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The pattern and distribution of malignancies reported in Hadramout, Yemen - 2006

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Abstract

To describe the pattern of malignancies among all patients with cancer recorded in Hadramout (East of Yemen) in 2006, and to explore the association with age, sex, and site of cancer. A retrospective descriptive study of all registered cancers (334) was carried out. Efforts were made to avoid case duplication. The neoplasms had been classified according to international classification of diseases for oncology. The cancers were more frequent in females (55%) than males (45%). The three most affected sites were digestive organs (20.35%), breast (14.37%), and haematopoietic system (11.98%). In the paediatric group, haematopoietic system (leukaemia) was most common. Digestive organs in general, with breast in females, were the most frequent sites of malignancies. Colorectal cancers were the most common cancers in digestive organs.
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... Squamous cell carcinoma was the most frequently detected cancer, and usually patients were in late stages (III and IV) at the time of diagnosis. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Some Arab countries have been characterized by an increase in liver cancer in recent decades due to the high prevalence of viral hepatitis. In Egypt, infection rates were 43.6%, Mauritania 16.4% and Yemen 8.8%. ...
... The most common cancer among children were leukemia (24%), followed by non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (17%) and CNS tumors and Hodgkin's lymphoma (10% each) Tables 2-5. [8][9] Baom. European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences A total of 6974 cases were included in study during the period 2007-011 in Aden Cancer Registry showed that 47% were males and 53% females. ...
... This high prevalence is behind the high prevalence of liver cancer in Yemen. [9] -Hepatitis B: Hepatitis B vaccine is the best costeffective strategy for the prevention of liver cancer and has now been integrated into the National Expanded Vaccine Program. ...
Presentation
The cancer problem in Yemen is of a special nature. The average age of cancer is 45 years, about two decades smaller than that of cancer patients in the United States. This can be interpreted as a reflection of the structure of the population pyramid in Yemen, where 32.7% Compared to 20.1% in the United States of America. The ratio of male to female in Yemen is 1.05 with a slight male dominance. This is almost equal to the increase in male cancer incidence of 1.05 compared to females in Yemeni society.
... Our study had a preponderance of females. This is in accordance with the reported figures from various centres in Pakistan and abroad 15,16,17 . We also noted that female cases tend to belong to a younger age group compared to males. ...
... The most probable reasons for this increase is increased awareness of the patients, availability of screening methods, improvement in the treatment modalities and a relative increase in the life expectancy of the patient population. In females, breast tumours were the most frequent in all studies [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] . It has been reported to be the commonest tumour seen in Europe 3 . ...
Article
INTRODUCTION The burden of cancer is increasing worldwide despite the advances for diagnosis and treatment. It is estimated that in the year 2008 worldwide 12.4 million new cases of cancer were reported and 7.6 million people died 1 . According to the National Vital Statistics Report malignancies were the second most common cause of death in USA in 2006 2 . The estimates from Europe are that 3.2 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths from cancer were seen in 2008 3 . The incidence of cancer is steadily increasing in underdeveloped countries. More than half of the new cases and around 60% of the cancer related deaths occurred in these countries. It is predicted that by 2030 there will be approximately 20 million new cases and 12.9 million deaths related to cancer. An estimated 75% of cancers will be prevalent in under developed countries. There are marked differences in distribution of different cancers in different regions of the world 1 . Epidemiological studies have shown that many cancers may be avoidable. It is widely held that 80-90% of the human cancers may be attributable to environmental and life style factors such as tobacco, alcohol and dietary habits 4 . Measures regarding cancer prevention are being adopted and various programs, modified diets and dietary supplements are being recommended 5 . Cancer incidence is defined as the number of new cases that occur in a defined population in a specified period of time. The incidence is determined by the exposure to etiologic factors and individual susceptibility and may be further affected by screening practices, health care access and quality of care 6 . The most frequently affected organs in the order of frequency are breast, lung and bronchus, prostate, colon and rectum and uterus 7 . Punjab is the most populous of all provinces of Pakistan and Faisalabad is the second largest city with an estimated population approaching 3 million 8 . We present a report of the tumour prevalence data for three years from one of the centres in Faisalabad.
... In Yemen, the magnitude of the problem of breast diseases is not yet known (Al-Thobhani et al., 2006).The republic of Yemen lacks a national cancer registry and there are no reliable data available. However the WHO estimated 16000 breast cancer cases in Yemen annually (Bawazir et al. 1998, Ghouth et al., 2006 (Salim et al., 2009). Despite breast cancer in Yemen is lower than in developed countries; the difference may be attributable to the difficulties in getting accurate data and to underreporting of cases. ...
