Publications by authors named "Halima A"

Article Synopsis
  • Pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma (PACC) is a rare and aggressive tumor with few treatment options beyond surgery, prompting a study of its genomic features.
  • The research involved whole-genome and RNA sequencing of samples from 3 metastatic PACC patients, revealing markers of homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) linked to BRCA1/2 and FANCL mutations, which showed positive responses to PARP inhibitors.
  • The study also identified significant structural variants and alterations in key pathways, suggesting potential targets for targeted therapies and emphasizing the need for genomic profiling to customize treatment for better outcomes.
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  • * The systematic review included 44 studies and found that females experience higher rates of anxiety and depression, have worse quality of life scores, and are less likely to have certain complications compared to males, who have a higher mortality risk and require more surgeries.
  • * Overall, males and females show some differences in mental health and disease management, but no significant variations were noted in hospitalization rates or the overall behavior of the disease.
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  • The study focuses on the effectiveness of adjuvant radiation therapy, specifically intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), after subtotal resection of WHO grade II meningiomas due to the limited existing research.
  • A retrospective analysis of 39 patients revealed 3-, 5-, and 10-year progression-free survival rates of 81.1%, 61.2%, and 44.6%, respectively, demonstrating overall acceptable control rates.
  • No significant differences were found in progression-free survival or radiation necrosis occurrences between the IMRT and SRS groups, suggesting both treatments are similarly effective for managing residual tumors.
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Purpose: This phase I study aimed to assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the PIKA-adjuvanted recombinant severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) spike (S) protein subunit vaccine in healthy adults aged 18 years and older.

Materials And Methods: This is a phase I, open-label, dose-escalation study at three dose levels (5 µg, 10 µg, and 20 µg) of the PIKA coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine administered intramuscularly. The three vaccine arms are (A) subjects who have never received any COVID-19 vaccination or have had COVID-19 infection for >6 months prior to enrolment; (B1) subjects whose COVID-19 primary vaccination series was completed with an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine; and (B2) subjects whose primary series was completed with messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccine.

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Unlabelled: Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) captured from the bloodstream of patients with solid tumors have the potential to accelerate precision oncology by providing insight into tumor biology, disease progression and response to treatment. However, their potential is hampered by the lack of standardized CTC enrichment platforms across tumor types. EpCAM-based CTC enrichment, the most commonly used platform, is limited by EpCAM downregulation during metastasis and the low EpCAM expression in certain tumor types, including the highly prevalent and lethal NSCLC.

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Background: Children with ventricular septal defect (VSD) and large systemic-to-pulmonary shunts eventually develop pulmonary hypertension (PH). The perioperative management of patients with VSD and PH is quite troublesome and still debatable, especially in developing countries where the different management options and standardization of treatment is not available. Oral phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors are good treatment options being widely available, cheap, easy administration and do not require extensive monitoring.

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Background: In Tunisia, the number of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) is increasing, owing to the increase in patient life expectancy and expanding indications. Despite their life-saving potential and a significant reduction in population morbidity and mortality, their increased numbers have been associated with the development of multiple early and late complications related to vascular access, pockets, leads, or patient characteristics.

Objective: The study aims to identify the rate, type, and predictors of complications occurring within the first year after CIED implantation.

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Background: Benefits of Curcumin for health have been explained by different experimental models and clinical trials. It is a very potent antioxidant. Curcumin was found to play a preventive and curative role in both acute and chronic gastritis.

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The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NTLR) and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) recovery are prognostic across many cancers. We investigated whether NLTR predicts SBRT success or survival in a metastatic sarcoma cohort treated with SBRT from 2014 and 2020 (N = 42). Wilcox Signed Rank Test and Friedman Test compare NTLR changes with local failure vs.

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Purpose/objective(s): Accelerated partial breast irradiation (PBI) delivered in 5 fractions with intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) has been shown to have comparable clinical outcomes to whole breast irradiation with reduced toxicity profiles. In contrast, intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) offers patients the potential to complete adjuvant radiation therapy in a single treatment. While early data were promising, concerns exist regarding long-term rates of local recurrence after IORT.

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Background: Increasingly, data have supported the use of partial-breast irradiation (PBI) for low-risk patients after breast-conserving surgery, with techniques allowing for completion of treatment in 1-3 weeks. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is an alternative to PBI. Our institution had used low-energy photon IORT (TARGIT) for more than a decade.

