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Objective: B-cells can contribute to the suppression or progression of the tumor growth through the secretion of various cytokines. In this study, the relevance of B-cell cytokine production to the outcome variables in patients having squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the head and neck was studied. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six draining lymph nodes from untreated patients with tongue and larynx SCC were stimulated with CpG, recombinant CD40L and phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate/ionomycin and analyzed by flow cytometry for the frequency of B-cell subsets based on interleukin (IL)-10 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) cytokine production. Results: It was indicated that patients with uninvolved lymph nodes and low stage of the disease had an increased percentage of TNF-α+ CD19+ B-cells (p=0.006 and p=0.041, respectively), whereas the frequency of IL-10+ CD19+ B-cells showed an increasing trend in tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) of patients with grade 2+3 compared to grade 1 (p=0.054). Conclusion: Collectively, TNF-α-producing B-cells in TDLNs has been reported to be associated with good prognosticators in patients with SCC of head and neck that might have a positive role in immunity to SCC of head and neck. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to evaluate serum vitamin D levels in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) in comparison to healthy controls in an Iranian population. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted, which included 69 patients with OLP, 40 patients with OSCC, and 60 healthy controls. Serum vitamin D levels were measured using the ELISA method. The data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney and T-tests, and statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: The study found that 17.9% of OLP patients, 27.25% of OSCC patients, and 25% of the control group had normal vitamin D levels. The mean vitamin D level in OLP patients (17.00 ± 14.16 ng/mL) was significantly lower than that in the control group (22.99 ± 14.46 ng/mL) (P = 0.003). However, in OSCC patients, the mean vitamin D level (24.63 ± 16.19 ng/mL) was not significantly different from that of the control group. Conclusion: The study revealed a high rate of vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in OLP, OSCC, and control group patients. Vitamin D deficiency was more common in patients with OLP. Vitamin D deficiency may potentially increase the risk of OLP and OSCC development and progression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & objectives: Semaphorins were initially characterized as axon guidance factors but were subsequently implicated in the regulation of immune responses, angiogenesis, organ formation and a variety of other physiological and developmental functions. Various semaphorins enhance or inhibit tumour progression through different mechanisms. The objective of this study was to assess the expression of various semaphorins and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene transcripts as well as the serum level of Sema3A in individuals with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). Methods: Tissue expression of Sema3A, Sema3C, Sema4D, Sema6D and VEGF was determined in both tumour tissues and tissues around the tumour from 30 individuals with pathologically confirmed LSCC using quantitative real-time PCR. Furthermore, the serum level of Sema3A in these individuals was assessed using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Sema3C gene transcript showed a significant increase (P =0.001), while Sema4D was observed with a significant decrease in tumour samples compared to non-tumoural tissues (P ≤0.01). The expression of the Sema3C gene was found to be associated with the stage of LSCC tumour as it was statistically significant for tumours with stage IV (P <0.01). The serum level of Sema3A was not found to be significant between cases and controls. Interpretation & conclusions: Increased expression of Sema3C but decreased expression of Sema4D in tumour tissue of LSCC may introduce these two growth factors as crucial mediators orchestrating tumour growth in individuals with LSCC. This result could open a new vision for the treatment of this malignancy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The active vitamin D metabolites have anticancer effects on many human neoplasms. The vitamin D receptors have been detected in salivary glands tissue. This study aimed to evaluate the serum level of vitamin D in patients with malignant and benign salivary gland tumors. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective and cross-sectional study, 151 participants, including 42 patients with benign, 42 malignant salivary gland tumors, and 67 healthy subjects, participated. The serum level of vitamin D was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: The mean serum level of vitamin D was 42.7 ng/mL in patients with benign tumors, 40 ng/mL in malignant tumors, and 36.7 ng/mL in the control group. There was no significant difference between the mean vitamin D level and vitamin D status in patients with salivary gland tumors and normal controls (P=0.2). There was a significant positive correlation between vitamin D level and age in the control group (P=0.04). Conclusions: The results showed a high prevalence rate of vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency in salivary gland tumors and normal subjects, with no significant difference. Therefore, the serum level of vitamin D might not play a significant role in the pathogenesis of these tumors, similar to many human cancers. However, further prospective studies are recommended focusing on specific tumors and considering other interventional factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Oral Squamous cell Carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common oral cancer and is treated with surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Various complications of treatment include xerostomia, mucositis, and trismus, which affect patients' quality of life. The aim of this study is to evaluate the mortality, recurrence rate and prevalence of oral complications in treated patients. Method and materials: This cross-sectional study reviewed 326 cases of patients with OSCC who were referred to public health centers in Shiraz (Khalili Hospital and Dental School) from 2010 to 2020. All patients were contacted, and the survivors were called and examined by an oral physician. A medical record was created for them, including demographic information, location of the lesion, type of treatment, history of recurrence, metastasis and oral complications. Results: 53.5% of patients were male and 46.5% were female. The mean age of patients was 58.68 years. Mortality and recurrence rate was respectively 49.8% and 17.8%. The most common location of the lesion was tongue (64%). Surgery was done for all patients. 97.4% of patients complained of xerostomia, 46.2% of mucositis and 44.3% of trismus. Conclusion: The most common complications of treatment are xerostomia, mucositis, and trismus, respectively. Frequent and regular follow-ups and supportive therapies reduce these complications and improve patients' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statement of the Problem: Heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) plays important roles in many cellular processes and has been implicated in different types of diseases such as cancers. Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the serum level of HSP27 in patients with salivary gland tumors and to determine its possible correlation with the prognosis of the disease. Materials and Method: This cross-sectional study was performed on 60 patients with salivary gland tumor including 16 pleomorphic adenoma, 33 adenoid cystic carcinoma, 6 mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 5 acinic cell carcinoma, and 28 healthy control subjects. The control cases were healthy blood donors who matched the study group in age and sex. Serum samples were obtained from the clotted blood and HSP27 concentrations were measured with sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Statistical analysis was performed by using one-way ANOVA, post Hoc test, independent sample t-test, and ROC analysis. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered as significant. Results: The mean serum level of HSP27 was 3956.1±3830.1 (pg/ml) in patients with malignant salivary gland tumor, which was significantly higher than that in benign salivary gland tumor (752.2±485.6) and healthy controls (602.3±575.8) (p< 0.001). However, there was no significant difference in the HSP27 serum levels between the patients with benign salivary gland tumors and healthy controls (p= 0.2). No association was detected between the mean serum levels of HSP27 and clinicopathologic factors such as age, sex, stage and nodal metastasis (p> 0.05), except for the tumor size (p= 0.04). Conclusion: The HSP27 concentration increased in patients with malignant salivary gland tumors. Moreover, the HSP27 level was correlated with tumor growth, invasiveness, and diagnosability. Yet, larger clinical studies are required to explore its prognostic value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]