Breast cancer research in Iran: a scientometric analysis of publications output from 1991 to 2015 in Scopus

Effect of vitamin D supplementation on inflammatory markers and total antioxidant capacity in breast cancer women using a machine learning technique

Aim

This study aimed to establish a learning system using an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the effects of vitamin D supplementation on the serum levels of vitamin D, inflammatory factors, and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in women with breast cancer.

Methods

The data set of the current project was created from women with breast cancer who were referred to the Shafa State Hospital of Patients with Cancers in Ahvaz city, Iran. Modeling was implemented using the data set at the serum levels of vitamin D, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), and TAC, before and after vitamin D3 supplement therapy. A prediction ANN model was designed to detect the effects of vitamin D3 supplementation on the serum level changes of vitamin D, inflammatory factors and TAC.

Results

The results showed that the ANN model could predict the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on the serum level changes of vitamin D, TNF-α, TGF-β1, and TAC with an accuracy average of 85%, 40%, 89.5%, and 88.1%, respectively.

Conclusions

According to the findings of the study, the ANN method could accurately predict the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on the serum levels of vitamin D, TNF-α, TGF-β1, and TAC. The results showed that the proposed ANN method can help specialists to improve the treatment process more confidently in terms of time and accuracy of predicting the influence of vitamin D supplementation on the factors affecting the progression of breast cancer (https://www.irct.ir/ identifier: IRCT2015090623924N1).

Four Decades of Foot and Ankle Research Activity: A Scientometric study of Subspecialty Foot and Ankle Journals

Objectives

To evaluate foot and ankle documents using scientometric methods and provide insight into global research activities.

Methods

This scientometric study was conducted at the Department of Spine Surgery, Ganzhou People's Hospital, China. Documents on foot and ankle from 1980 to 2019 were retrieved from the Scopus database. The number of documents, year of publication, journal, country, institution, author, h-index, and top-cited documents were analyzed.

Results

In total, 11313 documents were retrieved. The annual research output on foot and ankle showed a dramatic increase over the past four decades, especially in the past decade (p = 0.000). Foot & Ankle International published the biggest number of documents (44.48%). The United States contributed more than half (52.17%) of the global production, followed by the United Kingdom (11.39%), and Germany (3.62%). The United States had the highest h-index (109). The Hospital for Special Surgery (1.87%) ranked first in terms of productivity, followed by Union Memorial Hospital (1.37%), and Duke University Medical Center (1.24%). The most productive author was Myerson MS (1.25%), followed by Schon LC (0.77%), and Hyer CF (0.74%).

Conclusion

Research on foot and ankle has thrived rapidly over the past four decades, particularly in the last decade. The United States contributes the most to the quantity and quality of foot and ankle documents.

A recombinant affitoxin derived from a HER3 affibody and diphteria-toxin has potent and selective antitumor activity

High expression of receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-3 (HER3) has been found in several malignancies such as breast cancer. In this study, we designed, produced and evaluated a new affitoxin consisting of a truncated form of diphtheria toxin and a HER3-binding affibody domains. The new affitoxin was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by affinity chromatography. We evaluated the suitability of affitoxin to kill HER3 positive breast cancer cells with MTT and apoptosis assays. The protein synthesis inhibition was also evaluated. The IC50 value in HER3 negative cells is about 10 times more than HER3 positive cells in new design of affitoxin. The specificity of affitoxin for binding to HER3 positive cells was also investigated with binding assay with flow cytometry. The results show that, the new affitoxin is an anti-cancer molecule with specific binding to HER3 positive cells and may open a new window for the treatment of HER3-positive cancers.

Bibliometric analysis of breast cancer research in the period 2009-2018

AIM

The aim of this study was to carry out a bibliometric analysis of breast cancer studies in the field of nursing conducted between 2009 and 2018 and to reveal the trends, dynamics and scientific outputs in the field.

METHODS

A bibliometric analysis was performed using CiteSpace II software to determine the characteristics of research incorporated in the international citation indexes and published in breast cancer research in the context of nursing studies. In the Web of Science database, the subjects of breast cancer and nursing were selected, and a total of 2,734 articles published in the last decade were reviewed.

RESULTS

There was an increase in the number of publications after 2014. The United States had the highest level of country collaborations and the highest degree of centrality. The most densely researched topic in the largest subject cluster was breast cancer. The most commonly used keywords were breast cancer, quality of life and women.

CONCLUSION

Breast cancer research in the field of nursing has increased in the last decade, and the United States ranked first in terms of publications in this nursing field.

Perceived Barriers to Mammography Adoption among Women in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Background

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed tumorous cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. This study aimed to qualitatively explore the barriers to mammography adoption among Iranian women.

Methods

This study is a qualitative component of a large research project on exploratory sequential mixed method design, utilizing conventional content analysis. In total, 24 participants were selected from among women who had participated in the first phase of the study. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews.

