Impact of Low BMI and Nutritional Status on Quality of Life and Disease Outcome in Breast Cancer Patients: Insights From a Tertiary Cancer Center in India.

This study investigates the impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on Quality of Life (QoL) and treatment outcomes in breast cancer (BC) patients, particularly focusing on underweight individuals with compromised nutritional status. A nonrandomized prospective study comprising 121 newly diagnosed patients across various BMI categories utilized FACT-B & FACIT-Sp-12 questionnaires. Follow-ups occurred at baseline, during (3rd and 6th), and after (12th month) anthracycline-taxane chemotherapy, either sequentially or concomitantly. Patients with low BMI (<18.5 kg/m2; 53.7%) exhibited significantly poorer QoL, marked by compromised nutritional indicators (low MUAC and SFT). Repeated measures ANOVA identified significant correlations between BMI groups in functional, social, and emotional QoL aspects (p < 0.05), with no notable differences in other domains. A Chi-square (ꭓ2) test underscored a significant link between BMI and treatment response (p < 0.0001), showing higher rates of non-responders among underweight patients (p = 4.259e-14). The study advocates pretreatment consultation with a dietitian as standard care for Indian BC patients, offering complimentary nutritional support for improved QoL outcomes and treatment responses.

Genetic Variations Affect Chemotherapy Outcomes: A Role of the Spindle-assembly Checkpoint.

Cancer patients suffer from complicated chemotoxicity. Pharmacogenomics can help stratify patients by predicting their response to treatment and susceptibility toward severe side effects. The spindle-assembly checkpoint (SAC) is an important pathway that is activated by platinum and taxane compounds and plays a crucial role in their cytotoxic activity. This study investigated a SAC component, Budding Uninhibited by Benzimidazoles 3 (BUB3), its expression, and genetic variants in advanced ovarian cancer patients treated with paclitaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy. Among 80 patients, BUB3 expression correlated with chemosensitivity, suggesting its potential as a predictive marker for chemotherapy response. However, high BUB3 expression was associated with a higher risk of poor survival. In addition, genetic polymorphisms in BUB3 (rs11248416 and rs11248419) were significantly linked to chemotherapy-related toxicities, with rs11248416 showing a negative impact on the patient's physical quality of life.

Mitotic checkpoint defects: en route to cancer and drug resistance.

Loss of mitosis regulation is a common feature of malignant cells that leads to aberrant cell division with inaccurate chromosome segregation. The mitotic checkpoint is responsible for faithful transmission of genetic material to the progeny. Defects in this checkpoint, such as mutations and changes in gene expression, lead to abnormal chromosome content or aneuploidy that may facilitate cancer development. Furthermore, a defective checkpoint response is indicated in the development of drug resistance to microtubule poisons that are used in treatment of various blood and solid cancers for several decades. Mitotic slippage and senescence are important cell fates that occur even with an active mitotic checkpoint and are held responsible for the resistance. However, contradictory findings in both the scenarios of carcinogenesis and drug resistance have aroused questions on whether mitotic checkpoint defects are truly responsible for these dismal outcomes. Here, we discuss the possible contribution of the faulty checkpoint signaling in cancer development and drug resistance, followed by the latest research on this pathway for better outcomes in cancer treatment.

Assessment of quality of life among advanced ovarian cancer patients in a tertiary care hospital in India.

