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Background T regulatory cells (Tregs) are known to negatively control immune response.

Background:Cachexia can occur as part of many end-stage or chronic diseases, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of Pentoxifylline in patients with cancer cachexia.Materials and Methods:The present study was conducted as a double-blind randomized controlled trial on 70 patients with advanced malignancy who loss of >5% of ideal or preillness body weight in the previous 2 months. Patients were assessed in two groups: case group, under treatment, using Pentoxifylline (400 mg) three times a day, for 2 months, and in the control group, patients received placebo. Age, sex, weight change, change in arm circumference and quality of life were assessed at baseline, week-4 and week-8.Results:The mean age of the patients was 56 ± 17.3 years and 47% were female. Weight and arm circumference decreased during follow-up in both groups, but these differences between case and controls were not statistically significant. Quality of life (QOL) score in the case group improved after 4 weeks then decreased at the end of treatment but in the control group QOL score decreased during 2 month treatment. In week-4 patients in the case group significantly reported higher score of QOL compare to patients in the control group (P = 0.029).Conclusion:Results of this study demonstrated that Pentoxifylline in the treatment of cancer cachexia did not have any effect in weight gain and arm circumference in cachectic patients. But in short-term (1 month) treatment, QOL was improved in these patients. And after 2 month treatment this was not effective compared to placebo.

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The Iranian-made Imatinib can be used as a replacement for Indian made ones without any statistical and clinical significant difference on Improvement of CML patients.

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Although peripheral blood karyotype is not trustworthy for MDS diagnosis, examining peripheral blood, using the FISH method, could be useful for clinical monitoring.

Background:Currently, imatinib is the drug of choice for initiation of medical treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in the chronic phase. The current study was carried out to compare effectiveness and safety of Iranian vs. Indian imatinib.Materials and Methods:The clinical study was performed on newly diagnosed CML patients in Seyyed-oShohada Hospital (Isfahan) and Khansari Hospital (Arak) from January to June 2011. The control group consisted of CML patients who received Indian imatinib previously. The drug was initiated with the dose of 400 mg daily. The patients were followed for six months, and the treatment outcomes (WBC <104) and molecular response. Finally, the two groups were compared in these respects.Result:We evaluated 43 patients in each group. The hematological and molecular responses for the Iranian Imatinib were respectively 86.0% and 46.5%, while the rates were respectively 86.0 and 44.2% for the Indian imatinib. The two groups were similar with regard to the treatment outcome. The two groups were not significantly different with regard to the drug adverse effects.Conclusion:According to the findings, the Iranian imatinib is not different from the Indian drug in the hematological and molecular responses in treatment of the chronic phase of CML patients. Furthermore, the adverse effects of the two kinds were not significantly different. Compared with the results of other studies, the effectiveness of Iranian imatinib is equivalent to the Indian drug can be employed for treatment of CML patients in the chronic phase.