ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES@#Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are a major and growing global healthcare challenge. Western Saudi Arabia has an inconsistent data registry; therefore, the epidemiology of CNS tumors is unclear across the country. This study is aimed to assemble the epidemiological matrix of CNS tumors in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia. @*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed using clinical data obtained from 3 neuroscience centers in Western Saudi Arabia in the period 2014-2019. The sample size included 663 adult and pediatric cases from the local and expatriate populations diagnosed with CNS tumors. The distributions of age, sex, clinical presentation, tumor location, type of surgery, histological subtype, genetic characteristics, and recurrence rate were explored. @*RESULTS@#The analysis included 500 adult cases and 163 pediatric cases up to 18 years of age with a male-to-female ratio of 1.16. The mean age at diagnosis was 38.0±22.6 years. The supratentorium was the most common location (n=515, 77.7%). Most patients presented with headache (n=298, 44.9%), followed by a focal neurological deficit (19.9%). The most common primary CNS tumor was glioblastoma (n=234, 35.3%), followed by meningioma (n=100, 15.1%). The recurrence rate after surgery was estimated to be 40.9% among all CNS tumors. @*CONCLUSIONS@#This is the first tumor registry of Western Province of Saudi Arabia that describes the distribution of primary CNS tumors and highlights their epidemiological matrix. Several incidence trends in terms of histological type, age group, sex, location, and recurrence were determined, and some genetic characteristics were recognized.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES@#Central nervous system (CNS) tumors are a major and growing global healthcare challenge. Western Saudi Arabia has an inconsistent data registry; therefore, the epidemiology of CNS tumors is unclear across the country. This study is aimed to assemble the epidemiological matrix of CNS tumors in the Western Province of Saudi Arabia. @*METHODS@#A retrospective analysis was performed using clinical data obtained from 3 neuroscience centers in Western Saudi Arabia in the period 2014-2019. The sample size included 663 adult and pediatric cases from the local and expatriate populations diagnosed with CNS tumors. The distributions of age, sex, clinical presentation, tumor location, type of surgery, histological subtype, genetic characteristics, and recurrence rate were explored. @*RESULTS@#The analysis included 500 adult cases and 163 pediatric cases up to 18 years of age with a male-to-female ratio of 1.16. The mean age at diagnosis was 38.0±22.6 years. The supratentorium was the most common location (n=515, 77.7%). Most patients presented with headache (n=298, 44.9%), followed by a focal neurological deficit (19.9%). The most common primary CNS tumor was glioblastoma (n=234, 35.3%), followed by meningioma (n=100, 15.1%). The recurrence rate after surgery was estimated to be 40.9% among all CNS tumors. @*CONCLUSIONS@#This is the first tumor registry of Western Province of Saudi Arabia that describes the distribution of primary CNS tumors and highlights their epidemiological matrix. Several incidence trends in terms of histological type, age group, sex, location, and recurrence were determined, and some genetic characteristics were recognized.
ABSTRACT
To record the levels of PSA in the sera of prostate cancer [CaP] and benign prostatic hyperplasia [BPH] cases. Free PSA/total PSA as percentage was also calculated in order to evaluate its utility in differentially diagnosing BPH and CaP. Design: A cross-sectional, case control study. Place and Duration of Study: Shaikh Zayed Hospital and Mayo Hospital, Lahore from August 2002 to March 2003. Materials and A group of 108 male subjects, including one-third of each of biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer cases, BPH cases and asymptomatic controls of matching age were studied. PSA and Free PSA were determined by ELISA using commercially available assay kits. Mean PSA was found to be highest in CaP cases [41.9 + 38.7 ng/ml], lower in the BPH cases [13.5+10.5 ng/ml], while it was lowest in the control subjects [5.7 + 4.4 ng/ml]. Moreover, it was observed that a majority of the CaP cases had serum PSA >20 ng/ml, 50% of BPH cases had serum PSA in the 'gray zone' [4.1-20 ng/ml], while majority of controls had serum PSA in the 'normal' range [0 - 4 ng/ml]. Using a free-PSA "cut-off" of 18% to differentiate between benign and malignant prostate enlargement, it was found that 80% of the CaP cases had F/T% <18, while 75% of the BPH cases had F/T%>18. The percent free-PSA test to differentially diagnose BPH and CaP in the 'gray zone' was found to have a sensitivity of 86% and a specificity of 94%. Using a cutoff of 18%, the free-PSA test significantly improved the differential diagnosis of BPH and CaP in the 'gray zone' as compared to the use of total PSA alone in the study group