PURPOSE: The study aims to record the quality of life (Qol) and its changes while ovarian cancer (OC) patients undergo debulking surgeries and chemotherapy in a tertiary care hospital of Eastern India. METHODS: Patients with advanced epithelial OC (FIGO stages III-IV) were recruited. They underwent primary/interval debulking surgeries with classical chemotherapy (adjuvant/neoadjuvant) of intravenous tri-weekly doses of paclitaxel + carboplatin. QoL was assessed using Fact- O + FACIT-Sp-12 questionnaire with a set of 51 questions in different domains (spiritual, physical, social, emotional, and functional factors) and a special set for OC patients under the heading "Additional concerns." The responses from patients were recorded at baseline (diagnosis/study entry), 2, 4, and 6 months during the treatment visits. Overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan Meier curve. RESULTS: A majority of patients were 49.15±10.8 years of age, school-educated (54%), unemployed/homemakers (73.5%), belonging from rural setup (64.6%) with a monthly income of Rs. 2000/- to Rs. 5000/-. There was no statistically significant (p>0.05) improvement found in Qol from the baseline till the end of the study, neither overall nor in subsets (responders (Rs)/partial responders (PRs)/non-responder (NRs) groups or the adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemotherapy groups). The common toxicities like anemia, constipation, and weight loss were significantly (p<0.05) correlated with the patients' physical, functional, emotional, and social well-being. CONCLUSION: Ovarian cancer patients represent a poor functional, social, and disease-specific quality of life that needs to be addressed, identified, and improved by the growing nexus of healthcare providers and researchers.

A signature of circulating miRNAs predicts the prognosis and therapeutic outcome of taxane/platinum regimen in advanced ovarian carcinoma patients.

PURPOSE: Ovarian carcinoma (OC) is ranked as the eighth most lethal gynecological cancer due to late diagnosis and high recurrence. Existing biomarkers are lacking to predict the recurrence and stratify patients who are likely to benefit from chemotherapy. MicroRNAs (miRNAs/miRs) are persistently present in humans and are capable of predicting treatment outcomes. Thus, the purpose of the study was to assess the potential of circulatory miRNAs to predict the efficacy of OC. METHODS: Newly diagnosed n = 208 OC patients were administrated neoadjuvant/adjuvant chemotherapy (taxane + platinum) after surgery. Their demographic, gynecologic, clinical parameters, response, and survival were recorded. MiR-27a, miR-182, miR-199a, miR-214, and miR-591 were taken and the expression were analyzed using real-time PCR at different treatment intervals. Further, its prognostic value (Kaplan-Meier, and Cox regression analysis) and diagnostic importance (receiver operating characteristic curve) were validated. RESULT: The mean age of patients with poorly differentiated (45.2%) serous OC was 48.69 ± 10.38. The majority experienced menarche at ≥ 12 (62.2%) with poor menstrual hygiene (81.8%) and were post-menopausal (69.4%), some were associated with high risk of survival (HR = > 1). MiRNA signature showed three over-expression and two under-expression (miR-27a, miR-182, and miR-214; miR-199a and miR-591) in advanced OC compared to the control (P= < 0.05). Also, a significant difference was detected at each time interval of treatment with the response (P = ≤ 0.001) associated with resistance and overall survival (P = ≤ 0.001) with risk (HR = > 1). ROC analysis showed enhanced the diagnostics accuracy (< 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that circulating miRNAs might be a potential minimally invasive diagnostic marker for treatment outcome and recurrence in ovarian carcinoma.

Potential role of immune cell therapy in gynecological cancer and future promises: a comprehensive review.

Gynecological malignancies are most leading causes of death among women worldwide. The high prevalence of gynecologic malignancies remains significant, necessitating to turn the novel treatment approach like immunotherapy, wherein cancer cells are killed by the invasion of immune system. In recent year, immunotherapy has mostly an advanced treatment approach to repressing the tumor cells survival, proliferation, and invasion via the activation of immune systems. Moreover, various types of immune cells including T-cells, B-cells, and dendritic cells are associated with the immunotherapeutic strategy in cancer treatment. Although the significant role of T-cells against cancer is well established, while B-cells and dendritic cells also play an important role against different gynecological cancer by regulating the immune system. This review focuses on that arena and highlight the role of immune cells in the treatment of gynaecological cancer. Various immune cell-based anticancer therapies such as T-cell therapies, Adoptive Cellular transfer, B-cell therapies as well as approaches to Dendritic Cell therapies have been discussed in detail. Furthermore, the clinical settings and future avenues regarding immunotherapy on gynecological cancer have also been reviewed and illuminated in the recent study.

Emerging Futuristic Targeted Therapeutics: A Comprising Study Towards a New Era for the Management of TNBC.

