Our study goal was to evaluate the behavioral response and practices of cancer patients to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the Middle East and north Africa. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated anonymous 45-question survey administered via SurveyMonkey to cancer patients in 13 centers in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. During the study period (from 21 April to 30 May 2020), 3642 patients participated in the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Luminal, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative breast cancer represents the most common subtype of breast malignancies. Neoadjuvant strategies of operable breast cancer are mostly based on chemotherapy, whereas it is not completely understood which patients might benefit from neoadjuvant hormone therapy (NAHT).
Materials And Methods: The SAFIA trial is a prospective multicenter, international, double-blind, neoadjuvant phase III trial, using upfront 21-gene Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score assay (recurrence score [RS] < 31) to select operable luminal human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative patients, for induction hormonal therapy HT (fulvestrant 500 mg with or without goserelin) before randomly assigning responding patients to fulvestrant 500 mg (with or without goserelin) plus either palbociclib (cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibitor) or placebo.
Purpose: As frontline workers facing the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare providers should be well-prepared to fight the disease and prevent harm to their patients and themselves. Our study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of oncologists in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on them.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a validated questionnaire disseminated to oncologists by SurveyMonkey.
Background: Burnout (BO) among oncology professionals (OP) is increasingly being recognized. Early recognition and intervention can positively affect the quality of care and patient safety. This study investigated the prevalence, work and lifestyle factors affecting BO among OPs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Lung cancer is a major cause of death worldwide. However, few data on incidence, histologic types and mortality rates of lung cancer were available for Algeria.
Methods: LuCaReAl is an ongoing descriptive, non-interventional, national, multicenter, prospective and longitudinal study conducted in Algeria, among oncologists and pulmonologists in public community and university hospitals.
Nosocomial infections remain a serious public health problem with serious consequences. Hospital hygiene surveys are a basic tool in the surveillance and control of nosocomial infections. These surveys are also a tool for raising the awareness and information of the nursing staff.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This report compares the risk factors, the tumor phenotypes, and the BRCA1/BRCA2 genotype of early onset breast cancer (EOBC) patients between Southern Europe and North Africa.
Methods: Four hundred and fifty six women with invasive EOBC (≤40 years) were prospectively included from four centers in France (n = 270) and four centers in North Africa (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia; n = 186). Life style, tumor phenotype, familial history, BRCA1/BRCA2 genotype were compared between the two populations.
Breast cancer is the most common female malignancy and the leading cancer mortality cause among Algerian women. Germline mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes in patients with early-onset breast cancer have not been clearly identified within the Algerian population. It is necessary to study the BRCA1/2 genes involvement in the Algerian breast cancer occurrence.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF