Incidence of MRSA infection in pneumonia in cancer patients with phenotyping & genotyping study

Background: Infections remain a part of the natural course of cancer. During the course of their disease, patients with cancer frequently present with an infection that can ultimately be fatal. Staphylococcus aureus continues to be a dangerous pathogen for both community-acquired as well as hospital-associated infections. S. aureus resistant to methicillin was reported soon after its introduction in October 1960. Material and methods: We included 40 cancer patients diagnosed with pneumonia, Methicillin resistance test was checked for all isolates of S. aureus. The selected resistance isolates with positive phenotypic tests were subjected to molecular screening study using the PCR amplification technique for detection of mec A gene. Results: 10 samples of patients isolates were positive for staph infection, 7 out of them are MRSA and confirmed by mec A gene. Conclusion: In any cancer patients with pneumonia that is proved to be caused by staph aureus anti MRSA treatment should be initiated empirically

The study of long non-coding RNAs(NAALADL2 and XIST) gene expression in diffuse large B cell lymphoma

Diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most predominant type of Non Hodgkin- Lymphomas, representing more than one third of all recently diagnosed cases. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a class of RNA not coding for protein having more than 200 nucleotides and have significant roles in tumor formation and they have been investigated in different types of solid and hematologic tumors, including DLBCL.This work aims to study the level of lncRNAs(NAALADL2 and XIST)gene expression in DLBCL.NAALADL2 and XIST gene expression levels in blood were performed by real time qPCR technique. Forty five DLBCL patients and forty five age and gender matched healthy controls were included in this study.There was significant statistical increase in the expression of NAALADL2 and decrease of XIST expression in patients compared to control group (p value < 0.001). From this study, ROC curve analysis revealed cut-off values>10.3 and<1.57 for NAALADL2 and XISTrespectively.There was significant positive correlation between NAALADL2 and advanced stage and a significant negative correlation is found between XIST and advanced stage. It may be concluded that NAALADL2 and XISTexpression levels were obviously associated with DLBCL and might determine the disease progression

miRNA-148a and miRNA-30c expressions as potential biomarkers in breast cancer patients

Background: Breast cancer is an extensively identified malignant tumor and is a prime cause of cancer mortalities in females. It has been shown that alteration of miRNAs expression (up or down regulation) can affect the initiation and progression of many malignancies. We aimed to evaluate the role of circulating miRNA-148a and miRNA-30c in female patients with breast cancer and estimate their usage as potential biomarkers in the diagnosis, prognosis and survival of breast cancer. Methods: This study included 75 breast cancer female patients.They were compared with 55 apparently healthy female subjects. miRNAs expression analysis was assessed via real-time PCR. Results: To discriminate breast cancer patients from controls, miR-30c showed the best performance at a cut off value of ≤20.6 (AUC = 0.998, 97.33% sensitivity, 96.36% specificity, p 21.3), and finally CEA (AUC = 0.751, 70.67% sensitivity, 63.64% specificity, p 2.5). Conclusion: miRNA-148a and miRNA-30c expressions were down regulated in female patients with breast cancer and might be considered as potential blood biomarkers. Both also might have rule in disease treatment and selection of therapeutic targets. Future studies are needed to improve their role in predicting response to treatment and prognosis