cytometry. There were significantly higher concentrations of methoxychlor, dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT), hexa-chlorobenzene (HCB), and chlordane in tumor tissue samples compared to the surrounding normal tissue. There was a positive statistically significant correlation between G2m and dichloro-diphenyl-dichloroethane, DDT, and methoxychlor. There was also a negative correlation between propidium iodide (PI) and heptachlor as well as between PI, B-cell lymphoma 2, and methoxychlor. Annexin showed a negative correlation with HCB and methoxychlor. In conclusion, the higher level of organochlorine pesticides in the tissue specimens of breast cancer and the resultant molecular dysfunction highlight a possible association. Further research is warranted to elucidate the other possible mechanisms involved in the process of carcinogenesis.

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Although cancer therapies have experienced great success nowadays, yet the associated toxic response and free radicals formation have resulted in significant number of treatment-induced deaths rather than disease-induced fatalities. Complications of chemotherapy have forced physicians to study antioxidant use as adjunctive treatment in cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the antioxidant role of vitamin E and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) in overcoming treatment-induced toxicity in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) during the intensive period of chemo-/radiotherapy, almost the first two months of treatment. Forty children newly diagnosed with ALL were enrolled in this study. Twenty children (group I) have taken vitamin E and NAC supplementations with chemotherapy and the other twenty children (group II) have not taken any adjuvant antioxidant therapy. They were evaluated clinically for the occurrence of complications and by the laboratory parameters (blood levels of glutathione peroxidase (Glu.PX) antioxidant enzyme, malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), liver enzymes, and bone marrow picture). Results revealed reduced chemotherapy and radiotherapy toxicity as evidenced by decreasing level of MDA, increasing level of Glu.Px and decreased occurrence of toxic hepatitis, haematological complications, and need for blood and platelet transfusions in group I compared to group II. We can conclude that vitamin E and NAC have been shown to be effective as antioxidant adjuvant therapy in children with ALL to reduce chemo-/radiotherapy-related toxicities during the initial period of treatment.

Human identification is one of the most challenging sciences. Recently, study of lip prints has become slightly fashionable in forensic field. The aim of the present work is to determine the pattern of lip prints and evaluate its uniqueness in a sample of Egyptian population. The study included 955 subjects (2-65 years old). Lip prints were taken by direct rolling methods against hard background and each lip print was divided into six areas to be examined by magnifying hand lens. Thereafter, they were scanned and examined by the Microsoft office picture manager program. The results revealed that the lip print for each individual was unique and the complete vertical pattern was the commonest type among males and females living in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt. Sex could not be differentiated from the lip print. It can be concluded that lip print analysis is an ancillary tool for personal identification especially in criminal investigations.