Introduction: Cancer pain is a complex experience and is one of the most common and distressing symptom of breast cancer which affects patients’ functioning in daily activities, their quality of life (QOL), and mood. Yet, there is a great lack of data on breast cancer and pain in Malaysia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using the Breast Cancer Patient Version of Quality of Life (QOL) Instrument (translated into Malay) and Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) were conducted on 87 female breast cancer patients to investigate the impact of pain interference level on their quality of life and depressive level. Results: The patients were divided into 4 groups based on their rating of how pain and aches have been a problem to them (i.e not a problem [n=18 (20.7%)], mild[n=29 (33.3%)], moderate [n=18 (20.7%)] and severe [n=22(25.3%). Pain and aches ware reported to be the most severe interference problems in QOL physical domain by patients (mean=5.8, SD=2.8), followed by fatigue (mean=6.0, SD=3.1) and sleep changes (mean=6.2, SD=3.5). Patients who reported that pain and aches had severely affected them showed significantly lower score on many aspects of quality of life (Fs > 5, p < 0.005; p < 0.0001) and patients reported pain was not a problem at all demonstrated highest score on all aspects of QOL. Patients with most severe pain interference level showed highest depressive score [F (3, 84) =3, p < 0.05]. Conclusion: The study underscores the impact of pain interference on patients’ quality of life and depressive level. The pain assessment deserves significant attention and therefore a comprehensive biopsychosocial assessment of pain to rule out any related underlying issues is warranted in the management of breast cancer to ensure appropriate intervention given to the patients.

Aneusomy is an early genetic event and a characteristic feature of many solid tumors. It is often associated with poor prognosis in cancer patients. The involvement of PAX8-PPARγ rearrangement in tumorigenesis of follicular thyroid lesions has been widely assessed. However, there were few reports on aneusomy of the PPARγ gene at the 3p25 locus in follicular thyroid lesions. It remains undetermined whether these abnormalities can be translated into improved diagnosis, classification, or outcome prediction. Herein, we report three cases of follicular thyroid neoplasms [two follicular thyroid carcinomas (FTCs) and one Hurthle cell adenoma (HCA)] with 3p25 aneusomy detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). 3p25 trisomy was observed in one FTC and one HCA while 3p25 tetrasomy was observed in one FTC. Furthermore, all three lesions did not show overexpression of PPARγ protein. Hurthle cell neoplasms (HCN) are distinct clinically and histologically from other follicular thyroid neoplasms (FTN). However, the presence of the aneusomy in HCA and FTC indicates that there could be a biological continuum between the two and chromosomal gains might play an important role in the pathogenesis of these two types of neoplasms. Despite their differences, HCN and FTN may share the same early genetic event in tumour development.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are mostly located at cancer-associated genomic regions or in fragile sites, suggesting their important role in the pathogenesis of human cancers. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer of plasma cells, the third most common cancer of the blood after lymphoma and leukaemia. There are several published reports on miRNAs in MM, however most used bone marrow rather than peripheral blood samples. The aim of this study is to characterise miRNA expression in normal and MM patients using peripheral blood samples as it is less invasive and is readily available from patients. Blood samples from 35 MM patients were analysed using the microarray method. We identified up-regulation of 36 miRNAs (57%) and down-regulation of 27 miRNAs (43%). We also identified the CCND2, HMGA2 and IGF1R genes were among the highly predictive target genes (P(CT) > 0.80) for most of the deregulated miRNAs. These genes are known to play important roles in MM as well as other cancers. Five miRNAs (let-7c, miR-16, miR- 449, miR-181a and miR-181b) were found to exhibit similar expression patterns (p < 0.05) in peripheral blood when compared to data obtained by using bone marrow aspirates from MM patients in other studies. In conclusion, our study has demonstrated that miRNAs are also present and differentially expressed in the peripheral blood of MM patients compared to controls and may potentially serve as candidate tumour biomarkers in MM. In particular, let-7c and miR-16 have been shown to be significantly expressed in the bone marrow.

The t(8;21)(q22;q22) is a frequently occurring aberration in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (18-20%) and usually correlate with French-America-British (FAB) M2 subtype. Several studies showed that patients carrying this abnormality demonstrated good response to standard chemotherapy but also have a high incidence of disease relapse. Trisomy 4 is a rare and specific chromosomal abnormality occurring in AML M2 or M4 of the FAB subtypes. We report a case of a 33-year-old female with an apparently clinical and hematologic diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) in whom cytogenetic analysis revealed an abnormal karyotype with trisomy 4, in addition to t(8;21). Trisomy 4 and t(8;21) in a patient with AML is rare. The significance of t(8;21) with trisomy 4 in AML are unclear but patients bearing this abnormality are associated with a poor prognosis.

Introduction: HbE is the commonest beta haemoglovin (Hb) variant in Southeast Asia. It causes a reduction in synthesis of beta-globin E (βE) chain. Studies indicate HbE coinherited with α-thalassaemia leads to a milder clinical phenotype. This study investigates the concomitant inheritance of α-thalassaemia in Malays with HbE. Methods: Four hundred and fourteen (414) blood samples were screened for haemoglobinopathy using primarily the first 3 steps of the BHES [(B) blood counts, blood film: (H), HPLC; (E),elstrophoresis; (S),stability)] protocol. Complete blood counts were generated on an automated blood cell analyser, HB typing with cation exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Hb typing with cation exchange high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and Hb electrophoresis at an alkaline pH (pH 8.5). Forty-five (10.9%) were identified as HbE trait and DNA analysis was done for deletional α-thalassaemia using a single-tube multiplex-PCR assay. Results: Among the 45 subjects with HbE trait. 4 (8.9%) were found to have alpha-thalassaemia-2 (α⁺) (α-3.7 kb deletion) and 1 (2.2%) the alpha-thalassaemia-1 (α⁰) (—SEA 20.5kb deletion) defects respectively. Discussion: These findings show that 11.1% of Malays with HbE inherit alpha-thalassaemia concurrently. The most prevalent interaction found was a double heterozygote for HbE/α-thalassaemia 2, followed by HbE/α-thalassaemia 1. Conclusion: Molecular screening of deletional α-thalassaemia identified its concurrent inheritance in 11.1% of Malays who were HbE carriers. This information will guide genetic counseling and the planning of treatment modalities in patients with HbE alpha-thalassaemia.

The human genome contains many submicroscopic copy number variations which includes deletions, duplications and insertions. Although conventional karyotyping remains an important diagnostic tool in evaluating a dysmorphic patient with mental retardation, molecular diagnostic technology such as array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) has proven to be sensitive and reliable in detecting these submicroscopic anomalies. A 3 month-old infant with dysmorphic facies, microcephaly and global developmental delay was referred for genetic evaluation. Preliminary karyotyping which was confounded by the quality of metaphase spread was normal; however, aCGH detected a 30.6Mb deletion from 5p15.33-p13.3. This case illustrates the usefulness of aCGH as an adjunctive investigative tool for detecting chromosomal imbalances.