Triple-negative breast cancer is characterized by high lethality attributed to factors such as chemoresistance, transcriptomic, and genomic heterogeneity, leading to a poor prognosis and limiting available targeted treatment options. While the identification of molecular targets remains pivotal for therapy involving chemo drugs, the current challenge lies in the poor response rates, low survival rates, and frequent relapses. Despite various clinical investigations exploring molecular targeted therapies in conjunction with conventional chemo treatment, the outcomes have been less than optimal. The critical need for more effective therapies underscores the urgency to discover potent novel treatments, including molecular and immune targets, as well as emerging strategies. This review provides a comprehensive analysis of conventional treatment approaches and explores emerging molecular and immune-targeted therapeutics, elucidating their mechanisms to address the existing obstacles for a more effective management of triple-negative breast cancer.

Pyrazole-based and N,N-diethylcarbamate functionalized some novel aurone analogs: Design, synthesis, cytotoxic evaluation, docking and SAR studies, against AGS cancer cell line.

The present study involves the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of a series of thirty-three, pyrazole-based and N,N-diethylcarbamate functionalized, novel aurone analogs, against AGS cancer cell line. These novel aurone analogs are obtained from the reaction of pyrazole-based 6-hydroxyaurones with diethyl carbamoyl chloride using mild basic reagent. The cytotoxic activities of these compounds were evaluated against a human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line (AGS) and disclosed some potential outcomes as several analogs were found to have cytotoxicity better than the reference drugs Oxaliplatin and Leucovorin. The structure-activity relationship (SAR) study further unveiled the critical role of replacing the hydroxyl group in ring A with a carbamoyl group for cytotoxic activity. Among these aurone analogs, 8e and 8f, with IC50 values of 6.5 ± 0.024 µM and 6.6 ± 0.035 µM, respectively, are identified as the most active compounds. Molecular docking studies were conducted against HER2, a human epidermal growth factor involved in gastric and ovarian cancer, to investigate the binding interactions between the compounds and the protein HER2, where7e and 8e exhibited maximum interactions.

Outcomes of 3-year follow up with induction vs first line chemotherapy in oral cancer patients: An observational hospital-based study.

OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to analyse and compare the efficacy, adverse effect profile and survival among the Paclitaxel/Cisplatin/5-Flurouracil (TPF) induction chemotherapy and Paclitaxel/carboplatin (PC) first line or cisplatin chemotherapy in a high-volume tertiary care cancer centre. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 215 patients with oral cavity cancer were recruited in this study. Patients with stages I-IIc underwent surgical resection or radiation therapy 66-74 GY/fraction. Patients of Stages III-IV were administered with either induction chemotherapy TPF or PC or cisplatin regimen. Treatment responses were assessed by CT and MRI. Response rates, survival and adverse effects data were tabulated and analysed. RESULTS: The mean age was 49.2 ± 11.68 years. Symptoms were ulceration (33.5%), growth (20.5%), pain (13%), ulcer-proliferative growth (8.4%) and swelling (13, 6%). The tumour site was found at the base of the tongue, C01 (42.2%) followed by C06 (35.8%), C08 (6.5%), C07 (5.2%) and C05 (4.6%). There were no significant differences ( P > 0.05) in efficacy and survival outcomes between the different groups of treatment. Median survival was achieved within 36 months. The major side effect observed were anaemia (15.81%), diarrhoea (36.2%), dyspepsia (28.8%), fever (33.95%), mucositis (28.85%), myalgia (33.95%) and nausea (7.9%). Survival among the responder categories (CR, PR and NR) was significantly different as per Log-rank analysis ( P = 0.015). CONCLUSIONS: TPF induction therapy and PC first line chemotherapy showed similar efficacy, safety profile and survival whereas cisplatin shows poor efficacy and safety and survival in Indian oral cancer patients.

Human papillomavirus infection among young adolescents in India: impact of vaccination.

