Investigating the effects of quercetin fatty acid esters on apoptosis, mechanical properties, and expression of ERK in melanoma cell line (A375).

AIMS: Malignant melanoma (MM) is the most fatal skin cancer with a critical increase in the number of cases in the last decades. Recent studies have shown the antitumor potential of active biological phytochemical structures of flavonoids for the prevention and treatment of cancerous cells. In this study, two quercetin fatty acid esters (α-linolenic acid (ALA) and linoleic acid (LA)) compounds were evaluated in terms of inducing apoptotic human melanoma cells (A375) death in vitro. MAIN METHODS: The MTT assay was utilized for comparing the effects of quercetin, ALA, and LA on A375 cell viability concentrations of 5, 25, 35, 50, and 100µg/mL for 24 and 48 h to obtain IC50. To detect the effects on apoptosis and to determine p-ERK/ERK apoptosis-related signaling pathway proteins level, flow-cytometry and western blot were used. Finally, the nano-mechanical properties of the melanoma A375 membrane structure containing elastic modulus value and cell-cell adhesion forces were investigated using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Statistical data was analyzed in GraphPad v.8.0.0. KEY FINDINGS: The most significant A375 cell viability amplified effect of Q-LA was observed with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 = 35 µg/mL, 48 h), proportional to dose. Ester compounds, especially Q-LA, showed the highest cell proliferation inhibition with improved elastic modulus, cell-cell adhesion forces (253 ± 11.2), and elevated apoptosis-inducing effect (p < 0.01**). Moreover, Q-LA significantly decreased the mean levels of p-ERK phosphorylation (0.1439) and, subsequently, apoptosis in A375 cells. SIGNIFICANCE: The data presented in this study confirmed the antitumor activity of ester compounds against A375 cells, high-lighting the ability of the tested compounds to induce apoptosis.

Radiation Protection Evaluation of Medical X-ray Imaging Centers in Qazvin, Iran.

ABSTRACT: Given the potential risks of x rays in imaging, it is necessary to evaluate the radiation safety of medical x-ray imaging rooms and radiation information of radiographers. A descriptive study has been carried out in Qazvin, Iran, in the form of a questionnaire answered by radiography technologists in private and public imaging centers to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and performance about x-ray exposure and safety against it. Afterward, the radiation doses of public areas of the radiography centers were measured by a survey meter. A checklist was also completed, containing items about availability of ventilation facilities in x-ray rooms, radiation warning signs, radiation work schedules, documents of periodic blood test monitoring, exposure history of radiographers by film badge, and documents of the quality control of x-ray devices. The data analysis was performed by SPSS 16 using descriptive study, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient test. The mean attitude and knowledge scores were 6.65 ± 1.63 out of 9 and 4.82 ± 2.06 out of 15, respectively. Sex, age, and workplace had no significant effect on the radiographers' knowledge and attitude, while occupational experience had a negative relationship, and level of education had a significant direct association with knowledge of the participants (p-value<0.05). The performance of the staff was somewhat good. Almost all x-ray imaging centers had good radiation protection conditions. The annual quality control of x-ray imaging devices was ensured. The radiation protection awareness among the medical radiographers in Qazvin city needs to be improved, especially among the experienced staff.

Radiomics analysis on CT images for prediction of radiation-induced kidney damage by machine learning models.

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to assess the power of radiomic features based on computed tomography to predict risk of chronic kidney disease in patients undergoing radiation therapy of abdominal cancers. METHODS: 50 patients were evaluated for chronic kidney disease 12 months after completion of abdominal radiation therapy. At the first step, the region of interest was automatically extracted using deep learning models in computed tomography images. Afterward, a combination of radiomic and clinical features was extracted from the region of interest to build a radiomic signature. Finally, six popular classifiers, including Bernoulli Naive Bayes, Decision Tree, Gradient Boosting Decision Trees, K-Nearest Neighbor, Random Forest, and Support Vector Machine, were used to predict chronic kidney disease. Evaluation criteria were as follows: accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the ROC curve. RESULTS: Most of the patients (58%) experienced chronic kidney disease. A total of 140 radiomic features were extracted from the segmented area. Among the six classifiers, Random Forest performed best with the accuracy and AUC of 94% and 0.99, respectively. CONCLUSION: Based on the quantitative results, we showed that a combination of radiomic and clinical features could predict chronic kidney radiation toxicities. The effect of factors such as renal radiation dose, irradiated renal volume, and urine volume 24-h on CKD was proved in this study.

Magnetic Hyperthermia as an adjuvant cancer therapy in combination with radiotherapy versus radiotherapy alone for recurrent/progressive glioblastoma: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Hyperthermia therapy (HT) is a recognized treatment modality, that can sensitize tumors to the effects of radiotherapy (RT) and chemotherapy by heating up tumor cells to 40-45 °C. The advantages of noninvasive inductive magnetic hyperthermia (MH) over RT or chemotherapy in the treatment of recurrent/progressive glioma have been confirmed by several clinical trials. Thus, here we have conducted a systematic review to provide a concise, albeit brief, account of the currently available literature regarding this topic. METHODS: Five databases, PubMed/Medline, Embace, Ovid, WOS, and Scopus, were investigated to identify clinical studies comparing overall survival (OS) following RT/chemotherapy versus RT/chemotherapy + MH. RESULTS: Eleven articles were selected for this systematic review, including reports on 227 glioma patients who met the study inclusion criteria. The papers included in this review comprised nine pilot clinical trials, one non-randomized clinical trial, and one retrospective investigation. As the clinical trials suggested, MH improved OS in primary glioblastoma (GBM), however, in the case of recurrent glioblastoma, no significant change in OS was reported. All 11 studies ascertained that no major side effects were observed during MH therapy. CONCLUSION: Our systematic review indicates that MH therapy as an adjuvant for RT could result in improved survival, compared to the therapeutic outcomes achieved with RT alone in GBM, especially by intratumoral injection of magnetic nanoparticles. However, heterogeneity in the methodology of the most well-known studies, and differences in the study design may significantly limit the extent to which conclusions can be drawn. Thus, further investigations are required to shed more light on the efficacy of MH therapy as an adjuvant treatment modality in GBM.