Background: Although acute radiation dermatitis (ARD) is a common side-effect of radiotherapy (RT), currently there is no general consensus about its prevention or treatment of choice. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether prophylactic use of topical betamethasone 0.1% can prevent ARD caused by chest wall irradiation. Methods: Fifty-one patients who underwent modified radical mastectomy for breast cancer and were going to receive RT, were randomly assigned to receive topical betamethasone 0.1%, petrolatum or none during RT. The frequency and severity of ARD (measured using Radiation Therapy Oncology Group acute radiation morbidity scoring criteria) were recorded at the end of each week during RT and two weeks after its completion. Clinical outcomes were analyzed by relevant statistical methods. Results: All patients developed some degree of ARD, the frequency and severity of which increased with time and reached the maximum at the end of the seventh week for all groups. Patients receiving betamethasone had less severe ARD than the other two groups throughout the course of the study, but this difference was significant only at the end of the third week (p =0.027). No significant difference was observed between the petrolatum and control arms. Conclusion: Prophylactic and ongoing use of topical betamethasone 0.1% during chest wall RT for breast cancer delays occurrence of ARD but does not prevent it. Petrolatum has no effect on the prevention of ARD in these patients.

This study aimed to report the characteristics, prognostic factors and treatment outcome of 223 patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). This retrospective study was carried out by reviewing the medical records of 223 adult patients diagnosed at a tertiary academic hospital between 1990 and 2008. Patients' follow up ranged from 1 to 69 months (median 11 months). Surgery was attempted in all patients in whom complete resection in 15 patients (7%), subtotal resection in 77 patients (34%), partial resection in 73 patients (33%) and biopsy alone in 58 patients (26%) were done. In addition, we performed a literature review of PubMed to find out and analyze major related series. In all, we collected and analyzed the data of 33 major series including more than 11,000 patients with GBM. There were 141 men and 82 women. The median progression free- and overall survival were 6 (95% CI=5.711-8.289) and 11 (95% CI=9.304-12.696) months respectively. In univariate analysis for overall survival, age (P=0.003), tumor size (P<0.013), performance status (P<0.001), the extent of surgical resection (P=0.009), dose of radiation (P<0.001), and adjuvant chemotherapy (P<0.001) were prognostic factors. However, in multivariate analysis, only radiation dose, extent of surgical resection, and adjuvant chemotherapy were independent prognostic factors for overall survival. The prognosis of adult patients with GBM remains poor; however, complete surgical resection and adjuvant treatments improve progression-free and overall survival.

One of the reasons for high mortality of breast cancer is long delay in seeking medical care. This study was designed to measure the association of a wide range of socio-demographic and clinical factors with the diagnostic delay in breast cancer among Iranian patients. This study was conducted on 505 newly diagnosed patients with breast cancer from southern part of Iran. Medical files of the patients who were admitted to the hospital from November 2013 to May 2015 were examined and clinical and demographic information were extracted. According to the results, illiterate patients were diagnosed on average 87.42 days later compared with those with a college degree (95%CI: 29.68–145.16, P = 0.003) and those from rural area were diagnosed on average 72.48 days later (95%CI: 35.94–109.03, P = 0.001) compared with urban residences. Single women were diagnosed 65.99 days later (95%CI: 7.37–124.61, P = 0.02) compared with those married. Lobular or medullary types of cancer were diagnosed 65.19 days later (95%CI: 2.67–127.70, P = 0.04) compared with ductal type. On the other hand, those who were able to perform breast self-exam were diagnosed 49.07 days earlier compared with others (95%CI: 18.69–79.45, P = 0.002). Those felt lump as the initiating symptom were diagnosed 62.01 days earlier, (95%CI: 8.17–115.85, P = 0.02) compared with those with other initial symptoms. The only factor associated with doctors diagnosis delay was the place of residence as rural residences were diagnosed on average 87.42 days later compared with urban residences, (95%CI: 53.82–121.92, P = 0.001). Higher education, living in cities, ductal type of tumor, and noticing lump in breast were the most important demographic and clinical factors associated with shorter breast cancer diagnosis delay. Informing women and doctors, especially general physicians who are practicing in rural areas, of the common symptoms of breast cancer as well as training women to perform breast self-examination are effective measures in reducing breast cancer diagnosis delay. Providing accessible and effective diagnosis services to rural women reduces diagnosis delay in rural patients.