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The neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NTLR) and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) recovery are prognostic across many cancers. We investigated whether NLTR predicts SBRT success or survival in a metastatic sarcoma cohort treated with SBRT from 2014 and 2020 (N = 42). Wilcox Signed Rank Test and Friedman Test compare NTLR changes with local failure vs.

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Over the past decade, the emergence of effective immunotherapies has revolutionized the clinical management of many types of cancers. However, long-term durable tumour control is only achieved in a fraction of patients who receive these therapies. Understanding the mechanisms underlying clinical response and resistance to treatment is therefore essential to expanding the level of clinical benefit obtained from immunotherapies.

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Background: Lung metastases are the most common form of distant failure for patients diagnosed with sarcoma with metastasectomy considered for some patients with limited metastatic disease and good performance status. Alternatives to surgery such as stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) can be considered, though data are limited. We present outcomes after SBRT for sarcoma lung metastases.

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Purpose: Cerebral radiation necrosis is a complication of radiation therapy that can be seen months to years following radiation treatment. Differentiating radiation necrosis from tumor progression on standard magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often difficult and advanced imaging techniques may be needed to make an accurate diagnosis. The purpose of this article is to review the imaging modalities used in differentiating radiation necrosis from tumor progression following radiation therapy for brain metastases.

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During the month of Ramadan, over one billion Muslims observe a water and food fast from sunrise to sunset. The practice of this religious duty causes marked changes in eating and sleeping habits. With the increasing incidence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, the number of patients with CV pathologies who wish to fast is increasing worldwide, and in Tunisia, which is ranked as a high CV risk country.

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Background: Low-dose rate brachytherapy is the referent treatment for early-stage prostate cancer and consists in manually inserting radioactive seeds within the organ to destroy tumorous cells. This treatment is inaccurate leading to side effects. Researchers developed robots to improve this technique.

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Background: This study was designed to evaluate the care of hypertensive patients in daily clinical practice in public and private centers in all Tunisian regions.

Objective: This study will provide us an overview of hypertension (HTN) management in Tunisia and the degree of adherence of practitioners to international recommendations.

Methods: This is a national observational cross-sectional multicenter study that will include patients older than 18 years with HTN for a duration of 4 weeks, managed in the public sector from primary and secondary care centers as well as patients managed in the private sector.

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Immunity is governed by fundamental genetic processes. These processes shape the nature of immune cells and set the rules that dictate the myriad complex cellular interactions that power immune systems. Everything from the generation of T cell receptors and antibodies, control of epitope presentation, and recognition of pathogens by the immunoediting of cancer cells is, in large part, made possible by core genetic mechanisms and the cellular machinery that they encode.

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Introduction: Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is increasingly utilized for patients with recurrent and metastatic sarcoma. SBRT affords the potential to overcome the relative radioresistance of sarcomas through delivery of a focused high biological effective dose (BED) as an alternative to invasive surgery. We report local control outcomes after metastatic sarcoma SBRT based on radiation dose and histology.

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Purpose: Recent data have been published supporting the application of ultrashort radiation therapy (RT) regimens for women with early stage breast cancer after breast conserving surgery. What has remained controversial is whether and how to apply accelerated whole breast irradiation (AWBI) or accelerated partial breast irradiation (APBI) approaches in these patients, as well as the consideration of intraoperative RT (IORT).

Methods And Materials: We performed a systematic review of the literature searching for randomized and prospective data published evaluating ultrashort RT delivered in 5 days or less with APBI, AWBI, or IORT.

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Article Synopsis
  • The prevalence of heart failure (HF) is increasing in Tunisia, largely due to an aging population and rising rates of coronary artery disease and hypertension, yet there's limited data on patient demographics and care quality.
  • The study aims to create the National Tunisian Registry of Heart Failure (NATURE-HF) by analyzing and following 1700 patients over a year, with assessments at 1, 3, and 12 months.
  • Results will include tracking cardiovascular and overall mortality, hospital readmissions, and various clinical evaluations and treatment outcomes to gain insights into the management of HF in Tunisia.
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Purpose/objective(s): To determine if patients with unfavorable intermediate-risk (UIR), high-risk (HR), or very high-risk (VHR) prostate cancer (PCa) treated with I interstitial brachytherapy benefit from androgen deprivation therapy (ADT).

Materials/methods: We reviewed our institutional database of patients with UIR, HR, or VHR PCa, per 2018 NCCN risk classification, treated with definitive I interstitial brachytherapy with or without ADT from 1998-2017. Outcomes including biochemical failure (bF), distant metastases (DM), and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression.

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