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Objectives: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) usually occurs in patients with cirrhosis, but can also develop in noncirrhotic livers. In the present study we compared patients and tumor characteristics and outcomes in HCC patients with and without underlying cirrhosis. Methods: Patients with HCC diagnosed in the period January 2010 - December 2014 in the National Oncology Centre, Sana'a, Yemen were evaluated. Patients were categorized according to the presence of cirrhosis on the basis of histology or combined radiological and laboratory features. Results: In total, 43.8% of the 486 HCC patients had no underlying cirrhosis. Non-cirrhotic HCC patients were less likely to have hepatitis C virus or Hepatitis B virus than did cirrhotic HCC patients. HCCs in noncirrhotic livers were more often unifocal (58.2 vs. 36.1%) and tumor size was larger (11 vs. 10 cm) (p=0.011) . Overall survival was significantly better than in cirrhotic. In multivariate and Cox regression analyses, thrombocytopenia and portal vein thrombosis were independent predictors for lower mortality. Conclusion: Liver cirrhosis was found in only half of the studied HCC patients. HCC patients with liver cirrhosis were more likely to have multiple tumor and more advanced stage at presentation as well as significantly worse overall survival when compared to non-cirrhotic HCC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the role of pretreatment 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ( 18 F-FDG-PET-CT) as a predictor of disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS) in locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (LANPC) patients treated definitively with docetaxel-based induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiation (CRT)., Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study approved by the institutional review board and included LANC patients treated definitively and consecutively between January 2008 and December 2012 with induction chemotherapy; docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-flurouracil (TPF) followed by CRT utilizing weekly cisplatin. All patients had baseline pretreatment 18 F-FDG-PET-CT. We studied the association between the baseline primary tumor maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) and the treatment outcomes; OS and DFS., Results: The study included 70 eligible LANPC patients. The 4-year OS and DFS rates were 86.7% and 78.6%, respectively. The median OS and DFS intervals were not reached. On a univariate analysis, the 4-years DFS was significantly higher in patients with pretreatment SUVmax <8 compared versus ≥ 8 (95% vs 57.7%, P=0.002). Furthermore, DFS was significantly correlated with pretreatment T stage (P=0.01), N stage (P=0.02), treatment response (P<0.001) and treatment breaks (P<0.001). On a multivariate analysis, the SUVmax category was the only factor correlated with 4-year DFS (Hazard ratio=10.2, 95% C I 1.3-116.8, P=0.035) but not OS (P=0.085)., Disclosure Statement: There is no actual or potential conflict of interest with the production and publication of this work. No author has a direct or indirect commercial financial incentive associated with the publication of this article., Conclusion: This study shows that the pretreatment primary tumor 18 F-FDG-PET-CT SUVmax is a potential independent prognostic predictor of clinical outcomes in patients with LANC treated definitively with TPF induction chemotherapy followed by CRT. Further controlled clinical trials are worthwhile.

Background: Ovarian cancer is the eighth leading cancer in women, as it accounts for 4% of all malignant tumors in females. The incidence of ovarian cancer is up to 10 times higher in western countries than in rural Asian and Africa ones. Different reproductive characteristics, life styles and specific medical conditions are responsible for different pattern and incidence of ovarian cancer worldwide., Material and Methods: A case control study was conducted during the time period from 2000 to 2003 including 172 cases of epithelial ovarian cancer, recently diagnosed and confirmed by histopathology. The patients were accessed at the hospitals currently covered by Alexandria Cancer Registry. In addition, 441 control subjects, comparable by age and address, were randomly selected from patients admitted to the same hospitals for nongynecological, non-endocrinal acute diseases. Both cases and controls were subjected to a specific predesigned questionnaire to cover menstrual, reproductive and lifestyle indicators. Univariate and multivariate analysis were conducted and 5% level of significance was adopted., Results: Significantly increased risks were reported with increased number of abortions and increased number of ovarian cycles (OR=1.8, 95% CI (1.7-2.8), and 2.8, 95% CI 2.8 (1.5-5.2), respectively. Similarly, high risks were also reported for increased number of pregnancies, OR=1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.4) for 1 to three pregnancies and 4.2, 95% CI 1.2-15.9) for more than four pregnancies On the other hand, decreased risks were reported for those with increased parity compared to nulliparous., Conclusion: Although ovarian cancer is less frequent in our community, yet the significant positive and negative associations between risk factors and ovarian cancer were similar to the results of other studies, apart from the primary prevention program that should be outlined according to prevalence of significant risk factors in the studied local community.

Acute mucositis is the main intensity-limiting toxicity in the management of head and neck (H&N) and digestive track carcinomas with radiotherapy. New radiation modalities (hyperfractionation and/or acceleration) as well as combined modality regimens in this situation induce higher rates of acute toxicity. Hyperfractionation for example allows higher control rates, with few late toxicities, but it slightly increases acute mucositis. The addition of chemotherapy introduces systemic toxicity and can exacerbate local tissue reactions when used concurrently with radiation. Mucositis is recognized as the principal limiting factor to further treatment intensification. As local-regional control and overall survival are related to dose-intensity in this case, further research into the assessment, analysis, prevention and treatment of mucosal toxicity is not only crucial to the improvement in quality of life, but certainly to improved rates of disease control as well. Several topical and systemic treatments are directed to the decrease and the acceptance of this acute toxicity, but few have shown significant preventive effect. Improvement of technical aspects of H&N radiotherapy (3D conformal radiation, intensity-modulated radiotherapy) should have a major impact in the prevention of mucositis. The efficacy of low level laser therapy in the management of such a toxicity could hence yield important development of this method in the field of oncology. MASCC/ISOO mucositis group's recommendations for the management of acute radiation-induced mucositis are here summarized.