ABSTRACT
The number of patients with gastric cancer is growing worldwide. In Iran [in 2009] of 74067 new cases of cancer, 6886 were diagnosed as having gastric cancer. This study was conducted to investigate 5-year survival rate for gastric cancer in Yazd province, central Iran
Methods: In this descriptive study, the medical records of patients with gastric cancer were collected from the archives of Yazd hospitals from 2001 to 2008. The data gathered included age, sex, type of histopathology, site of involvement, cancer staging, and mode of treatment, which were analyzed using SPSS software version 11.5. To investigate the survival and the factors influencing the survival time of patients, which are the main objectives of this study, Kaplan-Meier method was used and Cox proportional hazards model was fitted to the data. To compare survival function in different subgroups, the log rank test or generalized Wilcoxon test was used
Results: 295 cases of gastric cancer were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 59.3 +/- 9 years. 5-year survival rate of the patients was calculated as 18% where the highest rate was 39% for the age group of 50-60 years and the lowest was 3% for the age group of above 80 years. 5-year survival rates in different groups were as follows: 32% in women, 13% in men; 16% in adenocarcinoma, 46% in other pathologies; 16% in gastric cardia involvement, 17% in antrum; 59% in stage 1, 31% in stage 2, 13% in stage 3, and 3% in stage 4
Conclusion: The results of this study showed that age, stage of the cancer, mode of therapy, and type of histopathology affected the survival rate of gastric cancer. No significant association was found between the site of involvement and survival rate. In general, the survival rate for gastric cancer was low, which might be due to slow but steady progress of the disease and delayed referral of the patients
ABSTRACT
Dyspepsia is a common symptom with an extensive differential diagnosis and a heterogeneous pathophysiology. Many studies have reported that dyspeptic symptoms are associated with ingestion of some foods. Current treatments for functional dyspepsia have generally ignored the potential role of diet. This cross-sectional study was done at the Gastroenterology Department of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital, Yazd, Iran from September 2008 to March 2009. Based on the diagnostic criteria for functional dyspepsia symptoms presented to outpatient gastroenterology clinics, adult patients were invited to participate in this study. Upper GI endoscopy was performed in all the patients so as to rule out any gross pathology. The patients were asked about a list of nutrients including 114 foods which is commonly used in our area. Then, the effects of specific foods were identified on the relief or aggravation of the symptoms with four degrees: low, medium, high, and very high. Of 384 patients, 152 were men and 231 were women with a mean +/- SD age of 39.16 +/- 14 years [range: 13-80 years]. The foods that caused the highest aggravation of symptoms were sausage and bolognas, pickles vinegar, soft drinks, grain, tea, salt, pizza, watermelon, red pepper, and macaroni. However, the most frequent foods that led to the alleviation of symptoms were apples, rice, rock candy, bread, caraway seed, dates, honey, yogurt, quince, and walnut. This study shows that some foods, especially spicy, pickled, and high-fat foods, strongly induced dyspepsia and aggravated the symptoms in dyspeptic patients
ABSTRACT
Tamoxifen used in the treatment of breast cancer is reported to cause hepatic steatosis. This study aimed to assess the incidence and risk factors of the development of fatty liver disease, resulting from tamoxifen use, in females with breast cancer. Seventy females aged between 28 and 80 years with breast cancer were recruited from Shahid Sadoughi Clinic, Yazd, Iran in 2006-2008. The patients underwent chemotherapy followed by 20 mg tamoxifen daily as postoperative endocrine treatment. Only in patients with normal baseline liver function, negative test for hepatitis C virus [HCV] and hepatitis B surface antigen [HbsAg] and normal liver ultrasonography were included. The development of fatty changes over a 6-months period of treatment was the main outcome measurement assessed by ultrasonography. Thirty-five of 70 patients developed fatty change during follow-up, in which nine were in grade one, 20 in grade two and six patients in grade three. Risk factors associated with the development of fatty change were elevation of triglycerides [2.4, 1.2-4.8], elevation of fasting blood sugar [FBS] and low high-density lipoprotein [HDL] [3.4, 1.4-7.8]. No relation was found between the development of fatty change and age [1.3, 0.87-2.00], menopause [1.13, 0.69-1.9], previous history of diabetes [2.4, 0.7-8.4], previous chemotherapy regimen and receptors type [c-erbB2, P53, progesterone receptor [PR], oestrogen receptor [ER]] and stage of breast cancer. Further, there was no relation between the development of fatty change and hypercholesterolemia, low-density lipoprotein [LDL], arterial hypertension and body mass index [BMI]. Tamoxifen was associated with a high risk of development of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis in patients with higher triglycerides and FBS and lower HDL. However, no relationship was found with the level of BMI, LDL, hypertension, overweight and obesity