Journal of

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Background and Aim: Bullous pemphigoid is an acquired autoimmune disease with subepidermal blisters commonly seen in the elderly over 60 years old. The exact survival rate of the patients with bullous pemphigoid was not available in Iran. The aim of this study was to evaluate the risk factors of 5-year mortality of bullous pemphigoid patients.

Methods: In this retrospective study, 66 bullous pemphigoid patients referred to Razi hospital from 1986 to 2006 were studied. Age, sex, consumed corticosteroid type, duration of hospitalization, and clinical form of bullous pemphigoid, ESR and comorbidities were evaluated to determine the risk factors associated with patients’ 5-year mortality rate.

Results: Forty-seven patients (71.2 %) had 5-year survival. The most common comorbidities were cardiovascular diseases (28.8%), diabetes (15%) and chronic respiratory diseases (9%). There was a significant relationship between the age and the 5-year survival rate, in other words patients aged over 70 years had a less 5-year survival rate (P<0.001). There was no statistically significant association with gender, the type of corticosteroid, the disease clinical forms, duration of hospitalization or ESR and 5-year survival (P>0.05).

Conclusion: The current study found a significant relationship between the age of the patients and 5-year survival. Larger studies considering more potential risk factors and more appropriate designs might help to estimate the survival rate of patients with bullous pemphigoid more precisely.

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Background and Aim: Malignant melanoma is a rare and most malignant type of skin cancer which is originated from melanocytes. It is capable of infiltrating into interior organs and could cause mortality. The aim of this study is to analyze the survival of patients with malignant melanoma according to their age, gender, mitosis count, tumor thickness, level of lymphocyte infiltration, tumor location and the stage of the tumor. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical study which has been done on, the data of 61 patients with malignant melanoma registered in pathology laboratory of Shahid Sadoughi hospital, Yazd. A questionnaire was used to collect the data via phone call, examining pathology slides and reviewing patients information. Results: The average survival time was 61.09±6.12 months.The mean age of the patients was 67.9±6.0 with the range of 18 to 89 years. Stage Ι had the best and stage ΙΙΙ and VΙ had the worst prognosis. The best survival rate was seen in malignant melanomas located on trunk, head and neck. Malignant melanoma of extremities had the worst prognosis. There was a statistically significant relationship between survival rate and stage (P=0.033) as well as the location of the tumor (P=0.0421). Conclusion: The survival of patients with malignant melanoma in Yazd had a statistically significant relationship with stage and the location of tumor but there was no significant relationship with mitosis count, gender, age, tumor depth and lymphocyte infiltration.

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Background and Aim: Oral cancer as the most common cancer of head and neck region holds the eighth rank among all cancers in order of prevalence. More than 90% of oral cancers are of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). The main objective of this study is the determination of the survival rate in patients with oral SCC and the factors influencing thereon.

Methods: In this study, 174 recorded cases of patients with oral SCC were evaluated. Required data on survival of patients were gathered by phone calls. Using software SPSS 20, the statistical analysis of  data was carried out. The survival rate of the patients and the corresponding influential factors were analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression tests, respectively.

Results: 57.6% of the patients were male. The age of the patients ranged between 22-89 years with the average onset age of 61.5 years. The most common site of oral SCC was tongue. The overall five-year survival rate of the patients was  49.4%±0.05. The survival rate had a statistically significant relation with age of the patients and their treatment methods, including surgery or chemotherapy.

Conclusion: The prevalence of oral SCC is higher in men and overall survival rate decreases with increasing age of the patients. Due to the low survival rate of oral cancer patients, more attentions should be paid to this condition.