High-risk human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs) are the causative agents of cervical cancer and prophylactic HPV vaccination has been recommended for adolescents but no data are available on the prevalence of HPV infection among adolescents in India. Self-collected midstream urine samples from 940 healthy school children, aged 8-17 years, from 12 different schools in and around Noida and Delhi, India, were collected for HPV detection by PCR. Of 458 girls, 15 (3.2%) were positive for HPV and 10 (66.6%) were positive for high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) type16 and 2 (13.3%) for HPV 18. Of 342 boys, 7 (2.1%) were HPV positive, of which 5 (71.4%) had HPV type 6 but interestingly, none were positive for HR-HPV types 16 or 18. Among HPV positive girls, 13 (66.6%) were >13 years and the rest were <13 years (P = 0.004), while all seven HPV positive boys were >13 years (P = 0.007). The majority of HPV positive adolescents (80-86%) belonged to the Hindu and related communities, whereas only about 14-20% belonged to the Muslim community. A significant association (P < 0.001) was observed between the parent's education and the awareness of cervical cancer, which was significantly higher among adolescent girls from India, thereby exerting an immense psychosocial impact on vaccination programs. A lower prevalence of HR-HPV infection among adolescent girls will have significant positive effect on HPV vaccination and cancer control programs in India where education and awareness should go hand in hand.

Association analysis of p16 (CDKN2A) and RB1 polymorphisms with susceptibility to cervical cancer in Indian population.

The potent tumor suppressors P16 and RB1 are the key regulators of cell cycle machinery in eukaryotes. Polymorphisms in these genes play an important role in the outcome of various diseases including cancer. In the present study, we evaluated the association of p16 and RB1 polymorphisms with cervical cancer susceptibility in Indian population. We screened 150 histologically confirmed cervical cancer cases along with equal number of healthy controls with normal cervical cytology. PCR-RFLP method was employed for genotyping of SNPs in p16 C540G (rs11515), C580T (rs3088440) in the 3'-UTR of exon 3 and RB1 A153104G (rs4151580) located in the intron 18 and confirmed by direct sequencing. Both patients and controls were screened for HPV infection. In this case-control study 84.67% (127/150) of cases were found to be positive for HPV DNA sequence. Women carrying p16 C540G carrier genotypes 540 (CG/GG) may have protective effect for the development of cervical cancer (P=0.0001, OR=0.31, 95% CI=0.17-0.56). And SNP at C580T of p16 gene was found to be negatively associated with the risk of cervical cancer (P=0.0004, OR=0.04, 95% CI=0.002-0.63). p16 (540C/580T) has emerged as a major risk haplotype (P=0.033, OR=1.47, 95% CI=1.05-2.07) whereas p16 (540G/580T) as a chief protective haplotype (P=0.014, OR=0.39, 95% CI=0.18-0.83) for the development of cervical cancer among Indian women. Contrary to this, SNP at A153104G of RB1 gene showed statistically significant association (P=0.035, OR=1.69, 95% CI=1.06-2.68) with increased susceptibility for the development of cervical cancer. Our results suggest that single nucleotide polymorphisms in p16, RB1 genes may affect the susceptibility to cervical cancer collectively.

PIM1/STAT3 axis: a potential co-targeted therapeutic approach in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer lacks an expression of ER, PR, and Her-2, has a poor prognosis, and there are no target therapies available. Therapeutic options to treat TNBC are limited and urgently needed. Strong evidence indicates that molecular signaling pathways have a significant function to regulate biological mechanisms and their abnormal expression endows with the development of cancer. PIM kinase is overexpressed in various human cancers including TNBC which is regulated by various signaling pathways that are crucial for cancer cell proliferation and survival and also make PIM kinase as an attractive drug target. One of the targets of the STAT3 signaling pathway is PIM1 that plays a key role in tumor progression and transformation. In this review, we accumulate the current scenario of the PIM-STAT3 axis that provides insights into the PIM1 and STAT3 inhibitors which can be developed as potential co-inhibitors as prospective anticancer agents.