... Advanced disease of breast cancer is very common in Yemen (Salim et al., 2009). The republic of Yemen requires a national cancer registry and there are no reliable data available (Ghouth et al., 2006). Although a further wave of articles on QOL exploring with different disease groups, there is no previous study in Yemen. ...
Article
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The objective of this study is to determine the quality of life among breast cancer patients in Yemen based on socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. This study was designed as a cross-sectional study. The data collected from 106 female breast cancer patients who were chosen for recruitment from the outpatient in National Oncology Centre (NOC), Sana'a, Yemen from November 2008 to June 2011. Questionnaires were distributed to the patients during their visit to the outpatient clinics in the center. The instrument of this study consists of two parts: Socio-demographic and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) questionnaire. Regarding data analysis, means and SD of subscales were evaluated for descriptive purpose. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed to compare the three groups regarding QOL subscales. Whereas, independent t-test was performed for comparing two groups regarding QOL subscales. Multiple linear regression using backward analysis was performed to obtain the final model for each domain. The final model was chosen depending on R2 and the p value of the model. A p value less than 0.05 is considered statistically significant. A total number of 106 breast cancer patients were participated in this study. The majority of them were uneducated, unemployed with normal weight and had middle income (60.4%; 95.3%; 59.4%, 46.2%; respectively). As for clinical characteristics of the study participants; the majority of them had had no family history of breast cancer, have been diagnosed at least 2 years, were diagnosed at grade 3 and size of tumor greater than 2 cm (88.7%, 66.0%, 35.8%, 73.6%; respectively). The majority of them underwent mastectomy, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and tamoxifen therapy (85.8%, 63.2%, 94.3% and 62.3%; respectively). For univariate analysis, the present study has identified several factors includes family monthly income, BMI, educational status, years after diagnosis, histological grade radiotherapy and surgery that influence the QOL of breast cancer patients in Yemen. For multivariate analysis, years after diagnosis, family monthly income and radiotherapy were significantly associated with total QOL of the breast cancer patients (p=0.01, p=0.023, p=0.039; respectively). Family monthly income, BMI, educational status, years after diagnosis, histological grade radiotherapy and surgery were significantly influence the QOL of breast cancer patients in Yemen, in univariate analysis. For multivariate analysis, years after diagnosis, family monthly income and radiotherapy were significantly associated with total QOL of the breast cancer patients.
... A study done in Hadramout, Yemen, in 2006, showed that gastric cancer was the second most common type of gastrointestinal cancer after colorectal cancer. It was the sixth most common type of all cancers among men and the ninth among women (8). In Yemeni society, the habit of chewing khat (Catha edulis) is highly prevalent among adults of both sexes and most of them start chewing in childhood. ...
Article
This study aimed to assess the risk factors for gastric cancer in Yemen. A hospital-based case–control study of 70 cases and 140 controls was carried out in Sana'a city between May and October 2014. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information through direct interview. Living in rural areas, tobacco chewing and drinking untreated water were significant risk factors for gastric cancer. Frequent consumption of chicken, cheese, milk, starchy vegetables, cucumber, carrots, leeks, sweet pepper, fruit drinks, legumes and olive oil were associated significantly with decreased risk of gastric cancer. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that chewing tobacco and frequent consumption of white bread were associated with increased risk of gastric cancer, whereas frequent consumption of chicken, cooked potatoes and fruit drinks had an inverse association. Risk of gastric cancer can be prevented by health education and increasing community awareness.
... The proportion of leukemias in our study were lower than reported by SEER, by Georgia and by Thailand and higher than reported by Hadramout governorate [11][12][13][14]. Similar result was found by USA [15]. The most common cancer type diagnosed in United States between 1999-2005 was leukemias. ...
