Study Design: Retrospective study.
Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the association of waterpipe smoking with lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration (IVDD).
Methods: This is a retrospective chart review study.
Tobacco use is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality globally. Tobacco products, including smokeless tobacco (ST), generally contain tobacco-specific -nitrosamines (TSNAs), such as '-nitrosonornicotine (NNN) and 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-butanone (NNK), which are potent carcinogens that cause mutations in critical genes in human DNA. This review covers the series of biochemical and chemical transformations, related to TSNAs, leading from tobacco cultivation to cancer initiation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Biobanking helps source tissue and blood for studying cancer genomics. Access to biorepository resources in low- and middle-income countries is lacking. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and the American University of Beirut (AUB) established a joint tissue biorepository at AUB in Beirut, Lebanon.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe PIK3CA pathway is one of the most frequently altered pathways in human cancers, especially in breast cancer with approximately 40% of HR+/HER2- advanced breast cancer cases exhibiting mutations in the PIK3CA gene. While the mutations can occur across the entire gene, the most common are observed in exon 9 corresponding to the helical domain, and in exon 20 encompassing the kinase domain. This study constitutes the first attempt at determining the frequency and mutational spectrum in Lebanese breast cancer patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: To reduce the harmful health effects of combustible cigarette smoke (CS), some (CS) users attempt to substitute CS with electronic cigarettes (ECIG) and/or heated tobacco products (HTP). In this animal study, we evaluated the acute effects of substituting CS consumption with ECIG or HTP thus mimicking the dual users' approach, on the lungs of a mouse model.
Methods: C57BL/6 mice were divided into Control, ECIG, HTP, CS, ECIG + CS, HTP + CS, and HTP + ECIG groups.
Background: In the era of precision medicine, treatment schemes for advanced Colorectal (CRC) disease include monoclonal antibodies which block the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) implicated in tumor proliferation, invasion, migration and neovascularization. Resistance to these agents has been correlated with activating downstream mutations in KRAS, BRAF and NRAS genes, among others, leading to constitutive activation of the EGFR axis bypassing EGFR blockade. The assessment of tumor RASandBRAFmutational status has thus become standard clinical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Anaplastic lymphoma kinase () gene alterations are potent oncogenic drivers in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting the ALK pathway are effective in treating -positive NSCLC. Around 5% of Asian and White patients with NSCLC have -positive tumors, but rearrangement prevalence data in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region are limited.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with diabetes are more vulnerable to the detrimental respiratory effects of combustible cigarette smoke (CS) when compared to the general population. Electronic cigarettes (ECIG) and heated tobacco products (HTP) are marketed as less harmful alternatives to CS. In this study, we compared the effects of acute ECIG, HTP and CS exposure on the lungs of type II diabetes versus non-diabetic mice in an animal model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlthough the adverse effects of non-essential heavy metals on semen quality have been demonstrated in experimental animal models and occupational human exposure studies, little is known about the reproductive efficiency of exposed sperm during the process of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Our study aims to evaluate the effect of paternal exposure to non-essential heavy metals on embryo efficiency outcomes (embryo cleavage, fragmentation, implantation, and live birth) in ICSI cycle. Ninety-five heterosexual couples who underwent 95 ICSI cycles and 78 fresh embryo transfers between January 2003 and December 2009 were evaluated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) is associated to chronic human T cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) infection and carries a poor prognosis. Arsenic trioxide (AS) and interferon-alpha (IFNα) together selectively trigger Tax viral oncoprotein degradation and cure Tax-driven murine ATL. AS/IFNα/zidovudine treatment achieves a high response rate in patients with chronic ATL.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Despite current guidelines, a significant increase in the use of core needle biopsy (CNB) has been noted. Our aims were to determine the profile of patients referred for image-guided biopsies, to assess the diagnostic yield of these biopsies, and to learn whether CNB is an effective alternative to surgical excisional biopsy (SEB).
Patients And Methods: All lymph node biopsy samples evaluated in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine from 2014 to 2017 were included.