Evaluation of numerical rating scale and neuropathic pain symptom inventory pain scores in advanced ovarian carcinoma patients undergoing surgery and first-line chemotherapy.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Advanced epithelial ovarian cancer (OC) has a high disease manifestation with difficult-to-manage symptoms that limit the patients' functionality. Abdominal pain, persistent back pain, and neuropathic pain are among the common discomforts associated with OC and its treatment. Our study aims to determine pain scores in advanced OC patients undergoing surgery and chemotherapeutic treatment with carboplatin and paclitaxel. METHODS: One hundred and ten patients with advanced epithelial OC were enrolled and treated with surgery and an adjuvant/neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimen of carboplatin-paclitaxel for six cycles (triweekly). Pain intensity was analyzed using the validated numerical rating scale for resting, movement, sleep interference-associated pain, and neuropathic pain scores were evaluated using the neuropathic pain symptom inventory scale. Pain was correlated with Qol according to Fact-O questionnaires. Chemo-response was evaluated using the CA125 blood biomarker and CT scan of the abdomen and thorax. Data were recorded at baseline, 2, 4, and 6 months of the six chemotherapy cycles. RESULTS: Of the 110 patients, no statistically significant differences were found in pain at baseline and after treatment (P > 0.05) and between the responder and non-responder categories (P > 0.05). However, movement-associated pain had a significant correlation with chemo-response and a strong positive correlation with the patients' physical and functional wellbeing. There were more chemo-induced neuropathy occurrences (P = 0.001) in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy group. CONCLUSION: Patients in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy arm experienced more chemo-induced neuropathy that was persistent and did not improve with the treatment. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: Peripheral neuropathy is a common adverse effect of platinum and taxane chemotherapeutic drugs that persists throughout cancer treatment and in survivorship. This research provides evidence that chemotherapy-associated neuropathy affects Qol of patients and it will be helpful to improve pain and palliative care management policies.

In-silico and in-vitro investigation of STAT3-PIM1 heterodimeric complex: Its mechanism and inhibition by curcumin for cancer therapeutics.

The functional activity among STAT3 and PIM1, are key signaling events for cancer cell function. Curcumin, a diarylheptanoid isolated from turmeric, effectively inhibits STAT3 signaling. Selectively, we attempted to address interactions of STAT3, PIM1 and Curcumin for therapeutic intervention using in silico and in vitro experimental approaches. Firstly, protein-protein interactions (PPI) between STAT3-PIM1 by molecular docking studies reflected salt bridges among Arg279 (STAT3)-Glu140 (PIM1) and Arg282 (STAT3)-Asp100 (PIM1), with a binding affinity of -38.6 kcal/mol. Secondly, molecular dynamics simulations of heterodimeric STAT3-PIM1 complex with curcumin revealed binding of curcumin on PIM-1 interface of the complex through hydrogen bonds (Asp155) and hydrophobic interactions (Leu13, Phe18, Val21, etc.) with a binding energy of -7.3 kcal/mol. These PPIs were confirmed in vitro by immunoprecipitation assays in MDA-MB-231 cells. Corroborating our results, expression levels of STAT3 and PIM1 decreased after curcumin treatment. We observed that PIM1 interacts with STAT3 and these functional interactions are disrupted by curcumin. The calculated band energy gap of heterodimeric STAT3-PIM1-Curcumin complex was of 9.621 kcal/mol. The present study revealed the role of curcumin in STAT3/PIM1 signaling and its binding affinity to the complex for design of advanced cancer therapeutics.

