Background: The prevalence and incidence of cancer in different parts of the world have different patterns. To recognize the frequency of malignancies in different social groups according to climatic conditions is considered as the primary component of prevention programs at different levels. This study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology, survival rates and geographical epidemiology of breast cancer in Markazi province.

Materials and Methods: In this epidemiological study, needed data were obtained from cancer registration program and death registration data. The data were analyzed by using SPSS software version 16 and Winpepi and significant level was 0.05. And to draw a map to show the breast cancer incidence rate in Markazi district, Arc view software was used.

Results: Out of the 400 cases recorded during the 5-year, 8.5% died due to breast cancer. 5-year survival rate was 87% and there was a significant correlation between survival rate and age. Most records were related to the age group 49-40 years and the highest incidence rate was in Arak. The trends of incidence rate was not significant.

Conclusion: The results showed that 5-year breast cancer survival rate is more than some other places which could be due to new and improved methods of treatment and methods of screening and early detection of disease. Other aspects of the epidemiology of the disease is similar to other parts of Iran.

Background: In 1970, human papillomavirus (HPV) was introduced as the main etiologic factor of cervical carcinoma. Since there is no possibility of detecting the virus and its subtypes using serological methods and cell culture, the molecular methods such as PCR have particular importance in accurate, early and definite diagnosis of the virus. So, in this research, our goal is to use a proprietary PCR assay based on L1 gene of human papillomavirus for molecular recognition of HPV and to evaluate its prevalence in patient samples.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, after collecting of samples from malignant cervical lesions, the viral DNA was extracted from paraffin blocks of 50 clinical samples and PCR was done by specific primers for L1 gene of human papillomavirus in all samples. After the analysis of PCR products by 2% agarose gel electrophoresis, sensitivity and specificity of the test were also evaluated.

Results: Among 50 patient samples, 33 cases were confirmed to be positive for HPV infection and 17 cases were negative, showing high frequency of HPV in this patient population (about 66%). The results of specificity assay were positive for papilloma samples and sensitivity of the assay was 20 copies of recombinant construct containing L1 per reaction.

Conclusion: This study showed that PCR by specific primers for L1 gene of human papilloma virus is a proper and accurate method for detection of this virus and the results confirm the previous reports of correlation between HPV and cervical carcinoma.