Opium use and risk of bladder cancer: a multi-centre case-referent study in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer (BC) is the 10th most common type of cancer worldwide and the fourth most common type of cancer in Iran. Opium use is considered as one of the risk factors for BC. We aim to assess the association between various parameters of opium use, which in Iran is mainly ingested or smoked in various forms, and the risk of BC. METHOD: In this multi-centre case-referent study in Iran, 717 BC cases and 3477 referents were recruited to the study from May 2017 until July 2020. Detailed histories of opium use (duration, amount, frequency) and potential confounders were collected by trained interviewers. Multivariable unconditional logistic regression models were used to measure adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The ORs were adjusted for age, gender, place of residence and pack-years of cigarette smoking. RESULTS: Regular opium consumption was associated with an increased risk of BC (OR 3.5, 95% CI: 2.8, 4.3) compared with subjects who never used opium. Compared with continuous users, the risk decreased to one-third for those who stopped opium more than 10 years ago. The adjusted OR for those who used both crude opium (teriak) and opium juice was 7.4 (95% CI: 4.1, 13.3). There was a joint effect of opium and tobacco (OR for users of both opium and tobacco 7.7, 95% CI: 6.0, 9.7). CONCLUSIONS: Regular opium use is associated with an approximately 4-fold risk for BC. The OR decreases along with the increasing time since stopping opium use.

Potential application of lutetium-177-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen-617 radioligand therapy for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in a limited resource environment: Initial clinical experience after 2 years.

In recent years, lutetium-177 (177Lu)-labeled prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA)-617 has become a promising new therapeutic agent in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). In this study, we report on an early experience of 177Lu-PSMA therapy with an evaluation of its efficacy and safety in mCRPC patients. Twenty-one mCRPC patients with a mean age of 70.3 ± 9.6 (54-88)-year-old were treated with one to four therapy cycles (median two cycles) and administered activity of 3.7-29.6 GBq (mean of 15.4 GBq). A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) decline ≥ 50% was considered to be a biochemical response (BCR). To evaluate the clinical response, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status was used. Within 2 weeks before and 1 and 2 months after each therapy cycle, hematology, renal function, liver status, alkaline phosphatase, and PSA were checked. The Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events was used for grading adverse events induced by 177Lu-PSMA. Furthermore, overall survival (OS) was calculated and analyzed. During the treatment, a BCR was seen in 62% of patients; 19% of patients showed progression and 19% of patients showed stable disease. ECOG status was improved after treatment, and OS was 62.7 weeks. After the treatment, two patients showed Grade II toxicity of white blood cells, Grade I thrombocytopenia was observed in two patients, one patient showed Grade II toxicity in serum creatinine and transient Grade I toxicity in creatinine was seen in two patients. In total, our initial experience demonstrates that 177Lu-PSMA therapy has the potential to positively affect the development and maturation of radioligand practices in selected mCRPC patients, even in resource limited, developing country environments. However, some challenges, such as practitioner training, poor initial acceptance by colleagues and financial concerns, particularly in developing nations, still exist.

Remediation of an oil-contaminated soil by two native plants treated with biochar and mycorrhizae.

Soil contamination by petroleum compounds threatens the health of soil and water resources. This research was conducted with the objective of reaching an efficient technique for the removal or reduction of harmful effects caused by total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils. In a greenhouse experiment, the effect of biochar (B), mycorrhizae (M) and combination of mycorrhizae and biochar (M + B) on the growth of two native species; clover (Trifolium arvense) and mallow (Malva sylvestris L.), and removal efficiency of TPH (16.79 mg kg-1) from an oil-contaminated soil were studied. The plant analyses after 50 days of growth period showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) increase in shoot dry weight of mallow in B and M + B treatments but no significant effect was observed for clover compared to the control (C). The initial TPH concentration, determined by gas chromatography technique was reduced from 9.4% in unplanted soil until 56.4% (clover) and 55.9% (mallow) in M + B treatment. The relative concentration of long chain alkanes (LCAs) were also reduced when treatments were applied, in which the highest and lowest reductions was found in C21-C25 and C11-C15, respectively, though octacosane (C28) was increased or unchanged in soil. This result suggests that likely the occurrence of C28 in the mycorrhizal hyphae or the higher removal of the other alkanes increase octacosane relative concentration in soil, which more research is necessary.

177Lu-PSMA and 177Lu-DOTATATE Therapy in a Patient With Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer and Neuroendocrine Differentiation.

We presented a promising result of radionuclide therapy using Lu-PSMA and Lu-DOTATATE in a patient with prostatic adenocarcinoma and neuroendocrine differentiation. Functional imaging of somatostatin receptors in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer may pave the way toward implementation of novel radionuclide targets for the treatment of this aggressive subtype of prostate cancer.

Autologous Muscle-derived Cell Injection for Treatment of Female Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Single- Arm Clinical Trial with 24-months Follow-Up.

PURPOSE: This clinical study evaluated the effect of autologous muscle-derived cell (MDC) injection for the treat-ment of female patients with pure stress urinary incontinence (SUI). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 20 women with SUI received transurethral injections of autologous MDCs. Baseline and follow-up evaluations consisted of physical examinations (cough stress tests), one-hour pad test, In-continence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7), and Urogenital Distress Inventory (UDI-6) scoring. The patients were followed one week as well as 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 month(s) after the procedure. Multichannel urodynamic study were performed before and 24 months after the intervention. The incidence and severity of adverse events (AE) were also recorded at each follow-up visit. RESULTS: A total of 20 eligible female patients with the chief complaint of SUI that was unresponsive to conserva-tive management, was enrolled in the trial, 17 of whom completed all follow-up visits. At 12th months, 10 (59%) patients had complete response, whereas 2 (12%) and 5 (29%) patients had partial and no response, respectively. At 24th months, relapse of SUI in 5 out of 10 complete responders (29%) and 2 out of 2 partial responders to the treatment, respectively. The intervention produced no serious AE during the trial. CONCLUSION: According to our results, though obtained from a limited number of patients, MDC therapy was a minimally invasive and safe procedure for treatment of female patients with pure SUI. However, currently, the efficacy of this type of treatment for SUI is not sufficiently high and multi-center randomized clinical trials are required to be conducted before reaching a concrete conclusion.