Search

Background: Gastrointestinal cancers are considered as the most common type of cancer among men and the second most common cancer in women after breast cancer in Iran. This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of gastrointestinal cancer in Markazi Province. Methods: This is an epidemiological study in which data was gathered from the population-based cancer registry program in the Markazi province of Iran during the years 2010–2014. Data were recorded in Excel software and coded based on ICD-O. All cases out of Markazi provinces were excluded from study, and cases with code C-15-C20 were included in this study. Stata 11 was used to analyze the data. Results: In this study, 2975 new cases of gastrointestinal cancer in Markazi province were included in the analysis. The highest number of cancers was stomach (with 1595 cases), followed by colorectal cancer (980 cases), esophageal cancer (318 cases), and finally small bowl cancer (82 cases). The mean age of gastro-intestinal cancer diagnosis was 65.07 years. The results showed that with increasing age, the incidence of gastro-intestinal cancers increased, and in all sites and both sexes, the highest incidence of gastro-intestinal cancer was in the age group above 70 years. In both sexes, the age specific rate of stomach cancer was higher than other sites (with highest incidence in 2013) followed by colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, and small bowl cancer. Conclusions: The results showed similar incidence rate of gastrointestinal cancer in Markazi province to other provinces in Iran. This study found that stomach cancer is the most common cancer in the Markazi province; therefore, identifying effective and preventing factors is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The WNT-pathway is involved in several cancers, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Many cell signaling components and pathways are controlled by microRNAs. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate the expression of hsa-miR-374, and its two target genes of the Wnt-pathway in CRC clinical samples. Methods: In this study, we predicted the miRNAs targeting key genes of WNT-pathway using bioinformatics algorithms. The expression levels of hsa-miR-374, APC and GSK-3ß on 48 pairs of Formalin-Fixed Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) CRC tumors and marginal-tumors were evaluated using real time-PCR. Additionally, the hsa-miR-374a-5p precursor sequence was amplified by whole-blood DNA as a template. This amplicon was cloned into pEGFP-c1 expression vector and transfected into SW742 cells. Aside from this, MTT assay was performed to evaluate the effect of miR-374 on cell viability. Results: The bioinformatics analysis indicated that hsa-miR-374 binds to the regulatory region the key components of WNT-pathway, including APC and GSK-3ß considering the recognition elements and mirSVR scores. Our results revealed significant down-regulation of GSK-3ß (0.94 times, p= 0.0098) and APC (0.96 times, p= 0.03) and up-regulation of miR-374 (1.22 times, p= 0.0071) on tumor samples compared with their normal pairs. Meanwhile, the results of the over-expression of miR-374 showed down-regulation of APC and GSK-3ß. MTT-assay also indicated that the miR-374 increased cell survival. Conclusions: The results of our study indicated a concomitant change in the expression of miR-374 and its two related target genes, in clinical samples of CRC. Hsa-miR-374 might be as a helpful biomarker or therapeutic target in CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]