Determining the current prevalence of ß-thalassemia variants in Jordan.

Introduction: This study aimed to define and update the prevalence of ß-pathogenic thalassemia variants in Jordan. Methods: A total of 158 patients with suspected ß-thalassemia minor were examined using CBC and Hb-electrophoresis, and polymerase chain reaction with hybridization to identify the type of pathogenic variants. Results: Five common and seven rare ß-thalassemia pathogenic variants were identified in this study, in addition to three variants that had not been previously reported: -101 [C>T], IVS 1.130 [G>C], and codon 44 [-C]. Conclusions: The results provide a new update on the existing Jordanian ß-thalassemia variant database that will aid the enhancement of diagnostic and treatment protocols for patients.

Serum Biomarkers for Chemotherapy Cardiotoxicity Risk Detection of Breast Cancer Patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate level fluctuations of serum biomarkers that are associated with cardiotoxicity risk, such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and apolipoprotein-B (Apo-B) in response to chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. METHOD: The serum levels of hs-CRP and Apo-B were evaluated in 56 breast cancer patients with main inclusion criteria: HER2 negative and who received adjuvant chemotherapy AC [A: Adriamycin, C: Cyclophosphamide] or AC→T [A: Adriamycin, C: Cyclophosphamide, T: Taxane] regimes at early II (n = 26) and late IV (n = 30) clinical stages by using particle enhanced turbidimetric assay. RESULTS: The results of this study suggest that a high level of pre-treatment hs-CRP is a good prognostic marker in comparison to Apo-B. Moreover, the AC-T chemotherapy regime treatment in both early and late stages exhibited a significantly higher level of hs-CRP compared to that in the AC regime. Hs-CRP was significantly elevated in the early stage in comparison to the late stage among cancer patients, meanwhile Apo-B behaved inversely. Furthermore, the results showed that hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in late-stage cancer patients compared with those in early-stage in both chemotherapy regimens groups. On the other hand, Apo-B showed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: Monitoring hs-CRP level changes in comparison to Apo-B can be used to assist the side effect risk difference among different chemotherapy regimens, and staging reflecting a positive correlation between them more notable in the late stage.