The Potential Role of Immunotherapy in Wilms' Tumor: Opportunities and Challenges.

Wilms' tumor (WT) is the most common renal malignancy in children, accounting for more than 90% of all pediatric renal cancers. Although this tumor is generally responsive to treatment, relapses and deaths still occur in a significant proportion of patients. The genetic alterations commonly found in WT and also its unique histological features and the tumor microenvironment suggest that the immune system may play a crucial role in the disease's development and progression. The limitations of conventional therapies, including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, in preventing recurrence in WT patients and their potential for exerting long-term side effects, necessitate the application of novel therapeutic strategies, like immunotherapy, in this disease. Immunotherapy is an emerging cancer treatment approach based on the concept of harnessing the patient's immune system to fight tumor cells. This approach has demonstrated promising results in various types of cancers due to its relatively high specificity, efficacy, and tolerability. However, the precise effects of immunotherapy in WT remain to be explored. For this purpose, this review highlights the potential implication of different immunotherapy approaches, like monoclonal antibodies, adoptive cell therapy, and immune checkpoint inhibitors, in patients with WT, with a particular emphasis on the tumor's genetic and histological features. Although much remains to be learned about the optimal use of immunotherapy for this disease, the available evidence suggests that immunotherapy has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for patients with WT. However, there is still a substantial need for conducting further studies, especially randomized controlled trials, to determine the most effective immunotherapy strategy for this tumor. Moreover, the potential beneficiary roles of the combination of immunotherapy and conventional treatments should be investigated in future research.

Ectoine production in bioreactor by Halomonas elongata DSM2581: Using MWCNT and Fe-nanoparticle.

Halomonas elongate produces ectoine to protect itselt from environmental stresses. In this research, important factors in the production of ectoine were optimized using statistical methods to achieve the best production efficiency in bioreactor. Screening important variables (ectoine, hydroxyectoine, l-aspartic acid, and glutamate) on H. elongate growth showed that ectoine and l-aspartic acid directly affect ectoine production. Two nanostructures, multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) and iron oxide nanoparticle (Fe2 O3 NPs), were used to increase the availability of substrate for the microorganism. The results showed that Fe2 O3 nanoparticles and MWCNT could have a negative or positive effect on bacterial growth and ectoine production depending on the concentration of nanoparticles. At optimized conditions, the amounts of bacterial growth and ectoine production in fermenter were 10.4 g/L and 14.25 g/L, respectively. Therefore, it could be concluded that nanoparticles improve bacterial growth and ectoine production at optimized concentrations.

Incorporation of magnetic NaX zeolite/DOX into the PLA/chitosan nanofibers for sustained release of doxorubicin against carcinoma cells death in vitro.

In the present study, the magnetic NaX nanozeolites were synthesized via microwave heating method and loaded into the PLA/chitosan solution. Doxorubicin (DOX) as an anticancer drug was simultaneously incorporated into the PLA/chitosan solution and the electrospinning process was used to fabricate the PLA/chitosan/NaX/Fe3O4/DOX nanofibers for sustained release of DOX against carcinoma cells death. The synthesized nanozeolites were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the morphology and fiber diameter distribution of synthesized nanofibers. The DOX loading efficiency and in vitro DOX release profiles from nanofibers were investigated. The kinetic models including zero-order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas were used to analyze the release mechanism of DOX from nanofibers. The effect of ferrite nanoparticles on the DOX release from chitosan/PLA/NaX/DOX and chitosan/PLA/NaX/Fe3O4/DOX nanofibers have been investigated in the presence of magnetic field and without magnetic field. The antitumor activity of synthesized nanofibers was also investigated on the carcinoma cells death. The maximum killing percentage of H1355 cells was found to be 82% using DOX loaded chitosan/PLA/NaX/ferrite in the presence of external magnetic field after 7 days of treatment.

Investigating the Quality of Life and the Related Factors in Iranian Women with Breast Cancer

Introduction: Nowadays breast cancer is the most important factor concerning the women's health which can affect the quality of life (QOL). This study was performed with aim to investigate the QOL and the related factors in Iranian women diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014-2015. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 94 women with breast cancer who were selected by convenience sampling in Mashhad, Iran from 2014-2015. The data were collected through Demographic and Clinical Questionnaire and EORTC QLQ-C30.V3 Standard Questionnaire. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 18) and also descriptive statistics and linear regression analysis. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The mean of total score for the quality of life was 71.45± 22.28. In the area of the symptoms of disease, the highest score belonged to insomnia (22.73± 14.89) and fatigue (19.81± 14.42). In the functional area, physical and emotional scales accounted for the highest (91.35±9.67) and lowest (78.55±2.84) scores, respectively. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that the variables of age, social status, radiotherapy, and hormone therapy are effective factors in the QOL. Conclusion: Breast cancer can affect the women's QOL. Therefore, efforts to promote the QOL in breast cancer patients is considered as one of the most important topics in women's health care. This requires more attention to identify various aspects of life and find effective ways to promote and improve the QOL in these patients.

Investigating Sexual Function and Affecting Factors in Women with Breast Cancer in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Since the breast is strongly relevant to sexual desire, and physical and sexual attractiveness, the high prevalence of breast cancer (BC) in Iran and longterm survival of patients experiencing side effects means that measures to identify associated sexual problems are necessary. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess sexual function and affecting factors in women with BC. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This crosssectional study was performed on 94 women with BC, referred to Imam Reza (AS) Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, in 2014. The data were collected through demographic and clinical questionnaires and also a sexual function questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: The total score of women's sexual function was about 24.3±4.41. Of the total, 63 (71.3%) reported sexual dysfunction, for example reduced satisfaction or more pain. Age was the only significantly related factor. CONCLUSIONS: Breast cancer can adversely affect women's sexual function and decrease quality of life. Thus, taking measures to overcome women's sexual problems are necessary.