RESUMEN

AIMS: Growth of the cancer incidence rate in Iran has been very high in recent years. Therefore, the Iranian health care system should be prepared for the treatment of a huge number of patients in the foreseeable future. One of the most important treatment options for cancer is radiation. However, there is no comprehensive information on infrastructure for radiation oncology in this country. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 2015, a questionnaire was designed by the Iranian Society of Clinical Oncology (ISCO) and all radiation oncology centres in the country were visited to determine four important components of radiation oncology services, including facilities, equipment, personnel and patients. RESULTS: In 2015, 94 radiotherapy centres were identified in Iran. Sixty-one centres were fully operational, six centres were commissioning, 26 centres were under construction and one was inactive. Among the fully operational radiotherapy centres, 54 offered three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy and two-dimensional radiotherapy, eight offered brachytherapy, two intensity-modulated radiotherapy, two intraoperative radiotherapy, ostereotactic radiosurgery, two hyperthermia and 59 chemotherapy. Moreover, the survey identified 110 linear accelerators, 25 cobalt-60, one gamma knife, 21 remote brachytherapy afterloaders and six orthovoltage units. Treatment planning equipment included 15 graphy simulators, 19 dedicated computed tomography simulators, 22 multileaf collimator and 12 electronic portal imaging devices. Moreover, in 2015, 243 clinical oncologists participated in the treatment of 42 350 cancer patients in need of radiotherapy, which is about one radiation oncologist for 175 patients. During 2010-2015, number of cobalt-60 reduced 70%, from 25 units to 8 units. CONCLUSIONS: There is a significant gap between Iran's available facilities for radiation therapy and international standards. Moreover, during international economic sanctions against Iran this gap widened.

Asunto(s)

Neoplasias/radioterapia , Oncología por Radiación/estadística & datos numéricos , Oncología por Radiación/tendencias , Radioterapia/estadística & datos numéricos , Instituciones Oncológicas/estadística & datos numéricos , Humanos , Irán , Radioterapia/instrumentación , Radioterapia/métodos

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Taxonomic status of Culex pipiens is well-known as many years with such a wide variety of morphological and biological characteristics. These changes have been the subject of extensive investigation by many researchers. There are a little information about the morphology and molecular data of Cx. pipiens complex in Iran. The taxonomic status of the complex is very important because of medical and veterinary importance and wide distribution in the country. METHODS: This study was carried out in 11 areas in Iran using dipping technique from April 2009 to October 2010. Molecular study was carried out using primers F1457 as forward and B1256 as reverse, which amplified Ace.2 gene and performed PCR-RFLP using ScaI restriction enzyme. RESULTS: Culex quinquefasciatus found in south to central areas of Iran and reported as sympatric with Cx. pipiens in the central regions. Culex pipiens distributed in many areas of the country. Sequencing alignment of Ace.2 gene of Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. pipiens showed 6.5% variation in 46bp, especially in intron locus of gene. Culex pipiens complex from Iran are located in two separate clades with sister branches using phylogenetic sequencing tree. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The male genitalia found as the most reliable diagnostic characters for identification of Cx. pipiens complex in Iran that confirmed by amplify the Ace.2 gene in the samples but we recommended the use of sequencing PCR products of microsatellite loci and COI gene in future study.

Asunto(s)

Culex/clasificación , Variación Genética , Estructuras Animales/anatomía & histología , Animales , Análisis por Conglomerados , Culex/anatomía & histología , Culex/genética , Femenino , Genotipo , Irán , Masculino , Microscopía , Fenotipo , Filogeografía , Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa , Polimorfismo de Longitud del Fragmento de Restricción

RESUMEN

BACKGROUND: Culex pipiens complex shows variations in morphological and biological characters including different biological forms and has medical and veterinary importance. Because of having morphological variations, sometimes it is not easy to separate this species from Cx. quinquefasciatus and Cx. torrentium. The aim of this study was to identify the Culex pipiens complex species in order to use in control programs in the future. METHODS: This study was carried out in two randomly selected rural villages in Yazd County, eastern Iran using dipping technique from April to October 2009. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16. RESULTS: Average of siphon index in fourth-instrar larvae was 3.86±0.03, the minimum and maximum were calculated 2.43 and 5.14, respectively. Siphon/Saddle index was measured as average, minimum and maximum 3.2±0.2, 2.78, and 4.42 respectively. In our study, only 4 specimens had single seta 1 on segments III and VI (2.5%) and the remaining beard double seta (97.5%). The maximum 3-6 branches seta 1a-S and 1b-S (95%) were observed on siphon. CONCLUSION: More populations of Culex pipiens from different areas of Iran need to be studied to gain complete information about the taxonomy and ecology of the species in the country.