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Background & Objective: The breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. MDM2 expression is determined in some carcinomas, sarcomas, leukemias,and breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the expression of MDM2 gene in primary breast cancer and it’s relationship with grade, stage and axillary lymph node involvement. Materials & Methods: the study was the cross-sectional one, that was performed on 75 samples of patients with breast cancer admitted in Mostafa Khomeini hospital Tehran, Iran (2000-05). After preparing the samples, a tissue section from each samples was obtained. One of the tumoral sections and one of the lymph node sections were stained by H&E. We determined the type of the tumor, the number of lymph nodes, the stage and the grade of the tumor. We studied MDM2 with polyclonal antibody by IHC. Results: The meanSD of patients were 5412.5 years old. 69.3% of patients had lymphoid involvement. 32% of samples were positive for MDM2. 58.7% of samples were in stage II and the most of patients (42.7%) were in grade III. In this study, there was not any relationship between MDM2 and tumor grade, but there was a relationship between stage of tumor and lymph node involvement with MDM2 gene (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that MDM2 gene is a prognostic factor in breast cancer.

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Background and Objective: Dissection of the axillary lymph nodes is considered as one of the common measures in management of breast cancer. Edema and limitation in hand movement are accompanied with dissection of axillary lymph nodes. Sentinel lymph node biopsy can be used to evaluate axillary metastasis. This study was carried out to evaluate the diagnostic value of sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was performed on 30 selected patients with breast cancer less than 5 cm without any involvement of axillary lymph nodes in Ghaem Hospital in Mashhad, North-East of Iran during 2009 -10. Initially, the lymphoscintigraphy was performed. Subsequently, prior, to the surgery, the blue dye as a marker was injected for detecting sentinel lymph node and with the use of probe gamma counter and observing blue color on lymph nodes, the sentinel node was determined and separated. Finally, axillary dissection was performed for removing the lymph nodes of I and II level in all patients. Results: Among 30 patients who were evaluated for sentinel lymph nodes and axillary dissection, false negative were observed only in two cases (6.6 %). The sensitivity rate was determined to be 84.6%. Conclusion: Considering the high success rate of detection of sentinel lymph node and limited false negative cases, sentinel lymph node biopsy is recommended in cases of breast cancer without axillary involvement.

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Background and Objective: Due to the increase of incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in Iran, This study was conducted to determine the epidemiological pattern of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in the Mazandaran province, northern Iran. Methods: This descriptive-analytic study was carried out on medical record of 3313 tuberculosis patients in Mazandaran province, northern Iran during 2001-11. Age, gender, affected year, area and affected organ were gathered for each patient. Results: 843 (25.4%) of subjects were diagnosed with extrapulmonary tuberculosis. The incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis increased by 4% for every unit increase in incidence year (P<0.05). The mean age of patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis was significantly less than patients with pulmonary tuberculosis (42.8±20.6 years vs. 48.7±21.2, P<0.05). Extrapulmonary tuberculosis was significantly higher in women (P<0.05). The chance of extrapulmonary tuberculosis in women was 1.7 times of men. Lymph node (33%) was the most common affected organ followed by pleura (18.9%) and bone (17.7%). Conclusion: The trend of incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis was ascending during 2001 to 2011. The most affected organ in extra pulmonary tuberculosis was lymph nodes.

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Background and Objective: Several studies reported the immunological activity of Lycium barbarum. This study carried out to determine the effect of aqueous extract of fruits of Lycium ruthenicum L. on morphometric and histomorphometric indices in mice lymphatic organs. Methods: In this experimental study, 36 adult mice were randomly allocated into six experimental and control groups. The experimental groups were received Lycium ruthenicum L. fruit aqueous extract in the doses of 50, 100, 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg/bw, daily by feeding tube for 21 days. In the control group animals were recived 100 mg/kg/bw of saline using feeding tube. After the treatment, the relative increase in the body weight, morphometric, histomorphometric and histopathologic indices in thymus, lymph node and spleen were measured. Results: The administration of extract in doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg/bw did not effect on body weight of mice but in the doses of 200, 400 and 800 mg/kg/bw significantly reduced the body weight (P<0.05).Thymus index in 800 mg/kg/bw of extract significantly reduced in comparison with controls (P<0.05). Thickness of thymus medulla in low doses significantly increased while it was not visible in higher doses (P<0.05). Thickness of capsule in lymph node and spleen in dose of 800 mg/kg/bw significantly increased in comparison with control group (P<0.05). Low doses of the Lycium barbarum extract increased stimulation and infiltration of the immune cells and hematopoiesis in the lymphoid organs while in doses of 400 and 800 mg/kg/bw caused pathological changes including fibrosis in capsule, degeneration in follicles and stromal cell apoptosis. Conclusion: Aqueous extract of fruits of Lycium ruthenicum L. in doses of 400 and 800 mg/kg/bw causes histopathological alterations in the lymphoid organs.