Objective To highlight the main demographic characteristics and clinical profiles of female patients registered with breast cancer in Iraq; focusing on the impact of age.Methods This retrospective study enrolled 1172 female patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer at the Main Center for Early Detection of Breast Cancer/Medical City Teaching Hospital in Baghdad. Data were extracted from an established information system, developed by the principal author under supervision of WHO, that was based on valid clinical records of Iraqi patients affected by breast cancer. The recorded information regarding clinical examination comprised positive palpable lumps, bloody nipple discharge, skin changes, bilateral breast involvement, tumor size, lymph node status, and the stage of the disease.Results The mean age at the presentation was 51 years; patients under the age of 50 constituted 46.8%. Overall 9.8% were not married, 22.4% were illiterate whereas 19.2% graduated from universities. About 72% of the patients had more than two children, merely 7.5% delivered their first child after the age of 35 years and only 11% were nulliparous. History of lactation and hormonal therapy was recorded in 57.6% and 19.4% respectively. Family history of cancer was positive in 28.8% and breast cancer specifically in 18.7%. Clinically, the most common presenting symptom was breast lumps (95%) followed by skin changes/ulcerations (6.7%) and bloody nipple discharge (4.3%).Bilateral breast involvement was encountered in 4.7%. More than two-thirds of the patients (68.2%) had palpable axillary lymph nodes; classifying 40.5% into advanced stages III and IV. In general stages I–IV comprised 12%, 47.5%, 31.9%, and 8.6% respectively. Upon stratifying the studied sample with respect to age at diagnosis, it was observed that the frequency of unmarried patients was significantly higher among younger women under the age of 50 years, whereas illiteracy and nulliparity features were statistically lower (p < 0.05).Conclusion A considerable proportion of breast cancer patients in Iraq still present with locally advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. That justifies the necessity to promote public awareness educational campaigns to strengthen our national early detection program. Excluding the marital status, level of education and number of parity, there was no statistical difference regarding the impact of age on the demographic and clinical profiles of breast cancer among premenopausal versus postmenopausal Iraqi patients.
Objective: Breast cancer is regarded as a deadly disease in women causing lots of mortalities. Early diagnosis of breast cancer with appropriate tumor biomarkers may facilitate early treatment of the disease, thus reducing the mortality rate. The purpose of the current study is to improve early diagnosis of breast by proposing a two-stage classification of breast tumor biomarkers fora sample of Iraqi women.
Methods: In this study, a two-stage classification system is proposed and tested with four machine learning classifiers. In the first stage, breast features (demographic, blood and salivary-based attributes) are classified into normal or abnormal cases, while in the second stage the abnormal breast cases are
... Show MoreBreast mass is by far the most important clinical problem that concerns the breast today. This study was carried out to evaluate diode laser as a cutting tool in breast mass excision and as a hemostatic tool for coagulation during surgery. Using 810 nm diode laser with optical fiber 600μm in diameter of conical tip, udder (cow's breast) tissue, and three female patients (mean age of 35.5 y with clinically palpable breast mass) had been used in this study. The patients were followed up regularly postoperatively. In preliminary work on udder tissue, the power needed for cutting and excision was 15W (power density= 5.3 kW/cm2). The time consumed for excision of a piece of udder tissue, 40×10×3 mm in dimensions was 5 min. The depth range
... Show MoreBackground: Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is an adult leukemia characterized by rapid proliferation of undifferentiated myeloid precursors, leading to bone marrow (BM) failure and impaired erythropoiesis. The p53 tumor suppressor protein regulates cell division and inhibits tumor development by preventing cell proliferation of altered or damaged DNA. It orchestrates various cellular reactions, including cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and antioxidant properties. Objectives: To investigate the relationship of P53 serum level with hematological findings, remission, and survival status in de novo AML patients. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that enrolled 63 newly diagnosed de novo AML patients, and 15 sex- and age-matched healt
... Show MoreIn Iraq, there is a limited research work exploring the clinical pharmacists' role from the point of view of other healthcare professionals.
To investigate physicians' assessment of clinical pharmacy services at Baghdad hospitals, and compare junior physicians with senior physicians' point of view.
The study was conducted in twelve governmental hospitals in Baghdad, Iraq. Data was collected from a sample of two hundred physicians, and through a validated, self-administered questionnaire, which comprised twenty statements in addition to a non-personal information form that precedes the questionnaire
The study findings reveal a somewhat positive point of view towards clinical pharmacists' performance in
... Show MoreIn the present paper, chitosan Schiff base has been synthesized from chitosan’s reaction with the salicyldehyde. The AuNPs was manufacture by extract of onion peels as a reducing agent. The Au NPs that have been prepared were characterized through the UV-vis spectroscopy, XRD analyses and SEM microscopy. The polymer blends of the chitosan Schiff base / PVP has been prepared through using the approach of solution casting. Chitosan Schiff base / PVP Au nano-composites was prepared. Nano composites and polymer blends have been characterized by FTIR which confirm the formation of Schiff base by revealing a new band of absorption at 1651cm-1 as a result of the (C=N) imine group. SEM, DSC and TGA confirms the thermal stability of
... Show MoreIn the present paper, chitosan Schiff base has been synthesized from chitosan’s reaction with the salicyldehyde. The AuNPs was manufacture by extract of onion peels as a reducing agent. The Au NPs that have been prepared were characterized through the UV-vis spectroscopy, XRD analyses and SEM microscopy. The polymer blends of the chitosan Schiff base / PVP has been prepared through using the approach of solution casting. Chitosan Schiff base / PVP Au nano-composites was prepared. Nano composites and polymer blends have been characterized by FTIR which confirm the formation of Schiff base by revealing a new band of absorption at 1651cm-1 as a result of the (C=N) imine group. SEM, DSC and TGA confirms the thermal stability of the pr
... Show MoreElevated Interleukin-13 (IL-13) may play an important role in the pathophysiology of COVID-19, yet, the attenuated response did not notice across all severe cases. Susceptibility to asthma in specific populations is associated with several SNPs of multifunctional cytokines, such as IL-13, IL-31 and IL-33. This prospective case-control study is designed to investigate the extent of genetic susceptibility in subsets of Iraqi patients with COVID-19 by targeting the variants of interleukin IL-13rs20541 polymorphism in relation to disease susceptibility and severity of clinical presentation. One hundred samples were obtained from the throat, nasopharyngeal and nasal swabs enrolled in this study. Eighty samples of the throat, nasopharyngeal and
... Show MoreRenal transplantation is a principal treatment option for end-stage kidney failure. Bone loss and fracture are serious complication of kidney transplantation, associated with morbidity and mortality. The pathogenesis of post transplantation bone loss is multifactorial and complex