High-grade dysplasia (HGD) of the gallbladder has been proven to be an intermediate step in the pathogenesis from normal mucosa to invasive carcinoma. There is paucity of definitive data concerning the associated risk and optimal management of isolated HGD of the gallbladder involving the cystic duct margin following cholecystectomy. A previously healthy 44-year-old man underwent laparoscopic cholecystectomy for suspected symptomatic gallstones.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Although normal epithelial cells do not show human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) gene amplification and should lack membrane staining by HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC), HER2 staining in benign breast epithelium is occasionally encountered. The significance of this occurrence has not yet been adequately studied, and its associated American Society of Clinical Oncology/College of American Pathologists recommendations are vague. Our objective is to assess the correlation between HER2 IHC 3+ breast cancer cases with normal epithelium staining (NES) and their corresponding fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) results, and to suggest recommendations for interpretation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLung adenocarcinoma patients have variable prognosis due to many factors. Detection of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) activating mutations is one of the factors that implies the need for initiating a first-line EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) treatment. However, T790M resistance mutation emergence during treatment accounts for most EGFR-TKI drug resistance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are the standard treatment for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). Despite their clinical success, TKIs are faced with challenges such as treatment resistance, which may be driven by kinase domain mutations, and frequent disease relapse upon the cessation of treatment. The combination of arsenic trioxide (ATO) and interferon-α (IFN) was previously demonstrated to inhibit proliferation and induce apoptosis in CML cell lines, prolong the survival of primary wild-type CML mice, and dramatically decrease the activity of leukemia-initiating cells (LICs).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRecurrent genetic abnormalities confer distinct morphologic features and play a role in determining the clinical behavior, prognosis and adequate treatment of acute leukemia. In the MENA region, only one study targets the frequency of genetic modifications in AML, reporting a higher occurrence of acute promyelocytic leukemia in Lebanon. Determining the frequency of translocations and gene mutations in acute myeloid and lymphoid leukemia cases in an adult patients' population in Lebanon and comparing the resultant genetic profile with the published international molecular profile of adult acute leukemia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: This paper investigates to what extent Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) parties have successfully implemented regulatory measures against non-cigarette tobacco product (NCTP) use, considers the challenges and peculiarities in applying such regulations and proposes effective means.
Data And Methods: This review was based on many sources mainly: International Legal Consortium, International Tobacco Control, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, FCTC, expert group visits and published literature.
Findings And Conclusion: The FCTC provided a framework that applies to all forms of tobacco and this encouraged some parties to adopt control measures against NCTP and to incorporate them into their national tobacco control plans.
Background: Human exposure to environmental pollutants is widespread. It was suggested that exposure to non-essential heavy metals may adversely affect semen development in men.
Purpose: To evaluate associations between non-essential heavy metals in blood and seminal fluid and semen quality parameters in men.
Background: WHO MPOWER aims to help countries prioritize tobacco control measures in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
Objectives: This paper assessed the progress and challenges in implementing the 6 priority policies of MPOWER in countries of the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region since 2011.
Methods: A checklist was developed and scores assigned based on the MPOWER indicators (maximum score 37).
Background: Cigarette smoke (CS) induces an oxidative stress, DNA damage, and lung cancer. Pomegranate juice (PJ) possess potent antioxidant activity attributed to its polyphenols. We investigated whether PJ supplementation would prevent the formation of lung nodules, attenuate mitotic activity, and reduce hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1) expression secondary to CS exposure in an animal model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConcordance between mutations in the primary papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and the paired x lymph node metastasis may elucidate the potential role of molecular targeted therapy in advanced stages. BRAF and NRAS mutations in primary PTC (n = 253) with corresponding metastatic lymph node (n = 46) were analyzed utilizing StripAssays (ViennaLab Diagnostics). Statistical analysis was performed using (SPSS, Inc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Objectives: Second pathology review has been reported to improve accuracy in oncologic diagnoses, including pediatric malignancies. We assessed the impact of second review on the diagnosis of pediatric malignancies at a tertiary care referral center in Beirut, Lebanon.
Methods: Pathology reports of patients treated at the Children's Cancer Institute in Lebanon were retrospectively reviewed for the period 2008-2016 and compared with same samples' diagnoses at St.
Background: A significant percentage of lung adenocarcinomas have a driver mutation. To date, there has been no assessment of the prevalence of such mutations in a Middle Eastern population. The present multicenter prospective study of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues from patients diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma was performed to assess the prevalence of EGFR and ALK mutations in the Levant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF