More than a billion people live in fragile, conflict-affected, and vulnerable settings requiring humanitarian support, where cancer is a substantial health issue. Despite its substantial effect on populations, cancer care remains underprioritised in emergency preparedness and response frameworks and humanitarian operational planning. This Policy Review summarises the perspectives and actionable recommendations from the First Global High-Level Technical Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases in Humanitarian Settings, with a focus on cancer.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Musculoskeletal sarcomas are a rare group of malignant neoplasms, accounting for approximately 12 % of all malignant neoplasms among children. Childhood cancer outcomes vary between developed and developing countries due to financial and educational inequalities. Telemedicine programs have a huge impact on the quality of cancer care, helping to optimize resources for better cancer care in a resource-limited setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Cancer is a leading cause of global childhood mortality, affecting 400,000 children annually. While treatable with modern therapies, children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have limited access to care and lower survival rates. Hospital-based cancer registries (HBCRs) collect detailed patient information to critically evaluate and evolve care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccess to essential health services is a basic human right, yet many cancer patients living in conflict-affected regions face multiple obstacles to service use. The (former) Nagorno-Karabakh Republic was a conflict-affected region in the South Caucasus populated predominantly by ethnic Armenians. Multiple acute armed conflicts, the recent military occupation of the region, and the prolonged military blockade of the Lachin Corridor (a humanitarian corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia) exacerbated existing social, health, economic, and political fragilities in this region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Annually, approximately 200 new ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in Armenia, which is considered an upper-middle-income country. This study aimed to summarize the survival outcomes of patients with relapsed ovarian cancer in Armenia based on the type of recurrence, risk factors, and choice of systemic treatment.
Methods: This retrospective case-control study included 228 patients with relapsed ovarian cancer from three different institutions.
Blastic plasmacytoid dendritic cell neoplasm (BPDCN) is a rare and aggressive hematological malignancy with limited treatment options and poor prognosis. This case report presents the clinical course and management of a 62-year-old man with BPDCN in a resource-limited setting. The patient presented with constitutional symptoms and abnormal complete blood count findings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe 1st Global Summit on War and Cancer (GSWC) united leaders, medical professionals, policymakers, and advocates to address cancer issues in conflict zones featuring speakers from around 50 countries.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia (CIT) is an arduous complication of chemotherapy to be dealt with, and there are many unmet needs in this field to be addressed on the global front. We have conducted this study to contribute to the understanding of existing knowledge gaps of CIT management and highlight the direction to focus future investigations.
Methods: This was an academic single-institution report on a cross-sectional study evaluating CIT management practices using platelet (PLT) transfusions by haematologists and oncologists in Armenia.
Purpose: Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are the most common solid malignancies in children worldwide, including in Armenia. The current study aims to analyze epidemiological data, treatment, and outcomes of children and young adults (≤25 years) with CNS tumors in Armenia during the last 26 years.
Methods: We collected data from pediatric and young adult patients treated in selected sites in Armenia from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2020.
Mol Cytogenet
July 2023
Introduction: A precise diagnosis of central nervous system involvement in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) requires comprehensive knowledge of morphological analysis, with a focus on the quantity and quality of cells being examined. Some research has utilized techniques such as immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and interphase fluorescence in situ hybridization (iFISH) on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cytospin samples to detect any remaining leukemic cells in the CSF. To obtain reliable results using immunocytochemistry and flow cytometry, it is essential to use freshly collected specimens within a limited timeframe.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Racial Ethn Health Disparities
October 2023
Background: The purpose of this study was to estimate COVID-19 vaccination rate among Medicare beneficiaries with cancer history and determine whether COVID-19 vaccine uptake is higher among non-Hispanic White beneficiaries compared with racially and ethnically minoritized beneficiaries.
Methods: We used US representative, cross-sectional data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey COVID-19 Winter 2021 Rapid Response Community Supplement Survey. A total of 1,863 respondents with self-reported cancer history (other than skin cancer) were included.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Armenia. Over the past two decades, the country has seen a significant rise in cancer morbidity and mortality. This review aims to provide up-to-date info about the state of cancer control in Armenia and identify priority areas of research.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHodgkin lymphoma (HL) accounts for roughly 10% of all lymphomas and 0.6% of all malignant tumours analysed worldwide yearly. Data regarding HL in developing world are exceptionally constrained.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA 1.9-year-old girl was presented to the hospital with dancing eye movements, ataxia, and behavioral disorders. The MRI showed a retroperitoneal tumor (transversal size: 3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The lack of internationally recognized guidelines for very rare tumors, such as juvenile granulosa cell tumors (JGCTs), which are nonepithelial, unusual ovarian tumors, is a challenge for pediatric oncologists, especially in developing countries with limited resources and experience in treating rare tumors.
Methods: We report clinical data of 2 girls with JGCTs treated at the Pediatric Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Armenia with the assistance of the EXPeRT (European Cooperative Study Group for Pediatric Rare Tumors) international cooperation panel.
Case Presentation: Two girls (16 and 15 years old) with JGCTs of the ovaries, stage Ic, underwent surgery and, with consultation through an online advisory board (http://vrt.
Oncology (Williston Park)
February 2021
KEY POINTS • Synovial sarcomas are often mistreated with unplanned tumor resection. • Attention from specialists early in the course of SS can minimize the risk of recurrence, metastases, and the necessity for resurgery, all of which are increased with unplanned tumor resection. • Chemotherapy alone does not provide sufficient local control of the tumor.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The travel distance from home to a treatment centre, which may impact the stage at diagnosis, has not been investigated for retinoblastoma, the most common childhood eye cancer. We aimed to investigate the travel burden and its impact on clinical presentation in a large sample of patients with retinoblastoma from Africa and Europe.
Methods: A cross-sectional analysis including 518 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 40 European countries and 1024 treatment-naïve patients with retinoblastoma residing in 43 African countries.