Article
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Background: The incidence of gastroesophageal cancer has shown a rapid change in several areas of the world.Aim: to determine the sub site distribution of upper gastrointestinal cancer among patients underwent endoscopic clinic at AlThowrah hospital, Sana’a city, Yemen. Methods: Descriptive, hospital based study was carry out to study the sub site distribution of upper gastrointestinal cancers in Yemen. 1006 patients referred to Al-Thawra hospital-Sana'a from several public and privet hospitals. All gastric and esophageal cancer patients diagnosed during the period from January 2008 and July 2012 were included in the study. All patients admitted to this study were studied according to clinical protocol consisting of a standard questionnaire, clinical examination and endoscopic findings. The questionnaire was included demographic characteristics and endoscopic findings. The data were analysis using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS, Version 18.0.) descriptive statistics were apply. Results: A total of 1006 patients with upper gastrointestinal cancers were identified, 31.2% of the patients were referred from Amran, followed by 26.8% from Sana’a and 25.9% from Saada. 54.7% of the patients' had EC and 43.3% had GC. Adenocarcinoma accounts for 46%.Conclusion: There were considerable variations in the sub site of upper gastrointestinal cancers in the Yemen. Keywords: Cancer, Upper GI cancer, Gastric cancer, esophageal cancer, Yemen.
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In developing countries including Arab countries breast cancer is one of the most common cancers found in women. Even though breast cancer incidence is lower in Arab developing countries than in western countries, Arabic women are more likely to be diagnosed at an earlier age than the women in western countries. A descriptive study was undertaken to investigate the type of breast cancer, lymph node involvement, side of breast and, region and age distribution of breast cancer patients registered in the National Oncology Centre in Yemen. From September 2004 to December 2010, 2654 women across Yemen diagnosed with breast cancer were registered in the National Oncology Centre for treatment. Between the years 2004 and 2010, breast cancer represented 22% of all cancers registered in women. Seventy-one per cent of the women were aged 50 or younger at the time of diagnosis. The most common age group affected was women aged 41-50 years, with (35%) of cases occurring in this age. Invasive ductal carcinoma was the most common pathology (76%) and 79% of the patients had lymph node involvement at the time of diagnosis. Approximately 2% had bilateral disease and the frequency of left (44%) and right breast cancer (42%) were similar. This study has shown that breast cancer is a disease of young women in Yemen. The majority of women presented with lymph node involvement. Hence efforts are needed to increase breast cancer awareness in Yemen for early detection at all age groups, and to target women living in areas that have lower access to health care services.
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After the publication of this work [1], we noticed the typographical errors in Tables 8, 9, 16, and 17: there were inconsistencies between the ranking of cancer mortality and incidence and their corresponding figures. Here we briefly present the results along with the revisions of the relevant tables since the ranking was corrected while the figures remained the same as the original.
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We conducted a preliminary survey on 3064 patients who underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy at the Al-Thawra Hospital in Sana'a, Republic of Yemen, between January and December 1991. The age/sex distribution, demographic features and social habits with respect to cigarette and water-pipe smoking and Qat chewing were compared for patients with oesophageal and gastric cancers (n = 183). A preponderance of women with carcinoma of the mid-oesophageal was noted, previously only recorded in areas of high prevalence. Unlike Western populations, smoking and alcohol consumption were not significant risk factors. A high frequency of Qat chewing and water-pipe smoking was found for both men and women and for a group with tumours of the gastro-oesophageal junction or cardia (chi 2 = 2.646, P > 0.05). Numbers were insufficient to identify independent effects of each factor individually. Dietary habits alone were insufficient to account for the excess of affected females. A case-control study is now underway to investigate further the role of dietary factors, social habits, demographic features and Helicobacter pylori infection on the development of upper gastrointestinal cancer in the Yemen.
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A study to determine the pattern of various malignancies in Eastern Rajasthan was conducted for the year 1990 by Cancer Registry, S.M.S. Medical College, Jaipur. This is the first study of its kind from this region where an effort has been made to put the cancer profile in East Rajasthan in perspective. A total of 2509 histologically proven cancer cases were recorded from the various government and private hospitals in this region. There were 1443 males and 1066 females. Maximum number of cases were seen in the 6th and 5th decade. Genital tract cancer (21%) formed the largest overall group of cancers. When combined with the urinary system (7.6%)--the uro-genital tract cancers (28.7%) formed almost one-third of all cancers in this region. Cancer of the prostate (11.40%) and urinary bladder (9.1%) in males recorded the highest incidence in the country. Cancer of the female breast (19.4%) surpassed cancer cervix (18.2%). The frequency of penile, testicular, bone, skin, anorectal cancers and lymphoma was on the higher side. Whereas the incidence of stomach, oesophagus and lung cancer was on the lower side. An urgent need is felt to study the various aetiological factors responsible for these significant variations in Eastern Rajasthan.
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