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Objective: To see the association between dietary habits in the development of oesophageal carcinoma. Study Design: Case control study. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Medical Oncology at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi Pakistan, from Feb 2019 to Dec 2019. Methodology: Patients from age 15-80 years of either gender were included in the study. All the patients presenting to hospital OPD with histopathologically confirmed of oesophagus carcinoma were included. Controls were the healthy attendants coming at the same hospital. The data was collected through pre-designed questionnaire. Results: Total of 173 cases and 173 controls were included in the study. The mean age of the cases and controls were reported as 48.07±14.13 years and 48.86±15.32 years. After adjusting odds in multivariate analysis family history of cancer (OR=3.76; 95% CI: 1.76-7.90, p<0.05), the consumption of chicken (OR=5.22; 95% CI: 3.01-9.056, p<0.05), red meat (OR=5.06; 95% CI: 2.70-9.46, p<0.05) & smoked food (OR=3.36; 95% CI: 1.76-6.44, p<0.05) more than three times per week remained positively associated with oesophagus carcinoma. Conclusion: The study showed association between consumption of chicken, red meat, hot drinks & smoked food with oesophageal carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: to find an association between the serum CA-125 level and the histopathological type of ovarian tumor. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Medical Oncology, Jinnah postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi Pakistan from Jan 2018 to Dec 2019. Methodology: This study included 107 patients presenting with epithelial ovarian cancer. In each case, histological type, pathological stage, degree of differentiation and serum CA-125 was evaluated. The association between preoperative CA-125 and histopathological type of tumor were evaluated. Result: About 107 ovarian cancer patients were included. The mean age in our study was 50.80±10.16 years. Raised CA-125 level was found in most of the patients with serous histology 46(56.1%). Conclusion: Serum level CA-125 elevated in most patients with serous histology. A statistically non-significant association was found between raise CA-125 levels and histological types of ovarian cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Cancer, particularly breast cancer, is a major contributor to mortality and a significant impediment to life expectancy. In 2020, breast cancer accounted for 11.7% of all cancer cases and caused approximately 685,000 deaths worldwide, surpassing lung cancer in prevalence. The study aims to evaluate the impact of an educational intervention on breast cancer awareness among pharmacy students by comparing their understanding before and after the program., Method: A pre-post quasi-experimental study was designed to assess knowledge and awareness of breast cancer, breast self-examination (BSE) practices, and attitudes toward breast cancer among female university students in Karachi, Pakistan. Participants completed a pre-session questionnaire, attended an awareness workshop and video tutorial, and then completed a post-session questionnaire 2 weeks later., Results: Of 1,200 participants, 1,015 of them completed both the pre- and post-intervention questionnaires. Key demographic features included 83.9% of the participants being in the 18-24 age group, 26.8% being married, and only 14.2% having a family history of breast cancer. Before the intervention, 60.7% of the participants were not involved in regular breast self-exams due to a lack of awareness. Post-intervention results showed a significant increase in awareness, with 35.9% rising to 94.9%. The use of screening methods increased from 46.7 to 94.8%. Knowledge of breast cancer improved from 51.2 to 96.7%, and the general perception rose from 48.2 to 93.4%. Attitudes toward self-examination also shifted positively, indicating a significant change in perception., Interpretation and Conclusion: The study concludes the baseline knowledge of breast cancer among female students was inadequate but improved significantly from over 40% to over 90% following the educational intervention. The intervention positively influenced the general perception and attitudes toward breast cancer. These findings highlight the need for regular educational sessions to enhance awareness, improve healthcare outcomes, and reduce mortality rates, particularly in developing countries., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Mansoor, Naveed, Ali, Manzoor, Zahoor and Sheikh.)

Background: Tamoxifen is a selective oestrogen receptor modulator; in the breast, it decreases the growth and proliferation of breast epithelial cells. We assessed the weight change after Tamoxifen use in breast cancer patients., Methods: This was a single-centred, prospective, observational cohort study. All patients diagnosed with breast cancer with ER and/or PR positivity were enrolled in the study. Out of these, 90 patients who have been prescribed Tamoxifen treatment either in adjuvant or palliative setting gave their consent to participate. Demographic data, treatment plan, menstrual status, weight, BMI, serum fasting lipid profile, change in diet, and change in physical activity were recorded at the time of diagnosis and then quarterly until 1 year of treatment., Results: A mean age of 42.12±8.5 years was reported, and the mean weight was 62.22±10.6 kg. The majority of the patients, i.e., 68 (75.55%) had advanced tumour stages (III and IV). The study reported that the mean weight of the patients changed significantly at different time intervals during the treatment course (p<0.0005). Moreover, there was an upward trend in weight from the time of starting Tamoxifen to 3-months (62.22±1.51 kg vs 62.88±1.45 kg, respectively). There was a statistically significant increase in weight at 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month of Tamoxifen treatment (63.72±1.46 kg, 64.35±1.42 kg, 65.12±1.44 kg, respectively). Also, most of the patients gained weight as time passed by., Conclusions: This study indicated that Tamoxifen has a significant correlation with the increase in weight in hormone receptor-positive breast cancer patients in our population.

Background: Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is malignant neoplasms of myeloid cells categorized by clonal expansion of hematopoietic blasts of myeloid lineage in peripheral blood and bone marrow. The aim of current study is to identify the common cytogenetic abnormalities in AML patients presenting at a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan., Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at the department of Medical oncology of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Karachi from Jun 2017- Jan 2019. The non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used to select patients. Total 92 cases of AML of age 15-55 years of either gender were included in the study. The detection of cytogenetic abnormality was done on the bone marrow biopsy. The cytogenetic abnormalities were classified into the three cytogenetic risk groups as favourable, intermediate and unfavourable. For analysis of data SPSS 23 version was used., Results: The cytogenetic abnormalities were detected in 34 (37%) of the AML patients while 58 (63%) patients had normal cytogenetic. Thirty-two females (34.8%) had a normal cytogenetic (46; XX), and 15 females (16.3%) had various cytogenetic abnormalities. Twenty-six males (28.3%) had normal cytogenetic (46; XY) and 19 males (20.7%) had various cytogenetic abnormalities. Most of the patients were in intermediate risk group (67.4%), followed by favourable (17.4%) and unfavourable risk group (15.2%). The most frequent chromosomal abnormalities observed were complex cytogenetic which was detected in 5 AML patients., Conclusions: In the present study cytogenetic abnormalities were found in 37% of AML patients. Sixty-seven of the AML patients were in intermediate risk group and five patients had complex cytogenetic. Hence the cytogenetic analysis provides significant information regarding prognosis of AML patients and the cytogenetic abnormalities are less than international literature.