Molecular targets and therapeutics in chemoresistance of triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a specific subtype of breast cancer (BC), which shows immunohistochemically negative expression of hormone receptor i.e., Estrogen receptor and Progesterone receptor along with the absence of Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2 (HER2/neu). In Indian scenario the prevalence of BC is 26.3%, whereas, in West Bengal the cases are of 18.4%. But the rate of TNBC has increased up to 31% and shows 27% of total BC. Conventional chemotherapy is effective only in the initial stages but with progression of the disease the effectivity gets reduced and shown almost no effect in later or advanced stages of TNBC. Thus, TNBC patients frequently develop resistance and metastasis, due to its peculiar triple-negative nature most of the hormonal therapies also fails. Development of chemoresistance may involve various factors, such as, TNBC heterogeneity, cancer stem cells (CSCs), signaling pathway deregulation, DNA repair mechanism, hypoxia, and other molecular factors. To overcome the challenges to treat TNBC various targets and molecules have been exploited including CSCs modulator, drug efflux transporters, hypoxic factors, apoptotic proteins, and regulatory signaling pathways. Moreover, to improve the targets and efficacy of treatments researchers are emphasizing on targeted therapy for TNBC. In this review, an effort has been made to focus on phenotypic and molecular variations in TNBC along with the role of conventional as well as newly identified pathways and strategies to overcome challenge of chemoresistance.

Premalignant and malignant lesions of oral cavity in eastern India: a hospital-based study.

BACKGROUND: Oral carcinoma and precancers are major public health challenges in India and other developing countries. OBJECTIVES: Aim of the study was to assess the associations of demographic characteristics, addictions, chief complaints of mouth/oral and clinical diagnosis by cytology smear and punch biopsy in early detection of oral premalignant and malignant lesions. Methods Study was designed on retrospective data of case files of CDC, CNCI, Kolkata, from patients attended from January 1996 to September 2016. History was taken, histopathology and Pap smear were performed. Descriptive statistical analysis, cross-tabulation and Pearson's Chi-square test were done. RESULTS: Total participants (n = 692); 110 (15.9%) having history of swallowing betel leaf, nut lime, dokta, jarda, catecheu with an average of 11 years. Three hundred twenty-five (46.9%) had multiple addiction (cigarette/bidi/tobacco/all). Ninety-eight (12.1%), 99 (12.2%) and 68 (8.4%) were addicted to cigarette, bidi and chewing tobacco, respectively. Twenty-nine participants were addicted to alcohol; 18 (2.6%) and 11 (1.5%) took country and foreign alcohol correspondingly. Clinicians thoroughly examined lips (4.1%), buccal mucosa (27.3%), gingival (2.8%), tongue (23.1%), hard and soft palate (4.9%), mouth loor (5.2%) and other parts (32.3%); diagnosed participants as normal (22.8%)/benign (23.1%)/premalignant (39.1%)/malignant (14.8%). Smears confirmed 60, 131, 42, 9 and 8 cases as carcinoma, mild, moderate, severe dysplasia and inflammation, respectively. The punch biopsy identified 11 carcinomas, two severe, two moderate and seveeen mild dysplasia's. Chi-square test showed significant association between smear and examination (P = 0.022), diagnosis and examinations of the oral cancer patients (P = 0.0001). CONCLUSION: The study provided strong evidence that betel leaf, chewing tobacco, smoking and alcohol are independent risk factors for oral cancer. Cytological smear and biopsy are cost-effective approaches for early detection.

Sociodemographic factors and clinical presentation of women attending Cancer Detection Centre, Kolkata for breast examination.

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in Indian women. AIM: The aim of the study was to report the sociodemographic factors, habits, personal history, gynecological and obstetric history, the clinical presentation of Indian women, and analyze those factors with the diagnosis of breast cancer. METHODS: This study is based on retrospective data collection from case files of women who attended the Cancer Detection Centre during January1995-September 2016. RESULTS: Data analysis for 1196 women showed 31.5% aged between 26 and 35 years; 90.7% were Hindus; 61.3% school-educated; 77.0% housewives/unemployed; 80.6% married and 98.2% were non-vegetarian. Physical activity, medical history and gynecologic history of menarche, menstrual type, menopause, marital age, and breast feeding history had a strong correlation with clinical diagnosis (p<0.05). About 8.4% of the total population was diagnosed with breast cancer using smear cytology, FNAC, mammography, and USG. CONCLUSIONS: Age, lack of proper education, marital status, food habit, physical activity, age of menarche, menstrual type, menopause, marital age, and breastfeeding history were highlighted as significant risk factors of breast cancer in Indian women. Smears from nipple discharges, FNAC, mammography, and USG are effective methods for breast cancer detection in low-cost setting where routine organized screening programs are not available. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: The study will identify important risk factors among women in the Eastern region of India. Thus, background information of patients can be used to emphasize the importance of organizing breast cancer screening while making public health policies and implementing breast cancer control programs.