Results

Five main themes were extracted, consisting of unawareness of mammography, fear control, priority of mammography needs, inadequate competency of mammography centers, and a sense of losing family support.

Conclusion

Different perceived barriers within various levels (individual, intrapersonal, health systems, and community) play influential roles in women’s decisions to participate in breast cancer screening program, which indicates the cultural aspect of perceived barriers in different communities and countries. The study provides the basis for intervention planning in this regard.

Inhibition of Wnt3a/FOXM1/β-Catenin Axis and Activation of GSK3β and Caspases are Critically Involved in Apoptotic Effect of Moracin D in Breast Cancers

Although Moracin D derived from Morus alba was known to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, the underlying antitumor mechanism of Moracin D has not been unveiled thus far. Thus, in the recent study, the apoptotic mechanism of Moracin D was elucidated in breast cancer cells. Herein, Moracin D exerted significant cytotoxicity in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, Moracin D increased sub G1 population; cleaved poly (Adenosine diphosphate (ADP-ribose)) polymerase (PARP); activated cysteine aspartyl-specific protease 3 (caspase 3); and attenuated the expression of c-Myc, cyclin D1, B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2), and X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein (XIAP) in MDA-MB231 cells. Of note, Moracin D reduced expression of Forkhead box M1 (FOXM1), β-catenin, Wnt3a, and upregulated glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β) on Tyr216 along with disturbed binding of FOXM1 with β-catenin in MDA-MB-231 cells. Conversely, GSK3β inhibitor SB216763 reversed the apoptotic ability of Moracin D to reduce expression of FOXM1, β-catenin, pro-caspase3, and pro-PARP in MDA-MB-231 cells. Overall, these findings provide novel insight that Moracin D inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis via suppression of Wnt3a/FOXM1/β-catenin signaling and activation of caspases and GSK3β.

50 years of Iranian clinical, biomedical, and public health research: a bibliometric analysis of the Web of Science Core Collection (1965-2014)

Background

A substantial growth has been reported in Iran's number of clinical, biomedical, and public health research publications over the last 30 years. It is of interest to investigate whether this quantitative growth has also led to a larger number of papers with a high citation impact; to explore where the capacity for performing research lies; and which fields/institutions are lagging behind.

Methods

This was a bibliometric study. Web of Science Core Collection and its different tools were used for retrieving and analysing the publications. Information about the journals was found on Journal Citation Reports^®. Different types of collaborations across the highly-cited papers was investigated based on the affiliations, the characteristics of the language of the authors' names, and the authors' study and work backgrounds.

Results

Iran's number of clinical, biomedical, and public health research publications has substantially increased since 2000, a surge was seen in 2007, and the figure reached a peak in 2011. 11% of the publications were in Pharmacology Pharmacy; and the majority originated in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Six of the 10 journals that had published the most were Iranian journals. H-index of publications had also increased over time (almost doubled between 2000 and 2010). 30.9% of the most-cited publications had only relied on Iranian resources (including 48 publications); had been published in journals with impact factors ranging between 0.4 and 8.3; and the majority were original basic sciences research.

Conclusions

In Iran, a great capacity for research lies in clinical, biomedical, and public health fields which can be strengthened with further investment. It is important to use this capacity in a way that would align with the national population health needs. It is also essential to consider the limitations of only relying on bibliometric tools for assessing health research activities. Finally, the Iranian science policy-makers are encouraged to (i) support the researchers and institutions that have proved research capacity; (ii) direct further resources towards research areas and/or institutions that are lagging behind; (iii) facilitate further international collaboration with the academics and/or institutions that have shown the capacity for conducting successful research projects with Iran.

Apoptotic effect of lambertianic acid through AMPK/FOXM1 signaling in MDA-MB231 breast cancer cells

Though lambertianic acid (LA) was known to exert antitumor effect in liver and prostate cancers, its underlying anticancer mechanism is never reported in breast cancers so far. Thus, in this study, apoptotic mechanism of LA was elucidated in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Here, LA increased cytotoxicity in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells; enhanced sub-G1 population, G2/M arrest, and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase; activated phosphorylation of AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)/acetyl-CoA carboxylase pathway; and also suppressed phosphorylation of AKT and the expression of forkhead box M1 (FOXM1), X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein, B-cell lymphoma 2, and CyclinB1 in MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, AMPK inhibitor compound C reversed the effect of LA on FOXM1, Cyclin B1, and cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase in MDA-MB-231 cells. Notably, immunoprecipitation revealed that LA disturbed the direct binding of AKT and FOXM1 in MDA-MB-231 cells. Overall, these findings suggest that LA-induced apoptosis is mediated via activation of AMPK and inhibition of AKT/FOXM1 signaling pathway.