---

  Background & Objectives: Recent studies in Ardabil province indicated that upper GI cancer is the most common kind of cancer in this province. Due to the lack of any study concerning the survival rate of the patients in this province, the present research set out to evaluate the effect of demographic features of GI cancers, risk factors, histopathology type, the site of tumor and treatment on the survival rate of these patients.

  Methods: In this descriptive-analytical and prospective study, we followed up 420 upper GI cancer cases (141 esophagus cancers and 279 stomach cancers) who were initially diagnosed in the only subspeciality GI clinic of Ardabil province during four years from 2000 to 2003.

  Results: The information related to 299 patients was recorded. The dates of death of 55 cases were found referring to the provincial death registration program while the addreses of 67 cases were not found. The 1-4-year survival rates in the patients with upper GI cancer in Ardabil province were 25.9%, 11.1%, 4.5% and 1.8% respectively. In this study men had a lower survival rate than women and patients with esophagus cancer had a longer survival rate. In the patients with stomach cancer "Signet ring cell type" histopathology had the lowest survival rate. The patients who had undergone surgery survived longer than other patients with no resectional surgery treatment. Histopathology grading, age at first diagnosis, positive familial history of GI cancer, as well as cigarette, alcohol and opium consumption had no effect on survival rate of these patients.

  Conclusion: Overall survival rate of our patients is very low this condition might be related to late diagnosis and less treatment facilities in Ardabil province.

---

 
Before describing the structure and mechanism of action of a protein, it must first be subject to purification procedure. Protein purification is a set of processes in which one or a small number of proteins are purified from a complex compound that may be a complete cell, tissue, or organism. Understanding the functions, structural properties, and interactions of the protein are directly related to the degree of purity of the protein of interest. In the purification process, the protein and non-protein parts are separated. The biggest challenge is when the protein must be separated from other proteins. The purification procedure of an unknown protein is usually depends on the size, physicochemical properties, binding affinity, and biological activity. The end product of the purification process is called protein isolate. The protein purification process usually involves filtration and one or more chromatographic steps. Chromatography is a useful method for acquiring very pure protein for using in very accurate experiments. Therefore, by purifying the desired molecule, it can be used in various industries, such as medicine.