Association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNF-LTA locus with breast cancer risk in Indian population.

PURPOSE: Cytokine milieu of tumor microenvironment affects tumorigenesis in breast cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential association of functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in TNF-LTA locus with breast cancer. METHODS: The study included 127 individuals comprising 40 breast cancer cases (35 sporadic & 5 familial) and 87 individuals of high risk group (with family history of breast cancer) along with 150 healthy controls. PCR-RFLP was employed to analyze TNFA promoter polymorphisms at -238 G/A, -308 G/A, -857 C/T, -863 C/A and -1031 T/C along with +252 A/G SNP in LTA. The results were further confirmed by direct sequencing. RESULTS: Significant association was established for TNFA -308 G/A and LTA +252 A/G polymorphisms with breast cancer versus controls (P < 0.0001; OR, 9.53; 95% CI, 4.11-22.13; P (c) < 0.001) and high risk group versus controls (P < 0.0001; OR, 8.27; 95% CI, 4.28-16.0; P (c) < 0.001) respectively. GGACCT haplotype was found to be positively associated with breast cancer (P < 0.0001; OR, 12.17; 95% CI = 5.12-28.92; P (c) < 0.001) and high risk group (P, 0.03; OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.20-7.26; P (c), 0.005) in relation to controls. While GGGCCT haplotype was significantly related with high risk group in comparison to cancer (P, 0.0002; OR, 5.71; 95% CI, 2.18-14.99; P (c), 0.003) and controls (P, 0.0002; OR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.55-3.96; P (c), 0.003). CONCLUSION: TNF-LTA locus could serve as an important biomarker for breast cancer predisposition in Indian population.

Genetic variant of CCND1: association with HPV-mediated cervical cancer in Indian population.

The potential association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (G870A and G1722C) of CCND1 with susceptibility to cervical cancer was investigated. The study included 200 cervical cancer cases along with an equal number of healthy controls. Polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis and direct sequencing were employed for genotyping. We found that women carrying the 870AA genotype have a 2.49-fold increased risk for the development of cervical cancer (odds ratio (OR) 2.49; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.51-4.09; p = 0.0004) compared with GG+GA genotypes. For the 1722 locus, the frequency of the polymorphic 'C' allele was strongly associated with a reduced risk of cervical cancer (p = 0.019; OR 0.71; 95% CI 0.54-0.94). Our data suggest that CCND1 G870A polymorphism could act as a risk factor for the development of cervical cancer. And G1722C polymorphism may play a protective role against the development of human papillomavirus-associated cervical cancer among Indian women.

HPV & HPV vaccination: issues in developing countries.

Cervical cancer is the second-most common cancer in women worldwide causing most cancer related deaths in women in developing countries including India. The most predominant etiological factor for cervical cancer is persistent infection of certain high-risk types of human papillomaviruses (HR-HPVs), while low-risk types are associated with benign cervical lesions and genital warts. In India, the most common (98%) oncogenic types are HPV types 16 and 18 with HPV 16 exclusively (80-90%) prevalent. Two recently developed virus-like particle (VLP) based prophylactic HPV vaccines, quadrivalent Gardasil (HPV 16/18/6/11) and Cervarix (HPV 16/18) offer great promise. Several other therapeutic vaccines are also in clinical trials and are yet to establish their efficacy. The use of already developed VLP vaccines in resource-poor regions is limited by several factors, most importantly the high cost of the vaccine. Therefore efforts are being made in India to develop cost-effective second-generation vaccines. Besides cost, there are several socio-cultural and ethical issues involved with the implementation of already developed vaccines including the acceptability of HPV vaccination by preadolescent girls and their parents in India.