Mismeasured Covariate in the Long-Term Survival of Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. This study aimed to determine the effect of measurement error of risk factors on the cure fraction of CRC patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted using the medical records of 346 patients with CRC, who were followed up between 2006 and 2017 in Shiraz, Iran. In our data, lymph node ratio (LNR) was a characteristic measuring with error. This variable was used in the model with 0.04 and 0.8 of error variance. Nonmixture nonparametric cure rate model and its corrected forms, simulation-extrapolation (SIMEX) and corrected score (CS), were applied to the data. RESULTS: In noncured cases, the mean survival time was 1115.45 (95% confidence interval, 1043.60-1187.30) days. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 0.93, 0.71, and 0.65, respectively. The proportion of cured patients was 65.2%. The SIMEX method did not change the effect of LNR substantially on cure fraction as compared with the naive method when the variance of measurement error was 0.04 and 0.80. The CS method changed the effect of LNR on cure fraction even when the variance of measurement error was 0.04. CONCLUSION: The best method to assess the effect of LNR on cure fraction was the naive method, and the CS method was not deemed to be a valid method to correct the measurement error in LNR.

The Correlation Between Liver Fat Content and Ulcerative Colitis Disease Severity.

To evaluate the association between disease severity and hepatic steatosis in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Consecutively selected UC patients admitted to the gastroenterology clinic were enrolled in the study. UC severity was assessed by Truelove and Witts classification. Patients with severe UC were excluded from the study. NASH was determined based on persistently elevated serum aminotransferase levels and detection of fatty liver ultrasound. Patients with other etiologies for elevated aminotransferase levels were excluded. Liver fat content (LFC) was assessed by measuring liver fat score (LFS). One hundred patients (42% male) were included in the study. According to liver ultrasound examination, 62 (%) patients were identified with grade 1 fatty liver disease, and 38 (%) patients were classified as advanced (grade 2 and 3) fatty liver disease. Sixty-one patients had left-sided UC and (46%) had mild UC disease severity index. LFS was significantly higher in UC patients with the moderate disease than patients with mild disease (3.53±2.68 vs. 5.89±2.85, respectively; P<0.01). Nevertheless, no significant difference was observed in LFS regarding UC extension. There was no significant difference between NASH ultrasound grades in view of UC severity and extension. LFC might be associated with UC severity.

Differential Immune Reactivity Pattern of SW48 and SW1116 Colorectal Cancer Cell Lines with Colorectal Cancer Patients Sera.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers worldwide. It is also known as the second leading cause of deaths as the early stage detection is not yet available by current methods. So identification of biomarkers can also be functional in early diagnosis and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We examined sera from 60 CRC patients of different stages as a source of auto-antibody as well as two human CRC cell lines with different invasive capacities (SW48 and SW1116) as the source of antigens. The pattern of immune reactivity in immuneblotting tests between mentioned cell lines and CRC patients' sera were evaluated by ImageJ software. RESULTS: The Immune reactivity pattern of two cell lines (SW48 and SW1116) with CRC patients' sera were different in band intensities and the most immune reactivity intensity was observed in SW48 cell lysate with sera from Stage III CRC patients. CONCLUSION: Due to the humoral immune response, sera from Stage III CRC patients contained autoantibodies that demonstrated higher immune reactivity. Moreover, SW48 cell line with high aggressive behavior reacted to CRC patients' sera with greater intensity compared with less aggressive behavior cell line (SW1116). Therefore, it is required to use other techniques such as two-dimensional electrophoresis and mass spectrometry.

Comparison of the patients' satisfaction after inpatient and outpatient operations for haemorrhoidal disease.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the patients' satisfaction between outpatient and inpatient haemorrhoidectomy. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Faghihi Hospital, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, from January to July 2011. METHODOLOGY: A total of 208 patients were involved in this cross-sectional study. All patients were examined by their specialists and after definite diagnosis of haemorrhoid, they were randomly allocated to two groups: outpatient and inpatient. Data for this study was collected by a satisfaction questionnaire. RESULTS: There was no statistical significant difference between the two groups' satisfaction. Both groups were quite satisfied. Also, there was no statistical significance regarding the variable of time of visit. In addition, there was no association between the patients' satisfaction and with, occupation, and level of education. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of the study, minor operations such as haemorrhoidectomy are better to be done in clinics since they do not differ from the operating room regarding the patients' satisfaction.