Personalized peptide-based vaccination for treatment of colorectal cancer: rational and progress

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers globally and is associated with a high rate of morbidity and mortality. A large proportion of patients with early stage CRC who undergo conventional treatments develop local recurrence or distant metastasis and in this group of advanced disease, the survival rate is low. Furthermore there is often a poor response and/or toxicity associated with chemotherapy and chemo-resistance may limit continuing conventional treatment alone. Choosing novel and targeted therapeutic approaches based on clinicopathological and molecular features of tumors in combination with conventional therapeutic approach could be used to eradicate residual micrometastasis and therefore improve patient prognosis and also be used preventively. Peptide-based vaccination therapy is one class of cancer treatment that could be used to induce tumor-specific immune responses, through the recognition of specific antigen-derived peptides in tumor cells, and this has emerged as a promising anti-cancer therapeutic strategy. The aim of this review was to summarize the main findings of recent studies in exciting field of peptide-based vaccination therapy in CRC patients as a novel therapeutic approach in treatment of CRC

Association of vitamin D status with liver and kidney disease: A systematic review of clinical trials, and cross-sectional and cohort studies

Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a major public health problem. There are few comprehensive systematic reviews about the relationship between Vitamin D status and liver and renal disease in Iran. Methods: We systemically searched the following databases: Web of Science; PubMed; Cochrane Library; Scopus; Science Direct; Google Scholar and two Iranian databases (Scientific Information Database (SID) and IranMedex) up until November 2017 to identify all randomized control trials (RCTs), case control, cross-sectional and cohort studies investigating the association between vitamin D and any form of liver or kidney disease. Results: Vitamin D insufficiency, or deficiency (VDD), is highly prevalent in Iran, reports varying between 44.4 in Isfahan to 98 in Gorgan. There is also a high prevalence of VDD among patients with liver or kidney disease, and the administration of vitamin D supplements may have beneficial effects on lipid profile, blood glucose, liver function and fatty liver disease, and bone health. Low serum vitamin D levels are related with abnormalities in these laboratory and clinical parameters. Conclusion: VDD is prevalent in patients with chronic liver or renal disease in Iran. There appear to be several beneficial effects of vitamin D supplementation in vitamin D deficient patients with liver or kidney disease