Molecular studies of breast cancer in Iran: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background: The present study aimed to review the existing cellular and molecular research systematically carried out in the field of breast cancer in Iran. This study was part of a big project, which evaluated a variety of studies conducted on breast cancer in Iran.Methods: All molecular articles about breast cancer in Iran which were published from January 2005 to October 21, 2015 were included. English and Persian databases consisted of Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Scientific Information Database (SID) and IranMedex. Finally of 3331 abstracts, a total of 379 articles, including 219 English and 160 Persian papers related to molecular studies were included in this study.Results: After initial evaluations, 240 studies were included. Molecular studies conducted in Iran were divided into four main groups based on their focus. They evaluated breast cancer susceptibility genes, Prognosis and clinicopathologic features of the patients, compounds with therapeutic properties, and diagnosis. Moreover, ethical statements in manuscripts were investigated.Conclusions: Result of this review showed that most of the researches in Iran categorize to 4 main subjects. The majority of the studies in Iran were conducted sporadically and with small sample sizes. Stronger studies would require the development of more biological banks and execution of multicenter comprehensive projects defined with orientation to main problems of Breast Cancer patients in the country.