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ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION: Colorectal cancer is a relatively common cancer of gasterointestinal tract. It has a world wide distribution with different prevalence among countries. This research was aimed to demonstrate the periodic prevalence of cancers of colon and rectum in Kurdistan province during 1995-1999. MATERIALS & METHODS: The subjects were total number of patients with colorectal cancer who diagnosed during 1995-1999 (100 cases).Data was collected from patient`s files and archieves of pathalogy centers in Sanandaj. RESULTS: In our study the relative frequency of colon and rectum cancers were 62% and 38%, respectively. Ninety percent of cancers were adenocarcinoma while 7% were lymphoma and 3% were carcinoid tumor. Sixty one percent of patients were male and 39% were female. The prevalence of colorectal cancer in general population was 7/100000 during 1995-1999. The most common age of colorectal cancer was above 60 years old. The mean age of the patients was 50 years old. The range of patient`s age was between 4 to 93 years. Most patients were diagnosed in 1999 (30 cases). CONCLUSIONS: Colorectal cancer had relatively high incidence rate in Kurdistan province in our study. We recommend further evaluation to detect risk factors for colorectal canecrs here.

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Background and Aim: The cancers of the gastrointestinal tract, because of their high prevalence and fatality, are of great importance in most countries like Iran. In terms of prevalence, stomach, esophagus and colorectal cancers in Iran are ranked first, second and eighth, respectively. Therefore, this study aimed to model the incidence of the frequency of new cases of these cancers and their prediction in Kurdistan province, Iran.
Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the incidence of stomach, esophagus and colorectal cancers were analyzed from April 2000 to March 2017. In order to model time series data of the cancers, the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) with Box-Jenkins approach were applied. After determining the suitable models, the frequencies of new cases for the cancers were predicted until March 2020. Data analysis was performed using R-3.4.2 statistical software package.
Results: A total of 6439 gastrointestinal cancers were recorded during the study period, among which stomach, esophagus and colorectal cancers had the highest frequencies with 2548, 1722 and 989 new cases, respectively. The best fited model for stomach, esophagus and colorectal cancers were SARIMA (0, 1, 1) (0, 0, 1)₄، SARIMA (3, 1, 0) (0, 0, 1)₄ and ARIMA (0, 1, 1), respectively. It is predicted that the incidence pattern of these cancers have an upward trend with moderate slope by March 2020.
Conclusion: The high incidence of stomach, colorectal and esophagus cancer, as well as their increasing trend in the predicted time can be a serious alarm. Therefore, in order to prevent and reduce the frequency of these cancers, it is vital to design and implement the effective programs such as screening, especially in high risk groups, early diagnosis of the cancers, increasing public awareness and controlling the risk factors to prevent and reduce of these increasing trends.

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Background and Aim: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer in the world, causing many deaths worldwide each year. 5-Fluorouracil is the first choice for the treatment of this type of cancer. Drug resistance and its many side effects are among the weaknesses of this drug. Silibinin, the main bioactive component of silymarin, is originally extracted from Silybum marianum, which is commonly used as an anti-hepatic agent. In recent years, the anticancer effect of silibinin has been observed on different cancer cells. This study aimed to investigate the combined cytotoxic effects of silibinin and 5-fluorouracil on cell viability and p53 expression in the colon cancer HT29 cell line.
Material and Methods: Survival of HT29 cells was evaluated by the MTT method after 48 hours of treatment with different concentrations of silibinin and 5 fluorouracil alone and in combination. The expression level of the P53 protein was measured by Western blot method.
Results: Silibinin and 5-fluorouracil significantly inhibited HT29 cell survival in a dose-dependent manner. The simultaneous use of silibinin and 5-fluorouracil showed that silibinin enhances the cytotoxic effects of 5-fluorouracil. In addition, 100 μg/ml silibinin enhanced the impact of 100 μM 5-fluorouracil on P53 protein expression.
Conclusion: This study suggested that silibinin-5-fluorouracil combination may be a valuable candidate for colon cancer patients. Of course, further studies are needed to reach definitive conclusion.