ABSTRACT
Objectives: Recent molecular studies show that breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous disease, and several molecular changes may accumulate over time to influence treatment response. As a result, employing reliable molecular biomarkers to monitor these modifications may help deliver personalised treatment. However, this may be unrealistic in the resource-limited parts of the world. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the expression pattern of hormone receptors and p53 tumour suppressor using immunohistochemistry (IHC) in BC compared to the traditional tumour grade. Methods: In total, 205 cases were investigated, and the Modified Bloom-Richardson score system was adopted in grading the tumours. The tissue sections of the cases were stained with specific primary antibodies at dilutions of 1:60 for oestrogen receptors (ER) and progesterone receptors (PR), 1:350 for the human epidermal growth factor (HER-2/neu) and 1:50 for p53. Results: Invasive ductal carcinoma of no-specific type (n = 190, 92.7%) was predominant and grade II tumour (n = 146, 71.2%) was the most frequent. Hormone receptors ER (n = 127) and PR (n = 145) had 62.0% and 70.7% positive cases, respectively; 34.1% (n = 70) were positive for HER-2/neu, while 76.1% (n = 156) were positive for p53. Significant associations between Nottingham grade and expression patterns of ER (P <0.01), PR (P <0.001), HER-2/neu (P <0.001) and p53 (P = 0.001) were observed. Conclusion: Nottingham grade had a high degree of concordance with the patterns of expression of hormone receptors, HER-2/neu and p53, suggesting that it may play an important role in connection with the predictive and prognostic biomarkers for BC.
Subject(s)
Breast Neoplasms , Humans , Female , Breast Neoplasms/genetics , Breast Neoplasms/pathology , Receptors, Progesterone/metabolism , Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 , Receptor, ErbB-2/genetics , Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism , HormonesABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIM: As the rage of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread globally, much effort is being directed to contain it through various efforts - genomic studies, drug discoveries, clinical trials, vaccine development, and the innovation of diagnostic techniques. However, some pertinent areas involving accurate and sensitive diagnostics, immunoglobulin specificity, evolution of mutant strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), and the drug combination strategy to combat it still require more attention. METHODS: This review critically examines the COVID-19 response and containment operations. It also addresses some standing challenges involving the areas of diagnostics, vaccine development and prospect, and treatment strategies in relation to antiviral drug treatment and immunotherapy. Designated set of keywords such as "SARS-CoV-2;" "coronavirus;" "severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus;" "repurposed;" "vaccination;" "containment;" "laboratory diagnostic;" "immunotherapy;" "antiviral;" "antiparasitic;" "antibiotic;" "antiprotozoal;" "antibody;" "anti-inflammatory;" "antitumor;" "corticosteroid;" "hypertensive drug;" "statin;" "supplement;" and "biological" along with "COVID-19" were inserted on electronic databases to retrieve articles and clinical trial information relevant to the study objectives. The search databases included ClinicalTrials.gov, NIH.gov, PubMed, Scinapse, CINAHL, Medline, Google Scholar, Academic Search Premier, SAGE, EBSCO Host, and Scopus. RELEVANCE FOR PATIENTS: The difficulties associated with SARS-CoV-2 rapid mutations are unceasingly evolving and re-evolving. These pose serious concerns and downplay the efficacy and effectiveness of the current pipeline antiviral drugs and vaccines. Entities encompassing immunotherapy, antiviral drug therapies, viral genomics, protein-protein interaction, and improved diagnostics as well as drug combination strategy against the emerging genetic variability of SARS-CoV-2 were critically appraised. This study suggests that robust collaborations in the development of more sensitive, rapid and accurate diagnostics, development of immunoglobulin specific agents and improved anti-viral treatment focus against multiple mutant genes of SARS-CoV-2 should be aggressively pursued for the overall benefits of COVID-19 patients.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: There is sufficient epidemiological and biological evidence of increased human susceptibility to viral pathogens such as Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, respiratory syncytial virus, human metapneumovirus and influenza virus, in cold weather. The pattern of outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in China during the flu season is further proof that meteorological conditions may potentially influence the susceptibility of human populations to coronaviruses, a situation that may become increasingly evident as the current global pandemic of COVID-19 unfolds. MAIN BODY: A very rapid spread and high mortality rates have characterized the COVID-19 pandemic in countries north of the equator where air temperatures have been seasonally low. It is unclear if the currently high rates of COVID-19 infections in countries of the northern hemisphere will wane during the summer months, or if fewer people overall will become infected with COVID-19 in countries south of the equator where warmer weather conditions prevail through most of the year. However, apart from the influence of seasons, evidence based on the structural biology and biochemical properties of many enveloped viruses similar to the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 or SARS-CoV-2 (aetiology of COVID-19), support the higher likelihood of the latter of the two outcomes. Other factors that may potentially impact the rate of virus spread include the effectiveness of infection control practices, individual and herd immunity, and emergency preparedness levels of countries. CONCLUSION: This report highlights the potential influence of weather conditions, seasons and non-climatological factors on the geographical spread of cases of COVID-19 across the globe.
