Background: Lung carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Although the 5-year survival rate nearly tripled from 5-15% over the last 25 years, the estimated number of deaths still exceeds 1.3 million annually. The overall 5-year survival of lung cancer is only 10% in Europe and 15% in the United States. The aim of the current study was to determine the long-term survival and the effect of certain prognostic factors on survival of patients with lung cancer in Yazd city, Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, we retrospectively reviewed hospital records and follow-up data of 148 patients with histological proven lung cancer using the cancer data registered between 1998 and 2005 in the pathology department of Shahid Sadoughi educational hospital, Yazd, Iran. Data were extracted from patient documents that included sex, age, clinical manifestations, histopathological report of the tumor and type of treatment given. Results: Overall survival time in all patients was 8.5 months after diagnosis and there was no significant difference in survival according to sex (p=0.958). Histological analysis revealed that squamous cell carcinoma was the most common histologic type (35%). Kaplan-Meier statistical methods estimated the average survival time for SCC to be better (22.6 months) in comparison with the other types of histology (all of them below 10 months). There was a trend towards significance between type of histology and duration of survival (p=0.08). Conclusion: It is reasonable to expect that early lung cancer detection, and appropriated treatment, may improve surgical morbidity and mortality. Low survival of lung cancer in our center patients show our shortages in screening programs for early diagnosis. Designing studies with larger sample size that take some other variables like staging of patients is now necessary.

BackgroundDistant prostate cancers are commonly hormone refractory and exhibit increased growth no longer inhibited by androgen deprivation therapy. Understanding all molecular mechanisms contributing to uncontrolled growth is important to obtain effective treatment strategies for hormone refractory prostate cancers (HRPC). The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) affects a number of biological processes including cell growth and differentiation. Several studies have revealed that exogenous AhR ligands inhibit cellular proliferation but recent evidence suggests AhR may possess intrinsic functions that promote cellular proliferation in the absence of exogenous ligands.Methods/ResultsqRT-PCR and western blot analysis was used to determine AhR mRNA and protein expression in hormone sensitive LNCaP cells as well as hormone refractory DU145, PC3 and PC3M prostate cancer cell lines. LNCaP cells express AhR mRNA and protein at a much lower level than the hormone refractory cell models. Cellular fractionation and immunocytochemistry revealed nuclear localization of AhR in the established hormone refractory cell lines while LNCaP cells are devoid of nuclear AhR protein. qRT-PCR analysis used to assess basal CYP1B1 levels and a xenobiotic responsive element binding assay confirmed ligand independent transcriptional activity of AhR in DU145, PC3 and PC3M cells. Basal CYP1B1 levels were decreased by treatment with specific AhR inhibitor, CH223191. An in vitro growth assay revealed that CH223191 inhibited growth of DU145, PC3 and PC3M cells in an androgen depleted environment. Immunohistochemical staining of prostate cancer tissues revealed increased nuclear localization of AhR in grade 2 and grade 3 cancers compared to the well differentiated grade 1 cancers.ConclusionsTogether, these results show that AhR is constitutively active in advanced prostate cancer cell lines that model hormone refractory prostate cancer. Chemical ablation of AhR signaling can reduce the growth of advanced prostate cancer cells, an effect not achieved with androgen receptor inhibitors or growth in androgen depleted media.

Isolated central nervous system (CNS) tuberculoma is a rare disease. This disease is associated with high morbidity and mortality, despite modern methods of detection and treatment. CNS tuberculosis can present as meningitis, arachnoiditis, tuberculomas or the uncommon form of tuberculous subdural empyema and brain abscess. We present the clinical, radiological and pathological findings of cerebellar tuberculoma in an Iranian immunocompetent patient mimicking a malignant tumour.

Background: Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men worldwide. Several factors such as availability of screening tests, and dietary, other lifestyle, environmental and genetic influences contribute to worldwide disparities in prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates. Our aims were to investigate patient characteristics at the time of diagnosis, common treatment strategies employed and survival in an Iranian male population with prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Archives of Pathology Departments of five referral centers affiliated with the School of Medicine of Shahid Sadoughi University in Yazd province were reviewed. Paraffin-embedded blocks were reviewed by two independent pathologists to confirm the diagnosis. The latest modification of the Gleason Scoring System was adopted to determine pathological grading. Following pathological evaluation, patients were contacted via telephone to acquire information regarding their current status. Results: Pathology blocks were available for 113 patients. However, upon phone contacts, we were unable to determine the survival status in 23 patients (response rate=83%). Therefore, 90 patients were enrolled in the final analysis. The median follow-up time was 6.0 years (ranging from 0.3 to 8.8 years). There were 30 death attributed to prostate cancer in the study group. Kaplan-Meier analysis revealed that patient age at the time of diagnosis was a significant predictor of survival. Another significant predictor of poorer survival was higher tumor grade. Conclusions: Our observations indicate that age and pathological grade can negatively affect survival of individuals with prostate cancer in Iran.

In cases for which paraffin-embedded blocks were available, the specimens were evaluated by two independent pathologists blinded to the primary diagnosis. We extrapolated the frequency of malignant lesions in our study to the population of Yazd province, derived from national census data, to generate cancer incidence rates. Results: Final diagnosis of malignancy was made in 117 cases (66.1%), and the remainder (60 lesions, 33.9%) were classified as benign. Adenecarcinoma and neuroendocrine tumors were the two most common histological types of malignancy identified in 88 (75.2%) and 11 (9.4%) specimens, respectively. Crude annual incidence of pancreatic cancer was 0.55 per 100,000 person in 2001 and increased to 1.68 in 2011. Age standardized incidence rates in 2001 and 2011 were 0.75 and 2.68, respectively. A significant increasing trend in cancer incidence was observed during the 11 years of the study period (r=+0.856, p=0.009). Sex-stratified analysis, confirmed the observed trend in men (r=+0.728, p=0.034), but not women (r=+0.635, p=0.083). Conclusions: Over the past decade, incidence of pancreas malignancies has risen steadily in Yazd, Iran. Nevertheless, these figures are still substantially lower than those prevalent in developed nations.